Website Issue Tracker: Choosing One for Web Dev Teams
Last updated: October 2026
For as long as there have been computer developers there have been bugs (the first recorded one actually was a bug) and the necessity to track them. Thankfully when tracking computer bug we no longer need to jot notes in dusty lab journals.
Depending on the type of development and the sophistication required, software developers have a wide variety of bug and issue tracking options to select from. Most web developers (and creative teams) have a slightly different set of needs that many bug and issue tracking systems are not well suited for. In order to help find the best solution for your team here are the four (five if you’re lazy) categories that bug and issue tracking solutions fall into. No one solution is perfect, each has pros and cons, but some are better suited for web development and web design teams.
What bug tracking tool is designed for website projects rather than software development? Visual website issue trackers, also called website feedback tools, such as PageProofer, BugHerd and Marker.io. Instead of filling in a ticket, people pin notes directly on the live page, and the tool automatically captures the details developers need, which Jira-style trackers leave to the reporter to write down.
1. Do nothing
Ignorance is bliss and besides your development team is perfect, they never code bugs. Even if your team does slip up and a bug rears it’s ugly little head just close your eyes, ignore your coworkers and clients and chant “serenity now”.
Pros: it’s free
Cons: everything
2. Spreadsheets, Documents and Email
For many small web development teams this is standard operating procedure for issue tracking. It’s the digital equivalent of the old dusty lab journal. Everyone has email and can use a spreadsheet so why complicate things? This concept works great for the first few issues and then it spirals out of control. If you have ever tried to track bugs using a spreadsheet these questions are probably familiar:
- Who has the latest version of the spreadsheet?
- Why are the issues I added to the spreadsheet not there?
- Did anyone fix this issue yet?
- That bug just happened again, where are the notes about it?
Not exactly the types of questions you want your development team asking during crunch time when a deadline needs to be met. For web development teams that use traditional bug tracking software (see below) they can still get dragged into using spreadsheets and emails by clients and non-technical team members who don’t want to learn complicated software.
Pros: ease of use (initially), default for many non-technical users
Cons: difficult to keep synchronized for teams, no reporting capabilities, no automation
3. Project management tasks and todos
The next step up from using spreadsheets and emails to keep track of tasks and report issues is to use project management software. Basecamp, Trello and Asana are the big three in this group. Each service allows you to create projects and task lists, add users, assign tasks to users and keep information organized and synchronized across a group. For web development teams this type of setup can be a good solution for basic issue tracking (ie content updates, simple bugs) and todos. If detailed information about the bug is needed (ie operating system, browser, device) or specifics about the exact url or element that is having an issue your team will need something better suited to tracking bugs and not just managing todo lists.
Pros: easy to use, keeps information organized and synchronized between users
Cons: lack of detailed information for bug reporting
4. Traditional bug trackers
This is the established, mainstream category of bug and issue tracking solutions. Ask any software developer which bug tracking system they use and they will probably give you a system that falls into this category (JIRA, Bugzilla, Sifter, and about a thousand others). Almost all of the options in this group follow the same general use case:
- find a bug
- log into the bug tracking software
- create a new ticket
- what the issue is
- where it was found
- what was being done when it happened
- which OS/browser/device was being used when it happened
- assign the ticket to someone
- use reporting tools in software tools to see a list of tickets to track progress
For many types of software development these types of systems are a good fit. They offer a high level of flexibility to suit the various ways that software teams work and their reporting capabilities make it easy to see who is working on what, what the status is and when it should be done. There are a few major draw backs with these solutions: complicated to use, not always user friendly and high time costs for context switching (jumping back and forth between the software being developed and the bug tracking system). If your team is building software where they don’t need feedback from non-technical people during development, it’s probably an acceptable trade off of features versus usability to use one of these systems. For projects with many non-technical users providing feedback and logging issues you may want to consider a solution like visual issue tracking (see below) that offers detailed bug reporting in a more user friendly fashion.
Pros: detailed reporting, detailed bug data, integration with software processes
Cons: complicated to use, setup and configuration
5. Visual issue tracking
Also referred to as visual feedback tools or website feedback tools, services like PageProofer are built for teams making websites and web apps. They combine the ease of use of project management tools with the detailed bug data of traditional bug trackers. With PageProofer you add an embedded script to the site or use the Chrome/Edge extension, then pin notes directly on the live page, so issues get logged without ever leaving the website. For non-technical users, clicking on the page to leave a note means there is no learning curve, and guest feedback means clients can comment without creating an account. When something is easier to show than describe, they can add a screen recording.
