37signals Product Blog

Bungalow lets you manage your Highrise task list on your iPhone

2009-11-06T09:27:00-06:00

Do you use Highrise to handle your task list? Do you have an iPhone? Then Bungalow may be for you...

Bungalow brings your Highrise task list to your iPhone so you can manage them on the go. Even if you are not connected to the internet you can tick tasks off, edit them and create new tasks with seamless background syncing when you're back online. In future releases of Bungalow we'll be extending it to handle other parts of your Highrise information. Get it now while the price is low and you'll get all the updates for free!

Prefinery manages software betas and integrates with Highrise

2009-11-05T11:18:57-06:00

Prefinery manages betas (for webapps and desktop software) — and it integrates with Highrise. It allows customers to create a splash page, supports a sign-up form with fields and survey questions, and handles incrementally inviting users. Customers can sync their list of testers (early adopters, best customers) with Highrise via the API to track leads, conversations, etc for further down the road. Prefinery also integrates with MailChimp.

Haystack helps web designers and clients find each other

2009-11-04T14:09:23-06:00

Lots of Haystack success stories are pouring in. And Download Squad just wrote about how Haystack helps web designers and clients find each other:

Early reports seem to be positive, with designers reporting they are signing new clients in short order. So if you're looking to advertise your design abilities, or if you're looking for a designer, give Haystack a look.

Learn more about Haystack.

Campfire tip: Type a persons full name with just a few characters

2009-11-03T10:27:54-06:00

What do you do when there are lots of people in a Campfire chat room and you want to direct a question or answer to a specific person? Simply start your message with the “@” sign and the first few characters of that person’s name until a yellow box displays showing that person’s full name. Send your message and that person’s full name will display in front of your statement in the chat room.

Note: This may not work if you are using a 3rd party application to access Campfire chat.

WiseClicker reviews "easy to use" Basecamp

2009-11-02T09:50:25-06:00

WiseClicker, a resource for small businesses and entrepreneurs, offers up this review of Basecamp.

As a reflection of 37Signals’ philosophy for product development, Basecamp offers functionality that is easy to use, avoids bells and whistles and focuses on communication and collaboration. It is more for users that prefer getting things done practically and don’t really care about the formal charting and reporting side of project management.

Read the full review.

New Voxtopia extra lets you track your calls through your Highrise account

2009-10-30T10:36:02-05:00

Voxtopia offers cheap international calling from any mobile phone to any location in the world. The service now integrates with Highrise.

With Voxtopia’s integration, you can now track all incoming & outgoing calls through your Highrise account. Voxtopia will automatically add a note to your contacts when you make a call to or receive a call by one of your contacts through Voxtopia.
You’ll see date, time & duration of the call automatically appear within minutes of your call ending or taking place.

Learn more about how to enable the Voxtopia/Highrise plugin in your account.

Reviews of over 25 Mac and iPhone apps designed to work with 37signals products

2009-10-29T10:57:34-05:00

Check it out: MacAppStorm has posted a great piece on "The Ultimate Collection of 37signals Mac & iPhone Apps." It offers summaries and reviews of over 25 Mac and iPhone apps designed to work alongside Basecamp, Backpack, Campfire, and Highrise.

Nightline shows site run by Rainn Wilson of "The Office" using Basecamp

2009-10-28T10:51:50-05:00

Rainn Wilson of "The Office" runs a philosophy/spirituality site called Soul Pancake. Nightline profiled Wilson and the site the other night. The bottom screengrab below shows the Soul Pancake team using Basecamp to manage the site.

[Case study] How Basecamp unites web agency Freshout's offices in San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Guadalajara

2009-10-27T09:28:31-05:00

Chris Anderson, General Manager & Principal at full-service web agency Freshout, wrote to tell us what a great job Basecamp does for his team:

Basecamp is hands down the best project management app on the market. We use Basecamp for managing client and internal projects alike, and it's been an amazing tool for storing and organizing conversations, files, milestones, and tasks. From initial kick-off conversations through the design and development phase and quality assurance process, it helps everyone on the project stay on the same page and on track, without getting lost in an endless slew of emails and files.
Simply put, Basecamp just works...which is more than I can say for many web apps I've used. Thanks for continuing to enhance such a great application, you guys kick ass!

