Great application guys. Here are some really useful ways to improve how I use it (and hopefully a lot of other users):

1. Import milestones from a list, XML or iCal file.
   - Adding 10 at a time is nice but I’d prefer a big text box rather than having to tab through form boxes. I often use basecamp in tandem with Merlin or Project, and it’s terribly time consuming to maintain dates in both applications. Being able to import milestone titles and dates from XML or iCal would be super useful.
2. Baseline the milestones / remember original dates
   - I often have to move a milestone due to schedule, workload and resource fluctuations. It’s great to be able to push all future milestones out, but the system doesn’t remember the original date I had set. That would be really nice for project post-mortems.
3. Dependencies
   - It would be great to make certain milestones dependent on completion of other milestones.

Just realized another one – track the date a milestone is marked complete. Thanks!

1. adjust the number of days/weeks visible on the milestones page
2. change the first day of the week
3. include a time/comment along with date

This is to make a great project even better. Not all of us have Monday through Friday weeks. Including a shared calendar version of the one from Backpack would be a help as well.
Thanks!

I would love to see dependencies. I don’t think it adds any complexity.

For example. We have a project whose final milestones few are set in stone. It must end on an exact date. But some of the middle milestones have some wiggle room. I would love to be able to move one milestone forward a few days and have the 2 or 3 milestones that depend on that one to shift forward without shifting forward those final few steps. The system should only warn me if the shift causes an overlap. As it is now, for those projects I have to shift milestones forward one-at-a-time because the single “shift” checkbox is out of the question.

I’ll second Judi’s request for dependencies. It’s a glaring hole in the basecamp project.

I’ll THIRD the dependency issue. This is a critical requirement in Project Management, and very basic.

Also, I noticed what I’m hoping is just a bug. When you view milestones from the Milestone tab they present in chronologic order but when you vie them from the Summary tab, they’re out of order.

+1 for dependencies although I can see how this would be a big change step (multiple dependencies, lags times, SF/FS sequencing etc). If we could just get due dates first, maybe with the ability to post notes to the todo this would be a great step forward whilst heading for dependency mapping.

I know this has been brought up several times, but it is very important for our company so I will request it again.

Private Milestones – So often we need a couple days to review information internally before posting to the client.

There is an easy solution of making an internal policy to have work completed the day before the posted milestone. However, this is a tough policy to enable when you have short turn around on deliverables. Most often this policy ends up effecting the client by moving the milestones extra days into the future.

This could all be resolved by private milestones.

PLEASE

I’d like to see Milestones being created via to-dos. Currently we’re scheduling to-dos and then having to schedule milestones – double the trouble. Or are we going about it incorrectly?

VERY simple thing: it would be easier for me to add 10 milestones at a time if a calender were visible on that page. Most of my milestones are more related to DAY of the week than DATE of the week :)

it would be nice to: 2. change the first day of the week … This is to make a great project even better. Not all of us have Monday through Friday weeks.

Bingo. Changing the first day of the week would be wonderful. I am astonished that this isn’t an option.

Milestones with specific times would be nice. The milestones are subscribed to using the iCal format, so being able to specify “all day” (the current default and only option) vs. a start and end time only makes sense. Come on people!

I would like to second the request for private milestones. It would greatly improve our ability to collaborate with clients while keeping certain targets internal.

I agree w/ Patricia T. I would also like the option of a calendar present when +adding ten milestones. The drop down menu is simply too much trouble. I’d much rather see a calendar.

Private milestones would be handy for us too.

Chalk Happy Cog up for private milestones. Pretty please.

This is my number 1 request. This is an extremely important feature for my team as we also like to have private milestones internally so that our deliverables are backed up by internal milestones that are PRIOR to the delivery date.

Thanks!

private milestones would be great for us also….. just to take the pressure off from clients who like to ‘watch the clock’

TRACKING THE MILESTONE CHANGE would be a great feature. so if – for example – I have to push the launch date of a project out because the client failed to get me the materials in time, and the client is wondering why the date shifted, it would be great to see a record of the date changing. We are tracking this now with messages, but it would be nice to have a failsafe way to track this incase someone forgets to add the message.

Yes, ‘first day of the week’ feature could be really a good one.

In my firm we to use MPP and Basecamp, as well as static Excel spreadsheets, etc. I usually suggest to my teams who prefer seeing dependencies and lists of comprehensive data to us the To Do function in conjunction with a Milestone. Those items can then be listed, and checked off, in a way that somewhat simulates the MPP dependencies view. Just a thought.

Precidents and dependencies for milestones and to dos would be a great addition. Often one to do item cannot start until a previous has completed. If the two could be linked, with a notification to the owner of the second to do, or milestone, that they can start would be brilliant.

Thanks

Another one for the milestone tracking feature. We have a project that is slipping on a weekly basis, and tracking that slippage is critical to us. It would be great if we could update milestones and when we do, we could add a note to explain why the milestone has moved.

Not to come off as pushy, but the one feature that is keeping us from using Basecamp in a really productive way is the lack of Private Milestones. We have Private messages, todo’s, etc., why not Milestones?

Thanks!

I agree, private Milestones would be a HUGE help. An indicator for the date the milestone is actually completed would also be helpful, but not as much as making them Private.