Wiki, project management, document management software

[cr2sh]

Hello folks,

This might be the first thread I've ever started... not exactly sure what I was asking for. So here goes, wasteland be damned.

I've got a job that I'm trying to build a website/database for. It's a big job that consists of several teams of people, all working on different phases, all producing hundreds of documents... and I'm trying to keep it all organized.

Every team will be doing the exact same things... I've got a list of deliverables that I expect from them for every task they complete. They'll all be completing the tasks, creating a deliverable, going to the website and submitting the file.

I'd like the submission to be logged including a username.. so that it shows up on a dynamic project calender.

There are a lot of other things I'd like this site to do... including a lot of automation of tasks that I'd like to build in later... so open source would be fantastic.

I've considered buying a project management suite... but I've yet to find one that is as customizable as I want (and easy for the field crews to use). I've thought about using a wiki in some weird way... creating articles for every phase, with file submissions... but I can't quite get my brain around the whole problem.

I'm too far "in" the problem to really get on top of it.. so I'm asking for ideas. Anyone have anything?




---edit---
I'm trying to come up with an easy way to create a china cabinet, with a bunch of drawers (90 to be exact), and every drawer has about 100 slots... I want a very specific piece of paper to go in every slot and I want it to be logged. Every drawer will have the same slots. I want it to be easy to use... and I want to be able to add more drawers REALLY easily.

 

[geodome]

Actually you can use SMF with the Wiki theme installed.

SMF stands for Simple Machine Forum. More information can be obtained at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Machines_Forum

 

[cr2sh]

I've found a microsoft dot net application called dotnetnuke, which appears to have a lot of modules built in that I'm interested in.

I appreciate your link, I've heard of it. At this point I'm still very into all suggestions, thank you.

 

[tristan]

I think most project management software will disappoint you - no matter what, you'll be the guy that has to enter all the info, and you'll be the only one who can read, understand, and update the plan.

Low-tech but surprisingly flexible option - make an excel worksheet to organize it all. All 60+ people in my group can understand and fill out excel forms with a minimum of coaching and feedback. You can split the excel worksheet into pieces, give each piece to a responsible party, then collect them every day and combine.

Then put it all on some common web file sharing platform. At work we use Sharepoint, but Livelink or any document management system with some version control would work. People check out their forms, make updates, and then check them back in. You monitor that system. (Much easier then trying to keep up with 200 emailed spreadsheets a day.)

Than put in a ticket system to track workflow, like enhancements and defects. We use rational clearquest but like most IBM products it sucks. There's probably a million out there both super expensive and free.

Those three tools will get you a long way. The next step beyond that is to put something database driven together.

 

[geodome]

If you are interested in portal application, SMF can be extended using a plugin call Tiny Portal. It not only converts SMF into a portal, but also allow you to install the Wiki theme.

Tiny Portal is demonstrated at this website: http://www.tinyportal.net

 

[growlman]

I think most project management software will disappoint you - no matter what, you'll be the guy that has to enter all the info, and you'll be the only one who can read, understand, and update the plan.

You're talking about standard tools, like ms project. But there are apps that can make this whole thing easy for you. Some tools, wrike for example, let your whole team create, edit and update tasks and then build reports out of this data.

Letting your team to have more freedom is a great thing. People even build project management approaches, based on this.