News

The second alpha preview of the WebIssues Server and Client version 1.0 was released today. This version introduces the concept of views, which allow defining the columns, sort order and filtering criteria of issues displayed in the list. Views are stored on the server and can be used with both the Web Client and the Desktop Client. They can be defined by individual users as well as by administrators for public use. Views replace the concept of client-side filters and column settings available in version 0.9.x of the WebIssues Client.

A few most important bugs were also fixed in this version; however this is still an alpha version and it can only be used for testing purposes, because there is no possibility of updating this version from an older version or to a newer one. The source and installation packages can be downloaded from the Development page.

It took a really long time and lots of work, but the first alpha development version of WebIssues 1.0 is finally released. The WebIssues Server package now contains an integrated Web Client application and an Administration Panel which allow using all features of the system without having to install the client application. The WebIssues Desktop Client however still remains the main interface for accessing the system and the main strength of WebIssues. The new version contains many improvements, including a redesigned issue details view, more usable dialog for adding and editing issues and many others.

Capabilities of attributes were extended with several often requested features. Attributes can now hold up to 255 characters with support for multi-line text and the ability to localize number and date formats. On the other hand some features of the current stable version are not yet available in this release, especially watches and notifications. These functions will be redesigned and implemented in next releases, together with the possibility of moving and deleting issues and folders, editing and deleting comments and many more features.

You can download the alpha packages from the Development page. Please keep in mind that the alpha version is only released for testing purposes and should not be used in production. It is not possible to update an older version of the server to this version and it will not be possible to update this version to a newer one in the future, so do not store important information in it. Please feel free to post opinions, suggestions and bug reports to our forums and let us know if you want to contribute to testing and developing the new version.

A few days ago Pramatr announced the release of WebIssues Mylyn Connector. Mylyn is a task framework for the Eclipse IDE which can connect to many popular issue trackers. With the WebIssues Connector you can now use Mylyn to access, create and modify issues directly within Eclipse without having to install the WebIssues Client. See the release announcement for more information.

One of the main design goals of WebIssues is to build a platform for accessing information from many different environments, including desktop, web, and integration with other applications. The connector is surely a great step in that direction. Pramatr also created a WebIssues Protocol API for Java which allows communicating with the WebIssues Server. We will be collaborating together to provide even more functionality with version 1.0 of WebIssues.

In the meantime we made significant progress with the WebIssues Web Client, which is almost ready for the alpha release. There is still some work to do with the Desktop Client, so the most realistic date of the release is beginning of May. Although it will be a testing only version and will be far from being complete, it will have many new features, including better internationalization support, extended attribute types and a completely redesigned issue details view.

Version 0.8.5 of the WebIssues Server and version 0.9.6 of the WebIssues Client were released today. These releases contain mostly minor improvements and bugfixes as development is now focused on the new 1.0 version. A WebIssues Client bundle for OS X is now available and also compatibility with KDE4 was improved, making the system even more cross platform than ever. Big thanks to Azevedo Filipe, the author of Monkey Studio, for his help in this area.

The first alpha release of version 1.0 will be slightly delayed and will be available in the first quarter of 2010. After a long time looking for help without success, the WebIssues Team finally has two active members. However I'm still looking for more skilled PHP developers to join us, as there is a lot of work to do. Also please support the project by donating even a small amount of money.

Version 0.9.5 of the WebIssues Client is available for download. It features the possibility of customizing the layout of the UI and improves usability of the application, especially on machines with high resolution screens. A new three-pane layout of the main window was introduced which resembles many e-mail clients and makes it possible to work with folders and issues without opening additional windows. Also the layout of the issue details view can be changed so that issue details are displayed to the left or above the history.

There are many other functional improvements and bug fixes in this release. The Dashboard view has been completely rewritten and has a new look and feel. The default sort order can now be permanently changed for issues of each type. It is possible to select and copy text of properties and attributes in the issue details view. The toolbars have been redesigned so there are more icons for frequently used functions and the appearance of the Windows style was improved. A crash occurring in some cases when deleting an attribute was fixed, handling cookies was improved and a few other bugs were fixed. Also new Czech and Portuguese (Brazil) translations were added and the existing translations were updated.

For a while it's going to be the last release of WebIssues as work on version 1.0 of both the server and the client is now in progress. Like I said I'd like the first alpha preview to be released by the end of this year, but finishing it to a stable final version will definitely take much more time. Thank you for your feedback and help so far and I hope you're going to keep supporting the WebIssues project at this major milestone.