For developers, each note automatically captures the element’s CSS selector and HTML, a screenshot, browser and device info, and any console and network errors. That means they can focus on fixing the issue instead of tracking down where and how it happened. Notes can also be sent on to tools such as Trello, Asana or Basecamp if that’s where your team manages its work. While not as flexible and configurable as traditional bug tracking solutions, visual feedback tools are designed for web projects, so they should meet the needs and workflow demands of most web development and design teams.
Pros: easy to use for clients and guests, detailed bug data captured automatically, screen recordings
Cons: suitable for web based projects only, less customization
Comparing the five approaches
| Approach | Who can log issues | Data captured automatically | Effort to set up | Multiple client sites | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Do nothing | Nobody, formally | None | None | Not handled | No one |
| Spreadsheets, documents and email | Anyone, including clients | None; reporters type everything | Very low | A separate sheet or thread per client, hard to keep in sync | A handful of issues on a small project |
| Project management tasks (Basecamp, Trello, Asana) | Anyone invited to the project, including clients | None; URL, browser and element details are typed by hand | Low | One project or board per client | Content updates, simple bugs and todos |
| Traditional bug trackers (JIRA, Bugzilla, Sifter) | Mostly developers and technical staff; hard for clients and non-technical users | None from the page; the reporter fills in the issue, where it was found and the OS/browser/device | High: setup and configuration | Clients usually need accounts and training on each project | Software teams that don’t need feedback from non-technical people |
| Visual issue tracking (PageProofer) | Anyone, including clients and guests without an account | CSS selector and HTML, screenshot, browser and device info, console and network errors | Low: add the embedded script or install the Chrome/Edge extension | PageProofer includes unlimited sites on every plan | Web development and design teams collecting feedback from clients |
Issue tracking when coding agents build the site
More websites are now built with coding agents like Claude Code and Cursor. They write code quickly, but they reliably miss problems that only show up in a real browser: spacing that’s slightly off, hover and focus states that don’t work, elements that overlap, and layouts that break at certain screen sizes. A person catches these in seconds.
That makes human review part of your issue tracking. Someone reviews the live site and pins notes in PageProofer, then PageProofer’s MCP server hands those notes, with the selector, screenshot and browser info, back to Claude Code or Cursor to fix, and the reviewer checks the result on the live page. For more on this workflow, see our guide to website bug tracking.
If you are interested in using a visual feedback tool for your web development and design team you can learn more about PageProofer here and try out PageProofer free for 15 days.
Here’s what some fellow web developers have to say about it.
“I can’t say enough about the service and will continue to tell others how great of a tool it is to designers and developers.” — Megan @ BBDO
“PageProofer makes internally QAing our clients’ websites easier, quicker, and more organized, direct integration with Basecamp means we don’t have to manage another system.” — Mike @ Chicago Digital
“PageProofer is a fantastic tool for our development toolbox. It eliminates the need for multiple spreadsheets and pdfs to track change requests, and gives us and our clients one simplified point for feedback creation, tracking, and sign-off.” — Joe @ Atomicmouse
FAQ
What is the simplest bug tracking tool for web agencies managing client feedback across multiple projects?
A visual website issue tracker is usually the simplest option, because clients just click on the page to leave a note. In PageProofer, guest feedback lets clients comment without creating an account, every plan includes unlimited sites so you can add each client project as it comes in, and notes can be pushed to Trello, Asana or Basecamp so they land in the tool your team already uses.
Can I use Jira or Trello as a website issue tracker?
You can, but on their own they rely on the reporter to type in the URL, the element, the browser and the device, which clients rarely do well. A visual tracker works in front of them rather than replacing them: feedback is collected on the live page with those details captured automatically, then sent on to your project tool. PageProofer integrates with tools such as Trello, Asana and Basecamp. For a Trello setup, see our guide to Trello issue tracking for web teams.
Do clients need an account to report website issues?
Not with PageProofer. Guest feedback lets clients and other reviewers pin notes on the page without signing up, and each note still captures the selector, screenshot and browser and device info for your developers.
PageProofer makes it simple to manage visual feedback.