Card Checklists

Checklists are todo lists embedded in ThetaBoard Cards. You can create multiple Checklists for on each card and sort them in order of importance. Make sure you visit your "Account Preferences" page to enable this feature! Or you can enable them on a Board-by-Board basis.

To create a Checklist click the "+ New Checklist" link on your Card. To add multiple items to your Checklist, type "Control + Enter" after you have finished entering your item--you will save the current item and create a new one for you.

Use Cases

We think you'll find Checklists invaluable for when you can't logically split a card into two separate cards but want to provide a more granular level of detail.

Coming Soon

We are planning on updating the Checklist feature in the coming weeks to allow you to create a new Card from a single Checklist item. If you have any other ideas or suggestions, please let us know!

"the only problem is we have project management web app fatigue."

and

"This is a service that I've seen before. Not yours of course, but others like it."

Very similar comments telling me that web-based project management tools are a dime-a-dozen. These were not vitriolic comments mind you. They just wanted to know why they should consider--and I should bother writing--yet another project management tool.

Your Project Management Tool Sucks to Everyone But You

Everyone works differently so it makes sense that everyone's ideal project management software would be different. Invariably, if you get a team of 5 people to use a tool, at least one of them will not like the tool you've choosen. At best, you can get people to suck it up and use the tool in front of them. However, in time, the process will begin to break down and ultimately the tool will be abandoned. What is the longest you've stuck with the same project management tool?

Your Software Shits on the Agile Manifesto

The very first tenet of the Agile Manifesto is:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

It would lead you to believe that tools developed to faciliate agile software development would practice what they preach. Unfortunately they don't. Project Management software nearly always tries to impart its genius new process designed to supercharge your development.

Unfortunately, the development process you have built into your software is your process. Your customers likely don't share your vision. You may actually convince them that it will improve their process so they sign up for your product. It's their job to convince their team members. It doesn't work.

By introducing your genius new workflow/project management tool you are putting the focus of your software development on the tool and forcing your individual team members to adjust. It's as unagile as it gets.

Don't get me wrong, a lot of these tools are slick as hell. And I'm not saying they aren't great products. I'm sure they help a lot of people get a lot done. But they all put process and tool ahead of individuals and interaction.

So What's So Special About ThetaBoard

• Simplicity at it's core. ThetaBoard is going to be a barebones (yet effective) tool for keeping track of projects and tasks.
• Customizable. You will be able to customize your ThetaBoard to fit your company's development process. Furthermore, your users will be able to further customize their ThetaBoard experience so they like it more.
• Extensible. Users will be able to add functionality to ThetaBoard's core functionality through APIs.

I think that the #1 reason people stop using a tool is because it contains too many unused features. There is something psychological about that excess, waste and clutter. I think that if I can create a tool that removes all of this excess, people will use it and use it longer.

ThetaBoard Sucks Too

I know. In fact I constantly find myself violating the first tenet of the Agile Manifesto myself. I've let terms like "iterations" and "stories" creep into the design and code. I constantly find myself making decisions on behalf of my future users. When this happens, I stand back, and rip out the functionality and start over.

There are two camps that won't ever like ThetaBoard: people who feel like ThetaBoard imparts its own process on them and those who need much more functionality. I'm going strive to make the first group of users very, very small. I'm going to simply ignore the latter.

What you see now is an MVP that's taken a wrong turn. I've gone back to the drawing board and started a complete redesign to stick more closely to the vision described above. When ThetaBoard finally leaves beta and I start adding premium plans, I think it will be a tool that sits in the background and adapts to your process letting you really supercharge your development.

Discussion on Hacker News

ThetaBoard is a simple tool for helping you get things done. Use it as an agile project management tool. Use it to plan your Thanksgiving dinner. Use it to plan your fantasy football draft. We'll keep it simple and you do the rest.

We hope you find our product useful and this blog informative. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email us at support@thetaboard.com. 

Thanks!

The ThetaBoard Team