Bug Tracking in LiquidPlanner [Newly Updated]

I get a lot of questions about how to use LiquidPlanner for (or in addition to) bug tracking software.  We have LiquidPlanner customers doing both, depending on the nature of their team, the systems that are already in place, etc. Several customers are using our API to integrate with GitHub, Jira, and Bugzilla. Internally, we use LiquidPlanner and only LiquidPlanner for filing, tracking, collaborating on, and verifying bugs & incidents.

Why? At the end of the day, we want to track bugs along with the rest of our work—in our schedule. Bugs need to be assigned, estimated, and prioritized alongside our project work, based on their severity and impact. We fix bugs (new and existing) in every release of LiquidPlanner, and since LiquidPlanner is the one system we all look at every day, it doesn’t make sense for us to track them in a separate system.

But how, you might ask, does it actually work? Here are the gory details.

First, we have a single place to collect new bugs.  They all get sent to a Package called “UNTRIAGED,” which is the central holding place for new bugs, feature requests, ideas, and tasks until we can process them (Figure 1).  This Package has a relatively high priority position in the "Projects" page of LiquidPlanner, just under our urgent work and active sprint releases.

For us, bugs come to our attention in a variety of ways. They might be reported by a customer via email, found during the testing process or through our normal use of the tool, or sent to us as a system alert.

To get these items into LiquidPlanner, most of us use email integration. This “UNTRIAGED” Package has its own email address, which we’ve all added to our address books. When we mail an issue into LiquidPlanner, we automatically create a new “task” for tracking.

Using the subject line of the email, we can:

• Name the bug (usually it starts with “Bug: XXXXX”)
• Assign the bug to any member of our workspace
• Estimate it in any unit we want (2-4h, .5-1d)

The attached documents and body of the email (including screenshots, repro steps, or error messaging) get saved to the Details page of LiquidPlanner, ensuring that all relevant information stays with the item as it goes through our workflow.

Next, we have twice-weekly meetings to process our “UNTRIAGED” bugs. During those meetings, we review every new item, and assign, estimate, and prioritize it. Some bugs get moved into the current sprint, others get pushed into the staging sprint or out to the backlog. If a new bug is assigned to a developer, they get notified via email and it shows up on their personal tasklist.

We typically structure the work in each release into several major categories, one of which is “Bugs.” This allows us to view, analyze, and report on them as a group, separate from other tasks like new features or tech debt. However, as you can see in Figure 2, the amount of work associated with bugs is non-trivial – hence our interest in tracking them in conjunction with our other project work!

All comments, collaboration, updates, and files associated with the bugs are stored on the Details Page. This includes references to specific customers who may have been affected.  Sometimes this information can pile up, but since the most recent comments, documents, and links are added to the top of the list, it’s pretty easy to stay on top of the latest happenings for each item. We also have LiquidPlanner integrated with our source control system, so that applicable references/commit notifications are automatically added as comments to the bug.

Finally, once the bug has been fixed, we assign it back to the creator (or a tester) for verification. By simply switching ownership of the task, we can move it through an informal workflow that doesn’t bog us down in process. (The person who created the item is also notified by email that they have a new assignment.) Once the fix has been verified, the item is marked done and becomes part of our (fully searchable) archive for later reference.  Voilà!

We recently added new custom fields that allow us to track our bugs even more effectively. We've created a custom field for "bugs", "feature requests", etc. And, when a new issue comes up, we simply assign the appropriate custom field. This is great for filtering in the plan and for reporting purposes!

Naturally, you can argue that LiquidPlanner lacks some of the features of a dedicated bug management system. I’ll give you that. But what it lacks in dedicated features it makes up for in ease of use, simplicity, and integration into our other processes.

How To Tell LiquidPlanner That You're Going On Holiday

Ah, holiday. Vacation. Time spent not working. No matter how you say it, the concept of getting away from the office and instead, taking tightrope walking classes in Paris, for example, is incredibly exciting. Or maybe your idea of a perfect vacation is to spend 48 hours straight in your living room catching up on Downton Abbey. There’s no judgment here.

However, before you pack up and head off for distant, unknown lands, there’s one thing you need to remember to do: tell LiquidPlanner about your upcoming absence. Why? LiquidPlanner is constantly trying to predict and build the most accurate schedule it can for you and your team.

So if you’re not available to work at some point, LiquidPlanner needs to know so that it doesn’t schedule you for work during those dates. You wouldn’t want LiquidPlanner to think you’re working on those website specs when you’re actually perfecting cannonballs while cliff diving in Fiji, right? To tell LiquidPlanner about your holiday, you’ll need to create an event. Many teams like to do this by creating a package called “Events,” and then having each team member put their own personal events in that same package. Here’s how to get started:

1. Go to the Add button at the top of your Projects page. Click “Package.”
2. An edit pane will pop up. Call the package “Events.”
3. After it’s added to your project plan, the Events package may drop to the bottom of your page. For ease of reference, drag and drop that package to the top.

