37signals Product Blog

Launch: The Basecamp Calendar

Since launching Basecamp in February of 2004, Basecamp has had a feature called Milestones. Milestones were used to keep track of major dates in a project (phases, launches, deliverables, etc).

Over the years our customers have been asking for a proper calendar to replace the basic list of milestones. They liked the milestones functionality, but they wanted to be able to add and view their milestones in a traditional calendar layout.

Further, they wanted to add items to the calendar that weren't major project milestones. Things like meetings, appointments, lunches, someone's out on vacation, phone calls, etc.

Today we introduce the new Basecamp calendar

We've been listening. Over the past few months we've been hard at work building out this top customer request. Today we're proud to release the brand new Basecamp calendar. The "Milestones" has been replaced with the "Calendar" tab in your projects and on the Dashboard.

When you add something to the calendar you'll see two options: You can make the item an event or you can make it a milestone. A milestone has a checkbox and is marked late if the date passes without the checkbox being checked off. Same as before. Events don't have checkboxes and aren't marked late.

An event might be "9am Team breakfast" while a milestone might be "Client review and signoff" or "Launch". You can use events or milestones any way you'd like, of course.

You can also set up spanned events. Spanned events let you designate events that last more than one day. You can even use spanned events to label project phases.

The 14-day view on the Dashboard and Overview screens have been updated as well.

And here's a real bonus: You can now add events or milestones to any project on the calendar on the Dashboard. When you add an event or milestone from the global Dashboard calendar, you'll see a pulldown that lets you select the appropriate project. Now you don't have to go into a project to add an item to that project's calendar.

It's live in your account right now!

This feature came directly from customer requests and feedback. Thanks for your patience while we developed the new calendar feature. We hope you love it as much as we do. As always, thanks for using Basecamp!

Highrise now has custom fields!

Today we can finally answer the question "When will Highrise have custom fields?" Answer: Now and forever!

Custom fields have been the top Highrise feature request for some time. The lack of custom fields has also been one of the top reasons why people cancelled Highrise or didn't sign up in the first place. As you can imagine, we're very excited to introduce this feature. We hope you love it as much as we do.

What are custom fields?

Custom fields allow you to keep track of extra information beyond standard contact information (phone, email, address, etc.).

For example, you can add a custom field called "Referred by" to keep track of who referred a customer to you. Or "Spouse's name" so you'll never forget the name of the husband or wife of one of your contacts. Or maybe a field called "University" to keep track of which college someone went to. Or maybe you just want to keep track of a "Customer ID". Custom fields make it all possible.

How do I set up, view, and search custom fields?

Go to any contact, click the red "Edit this person" link in the upper right corner of the person's page.

Next scroll down below the standard contact info fields. You'll then see a block called "Custom fields". This is where the custom fields are listed.

Click on the "Set up your custom fields link" to add/change your custom fields. This is where you can create fields, rename fields, or delete fields.

Custom fields show up in the sidebar on a contact's page right below their contact info. In this example you'll see four custom fields ("Customer ID", "Department", "Referred by", and "University").

Finally, you can search by any one of your custom fields. Searching custom fields works the same way as searching any other contact data. Click the "Contacts" link in the sidebar on the left side. Next you'll see the usual "filter your contact by" links plus your custom fields as well.

We hope you find custom fields useful

Based on all the requests and feedback we've received, we think this feature will make a lot of people happy. We hope you find the feature useful.

Thanks for your patience while we developed this Highrise feature. It took a bit longer than we anticipated, but we wanted to make sure we got it right.

Launch: Highrise redesigned for 2011

The new Highrise redesign is live!

After three years of wearing the same clothes, Highrise gets a new wardrobe. The new kit comes complete with a variety of new features that make Highrise easier, faster, more powerful, and more informative on every screen.

A team effort

This redesign is the result of great teamwork. From Jeremy and Jamis on the code side to Scott, Ryan, and Jason F on the design side. Sam, Jason Z, and Jamie also came through at the end to help polish everything up. And Sarah, Michael, Jason R and Ann are doing a stellar job helping our customers who have questions about what's new. We're really proud of the new Highrise. We hope you like it too.

Highlighting what's new

We wanted to highlight some of the key changes as well as some of the goals that influenced these changes. Some of these changes are based on customer requests, while others are based on our own observations on how to improve Highrise. We've learned a lot about how people use Highrise over the years. We've poured that understanding into the new design.

Global contact, case, and deal search.

GOAL: Make it easier to get to a contact, case, or deal without having to back out, switch screens, or click a specific tab.

CHANGE: The new Highrise design lets you jump to a contact (person or company), case, or deal at any time from any screen. This is an improvement over the old design which only had a jump field on a few select screens.

Global new contact and new task buttons.

GOAL: Make it easier to add contacts and tasks from anywhere at any time.

CHANGE: All key screens now have a new contact and new task button in the top left corner. Before you had to hunt around to get to those features - now they're everywhere all the time.

Recently viewed list

GOAL: Make it easier and faster to work with the people, cases, deals, and tags you're accessing most often. Reduce the need for tedious navigation to get to these things.

CHANGE: We added a list of the 10 most recently accessed contacts, cases, deals, and tags to the global sidebar on the left hand side of the page. This list is available on every key screen in Highrise. The previous design included 4 tabs that showed recently accessed people, but the names were often truncated, they didn't include avatars or company names, and they were easy to miss.

