Recommendations for good tools/software for creating and keeping change log list, to-do list

Hello all,

Been doing programming and EE design for a very long time but throughout that time, I have never learned of or found a good single user tool to keep tract of to-do’s, change logs, upgrade list and ideas etc. I’m looking for something simple, yet complete and easy to read/write. It is only for me so doesn’t have to be terribly fancy, just help me keep organized. Especially when it is time for a new release/update I can pull from a list that exists already and not have to try to remember all of the new features, bug fixes etc etc. I’m sure pretty much everyone has had this and similar challenges in the past.

I don’t need knatt charts and all that hoopla either…

Any ideas would be really really appreciated!
Thank you,
Tim

Do you use a version control system?

I have git - but don’t know how to use it.
My projects use a combination of external and internal files, I heard git does not like that…

Maybe just a bit gun shy (or chicken)…

Tim

Seeing similar needs a couple of years ago, I just wrote my own program with Xojo. It’s fairly simple but tailored to just what I need.

I use Bee and GitHub.

I use a notebook and a whiteboard :slight_smile:

@Sam – Tried the notebook, both digital and paper - always lost, misplaced, out of order basically a reflection of my crazy day(s)!

@Sascha - I am a windows user. I did not see the Bee for Windoz. Do you know of something similar?

Also, what about things like bugzilla?
Like everyone, I need easy and as automated as possible, and of course cheap…

Thanks for all of your repsonses!
Tim

Have a look at how bugzilla is supposed to be installed: no thanks. The last time I checked they didn’t even have an installer for macOS.

At the moment I used Redmine for features and TheHitList for ideas and to-dos. Redmine comes from a one-click-installer from bitnami.org. It’s easy to install but a pain to update.

I do my “to-do” list the old fashion way…
I insert comments with the tag “TODO” and then have a small app that scans the XML project and writes a “report”
it was something that Microsoft built-in to VB.NET at some point.
as for change-log… Xojo has this neat “NOTE” module feature :slight_smile:

Changelog should absolutely be in your source code control system. It makes the notes actionable. You can unwind back to that change. That’s not something you can do with any other change log system. I fought against source control for a long time. Now I don’t know how I’d live without it.

(That comment is directed toward Tim Seyfarth, not you Dave. You have expressed your views on source control and the reasons for them. I respect that and do not intend to try and change your mind.)

I was just looking at Mantis

I made one with … Xojo ! to suit my needs, as I found all available apps were either complicated, or to light.
the software is almost free, but it takes time to make it, and it’s an excellent programming exercise !
small sqlite database with projects, customers, todos, log, and versions.
it still miss a nice feature: ability to record screen captures, but I’m will program it one day or another
and all apps I saw don’t have this feature which should be IMHO, they all are text based.

i use google keep or google sheets. multi platform, cloud based and super easy to use. keep allows you to save screenshots… todo lists, tags to identify versions, works even offline and much more… and still keep simple

don’t forget to make local backups. anything in the cloud can disappear quickly.
I personnaly don’t use anything from google that must store something, as they showed for years they can stop a useful service too quickly.

When I was doing consulting I primarily used Redmine for tracking projects and stuff.

You might also want to look into Trello.

[quote=356906:@Tim Seyfarth]I have git - but don’t know how to use it.
My projects use a combination of external and internal files, I heard git does not like that…

Maybe just a bit gun shy (or chicken)…

Tim[/quote]
You might try Subversion. It does handle externals quite well.

TortoiseSVN is a good client, as are the pre-built binaries from Wandisco.

The folks at VisuslSVN have a simple to use app for managing a server on Windows and it’s updated regularly.

I have used Fossil in the past and I am revisiting it again. It is open source with a simple BSD license.
http://www.fossil-scm.org/index.html/doc/trunk/www/index.wiki

It is a version control system that has a built in Wiki, bug tracking, and tech notes. It is a stand alone Web based system that you can install locally (on just about any OS). It can read and write to Git and other source code control systems. Setting it up with the pre-compiled binary takes about 1 minute and zero learning curve. Three steps: (1) download, (2) run the command line to create a repository named as you choose, (3) run the command line to launch the Web GUI.

The repository is a SQLite DB and the binary is a single file. Essentially to deploy it takes 2 files. You can have multiple repositories and keep different projects in different repositories. The deployment automatically gets your initial user ID from your local OS and creates a short random password that you can change. The whole system is elegantly simple yet it can be as “fancy” as you like if you want to add some extra effort.

It has an auto-sync mode (I have not ever tried) that will sync with a remote system (Fossil or others) if you are in a team or just want an “off site” backup. When you sync Fossil it moves your code, Wiki, bug tracking, and tech notes.

The use is pretty simple with it’s built in Web Server. Once you launch the Web Server (which you can use locally or on some remote machine) you probably can do just about anything without ever touching a command line if that is what you want.

It has evolved some since I used it a few years ago before I was doing any Xojo work.

I have looked at Git and I have been turned off and maybe a little scared by what appears to be the complexity. I don’t want the tools to manage a project to become a project itself. I am not afraid of command line tools but I just don’t want to memorize lots of new command line formats. I have looked at some of the tools mentioned here and I have done lots of “do it yourself” methods but I have always been impressed by the simplicity of Fossil yet it can be as complex as you desire if you want to take advantage of some advanced features.

Explore the Fossil Website and you may find it interesting. If nothing else you can set it up in 1 minute, play a while, and delete the directory if you don’t like it.

Food for thought.

I just started using Mantis bug tracker. It’s stand-alone and php/MySQL based. It was easy to get up and going and so far looking pretty good.

I use MS OneNote in conjunction with my VCS. Each project has a OneNote document and it’s included in the repository and updates.

I do too - now.

Had not heard of Bee, took a look and downloaded free trial and I love it. I think I am already dependent on it after 3 days.