Open Source Tasks Management Collaboration Online Tools: Gitea Over Google Docs

I'm part of a volunteering association that organizes competitions and teaching sessions for teenagers, helping them solve algorithmic riddles. Like any team working towards a common goal, we need to coordinate our efforts efficiently and effectively. Currently, task management, event organization, and collaboration are mainly done through Google Docs. In this post, I'd like to argue why we should switch to a Gitea-based system.

Why do we need a tool in the first place?

When working on a collaborative project, especially one with multiple people and tasks, it’s easy to lose track of what needs to be done next. A lot of time can be wasted just figuring out the current state of tasks. This includes determining which tasks have already been completed, which ones are still pending, and how much work is left.

A good task management tool should help answer these questions quickly and easily, while also being able to write down even small tasks without friction. It should allow the team to prioritize tasks so that everyone knows what needs to be done next. Additionally, a structured system helps gauge the overall workload, making it easier to distribute tasks evenly and ensure nothing is missed.

We also need a way to document the tasks and processes in a way that is useful for future events. By organizing tasks and tracking progress, we can create a reference that will streamline planning for next year.

Why do I think that Google Docs is not ideal?

While Google Docs excels at collaborative document editing, it’s not built for task management. When you mix tasks with other forms of documentation, it becomes difficult to keep track of everything. For small sets of tasks, Google Docs might suffice, but as the number of tasks grows, managing them becomes cumbersome.

Google Docs doesn’t provide filtering, labeling, or task assignment options, which are essential for keeping track of progress. Without these features, you might have to dig through pages of unrelated information just to find out what still needs to be done. Additionally, tasks are often recorded in the order they were discussed, but that may not reflect the best order for completing them, which leads to inefficiency.

Although Google Docs is familiar to most people, offers real-time collaboration, and requires little onboarding, it falls short as a tool for open-source tasks management. Many people in our association prefer open-source tools, and Google Docs doesn’t align with that preference. For a team that values transparency, flexibility, and control, finding a better tool that fits our philosophy and needs is important when it comes to choosing collaboration online tools.

Why am I proposing switching to Gitea?

Gitea, an open-source platform for Git hosting, is a natural fit for our association’s needs. Since we already use Gitea for other tasks, incorporating task management into the same system simplifies our workflow. We won’t need to jump between different tools, which reduces confusion and allows us to consolidate all our information in one place.

One of Gitea’s strengths is its ability to track issues, assign tasks, and use labels to categorize work. Labels offer much more flexibility than folders, allowing us to tag tasks by priority, status, or category. This makes it easier to see what still needs to be done and assign tasks based on their importance or urgency.

A significant advantage of Gitea is its internal linking capabilities. Tasks can be linked to other issues, documents, or even branches of code. This interconnectivity makes it easy to reference important information and keep everything organized. For example, you can link tasks directly to event schedules, participant lists, or budget documents, making navigation much smoother.

Additionally, Gitea provides a web editor for non-technical users, allowing them to edit, comment, and create issues without the need for the command line. Power users can take advantage of advanced features like creating branches and merging changes, but the platform remains accessible to everyone. Discussions can also be more structured through merge requests, which ensure accountability and track changes over time.

Although Gitea lacks real-time collaboration, this can be mitigated by integrating a tool like Hedgedoc. While Gitea might not feel as intuitive as Google Docs at first, the benefits it offers for open source tasks management, combined with its flexibility and control, make it a better choice for our association.

In conclusion, switching to Gitea for collaborative task management allows us to streamline our processes, enhance task organization, and keep all information in one place. While Google Docs has its advantages for general collaboration, Gitea offers the structure, flexibility, and features we need to manage our tasks effectively.