SF, Philly, and Guadalajara
We asked Chris to give us an in-depth look at how his team uses Basecamp and he wrote up the following:

Freshout is a full-service web agency providing product strategy, design, development, and marketing consultation services – in other words, we build and launch web applications that provide real business results for clients. With offices in San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Guadalajara, having streamlined communication among our team is extremely important in our ability to collaborate effectively and deliver finished projects on time.

The Freshout team at work.

From project brief to post-launch
From the initial project brief to the design, development, and QA processes, and onto the rollout and post-launch feature enhancement phases, we use Basecamp for all project correspondence, file sharing, task delegation, milestone management, and time management for each and every project we work on, both internally and for clients. When a new project signs, the first step is always setting up a Basecamp project, adding the team members that will be involved, uploading the initial specs, and posting a message introducing the team to the project.

In addition to the production side of project management that we heavily rely on Basecamp for, we also use it for managing client correspondence. Basecamp is particularly useful during the design process, when iteratively designed wireframes, mockups, icons, and graphics need to be reviewed by clients for approval. We simply start a new Message thread, upload the design assets for the client to review, and the client posts their questions and feedback after a conference call and presentation. This allows for a centralized dialogue about specific stages of the project, which prevents communication bottlenecks from cropping up.

By far the feature that we use most is To-Do’s. Creating, grouping, prioritizing, assigning, and tracking tasks is a piece of cake using To-Do’s. After a Milestone is created, we then assess all of the individual tasks that need to be done to complete the Milestone and assign them as To-Do’s to the team members responsible for the work. Once all To-Do’s are posted for a Milestone, we take a step back and prioritize them using the drag-and-drop interface so the team knows what’s important to tackle first. We’ve created a standardized syntax for To-Do’s so that they’re easier to review, and we frequently post comments under To-Do’s to add more information about the task. The syntax is essentially “Page/Section > Sub-section/Module: Specific Task or Bug” – for example, a To-Do may look something like “Home Page > Blog Feed: Change Date Format to MM-DD-YY”. When a task is complete, the team member posts a comment like “Done, please review”, and after the project manager reviews the completed task and verifies it’s been done correctly, the To-Do is checked off the list.

A standardized syntax for To-Do makes them easier to review.

Basecamp as life-saver
Where Basecamp has been a real life-saver is whenever a discrepancy arises either between the project team or with a client regarding a miscommunication. We finished a 9-month project a few months ago, and towards the end of the development phase there were a few misunderstandings about a certain feature. Through searching Basecamp messages and files, we were able to quickly identify how the misunderstanding arose and then resolved it, as opposed to having to dig through countless email strings and sorting through meeting notes to find the resolution.

Before we started using Basecamp, we did an exhaustive assessment of all of the web-based project management applications on the market. Everything was either too feature-heavy or wasn’t relevant at all to our project management needs. Basecamp was simple to understand and use right away, and required practically no training at all. Since we started using Basecamp over three years ago, we haven’t had the inclination to switch to a different system once.

Searching through Basecamp beats digging through email strings and meeting notes.

Do you use a 37signals product in an interesting or noteworthy way? Let us know.

Top 100 Graphic Design Blogs gives shoutout to Basecamp

2009-10-26T10:04:58-05:00

Graphic Design Degrees offers up a list of the Top 100 Graphic Design Blogs.

Got a creative mind, love of technology, and tons of ideas? Then graphic design might be for you. Learn more about this profession, along with thousands of insider tips, by taking a look at these top 100 graphic design blogs. Also useful for professional graphic designers, they are written by sites, professionals, freelancers, and contain information on everything from jobs to resources.

Not really "blogs" per se, but on the list are Basecamp ("Stop here for a leading web-based project collaboration tool. They have various plans and options, a free 30 day trial, and sign up takes as little as 60 seconds.") and the 37signals Job Board ("This job board stands out for its notable listings from top companies. Currently, there are openings with Sony Music, Barnes & Noble.com, and Yahoo.")

New in Highrise: Filter tasks by category

2009-10-23T19:27:28-05:00

We just added a new feature to Highrise. Now you can filter your tasks by category. To filter by category, go to the Tasks tab. If you have any categorized tasks, you'll see a pulldown with the categories you have used in the header of the page.

You can also filter tasks belonging to other people on your account if they have any tasks that are categorized and visible to you.

