I've been in a long-running quest to get more organized in my development process. I'm not the greatest at juggling everything I have to do for my projects, but since I've historically done so much of the work by myself, the problem has been solely my own issue. Lately (the past few years), I've taken on others who like me, need direction and prodding to figure out what to do next for project completion.

I've never really fancied myself a "Producer" for games, but I really need to work on those mad skilz since I've basically filled that role on projects for many years. (I'll have to remember not to point anyone to this post if I am applying to a Producer gig in the future... this could kill the deal real quick-like, eh?) Well, I just wanted to quickly point you folks towards some online project manager tools I've been checking out. There's some great stuff out there that I thought you might want to know about.

I'm not going to delve into these much other than point you to the better options I've found. I figure you can run around for yourself and see what you think from their marketing materials and documentation.  These are all "online" tools, in that you install them on a web site and access them via a web browser.  Therefore you need to have a website or a friend who will give you space.  There is no standalone client used to access them... which I think is cool, since they're available from anywhere and the database is stored online.  I'm a fan of this type of app, mainly for development teams that are spread across the country or world.  For instance, my favorite sound guy now lives in Alaska, so it's a little harder for us to meet these days.  Anyway, on to the quick list...

• DotProject - [www.dotproject.net]
• Free - This is what I've been using for many years, but not effectively. That's mostly due to my incompetence & lack of discipline, but partly due to the slight "clunky" feel of some of the features. It's a very good system, though. For the price, you really ought to check this sucker out! It might just fill in your need perfectly.
• PHProjekt - [www.phprojekt.com]
• Free - As the funky (for some) spelling might hint at, PHProjekt is developed primarily by a German team... which ended up being my primary problem with this project manager. The language localization for the English version was very incomplete when I tried it out. This proved to be just a little too inconvenient and frustrating at the time, so I finally bailed on it. All it needed was a more thorough effort made to update buttons and the English theme and I might have been more friendly toward it. Honestly, it's been over a year or so since I tried it, so I'd sincerely hope they fixed that issue by now.
• PHP Overlord - [www.phpoverlord.com]
• $29.99 - A more polished version has just been released through Garage Games (PHP Overlord project page) and honestly, I think it looks fan-frickin'-tastic! They have a demo online (well, they all do) that shines very nicely. It's very clean and simple and intuitive-looking. I really like that it looks more "simplified" and less like a full-blown Microsoft Project wannabe. I know Project is supposed to be the shiznit (and basically a requirement for any aspiring game producer's knowledge base for applying at most companies,) but I think it's such major overkill for most smaller projects, that it's just another hurdle rather than an enabler of my process... and it's ridiculously, insanely expensive! Wait.. why am I talking about Project?!? I'll get back on track... PHP Overlord looks very nice. I'm seriously thinking of ditching DotProject in favor of this very reasonably priced gem.

These are just the ones I've tried as all-in-one solutions for project/team management. I know there are many other possible solutions for this stuff, but many of them seem to fill one part or another of project management -- bug tracking, version control, trouble tickets, etc. -- but I've been more interested in a single tool to help manage the whole project, instead of trying to juggle several tools.

I think I'll write up a separate page for each of these products and talk about my experiences with them, since this post is getting rather long. Hopefully, this brief intro will get you started in your research on the subject. Let me know what you're using if you don't see your favorite too here! Thanks!