Ask HN: How do you track issues, todos, features?

Zenhub (integrates with github), Bugsnag.

I use GitHub issues and labels. Every issue starts out with a backlog label, when I pull it off the backlog, I assign it to a team member, add in-progress label, and the assigned member will go through it and apply an estimate label saying how long they think it'll take to do. When they're finished, they'll submit a pull request mentioning the issue, and apply a spent label signifying how long it actually took them.

All issues also get scope and type labels. Type signifying bug, feature, hotfix, etc. Scope saying what piece of the software it's for.

We also use milestones for releases. Each release gets a codename, and that codename is used for the milestone and all backlog and in-progress issues are applied to the release it's meant for.

Right now there's no UI for anything, but we're building internal tools that create a visual of this whole system for us.

I'm a fan of JIRA but wouldn't really call it "clean, simple".

I keep trying out new tools and always go back to txt files and a notepad with a daily list of things todo and weekly things.

We're using Asana at the moment. It's decent, but flawed, so I'm not happy. We've been through Pivotal, Lighthouse and Trello, and one team is still using JIRA.

That said, our use case is explicitly tracking backlog — work that needs to get done. My philosophy is that any issue tracker that is treated as a database and that disassociates items from assignments will decay into a pile of rot almost immediately. Especially bugs. Don't put anything into the database that does not represent work to be done within the next few days.

So we use Asana as a collaboration tool that brings together stakeholders, information and assets. Typical workflow: Account manager brings issue to attention of project manager, who brings it to attention of developer, who does the work, sends it back so customer can be notified. Task goes away. Another typical workflow is an actual project, with steps to complete and a launch timeline.

The only way, in my experience, to manage bugs is to give them to a project manager. The PM triages: Forget or hide the unimportant ones away in a drawer, and fix the important ones ASAP. Bugs that linger aren't important enough to consider. Sometimes everyone is too busy and the bugs are important but not critical; schedule a single day of the week when everyone puts aside their main work and plow through the bug backlog. We call them "bug days".

For new features, use something else, like Google Docs. But it will rot, too. It's better to do whiteboard sessions that are turn into discrete tasks and discrete projects.