Now on to adding the event itself. You say you’re climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in June? Sounds a little insane, but good for you! To add this event or so called “vacation” (did I mention I think you’re nuts?) to your new Events package:

1. Go back to the Add button and select “Add an Event.”
2. The edit pane will pop up. Rename the event something like “Mt. Kilimanjaro” or “Someone Please Talk Me Out of This.”  
3. Double-check that the event is assigned to you.
4. Enter the calendar dates in which you’ll be gone. This is one of the only times that LiquidPlanner will ask you for hard dates. 
5. Hit save. 

LiquidPlanner will automatically recalculate your project plan, flowing work around your holiday. You’ll know instantly if your little jaunt will cause any project deadlines to become at risk, and you can go put out those fires before the big day comes.

Feeling a little foggy about this process still? Our Support Manager Mary Ellen can give you a visual tour step-by-step in our new training video, “Planning Events": 

And no matter where your travels take you: Bon voyage!

All New LiquidPlanner Online Project Management Training Videos

Last year was a huge year for us, but I’ve got a feeling that 2012 is going to be even bigger. And what better way to kick the year off then with a full set of brand new training videos for you and your team to enjoy?

Start with Part 1 as an introduction to LiquidPlanner, and proceed through to your desired topic (we’ve got everything from “Logging Progress” to “Multi-Project Management” covered). Whatever questions you may have, our Support Manager Mary Ellen will walk you through the steps needed to get your work done in LiquidPlanner. Whether you’re a Workspace Owner, a individual contributor, a 30-day trial-er or a longtime LiquidPlanner user, we can guarantee that you’ll learn at least one new thing from these videos.

Part 1: Introduction to LiquidPlanner

Part 2: Creating Project Plans

Part 3: Date Calculations and Scheduling Tools

Part 4: Multi-Project Management

Part 5: Events

Part 6: Logging Progress

Part 7: Command Menus and View Gallery

Part 8: Filters

Part 9: Recap of Key Concepts

You can watch these videos any time on our website or on the LiquidPlanner YouTube channel (don't forget to subscribe!). What is the next training video we should produce? Give us your thoughts in the comments.

It's a New Year! How to Use LiquidPlanner to Prepare for 2012

In December, I used the quiet time between Christmas and New Years to set up LiquidPlanner for 2012. As an independent consultant, providing project management to a variety of businesses and non-profit organizations, I need to accomplish two major things when planning out my work for the year:

• Filling the pipeline
• Avoiding taking on more than I can handle

LiquidPlanner helps me do both these things and in turn, manages to keep me out of trouble. Here’s a step-by-step description of my process for preparing LiquidPlanner (and myself) for the New Year:

First, I created all the projects and tasks that have to be completed in the coming year. My volunteer commitments were the easiest to model. For example, my Toastmasters group has 90-minute meetings twice a month, so I created a project named “Toastmasters Member 2012.” I used the “Add Multiple Tasks” function to quickly create two dozen tasks to represent those meetings.

 

Second, I created a package for the year, and then within that package, I added 12 more packages, one for each month. 

I then put each task into the appropriate month’s package. It’s my practice to place every LiquidPlanner task into both a folder and a package. In this way, I can estimate both at the project level and at the calendar level.

Planning my projects and tasks for my consulting business is more difficult to model. It’s often true that in December, I don’t know what my big projects will be in the coming year. However, this year I have several ongoing projects as well as some big proposals in the queue. I had used LiquidPlanner to model the proposed projects before I submitted bids, and I already had a good sense of how much time I should budget for those projects. It was simple to plug the appropriate tasks into the months when I believed the work would take place.

And there we have it - by using LiquidPlanner, I saw that the month of June could be quite full if I were to receive all the contracts I’ve bid on. As I negotiate with other clients, I’ll keep this in mind so that I don’t end up overloaded.

LiquidPlanner is an integral part of both my daily work flow and my monthly planning, and I can’t imagine running my consulting practice without it.

With over 20 years of project management experience, Lisa Sieverts specializes in improving organizational project success rates. She owns and manages Facilitated Change, an independent project management consulting firm based in Harrisville, NH.  Lisa teaches project management at the Masters degree level at Marlboro College Graduate School and Northeastern University College of Professional Studies. Since 2001, she has been certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP) by the Project Management Institute (PMI), a global leader in the development of standards for the practice of project management. Previously, she worked for Hewlett-Packard in California and Idaho as a project manager in the HP Services division.

A Tale of Two Chefs: How Estimation Can Save (Or Ruin) Your Holiday Dinner [Illustration]

One thing that really sets LiquidPlanner apart from other online project management software is our belief in the power of ranged estimates. LiquidPlanner customers make best case/worst case estimates when planning their projects and tasks, and we think this creates a more realistic project schedule. Because you know what? Life happens. And sometimes, things don't go according to plan, even when you're trying to cook the perfect turkey for your holiday celebration. We'll let Laura and Marcy explain the rest.

Click here for larger image and code to embed on your site.