37signals Product Blog

Getting Things Done on webOS with Basecamp and Backpack

David Lich struggled with the lack of full-featured, sync-able task and memo apps on the Palm Pre. He finally settled on a combination of desktop and mobile solutions including Basecamp and Backpack. He details how he puts it all together in "Getting Things Done on webOS with Basecamp and Backpack."

Here he explains how he drags Basecamp to-do items into a "PRIORITY" list:

One of the great features of Basecamp is the ability to drag and drop items between to-do lists and within lists, and also reorder the lists themselves. I have created a to-do list called “PRIORITY” to which I drag items that I want to accomplish today.

And here he details how he uses Backpack reminders:

Backpack has a “Reminders” function that allows the user to establish individual and recurring reminders for specific dates and times. It can then be configured to send out an e-mail, text message or both at the scheduled time. I actually use both. I have an e-mail sent to my Exchange account, and have established a rule in Outlook to automatically move each e-mail with “Backpack” as sender to a separate “reminder” subfolder of my inbox. In addition, I have a text message sent to my Pre which, of course, shows up as a notification. It is truly hard to forget something when it now appears on my desktop in Basecamp, in Outlook in a separate inbox subfolder, and on my Pre as a text message with a notification. I’ll have no one to blame but myself if I somehow manage to ignore all of those reminders.

Read the full piece.

“Help me leave the country” Backpack page leads to a carefree honeymoon for web app developer

Adam Fitzgerald is Managing Director at The Frontier Group. Below he tells us how his team uses Highrise and Backpack.

What does your company/business do?
The Frontier Group (based in Perth, Australia) develops web applications and web sites for startups through to big business. A team of 12 (and growing), we develop almost exclusively in Ruby on Rails now and love all things Agile. We run the Ruby On Rails meetup group in Perthand are well integrated into the local Rails community.

Why do you need 37signals products?
At the moment, the two 37signals applications we get the most out of are Highrise and Backpack. We have enough customers to warrant the use of a CRM, but need something with a low barrier to entry (otherwise it’s just another behemoth web application we need to maintain). We run simultaneous projects, so Backpack helps out there with keeping our information in one place.

How do you use the product and why do you like it?
Highrise: With Highrise, it’s all about Deals for us. Every lead goes in as a deal and we monitor the Pending list closely. We can track our Wins vs. Losses, but keeping things moving on Pending Deals is critical. Being able to set Tasks to ensure follow-up means our Deals don’t fall behind schedule. The email dropbox facility means all correspondence and proposals sent can be filed against the Deal, keeping everything central.

Simplicity and ease of use is the reason why we introduced Highrise into our organisation.

Fitzgerald: "It's all about Deals for us."

Backpack: This is critical to keep all project documentation together. We might have four or more people needing access to documents for a project, or just loosely planning some ideas, so it all goes into Backpack.

Another use for Backpack is management meetings. We meet once a week and have a Backpack page where the managers tick off deliverables from the following week and assess the week ahead. It’s not terribly formalised at this level, but it gives us a quick idea of where we’ve been and where we’re headed. Anything that makes a meeting more enjoyable is a plus.

What did you use before and why did you switch?
We were using Google Docs for project file management. That works ok, but is a little bit rudimentary with its interface. For us, it was either develop something in house, or go with Backpack and Backpack worked for us.

Tell us a story about a time when the product(s) helped you out.
Backpack really helped me out when I was heading overseas for my honeymoon. There’s a lot of knowledge that needs to be transferred so I started a “Help me leave the country” page. Initially I used it to just put down all the information that I knew was preventing me from leaving work. I turned that into a Todo list for work items that I wanted completed by the team on my behalf, and a series of notes which would cover off any issues. I don’t remember getting a single phone call the three weeks I was away, so lets chalk part of that up to Backpack :)

Any tips or tricks for other customers?
Despite the simplicity of the 37signals applications, there’s still a lot you can uncover to use them for. We tried introducing Basecamp into our organisation a few years back but it wasn’t quite the right fit at the time. A couple of years later we found a small use for Highrise and Backpack, and it worked for us then. For people unsure of how they will use the applications, just focus on one area that works and then expand from there.

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

Step-by-step tips on creating a public page in Backpack

Create a Quick and Simple Webpage with Backpack shows you how to, well, you can guess.

