Topic: How are you using Basecamp? / Successfully using multiple 37s products at once?

We use Basecamp, Highrise, Backpack and Campfire without any confusion at all. Our ‘rules’ are pretty simple:

• Any official communication related to a client project goes in Basecamp
• All the other chatter happens in Campfire, whether it’s related to a project, other business, or personal
• Pre-sales communications go in Highrise, along with any other non-project related traffic
• Internal resources go in Backpack

I find the different to-do lists actually help me focus, rather than fragment my attention. Putting everything all in one place can get overwhelming, but chunking to-do’s down into work modes – working on projects, working on sales and marketing, working on internal resources – along with all the other resources I need for those jobs makes sense to me.

Topic: How are you using Basecamp? / Add the same person twice under two clients

Pramod: Add the client company, along with the individuals, in the People section, then add the company to each project, selecting the individuals who need access. Simple.

Topic: How are you using Basecamp? / Messages vs. Writeboard

We use both of these features, the way they were designed to be used: Messages to communicate information about projects, and Writeboards for collaborating on copy. Often, the first draft of a piece of copy is written in a desktop app — I like WriteRoom — and then the text is dropped into a Writeboard where everyone can work on it together…

They’re totally different things, and both indispensible.

Topic: Feature Requests / Writeboard export options for round-trip editing

I like to work on my Writeboard documents when I’m away from a net connection, but loading exported Writeboard text into my editor loses all the textile formatting and other HTML we use to format these docs. A marked-up text export would be very useful.

Topic: Feature Requests / basic calendar - separate from milestone

This must be on the most-requested list by now. I’d love to see Backpack’s calendar in Basecamp.

Topic: Feature Requests / Project Managment Consultant?

I wouldn’t call myself a ‘project management consultant’ but I’d be happy to talk to you about managing your stuff with Basecamp — I’ve helped a bunch of people get started, and settle into useable workflow management with 37s tools.

(Feel free to email me at michael at actiondynamics dot com.au if you’d like to discuss offline.)

Topic: Feature Requests / Easy deletion of completed Milestones

I’m with jagee — reverse chronological order for completed milestones, and maybe show the last n milestones, along with a ‘see the rest here’ link.

Topic: How are you using Basecamp? / Completed To-do's = Messy Overview

I like the crossed-out to-do’s on the overview page just the way they are — helps me see at a glance what’s being added, and what’s being done. 37s got this right, IMO.

Topic: How are you using Basecamp? / List all active project within the pipeline!

Nope… I’ve learned to live with the RSS feed instead. It doesn’t deliver the same picture as the overview page, but at least I know everything’s there.

Topic: How are you using Basecamp? / Feature request: Setting User Status

Or if you only have a few projects, you could use the project announcement feature.

Topic: How are you using Basecamp? / Feature request: Setting User Status

It sounds useful, Craig, but I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for 37s to implement a feature like this. You’ll need to find a simple workaround if you want this sooner rather than later… how about a simple mail rule/autoresponder that checks for mail from Basecamp (or a specific project) and sends a reply to your customer?

Topic: Feature Requests / No calendar?

It’s called Backpack :-)

Topic: How are you using Basecamp? / Using Basecamp for short-deadline assignments?

And I thought our deadlines were short!

How much communication and collaboration happens on these short-deadline projects? Is it mostly a matter of setting deadlines and chasing up your editors & translators to make sure they’re submitting work on time? Or is there more communication going on?

Topic: Troubleshooting and Bug Reports / How do I add a category to an existing project?

I knew the problem was between the keyboard and the floor

The problem was in the desk?

Topic: Troubleshooting and Bug Reports / RSS Feed Doesn't Immediately Update

Yes… check your feed readers update schedule. We see RSS updates are immediately.

Topic: Troubleshooting and Bug Reports / Printed time tracking report contains irrelevant links

The time tracking report contains an irrelevant line: “Back to the full time log”; it’s formatted like a hyperlink, but the link’s not active in my Reader app. (I thought initially that it might jump me back to the project, but it doesn’t go anywhere.) Can you remove this line from the report?

Topic: Feature Requests / Completed milestones with iCal

+1

I’d like to keep them in the calendar as a reference.

Topic: How are you using Basecamp? / How to post files not to be downloaded?

... and you’ll have to download it, in order to open and view it.

Topic: How are you using Basecamp? / Batch deleting files

Marcus, I think it’s the other way around: archived projects don’t count towards your active project count, but they do use storage. And yes, you’ll have to delete those files one by one.

Topic: Feature Requests / Search tasks in Highrise?

Wrong forum. You want to go here.

Topic: Feature Requests / To-Do in Backpack

Yep, you can create multiple, named lists in Basecamp.

Topic: Campfire / block access to chat rooms?

As in, don’t attach Campfire to your Basecamp account… I don’t think you can attach Campfire on a project-by-project basis.

We created a separate Campfire account so we could have one for internal-only chat, and one for public, client accessible chat.

Topic: Troubleshooting and Bug Reports / How can I enable Time Tracking?

Timetracking is available with paid-for accounts, starting with the Plus plan.

Topic: How are you using Basecamp? / Ideas for a file check-in/check-out workaround?

There isn’t a Basecamp feature that handles checking-in and checking-out, so you’re going to need a workaround.

We haven’t been able to figure out a workaround for this, short of telling everyone on the team that any time they want to work on a file, they first need to send a message to the rest of the group saying “hey, is anyone else working on file X right now?”. Which is… not great.

First, we’d use probably use Campfire for this kind of back-channel communication, rather than Project messages. We don’t need “OK, I’ve just downloaded File X to make some changes” and “OK, I’ve uploaded it again” in the public record, especially if clients have access to the project. (Then again, I can see that some people might like that.)

This is one of those “Gee I wish I had one of those… [insert feature here]” situations that make me wonder. Sometimes the additional communication these constraints impose are actually useful. They get your team members talking to each other more. Personally, I’d just like to see “Mike downloaded File X” in the RSS stream or, better, one of those entries in our Campfire chat.

Topic: How are you using Basecamp? / Milestone shifts

This project.