Task Tracker
Table of contents
- 1. Introduction
- 1.1. Purpose
- 1.2. Intended Audience
- 1.3. Additional information
- 2. Status
- 3. Use Cases
- 4. Functional Specification
- 4.1. Creation of tasks
- 4.2. Editing tasks
- 4.3. Marking a task complete
- 4.4. Deleting tasks
- 4.5. Viewing tasks
- 4.6. Task Stream
- 4.7. Daily Concierge
- 5. Non-goals
- 6. Technical Specification
- 6.1. Technical Requirements
- 6.1.1. /{MindTouch Page}
- 6.1.2. /Special:Tasks/
- 6.1. Technical Requirements
Introduction
A recent survey of MindTouch users showed that the #3 usage of MindTouch was project management. To wit, this feature will attempt to create a light-weight task list application inside MindTouch.
Purpose
This application will allow team members to coordinate and collaborate around projects through tasks. It will provide project managers with insight into a project's progress; this application is useful during the lifecycle of a project. Future integration points with the time tracker will expose intelligence into the breakdown of work by user and activity, as well as time spent on projects.
Intended Audience
This is intended to be utilized by MindTouch to help drive projects; it will be available as a part of the collaborative intranet solution.
Additional information
This lifts ideas from Steve's original task list, todo manager listfoo, and the recently build TimeTracker application.
Status
Prototype being built by RoyK.
Use Cases
User wishes to track tasks
User will log in and navigate to their user page, which will have their task list embedded. From this view, they can view all their existing tasks (sorted in order of due date), as well as adding more tasks to any projects they are tasked with. From this singular view, a user will be able to edit, delete, or mark items as completed.
New project requires tasks and deadlines
A project manager will log-in and create a new project page. From this page, the project manager embeds the task list application, which creates a new task list. From this view, the project manager can quickly assign tasks to any user inside the system with a due date. As each item is added, a dashboard view of the user is brought up, showing how these new items fit-in with their schedule.
Tracking a team's activities
To view the chonological activity of a team, a "task stream" page will be created, which will show all the activity around tasks/projects - items completed and created on a given day by users.
Importing tasks (Nice-to-have)
Given any MindTouch page, it will parse through a page, extract all <li> elements, and convert it to a task list. Not gonna really happen.
FUTURE: Duration of tasks
Upon completion, people can mark the time it took them; this can supercede the time tracker as an app, and will allow better BI into project completion.
Functional Specification
Creation of tasks
A simple form capture the following values: task item, assigned to, and the due date. ("Task ________ for __(user)___ by ____date____"). The user field is an autocomplete form against the userlist, while the date can be free-form or a calendaring control. Fields generated automatically are the assignee (user who is submitting the task), the creation date, and the project the task is associated to; this will be determined by the page the task list is embedded upon. In views not project related, such as the user dashboard, projects will be a dropdown of active projects. The "for" field is automatically populated with the current user's username. Upon addition of a task to another user, the form will continue to display the other user's name.
Editing tasks
Each task will be editable inline by clicking an edit icon. All the fields that were accessible during creation are available during editing.
Marking a task complete
Next to each task, there will be a checkbox. Marking this will strike the item as incomplete. (??? When to show completed items / how to view them)
Deleting tasks
Tasks can also be deleted by clicking the delete icon next to the item.
Viewing tasks
All active tasks will be available in reverse chronological order by due date. (a filter will be used to show all completed tasks, threaded chronologically). Tasks will be viewable from the project page (project-specific), and on each user's page (user-specific).
Task Stream
This simply shows all tasks for the whole company on one page. The activities of the current user will stand out to show them how their work fits in.
Daily Concierge
On a daily basis, the script will aggregate all items due for a user, and post it as a comment on their user page.
Non-goals
- This application will not be utilized to gain any insight into the success execution of projects, unlike the time tracker.
- This application will not allow for "sub-tasks" to be created (no concept of hierarchical tasks).
- This application will not allow for "sorting" of tasks via drag-and-drop, since it will rely on the "due date" feature.
- This app will not keep audit trails of tasks (as they get reassigned).
- This app will not enforce privacy on tasks - all tasks are considered accessible.
- This app will not allow for the assignment of tasks to multiple users (although this is potentially powerful use case). This may force the creation of a "Initiative Tracker"; with initiatives being a greater umbrella from which tasks are located.
Technical Specification
In a similar fashion to the Time Tracker, the initial prototype will be written in PHP, utilizing MindTouch hooks and the MindTouch PHP libraries to expedite development. Here's a pretty picture that gives an overview of the components:
Technical Requirements
/{MindTouch Page}
/Special:Tasks/
- Tag page
- What links here
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