General Information
Name: SquishVersion 5.2.1Vendor Information Services Management IncHosting options only: Web hosted onlyCosts and plans: A little complicated because it is based on issues instead of users. A $600 entry-level plan will allow you to manage up to 2,500 issues over a 12-month period. Enterprise plans are available for companies that manage more than 20,000 issues annually. Free trial for 60 days. Languages: English
Basic features: Adding issues
Squish, a web-based issue tracker system, can be used to manage the status of client requests, tasks and project issues.
You can create a project by clicking on the Projects tab. The project homepage will be created once the short name is in lowercase.
Squish allows you to create a project. Remember to use lowercase for the short name. There are three types:
Bug
Request a Feature
Support Issue
This shows you which types of projects are best to use this tool: web and IT development, Agile projects, and projects where you need to manage client requests. It could also be used by operational teams such as a helpdesk.
It was easy to raise a feature request issue – it is an online form. If you wish to keep track of progress, you can upload attachments. You can also indicate the priority, but you cannot add a due date (or at least that’s what I couldn’t find).
The button to update an issue is located at the top of your screen. It seems strange to have to scroll up again to click it when it would be more natural to have it at the bottom. Sharepoint is set up in this way for list items, at least the version I use. It is something you will get used to.
Squish’s project homepage with open issues and your watchlist. Other features: adding users and notifying
It is easy to add users and then assign them to specific issues. To ensure you receive updates whenever something changes, you can also set up notifications. You can set up different levels of notification depending on the project:
Notify project managers on submit: Every time an issue is submitted, an email will be sent out to all project managers.
Notify users about assignment: An email will go to users when issues are assigned.
Notify your watchlist users about an update: All users who are following an issue will receive an email when the issue is updated.
Notify the user assigned about an update: An email will go to the user assigned whenever an issue is updated.
You can also set up notifications to be sent when issues are resolved.
This seems to be comprehensive. You can also go into the system at any given time and view the progress of issues.
You won’t find a Gantt chart, as you would expect from a product not designed for project management, but you can view a timeline that shows the activities.
What about reports?
Reports are available, but they are called statistics and show how many issues are open at any given time. These are the standard statistical reports available:
Issue count
Issue grid
Most viewed
Most watched
Recent issues
Resolved issues
Trending topics
Submission grid
There are many ways to report on open issues.
SquishIn summary…
It is simple to use if you only need a simple issue tracking logging system. This is not the right tool for project management, including budgeting, time tracking, and project scheduling. It is expensive for issue management purposes, and costs $50 per month, based on an annual plan. To make it worthwhile, you would need to manage a large project with multiple issues. You also need to have access to the system for multiple sites. Redmine, which I have used in the past, is a free alternative to Squish.