BUGtrack is what issue management applications should be: a helpful web-based tool that makes your life easier.

We especially liked its clean interface, its issue report form, its email functions, and API capabilities.

Right from the start, BUGtrack's look makes it easy to know what to do: the simple menu buttons at the top are relevant: no cryptic categories to decipher. The system is fast, making it easy to go from one category to the next without lengthy delays.

When filling out an issue or bug report, we were surprised at how easy it was to choose the options, and highly pleased to realise not only could we attach files, we were allowed to format text! This is very useful when dealing with documentation: a user that suggest a correction or addition that will only need to be cut and pasted in the document. This clever idea is also a great tool to make long reports easier to read.

Another way to create or update records is the email interface. With a simple email to the system, BUGtrack creates or updates and issue, adds file attachments and even creates a new account if the sender is not registered in the system. This keeps the discussion thread in one place that is easy to access. This great feature is a clever way to communicate with contractor or clients without giving them access to BUGtrack.

Filters, statistics and reports are available to users and administrators alike. These can show the development team's workload and efficiency or simply display issues relevant to the user's tasks. The designers of BUGtrack had the clever idea to make filters that could be saved and switched by the users, so the list of issues to fix can be adapted to the day's schedule and objectives.

BUGtrack's designers then went on to create a practical tool to invite users to the new BUGtrack account easily. An email is already setup with all the information required for first-time users. The administrator simply adapts the system to the organization's products and terminology, then sends an email to all users to log in and start using the system. This is a major time saver for administrators and project managers.

BUGtrack is fully customizable, from its logo to reports and user access. Access rights are defined by role and project; hence clients, tester and programmers alike can contribute to the development process safely.

Application program interface (API) capabilities for BUGtrack range from the usual email interface, report customization and database queries to the original project sharing, a very interesting feature. Project sharing permits several BUGtrack accounts to share specific projects. For example, if programmers from company A contract documentation to company B, they can invite company B to contribute to the project through BUGtrack's project sharing feature.

In conclusion, we found BUGtrack to be a very clever, practical issue tracking system that actually does what it is supposed to do: to help you keep track of issues and tasks during the development process.

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