We’ve been plugging away this summer on a wide variety of improvements on Basecamp 3. While there have been a ton of improvements on the iOS and Android side as well, this post will focus on some of the larger improvements to the web/desktop version.
Focus Mode
Need to do some deep work? Go into Focus Mode. This will turn off all notifications, and hide all unread badges.
Color and highlight your text
Lots of requests for this one. Now you can color and highlight your text in messages, automatic check-in answers, comments, to-dos, etc. Basically anywhere you can turn text bold, italic, etc, you can now also color it up.
Quick jump to projects, teams, recently visited pages, and people
Big one. No matter where you are, hit COMMAND-J (Mac) or CONTROL-J (windows) and you’ll pull up the quick switcher. Just start typing to filter down and jump to another project, team, recently visited page (a to-do list, a message, a file/document, etc), your HQ, your assignments, your drafts, or other people.
No more duplicated notifications on @mentions
Prior to this update, if you were @mentioned on a thread where a new message or comment was posted, you might get two notifications: One for the posting itself, and another letting you know you were mentioned in the posting. We’ve collapsed those two notifications into a single one. Now you’ll only get the @mention. This is better.
Automatic titles for Basecamp 3 links
Now, when you copy a Basecamp 3 URL and paste it into a Basecamp 3 message, comment, or document, we’ll automatically link it up using the title of the page as the link text.
My Schedule
There’s a new link on the home page below My Assignments and My Bookmarks called My Schedule. Click on that and you’ll see every upcoming event that you’re associated with.
Bulk to-do move and copy
Major workflow improvement: Now you can shift-select multiple to-dos on a list and move or copy them together to another list.
Added list view to the home page
When we launched Basecamp 3, all teams and projects were shown as cards. We recently pushed an update which allows you to view teams and projects in a list format. You can control teams and projects independently — teams can remain cards while projects can be shown as a list, etc.
Add a personal note to invitations
Now when you invite people to Basecamp, you can include a personal note. It’s a great way to explain why you’re inviting someone, or give them a short introduction to Basecamp itself.
Message types
This one’s really useful: Now you can specify what kind of message you’re posting. You’ll see a series of options at the top of the “New Message” screen. If you pick one, the emoji will precede the message subject, making it more obvious from the start what kind of thing you’re publishing.
All-new emoji picker for Campfires and Pings
Just click the little smiley on the right side of the Campfire or Ping text entry box and you’ll see a panel with common emojis you can pop right into your message. You can always use any emoji you’d like — even ones not represented here — but this provides quick access to the most common ones.
Flexible scheduling for Automatic Check-ins
Basecamp 3’s Automatic Check-ins feature has been a game changer for so many of our customers. Automatic Check-ins prompt people, on a regular basis, to share specific kinds of information. Things like “What did you work on today?” “What are you planning on working on this week?” “How do you think this project is going so far?” “What’s inspired you lately?” etc. Originally we only provided a few recurring options — every Monday, every Friday, every other week, etc. But with this update you have far more flexibility in how often they’re asked, and when.
…And many more subtle tweaks, adjustments, and improvements.
Every day we’re improving Basecamp 3, and every 6–8 weeks we tend to ship significant improvements. We’re working on some great stuff now — we look forward to rolling it out when it’s ready.
Stay tuned to this blog, or follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/basecamp to stay up on the latest.
If you’re a customer, thanks so much! And if you aren’t, but you find yourself struggling with messy email chains, overwhelmed by chats and txts, finding stuff slipping through the cracks, and generally feeling like your process is falling apart, it’s time to give Basecamp 3 a shot. It’s free to try, and there are no limits during your 30 day trial.