We hope this new addition helps you manage your tasks better in Highrise!

Radar is a native app for Mac that notifies you of updates to a Basecamp account

2009-10-23T09:33:46-05:00

Radar is a native app for the Mac that notifies you of updates to your Basecamp account.

Why use Radar? It's easy to get distracted. Radar enables you to concentrate on your work without needing to login to Basecamp all the time to check for updates.
Radar checks for updates on a time interval that you set. Radar also launches when you login to your Mac and updates itself as well, so once you've setup your account information, you can just get to work.

Radar comes in two flavors, $5 for a solo license or $50 for a company (unlimited) license.

Launch: Haystack the perfect place for designers and clients to meet

2009-10-22T10:19:10-05:00

Do you ever ask: “Can you recommend a web designer to help us with a project?” Or “Do you know any good web design firms in Chicago? Or New York? Or Denver?” Now you can find the answer at Haystack. It's a site created by 37signals where web designers (firms and freelancers) can answer the three basic questions a client typically asks at the beginning of a search:

What does your work look like?

Where are you located?

What’s your typical budget range?

Read the Signal vs. Noise post about the launch for more info.

View in more detail

[Case study] How Basecamp helped Design Extensions grow from a 1 man shop doing under $50k/year to a 5 man shop doing over $250k/year

2009-10-21T10:12:10-05:00

Jay Owen started Design Extensions 10 years ago (1999), while he was still in high school (17 yrs old). The company focus on small to medium sized businesses with web site design and graphic design services. Below he details how Basecamp has helped him grow his business.

How do you use Basecamp?
Before Basecamp, I did most of the work myself and could only juggle a few projects at a time.

With Basecamp, we are currently maxing out the 35 project account level (about to upgrade). We went from a 1 man shop doing under 50k/year to a 5 man shop doing over 250k/year. Basecamp allows us such flexibility and ease of communication, that we don't even have a physical office. Myself and my team work from home (or anywhere with a good wifi connection) and are able to seamlessly communicate with Basecamp and Campfire all day. Basecamp has become a key part of our business and helped us grow to where we are today.

Which features do you use most?
Milestones and Time are the two features we use the most. Milestones help us map out major assignments each day of the week for various members of our team. Using the Milestones overview page, we can easily take a glance at the company as a whole or individuals to see who is assigned what and we are on our schedule. The time tab lets us keep an eye on how much time is being spent on each project and account for it at the end of the week.

Tell us a story about a specific project/situation where Basecamp helped you out.
When I started Design Extensions over 10 years ago, our projects were managed via e-mail. This worked for a while but only allowed for so many projects to be managed at once. Even with a good calendar and organized network files, it wasn't ideal.

When we signed up for Basecamp, 5 years ago, we had no idea how much it would revolutionize our workflow and allow us to grow. With Basecamp, we are able to easily work with clients, employees, and contractors all over the world with ease. It's easy enough for newbies to pick-up quickly and has just the right feature combination to get things done - on time and in order.

Any tips or tricks for other customers?
Once a project moves from a production status to more of a maintenance/on-going project that may not be accessed on a regular basis, but we still want to leave active, we move them to the company "ZZ Maintenance." This helps separate the projects we are in and out of every day from accounts we might only be in once a month.

We are in Basecamp, Highrise, and Campfire every day. Highrise is for pre-sale or individual communications outside of an active project, Basecamp is for active projects, and Campfire keeps our team together in multiple locations.

Anything else?
We are often approached by other sites and services that claim to offer "more features" than Basecamp. What each of these companies fails to understand is that the joy of Basecamp is not that it offers more features than anyone out there, but that it does what we need to get the job done and nothing more.

The joy of Basecamp is in it's simplicity and focus. Features for features sake are not a bonus, they are a burden. 37signals understands this extremely well and it shines in each every product produced.

Campfire sounds: crickets, rimshot, and trombone

2009-10-20T08:58:16-05:00

Keep things light with sound effects in Campfire. Type “/play crickets”, “/play rimshot”, or “/play trombone” and share a sound "message" with your group.

Note: This may not work if you are using a 3rd party application to access Campfire.

New in Highrise: More storage, same price

2009-10-19T22:19:04-05:00

Good news: We've just added more file storage to all paying Highrise accounts — at no additional charge.

