João Prado Maia’s Weblog

So the support for custom field is pretty much finished, at least for this first version of the system. Custom fields can be created and assigned at a project level, and the fields show up in the ‘Report an Issue’ screen, as well as the anonymous post form. Users can also update the values of the custom fields.

I worked on the software a little more, and added a couple of features that will make the system easier to use. Now when an user is assigned to only one project, the login process will not ask the user to select a project – it only makes sense, right ?

I also finally had the patiente to go over the CVS integration script and fix it up so that it works with a variety of ways:

cvs -q commit -m “Message here (issue: 24)” file.ext
cvs -q commit -m “Message here (issue #24,#56)” file.ext
cvs -q commit -m “Message here (bug: 24)” file.ext
cvs -q commit -m “Message here (bug: #24,56)” file.ext

The commands above will notify Eventum and it will archive these changes as associated with the appropriate issues/bugs.

Pretty productive weekend, come to think of it.

Phillip Smith from the Window Maker project made me agree on developing custom fields in the first version of Eventum. I knew that custom fields were a common requirement from customers of bug tracking systems, but I also always thought they would be pretty difficult to implement.

It ended up that it was pretty easy to add that feature. The support right now is pretty simple, but you can basically create custom fields at a project level. That is, you can create a custom field named ‘Operating System’ for project ‘Application XYZ’ and another custom field named ‘Version’ for project ‘Application ABC’.

After this feature is completely tested and committed, I’ll go back to work in the reporting section of the system.

I have been working in Eventum for quite a while now, always thinking that my work would be appreciated whenever I would release the first version of it. The last few items on my TODO list for version 1.0 are almost done, but my main focus the past few weeks is related to how I can market this system.

The normal marketing option of serving ads in websites that possible customers visit seems a little bit too expensive to me right now. So I have been thinking of ways to get the word out about the product, and get some word of mouth marketing going on ;)

Anyone out there with experiences with something like this ? How do you get your product recognized as a viable alternative against the dozens of half-assed solutions or expensive-get-all-your-quarter-budget-money systems ?

Is it too much to ask to be able to value your personal time off from work (that is, any time that you are not working) ? I find more and more that people think it is ‘bad team spirit’ to complain about having to work 17 hours a day and not get a full day off the next day.

I mean, I don’t have a problem with working hard and making sure our work is done right. I also don’t have a problem with working extra hours a few times each month, which is currently far less than what I needed to endure in my ‘start-up’ days. However, why is it such a bad thing to value the time I spend with my family ?

As a side note, my current job and management are really good. Everyone in my team is a good person and fun to be around with. But what I’m really trying to get at is that I want to be able to complain about having to work 22 hours in two days without having to look like a bastard. :)

Anyone with similar stories ?

Lately I have been trying to finish the work in Eventum and release the first version. However, I can’t seem to concentrate with all of this war related talk going on. Is it just me ?

In other news, looks like the Window Maker project will be using Eventum as its bug tracking system. All we need now is for them to publicize it on their website and start using it! :)