Topic: Feature Requests / Email Hell - Basecamp Enables Micro-Spamming

tell him once, tell him twice, fire him !

Topic: Feature Requests / to-do deadlines ... again

@jrasta , point taken and so for all the others.
I just give my view, only to counter more features and complexity.
I believe in simplicity and that doesn’t mean 100 features/buttons that you can turn off or on.
For example the extended private features that are asked in this forum, which I also counter.
Including integration of 37s apps. I believe in the specialized carpenter tools approach of Jason.

I believe the discussion we are are having is a great input for 37s meetings.

Maybe it’s time that Jason comes back in the field to get the game going again.

Oh and don’t forget we are the only 20 “fools” to give feedback here, the other 500.000 are just doing there projects without to-do completion dates….

I love basecamp as it is today, don’t add features anymore, my clients have even problems to turn off there computers… (did you know you have to click START on a windows machine to turn it off ;-)

I don’t want to be right, just give my opinion as a customer out of the #thousands

Topic: Troubleshooting and Bug Reports / Time Tracking

time tracking does not work with personal account you need to upgrade to Plus 49$/month

Topic: Feature Requests / to-do deadlines ... again

I have the same vision and working method as Ben Kinnaird

- Backpack is our knowledge base and office calendar (don’t use it for reminders yet)
- Milestones is what you promise to others (clients or a colleague)
- To-do’s is what you promise yourself, so you need to plan that – not a supervisor.
- Highrise I use for off project things, people stuff – reminders – new business – the plumber

But I most agree on the Trust thing, if you delegate and trust your staff, they will organise themselfs and it creates way more responsibility then when I tell them when a to-do (small part of a project) must be done.
BTW our rule is that a to-do can not be more then 4 hours work and mostly minimum 1 hour.
So in general you only can do 20-30 to-do’s in a week. Anybody can handle that.
The small tiny ones (phone call, email, payment, fax) I manage in Highrise.

My point earlier is that people who ask for this feature are probably supervisors that want to overview and organise other peoples work.

I respect them but we don’t work like that and I believe 37s either. That’s why this feature is not here yet.
It’s about vision not a fill in box.

Topic: Feature Requests / to-do deadlines ... again

If 37s would follow McKinneyLaw and add all the asked features here on the forum,
the control panel of Basecamp would look like the interior of a 747 cockpit with all the buttons turned off since I only want a SMART car dashboard ;-)
http://www.smartenthusiast.com/gallery/files/1/0702_z2008_smart_fortwointerior.jpg

Topic: Feature Requests / List of off-site links on every page

I used to have a Harvest button in the same look as the others (like search) integrated.
I can’t remember how I did it.
But I found the trick and code here on the forum years ago….

Hope you find it.

Topic: Feature Requests / The black hole of the Message Archive

I completely understand this issue.
If there are so many messages in a project and three are waiting for responses – and nobody turned them in a to-do – your basically sitting on a time bomb….

Actually if you have tons of message – badly written – and in one there is a question between fourteen other lines, how the hell do you keep track?

Actually it is moving your whole regular inbox mess towards BC.

One solution could be a button to turn the messages in a to-do.
Or more simple create a category “answer needed” but then still somehow you need to filter the unanswered.
Or you highlight a part in the message and then hit a button turn into to-do. (interesting solution for those messages that look like essays

I believe this is an interesting issue for 37s. Finding a smart simple thing for this.
However if stats show that a regular project only has 30 messages with 3 comments… it’s not an issue.

Or is it ?

Topic: Troubleshooting and Bug Reports / Change billing information

You can’t as far as I know.

And I don’t think they can solve this easily to please everybody.
Because logically if they would include an invoice with a companies data (that you decide) it should be in line with the credit card owner.
Lots of hassle to get right….

So the easy solution is a copy of your Credit card invoice sticked together with your invoice of Basecamp.
Any bookkeeper of BK dep. should be happy with that.

Topic: Tips & Tricks / Automated messages when comments added

No, you will not receive a notification if you are not part of the initial message.
Only when you subscribe to a message (right top corner) you will receive the comments.

“These people are subscribed to receive email notifications when new comments are posted.”

So, In practice when you see a message thread going on and you are not involved you can add yourself to be involved without even taking part in the discussion.

Voilà :-)

Topic: Feature Requests / to-do deadlines ... again

Once more: I am against completion dates for to-do’s !
I want Basecamp to stay simple.

You don’t need to-do completion dates.
If you use milestones.

Completion dates for to-do’s is a nice feature to keep you busy every morning starting to change them to the next day.
Some account managers earn their living with that.

Common don’t fool yourself – to-do completion dates are not going to get you the job done – it’s just adds more noise.

That’s the reason 37s does not include them.
And the video is a perfect example where 37s realises that to-do’s need to be pushed to the next day or week.
They just give an instruction in the subtitle comments “move them to the next week”. Smart ! (most companies organise a Monday meeting for that)
This is real life: to-do’s move and get pushed.
Milestones however need to be met.
How do you do that? It’s called late night work or more resources.

Keep it simple: to-do’s are fine for me as they are .

JPB

Ps. ok, just start shooting now…. ;-)

Topic: Feature Requests / Super Private message? Messages

My two cents for this:

Leave it like it is.
If PRIVATE would be more flexible the door is open for unpleasant mistakes.
I don’t see this ever happen since it doesn’t apply to 37s vision of open communication.
Which I agree with, makes live much easier

Topic: Miscellaneous / Awful Treatment from 37signals

Awful Treatment from 37signals

I do thank you for your reply and did not know that the site I would have been redirected !

just a summary … ;-)

Topic: How are you using Basecamp? / Why Journal in Backpack and not Basecamp ?