Max accounts are upgraded to 75 GB (was 50 GB)
Premium accounts are upgraded to 30 GB (was 20 GB)
Plus accounts are upgraded to 15 GB (was 10 GB)
Basic accounts are upgraded to 5 GB (was 3 GB)
Solo accounts are upgraded to 5 GB (was 3 GB)
Personal accounts are upgraded to 2 GB (was 1 GB)

We hope this additional storage helps those who are already near the limit, and encourages others to attach even more files to their contacts without worrying as much about hitting their limit.

Thanks again for using Highrise!

Basecamp and Highrise change history pages

2009-10-19T09:56:11-05:00

We're constantly working under the hood to make our apps better. While we usually announce any major changes here at the Product Blog, there's a constant stream of little changes going on too. You can now follow along with everything that's happening at the Basecamp change history and Highrise change history pages. These pages will show you every little bug fix, tech note, update, and feature addition.

Now all Highrise accounts include SSL security

2009-10-14T16:00:31-05:00

As of today, all Highrise plans — including the free plan — include SSL secure encryption (what's SSL?). Prior to this update only Solo, Plus, Premium, and Max plans included SSL.

To turn SSL on for your account, click the Settings link at the top of the screen and scroll down to the SSL section.

We hope you enjoy this added level of data security. Thanks again for using Highrise!

BusinessComputingWorld review: "Basecamp hits the nail on the head with functionality and productivity"

2009-10-12T09:57:00-05:00

BusinessComputingWorld offers a detailed review of Basecamp and calls it "essential":

Basecamp is so simple you can’t do anything wrong. And after using it for just a few weeks you’ll struggle to manage your day to day operations without it. Having a project management tool that takes no time to learn and is quick, easy and intuitive is vital for everyone in today’s fast-paced business world. Compared to other project management systems, Basecamp isn’t over-worked and is so easy to use that you probably won’t even need to train staff how to use.
Basecamp is a big contributor in allowing you to meet deadlines. Firstly, its simple milestone system is a doddle and makes it easy for teams to communicate important deadlines to external clients and partners. Secondly, Basecamp encourages assigning one task to one person, which makes it very clear in any organisation who is responsible for the delivery of that task and when...

Would we recommend Basecamp?

We’ve never been so sure about anything. Basecamp hits the nail on the head with functionality and productivity — its beautifully simple user interface means even silver-haired CEOs can use it. Rather than doing lots of things badly, it does just the important stuff very well. Its genius is in its lack of structure—and the focus on communication rather than overt processes. If your job role requires a fairly straightforward project-based work process involving multiple users (colleagues and clients), Basecamp will make your life easier. There is no better way to keep your documents, your team, and your projects on track. Essential.

Read the full review.

New in Basecamp: Thumbnail previews of images on the Files tab

2009-10-12T08:21:02-05:00

Today we added a new feature to make organizing image files in Basecamp even better. Now files such as JPG, TIFF, PNG, and GIF images uploaded to Basecamp show a thumbnail preview on the Files tab. You can click the thumbnail to zoom-in for a larger preview. This makes finding files easier and brings image zooming available elsewhere in Basecamp to the Files tab.

To see this new feature, go to the Files tab in any Basecamp project.

Click any image thumbnail to zoom-in for a larger preview. You can then click the link at the bottom of the zoom window to download the full-size image.

We also reduced the clutter on the Files list view by only showing the edit and delete file controls when your mouse is hovering over a single item. This is similar to how you can already reveal the controls on to-dos and milestones. Just place your mouse over the file to see the edit and delete links.

Click "edit" to change the file's details.

We think these improvements will make the "Files" tab in Basecamp even more useful. Enjoy this new feature and thanks again for using Basecamp!

New in Basecamp: More storage, same price

2009-10-08T11:32:31-05:00

Good news: We've just added more file storage to the Max, Premium, Plus, and Basic Basecamp accounts — at no additional charge.

Max accounts are upgraded to 75 GB (was 50 GB)
Premium accounts are upgraded to 30 GB (was 20 GB)
Plus accounts are upgraded to 15 GB (was 10 GB)
Basic accounts are upgraded to 5 GB (was 3 GB)

We hope this additional storage helps those who are already near the limit, and encourages others to share even more files without worrying as much about hitting their limit.

Thanks again for using Basecamp!

