Some recent posts at the 37signals Product Blog:
Reactions to the new Backpack from around the web
“I’ve always been a big fan of Backpack, but this is a whole new thing. If you’re part of organization that has always wanted a single place where staff and volunteers could share information, calendars, even reminders (including SMS), definitely give Backpack a try. I can’t think of better option, especially for churches and non-profits.”
Basecamp is a Webware 100 finalist (again)
From a list of thousands of nominees, Webware editors selected 300 finalists for the Webware 100 Awards — and we’re pleased to announce Basecamp is one of the finalists. If you’re a fan, please go to Webware and vote for Basecamp.
“They call it Open Bar, I call it awesome!”
“You’ll see a change in your Basecamp like below, where my three accounts are listed at the top, and you can move between them seemlessly. They call it Open Bar and I call it awesome!”
A look at Abunga’s Open Bar.
DesignSessions calls Basecamp a design freelancer’s best friend
“One aspect users have described as a ‘godsend’ is the ability to merge time-tracking with project deliverables, allowing you to set up milestones and to-do lists for a project and time-track as you check tasks off your list.”
An update to the “People on this project” section on the Basecamp Overview screen
Instead of “last login” we now show “latest activity.” This way if someone logged in a few days ago, but just accessed a project a few minutes ago, we can show an accurate “few minutes ago” access in the list.
“What do I use Backpack for? To run my life”
Samuel Kordik recently cited Backpack as his website of the week. He says he uses Backpack “to run my life…I use a page for each of my action lists, and then a page for projects, a page for Someday/Maybe’s, and a page for Notes.”
Social Signals uses Basecamp and GTD for project management and workflow
Project management and workflow with Basecamp is Alexandra Samuel’s extremely detailed look at how Social Signals uses Basecamp for managing its projects. (Social Signals helps sites build communities with active participants.) It’s especially worth a look if you’re searching for ideas on how use Basecamp as part of GTD.
How Basecamp and Highrise unite MatrixStore’s remote team
“The team was split between the two centers. Basecamp particularly was a lifesaver. The ability to have a central place for discussions, files and to-do’s where the guys could collaborate on new ideas or find the information they needed was invaluable. It slashed the email deluge and kept us productive in a very important phase of our development process…I’ve been relying more on Highrise keeping track of all the interactions and to-do’s with customers, prospects and partners. The ability to cc a copy of an important email directly onto the recipients Highrise record rocks. And all with a web-based interface that I’m sure even Stevie J would approve. Highly recommended.”
Pixel Acres on lightweight project management with Backpack
“Another powerful feature of the Backpack calendar is that events can span several days, making it perfect for emulating Gantt charts. For example, a typical website project might require four multi-day events: Pre-Design, Design, Development and Deployment. By creating a separate color coded calendar for each active job it is easy to get a visual overview of the time allocated across all project, which should make project scheduling far simpler.”
Using multi-day events for projects.
Frank
on 28 Feb 08In reference to GTD, I started using Google Sites today as a small business Intranet … it works great (and it’s free)!
Elliott
on 28 Feb 08I was just about to say exactly the same thing as frank.
Google sites is very easy to use. Incredibly feature light but also really powerful. Have you guys looked at Google’s offering? What do you think you do better or worse than them?
Henrik
on 28 Feb 08How do you actually create the spanning events?
Martin
on 28 Feb 08To be frank, the new Backpack has left me sort of baffled. Or confused. I love Basecamp, and I love Backpack and I sold my company on Basecamp some time ago, however, there are lots of things that’d be really great in Backpack yet there is big enough overlap between the two that if we tried to use both, there’d be an awful lot of redundancy, not to mention that it’d be a pain to get the relevant data from Basecamp into Backpack.
Anyway, not that I’m complaining, I still find Basecamp to be really great; just voicing a concern.
Mike
on 28 Feb 08I have been using basecamp for at least a year now and It has been very helpful. I see the backpack and I too am confused about the differences between them!
I actually use a combo of the following for a new website/company I am developing
- google calendar
- google docs (This is a great set of aps to share info!)
- google groups for our internal conversations
- and I’m going to look into the google sites for a central meeting spot for my team
I guess I just want to know what is the difference between this and something like backpack, and really what is the difference between backpack and basecamp!
Thanks Mike
PS good article in wired!
JF
on 28 Feb 08Basecamp and Backpack are entirely different products.
Basecamp is a project management tool. Use it to collaborate with clients on projects. Set deadlines, assign responsibilities to get things done, discuss and collaborate on projects in detail.
Backpack is an intranet. Use it to share information inside your organization. Think of it as an old school bulletin board.
Here’s more.
John
on 28 Feb 08@Mike:
I am in a similar situation. We used to use all of these google services but have since moved away for various reasons. Here’s what we use now:
- backpack for a calendar (it can read iCal so its very easy to keep everything together)
- backpack for storing common documents and information
- campfire for conversations (and a central meeting location)
Then for everything that is specifically related to a project we will typically use Basecamp. For us Basecamp is project specific information, whereas Backpack stores general team related documents and information that affects much more than just a single project.
Overlap between applications isn’t a bad thing. While we use the products for these cases, someone else might use it for the exact opposite. That is the beauty of flexibility.
Mike
on 28 Feb 08Thanks JF
That makes more sense, Basecamp is worth every cent when i deal with clients…
JB
on 28 Feb 08holy smokes, just had a look at google sites…
looks like google are comin for you guys. good luck.
Anonymous Coward
on 28 Feb 08holy smokes, just had a look at google sites… looks like google are comin for you guys. good luck.
I think Google is coming for Microsoft. Sites looks like a Sharepoint killer.
mike
on 29 Feb 08I think the reasons why google apps are gaining in popularity is flexability, sharing and it’s free.
I have the latest WIRED magazine and right next to where it says “YES! Making Software simple again”(referring to 37signals) it says “Why $0.00 is the future of business”. When looking for where to put our company “intranet” I would have liked to try out the backpack calendar but it says it is a pay only feature! This is what pushed me toward the google apps. I don’t mind paying for something (I pay for basecamp, and bought 37signals book) but I would like to try out all the functionality first to see if it is worth it.
And I agree that Google is going after Sharepoint with their google apps, but backpack is kind of like sharepoint “lite” so I could see where there might be some competition.
I think one area backpack is FAR ahead of Google is the way they handle files. Google is great if you use their Google docs format (which is good for word processing, spreadsheets) but If you use a lot of images, photoshop files, etc then Google just doesn’t handle them.
Aloosh
on 29 Feb 08“I would have liked to try out the backpack calendar but it says it is a pay only feature!”
mike: Backpack has a 30-day free trial, you know.
Mike
on 29 Feb 08“mike: Backpack has a 30-day free trial, you know.”
Actually if you are upgrading there is no 30-day trial. It is just for new accounts and I already have a free account.
JF
on 29 Feb 08Mike, just sign up for another account. Try it out. If you like it upgrade your other account. If you don’t, don’t upgrade and just cancel the trial account.
You can try it if you want it. There’s nothing in your way.
Mike
on 29 Feb 08Thats true… there is a work-around, I just wanted to point out that if you are already using a free account there is no way to easily try out the calendar without upgrading.
I not being negative about the sites, I love basecamp and I think backpack is cool, I just wanted to let 37signals know where there might be a roadblock for a perspective paid user. I was expecting them to allow me to add a few events and if I wanted to add more then I would have to pay.
sorry to monopolize the conversation!
k:d
on 03 Mar 0830 Days isn’t long enough for an eval when you’re dealing with a group of people.
This discussion is closed.