Have you ever wanted to make a quick webpage? Not a full site, but simply a page with information, some pictures and perhaps a map or video? Backpack from 37signals is a great tool for keeping track of your personal and business information, but it can also be used to quickly make a public or private site...

One of the great things about Backpack is how easy it is to edit anything in your page. Simply hover over the content and a handle will appear. From that, you can delete or edit the content, or can drag the content to any part of the page.

Use Backpack to help sell items at Kijiji, eBay, Craigslist, etc.

Mike Leonard wrote in to suggest using Backpack to offer supplemental information when selling items on Kijiji, eBay, Craigslist, etc.

I use Backpack as a supplemental information page when selling items on [classifieds site] Kijiji.

I set up my ad and include a link back to my Backpack page, which has been publicly shared.

Instead of the standard 4 images allowed i can display as many pictures and very detailed descriptions as needed for the item I am selling. It has helped significantly when selling higher end items where people want to see more detail than is offered in the standard Kijiji ad.

The best part about it (as you know) is how fast you can get the page up and running.

Here's an example: Mike's page that offers details on a Sharp 26" LCD Television for sale.

Have a tip for other 37signals customers? Let us know.

Tip: Email attachments to Backpack pages

Backpack customer Rizwan Reza writes in:

Backpack Tip: Send attachments to a Backpack page...I have come to use this on a regular basis now. Have some attachment in your email you want to save in Backpack, just email it to your page's email address, and magically, you'd find your message along with the attachments! Super handy!

Learn more about how Backpack can quickly turn your emails into notes, files, to-do lists, and photo galleries at the Tour: Backpack and Email page.

For example, this...

...becomes this:

Have a tip for other 37signals customers? Let us know.

Tip for what to do if you accidently delete something in Backpack

At Twitter, @maguay writes:

Quick tip for using @37signals Backpack ... if you accidently delete something, check the RSS feed or the page history - it just saved me!

Just go to the footer of any Backpack page to find these links...

Got a 37signals product tip others might like? Let us know.

Get your wedding party involved with Backpack

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.

Web Worker Daily: A daily checklist in Backpack helps with marketing efforts

Tools and Techniques for Better Lead Generation [Web Worker Daily] argues that maintaining a consistent effort is key to marketing. The author says you need a reliable system so you can see exactly what you’ve done and when, as well as what’s left to be done — and Backpack is a great tool for this:

I have a page set up for each day of the workweek, and I evenly distribute the action tasks for all of my marketing tactics throughout the week.

On a given day, I simply click on that day’s page and get to work on the tasks, which are within a handy checklist (see image above along the left).

As I complete the items, I check them off. My goal is to get through the entire list on any given day. If I don’t get through the list for some reason, my rule is to get through all of the week’s tasks before the following Monday. This provides me with a little flexibility without letting me completely off the hook or allowing me to get too lax with my efforts (thus, adding consistency).

Each Monday, I un-check all the lists on every page, which helps me to stay accountable to my plans and goals for my business. I can clearly see what got done and what did not get done over the previous week. After un-checking the items, I’m ready to begin another week.

Always remember with Backpack Reminders

Backpack can send reminders to you via email or as a Mobile SMS/text message. That means you won’t ever forget to attend a meeting, make a call, or any other task that you have to do. You can even set and schedule reminders for your co-workers too.

You can schedule reminders for you or your team by clicking on the Reminders tab in your Backpack account.

1. Give the reminder a name.
2. Choose a time for the reminder.
3. Select the people to notify.

Backpack will automatically send an email message or mobile text message to the people that you selected on the time and date you have chosen.

Watch a quick video on Reminders.

Convert password protected RSS feeds to emails with Feed My Inbox

Want to get your password protected RSS feeds (from Basecamp, Backpack, Highrise, or wherever) delivered via email? Benjamin Stangland, Operations Manager at Weber Marketing Group, offers this tip on converting password protected RSS feeds to emails.

I found a free solution that will convert password protected rss feeds to emails that I just wanted to share with you guys. Since this might help other 37signals customers.

Converting password protected rss feeds seems to be a challenge but www.feedmyinbox.com works.

You have to place your username and password into the feed line itself however.
https://[username]:[password]@[domain]/[path]

We use this all the time with Highrise and love it.

FYI: An email will be sent to you each time the feed is updated, but no more than every 24 hours (to cut down on inbox clutter). Whether there is 1 post or 10 posts to the feed in a 24 hour period, you receive them all in one email.

Have a good tip related to a 37signals product? Let us know.