Sorry, if I was unclear.
My staff uses BC for daily – hourly work. Posting messages adding files etc…
In BP they go for systems and procedures (intranet stuff) maybe once a week.
So isn’t more logical then that they have journal in BC ?

I am justing posting my opinion and for the rest I am very happy with the 37s products.

Topic: How are you using Basecamp? / Why Journal in Backpack and not Basecamp ?

I have no problem to use the different apps next to each other.

I am a defender of not adding any kind of feature to Basecamp.
But I maybe have an explanation why journal went to Backpack and not Basecamp.

37s started off as a webdesign company and a good one.
Basecamp was developed as a basic need for communicating with staff AND clients.
So a great product was born out of a personal need.
I don’t think 37s has a lot of “clients” anymore, so it is not using Basecamp with over 150 projects as we do.

On the other hand Highrise was born and it is great.
When Jason announced he used it as a paperless office , I followed and it was great.
When Backpack came, I used it a bit, but didn’t see the greatness.
When Backpack was remade as a new kind of intranet, it was great and I closed down our wiki stuff, we use it a lot now.

My conclusion, great products are made out of a personal need. That is why Highrise and Backpackit got all these great add ons lately (Basecamp is ok for me).

To add a bit to my analyses is that the “TOUR” of Highrise and Backpack contains 37s content, Basecamp TOUR is showing other users.

Basecamp, logically is not so much used anymore by 37s. They need HR and BP.
Other wise the most logic thing would be to add the journal in Basecamp, thats where staff is working in.

So please journal in Basecamp, that is where it belongs in the first place IMHO.

Anybody disagrees ?

Topic: How are you using Basecamp? / Why Journal in Backpack and not Basecamp ?

Hi,

I am confused.
I think the journal is a good feature, that I see as a helpful feature.
But I don’t get the logic between Basecamp , highrise and Backpack anymore.

We use Basecamp for projects with clients.
Since the remake we use Backpack as our knowledge base and kind of intranet as advertised by 37S.
Highrise we use for contacts (my staff doesn’t use the task feature- I do privatly).

I don’t understand why the journal feature is added to Backpack and not Basecamp.
Staff is monitoring and using Basecamp all the time, backpack and Highrise sometimes when needed.
So now they need login all the time to update their activity.
Would it not be more logical to add this feature to the to-do lists in Basecamp ???

Can somebody explain me the logic ?

Topic: Troubleshooting and Bug Reports / Avatar Icons in messages.

Clever move
;-)

Topic: Troubleshooting and Bug Reports / New Basecamp emails - correct behavior?

Highrise = for people
Basecamp = for projects
Email = for people both Highrise AND Basecamp

Topic: Troubleshooting and Bug Reports / Avatar Icons in messages.

@signals37
By making comments, hints, advise or good ideas I find it confusing and bad humor by using a nickname like yours.
(confusing with the 37Signals staff)
Don’t forget that new users (my customers !!!) jump in here (the forum) to find solutions.
Using a nickname like yours doesn’t enforce the purpose of this place.
It just confuses these people looking for answers even more..

Would you (dis)agree ?

Topic: Troubleshooting and Bug Reports / New message wording

HAAAAAAA !
I like this post !
Small things can (words) make a great difference.
A salute to all the posts now that 37s doesn’t listen to their customers???

Thanks again for the great weekend update.

Topic: Troubleshooting and Bug Reports / myOpenID is down...

Just to let you know, I was loging in this weekend several times true my iphone and had problems with refusing password and gave up.
Can’t explain why how and what, but something was wrong somewhere….

Topic: System Announcements / The new help section

Hi Jason,

Thank you for the great added feature.
I believe it is a added feature that will increase BC with 1000
I just want to share an experience with you that I had this morning.
My staff knew this new feature was coming up since I told them last week.
they loved it !!
I was so excited that i was checking it the whole weekend yo show up.
But my staff this morning just see this as a “another” help for there work.
They don’t click to forums, they don’t go true the whole help section etc…..
My clients in Egypt and Kuwait or Poland just hit reply and don’t understand that they can’t include attachments.
Before last weekend we had to explain them log in. That was simple and so was the email from Basecamp.
But now I have to explain that they only can do “HALF”.....

Please make the emaill warning or explanation a bit clearer without asking people to read your help section.

Thank you , great job

Topic: How are you using Basecamp? / What do you folks use to visually collablorate online?

We use BC chat and take screen shots or use the build in camera in the Imac, sometimes we use acrobat pro to indicate changes on drawings that we then again post as pict to discuss.

Of course you can also use the new features in Ichat of Leopard to take over control of the desktop of your subcontractor.

Topic: Miscellaneous / Frustrated and confused with 37 Signals products...

I am not frustrated, but work with the three 37s apps (plus pulse) that I couldn’t be without anymore to run my business.
We use exactly the same tools as Oscar with the same definition.

Topic: Feature Requests / Posting to multiple projects at once

+1 for me.

For example our invoices are posted by project but also one project were all of them are sitting.
Same thing for order forms – pictures – templates of floorplans

Topic: Campfire / How do you use Campfire

Bump ?
Since iphone is now active , I am even more curious how to implement campfire effectively.

I believe BC users are under estimating the power of chat and therefore not use it.
We need guidance, help and exchange ideas…. ?