"How can I get my coworkers to stop sending me so many emails?"

2009-10-08T09:10:00-05:00

From Organizational culture and email overload by Mark Hurst:

Whenever I give a talk on solving email overload, someone inevitably raises their hand and says, "How can I get my coworkers to stop sending me so many emails?" It's a legitimate question, as lots of people suffer from needless emails in the workplace.

Hurst also quotes Nathan Zeldes saying that organizational culture causes email overload:

People may hit Reply All because they think sending a message at midnight will impress the boss, or they may be trying to cover themselves and create a paper trail in an organization where mistrust is a factor. The situation calls to mind the "tragedy of the commons" scenario: Everyone would prefer that there be fewer messages, but nobody can afford to be the first to cut back on sending them.

Are you asking, "How can I get my coworkers to stop sending me so many emails?" Try using Basecamp and/or Backpack to centralize your communication with coworkers. That way people can just go to the app to catch up on communication. Or subscribe to the RSS feed. No need to rely on constant email back and forths that clog up your inbox and get all confusing. And if you want to "create a paper trail," it's much better to do so in one place than relying on dozens of scattered emails.

Also, the "Subscribe people to receive email notifications" option lets you easily choose who is in/out for a conversation. It makes easy to omit people who don't need to know while including those who need to stay in the loop.

Watch an audio/video tour of the Messages section in Basecamp to see messaging in action.

How GetFave.com uses Highrise to manage sales leads

2009-10-07T09:43:13-05:00

Lindsay Saewitz, Director of Sales at Fave Media, discusses how the company uses Highrise:

What does your company/business do?
GetFave.com is a local business directory that lets the consumer experience the business before walking through the door. We let businesses express themselves through video, pictures, and other rich content while also helping them get found on the web.

Why do you need Highrise?
We use Highrise to manage our sales leads that are generated through site registrations.

How do you use Highrise and why do you like it?
Through a feature our programmers have developed, we can feed leads into highrise on demand. Then, these leads are randomly distributed to our sales reps (users/people) and tasks to call the leads are automatically created. The sales reps use HR to manage the entire sales process, from calling and setting meetings to taking meeting notes and referring back to them. We use tags to categorize the leads. I like the note taking and I also like the ability to create tasks.

What did you use before and why did you switch?
We used Salesforce.com before I was at the company. I personally do not have a lot of experience with salesforce but in briefly using it I felt it was overcomplicated. Highrise was recommended by one of our programmers.

Any tips or tricks for other customers?
I love the addition of color coding for the tasks. It’s much easier to find what you’re looking for.

Do you use a 37signals product in an interesting or noteworthy way? Let us know.

Sherpa, Basecamp app for the iPhone, drops price

2009-10-06T10:05:01-05:00

Sherpa is an iPhone application that gives you access to your Basecamp information on the go. You can manage multiple projects and view and update your To-Do Lists, Messages, Milestones and Contacts, as well as get an overview of your outstanding tasks. And now you can get it for just $3.99.

We have dropped the price of Sherpa to $3.99/£2.39
We are also awaiting Apple approval of our latest version of Sherpa v 1.2 – with multiple account support.

Sherpa at App Store.

How to use Inkling prediction markets in Basecamp

2009-10-05T10:35:19-05:00

Inkling aims to make prediction markets easily accessible to a wider audience. The product now has a widget that integrates with Basecamp so you can predict milestones.

For example, now you can get some help coming up with your project milestones. We'll take a look at what this could look like using a scenario with 37signals' very popular (and rightly so) project management application Basecamp...

Learn more about how Inkling and Basecamp can work together.

How to set up 37signals Open Bar so you can quickly switch between your accounts

2009-10-02T16:05:49-05:00

Reminder: The 37signals Open Bar lets you quickly switch between your accounts.

How to set it up.

Video: "The Drama of Done!"

2009-10-01T12:57:49-05:00

Jamis celebrates the completion of a project in Basecamp. Ah, nothing like the feeling of completing a long project!

