I’ve used Deskaway.  I’ve been on BaseCamp projects.  I’ve tried other project management options, too.  They all have their good points.  They all cause irritations.

One common problem I’ve had with them is that they’re built for more involved and longer-term projects than those with which I’m usually involved.  If you’re managing a team of fifty people with assorted milestones and deadlines, they’d be awesome.  When you’re managing a team of three people working on a content creation project with a two-week turnaround, their just too “heavy”.

We’ve been building the infrastructure for Ad Astra Traffic for its official October launch.  One thing that I’ve desperately wanted is a good multi-user project management system that was intuitive enough for people unfamiliar with such things to use and that was lightweight enough to eliminate the confusion and annoyance that so often comes with software overkill.

After toying with the idea of a forum, something that I’ve seen others use effectively, I decided that I would prefer to come up with a custom solution built on a WordPress backbone.  So, that’s what I did.

When most people think of using WordPress for project management, they immediately think of the P2 / Prologue theme, which is a Twitter-esque multi-user theme that allows for real-time collaboration.  I can think of several situations for which P2 would be ideal.  Ad Astra Traffic, however, isn’t one of them.  Other methods rely on using WP’s admin panel as the management tool.  I can see how that might work, but I wanted something more intuitively structured.

I wanted something slightly different.  I started with Marcin Teodorcyzk’s “Frog Log 0.9.6” theme.  After making a few cosmetic customizations, I started piling on the plug-ins.  The site itself is password protected.  There’s a contact form for questions directed to the site admin.  I used a few plug-ins to create the correct client structure and automatic notifications to appropriate team members.  Individual posts outline project specs.  The design makes use of the comment function to create a space for ongoing dialog between those team members assigned to any individual project.  I’m able to password protect individual posts for any “top secret” projects that other team members shouldn’t be able to access.   Automated backups protect against project data and progress report losses.

It works.  It’s quick and it does the job.  While it has some obvious limitations, it’s a great way to manage collaboration and project oversight for fairly “self-contained” projects.

This is my first effort at using WordPress for project management, but I’m optimistic that it will do the job.  We’re testing it with our pre-launch clients and I’m sure we’ll come up with a few refinements between now and October.  Overall, however, I think it’s a workable solution for those working on smaller projects who don’t need a traditional project management sledgehammer to hammer a few tacks into the drywall.

Once I’m convinced we’re approaching a fully-tested and proven system, I hope to create a little “step by step” guide for those who might be looking for a way to use Wordpress as a light project management tool.