Solo Developer Success

I have been looking for a single solution for a long time for project management that includes projects (naturally), tasks, time tracking, invoicing, calendar, and documents.  Up until now I have only focused on open source options or very low cost options, less than $5 to $10 a month.

I recently came across WORKetc  and signed up for a trial. It’s a bit more expensive than I would like at $38/month per employee, but since there’s only one of me, it’s affordable. Especially considering what it is capable of.

To get started, you need to create some Companies and Contacts. Once a few of those are in place, then you can start creating Projects and assigning them to the appropriate Client. Inside a Project, you can create Sub-Projects and To Dos.  You can also insert Comments within a project or even a To Do as well as Time Sheet entries, Expenses, Files, Calendar Events, and  Support Cases. A Support Case is the equivalent of a trouble ticket, or issue. It’s usually something that requires keeping a client updated on it’s progress and is often generated from an email.  That’s where the Drop Box feature comes in.

Drop Box

This is where WORKetc can really shine. When I receive an email from a client detailing a problem or making a request, I can forward it to my support@ email address. It will then show up in WORKetc ready to be processed. If a Client sends the request directly to my support@ email address, then I can reply straight from the Support Case and keep a running dialog with the client via email, all from within WORKetc. I haven’t quite made it to that point yet, but will be notifying clients of that feature soon. For now, I’m using the Google Mail Add-In to create Support Cases and other items from emails.

Google Mail Chrome Add-In

There is also a Chrome Add-In for Google Mail that links to WORKetc. When an email is opened, it adds a feature bar below the email where you can attach the email to a Client, Project, To Do, etc. directly from within gMail. No switching over to WORKetc is required or forwarding the email. You can also create WORKetc items from within gMail using the feature bar.

This has been a big time saver when it comes to being able to attach information to a project, to a client, or create a WORKetc item. I’ve been working on an issue with possible malware script injections in a website. I just received an email from another user of the site who reported receiving a browser warning when navigating to a specific page. Right from within gMail I was able to create a new WORKetc Support Case, assign it to the appropriate project and with the related email automatically attached. Later, when working on that Support Case, everything I need to know about what page triggered the error, who reported it, etc. is right there in the Support Case and attached email.

Invoicing

I mentioned earlier Time Sheets and Expenses. These can be captured within WORKetc and are assigned to a Client. When it comes time to generate an invoice, select the Client and all the unbilled charges are displayed for invoicing. WORKetc allows for customizing the invoice layout using standard HTML with some special tag commands for processing line items. As I’ve posted before, I like capturing as much detail of the work performed as possible. WORKetc default invoice layout does not display the detailed description for Time Sheet entries, but it’s easy to change.  After about fifteen minutes of playing with the layout HTML, I had my detailed invoice layout looking just the way I wanted. I also created another layout that I can use for my Employer Time Logs, basically an invoice with no dollar amounts, only quantities. I’ll be trying my hand soon at creating an Expense Report invoice layout to use for Employee Expense Reports.

Documents

WORKetc does not offer a wiki like some other project management systems.  Instead of  a Wiki, WORKetc provides Blog and Knowledge Base features.  The Knowledge Base consists of Article entries that can be nested to provide easy navigation. An empty Article can server as a Topic under which additional Articles can be posted. I have a “Server Reference” article, under it I have created separate Articles for each server I work with containing the details of what is running on that server, how to access it, etc. With a some careful planning (although it’s very easy to rearrange Articles), the Knowledge Base can easily take the place of a wiki documentation system.

The Blog feature in WORKetc can be a great way of posting company information or, in my case, capturing my thoughts, experiences and ideas when it comes to using with WORKetc to manage my daily activities. Blogs can be made open to the public, limited to Clients & Employees, only Employees or require a Secret Access Code. Comments can be allowed or disabled. For users with multiple employees, this could be a great way to post company news available only to Employees, and keep a semi-public Blog that keeps Clients informed of what’s going on for marketing and client-retention purposes.

WORKetc also provides for uploading files, but I doubt I’ll use that feature much, at least the uploading part. I don’t really need to since WORKetc allows linking to Google Docs and all my documents, spreadsheets, etc. are available right there. Plus, since I’m attaching emails to Projects and To Dos directly from gMail, any attachments are also brought over and kept with the appropriate email.

Will I Buy In?

Even though I have about a week left on my free trial, I’ve already submitted my payment information so my access to WORKetc remains uninterrupted.  WORKetc will be my 2012 business management system that I hope to open up to my clients more and more over the next few months.  I’ll keep this site updated as well with information on how I’m doing with WORKetc, any issues I find, workarounds or tweaks I’m using, etc.