List of recommended free tools for running a small business (including Basecamp and Highrise)

2009-09-30T10:11:24-05:00

"Running a Small Business – Free Tools" offers advice on tools that help with scheduling, project planning, invoicing, and everything else that goes into any other small business. (The author runs a recording studio.) Two of the tools recommended are Basecamp and Highrise:

Project Planning – Basecamp
Basecamp from 37Signals is an excellent project planning tool. I’ve tried pretty much all of them and like the way Basecamp works the best. Their web interface is fantastic, and it’s almost fully functional on the iPhone too. We use the Milestone feature to set date-specific deadlines (finish mixing by x date) and To-Dos to set unbounded goals (get new mic cables). We try to finish the To-Dos on a weekly basis. We use the Writeboard feature to brainstorm and to lay out our weekly meeting agenda, and occasionally use the Messages feature to share files or links that we don’t want to lose in emails.

Contact Management – Highrise

Highrise is 37Signals’ contact management tool, and it’s ideal for us. It’s really quick and easy to add contacts, and we have people tagged as ‘band’ and sometimes more specifically as ‘bassist’, ‘violinist’, etc. so we can quickly find someone if we need a session player. We also tag bands as ‘prospects’ so we know who to follow up with. The great thing about Highrise is that it’s free for 2 users and up to 250 contacts (you have to look carefully for this plan on the signup page, it’s in small text). We’re close to 250, but when we hit the limit we have to clean contacts out, which is a great way to keep our lists up to date. Another neat feature of Highrise is their ‘Dropbox’. When you’re emailing with someone who’s a contact, you can copy your personal dropbox email address on the message, and it’s automatically added to the contact as a note.

See the full list.

McSweeney's iPhone app creator says Getting Real and Basecamp made it possible

2009-09-29T10:31:35-05:00

Russell Quinn and McSweeney's — an American indie publishing house — officially announced their joint iPhone app last Tuesday. Within three hours it had surged to number 1 in the U.S. iTunes book category, broke the top 50 in the all-category Highest Grossing chart, and created a storm of excitement on Twitter.

Below, Russell details how Getting Real inspired the effort and how the team used Basecamp to manage the project.

The collaboration started over the summer. I had been thinking about writing my own iPhone app for a while, but knew that to make something really compelling, I needed great content and a known name that would be prepared to take the risk with me.
I've been a fan of McSweeney's for a long time, and creating an app for them seemed like the perfect match. I had an iPhone. I read their books and watched their DVDs. I would really like to see their content on my iPhone. I was to be my own target audience.

I fired off an email to them proposing that we work together on such project. They replied within 30 minutes and an hour later we were Skyping and formulating the first strategies.

As McSweeney's are based on the west coast of America and I'm currently living in Zürich, Switzerland we had a major time difference to contend with. We started using Basecamp that same day, and have used it ever since for everything from reviewing screen designs, to hammering the copy into shape in Writeboards, to keeping track of deadlines and development to-do lists. A second project also served as an excellent platform for our closed beta stage, giving our testers a place to collect the new binaries and leave feedback.

The whole process from start to finish felt very agile and focussed on just creating the best product we could. The timezone mismatch meant that we were effectively a 24-hour team. I would work all day in peace, then send some previews or questions as I left my workspace for home. Eli, from McSweeney's, would then collect opinions, plus any necessary material and upload it before I awoke in the morning.

This "Getting Real" ideology, combined with an extensive use of Basecamp for all our communication and project management needs, means we really have 37signals to thank for making the logistics of this project possible in such a short timeframe. Hey, even our server-side system is running on Ruby on Rails.

Congrats on the success Russell!

Get your wedding party involved with Backpack

2009-09-28T10:31:00-05:00

In HOW TO: Plan a DIY Wedding Using Social Media, a Mashable editor open sources his wedding planning work-flow and shares the tricks he's learned so far. One of his recommended tools: Backpack.

It should be clear by now: planning a wedding is a mammoth undertaking (and ours is relatively small at just over 100 guests). Keeping track of all the details can be difficult, but two tools are potentially invaluable for staying organized as the list of items you need to keep straight for the wedding grows larger. One of those resources is Backpack. Though initially designed for business use, Backpack is a single-page, wiki-style organizer that can be amazingly useful for keeping track of who is doing what, what is left to do, and what has already been accomplished. Because Backpack pages can be shared, you can also use the app to get your wedding party involved — dole out tasks to bridesmaids, groomsmen, and relatives and keep track of everyone’s progress.

Read the full piece for more recommended tools.

Do you use a 37signals product in an interesting or noteworthy way? Let us know.