Sidebar navigation + metadata

GOAL: Reduce the amount of space used at the top of the screen for navigation + give people more information about what's in their account.

CHANGE: We've replaced tabs at the top of the screen with links, icons, and information on the left side of the screen. This gives us room at the top of the screen for the most frequently used bit of navigation: the quick jump search field. Plus, now we have room to list the number of tasks due today, how many people you have in your account, and the number of open cases and pending deals. Now no matter where you are in Highrise you know more about what's going on inside your Highrise account.

Contact information zooming

GOAL: Make it easier to see contact information from across your desk or across the room.

CHANGE: We added a "zoom" link next to a person's contact information in the sidebar. Clicking that link zooms their contact information to fill the browser screen. Now you can see it as you roll your chair back from your desk to send a fax or handwrite an envelope.

Significantly improved contact filtering

GOAL: Make it easier to find contacts on a variety of key bits of information. It should be easy to see a list of all the CEOs you know who live in Seattle or everyone in Chicago you know who has an hp.com email address.

CHANGE: Now you can filter your contact list by a variety of fields. Filters can be as simple as a city, or as complex as a combination of city, title, zip, and phone area code.

Buttons and filters in your line of sight

GOAL: Bring key actions like add and filter in the user's line of sight. Allow people to read a natural language, sentence-based description of what they're seeing instead of deciphering a string of pulldown menus.

CHANGE: We've moved the "add" buttons from the far right side of the screen to the left side - right above the content you already have. This is a more natural positioning of these buttons. Further, we've eliminated bulky filter pulldown menus and replaced them with more elegant, descriptive sentence-based filters.

A contact's local time and temperature

GOAL: Know more about the other person's world before you get in touch with them.

CHANGE: We added the local time and current temperature to a new section at the top of a contact's page. We also added the primary phone number and email address to the same section. Now, when you look up someone's number or email, you'll also know what time it is where this person is and what the temperature is. The time is especially useful if the contact is many time zones away. And since so many conversations start by talking about the weather, the temperature will give you a good bit of ammo for that discussion. Note: Both of these features require that you've entered the city/state/country for a specific contact.

Contact map

GOAL: Be able to tell, at a glance, where someone is in the world.

CHANGE: We added a small map to the top right corner of a contact's page (city, state, or country is required to see the map). The map is zoomed out to the city level so you can get a general sense of where someone is in the world. Street maps all look the same - they don't give you at a glance information. Zooming out gives you a wide-angle view and more context. Clicking the map takes you a detailed exact pin-point street map at Google. Note: The map is only viewable if your web browser is wide open - narrow windows don't show the map.

Still more to do

Even though the redesign has been launched, it's not over. We have a list of things we're not entirely happy with. We agree that some of the fonts are too small and too light. We agree that some stuff feels crowded in some places. We agree that we can do better in some other spots, too. We've already made some of those changes, and we have more to do. So the work goes on. We'll be rolling out little improvements as they're finished.

We're thankful for all our customer's feedback, input, and ideas over the years. You've helped push Highrise in this new direction. We appreciate everyone's support.

Thanks for using Highrise!

Preview: Highrise redesign for 2011

For the past few months we've been secretly working on a ground-up visual redesign of Highrise. We'll be rolling out the redesign to our customers the week of January 3, 2011.

Before we roll it out, we wanted to preview some of the highlights of the redesign.

First: Why redesign Highrise?

When we launched Highrise in 2007, we piggybacked on the visual design and layout of Basecamp. That design has served us well over the past few years, but we never felt the layout was optimized for Highrise. People use Highrise differently than Basecamp. The UI should reflect those differences.

The new design is optimized around the most frequently used parts of Highrise. Things people do most often, like jumping to a specific contact, case, or deal, are now possible from everywhere all the time. You can also add contacts and tasks from any screen. You no longer have to back out or switch screens to access essential features. This saves you time and erases frustration.

Further, the design is significantly more refined. We worked hard to remove the elements that weren't important and play up the elements that were. Key features, buttons, filters, and links are now right in your line of sight down the left half of the screen (instead of being spread out across the whole screen before). The new design puts everything you need right where you'd expect it.

Everything's been carefully considered. From font sizes, to shades of grey, to the layouts of every screen. While it's a big change, we've worked hard to maintain a sense of familiarity as well. It'll feel brand new, but you'll still know your way around. Like all change, some parts may take getting used to, but we think you'll like the design the more you interact with it.

Highlights

Here are some highlights of the new design. Note: Since the design hasn't launched yet, some stuff you see here is still subject to change.

Global contact, task, and jump.

You can now add a contact or task from any screen. Further, you can jump to a contact, case, or deal from any screen. These features are located at the top of the screen on every screen.

Buttons and filters.

We've moved the "add" buttons from the far right side of the screen to the left side - right above the content you already have. This is a more natural positioning of these buttons. Further, we've eliminated bulky filter pulldown menus and replaced them with more elegant, descriptive sentence-based filters.

10 recently viewed contacts, cases, deals, or tags.

Whenever you view a contact, case, deal, or tag, they'll automatically be added to a list in the lefthand sidebar. This way you can quickly move between the last 10 contacts, cases, deals, or tags you've worked with. It's a huge time saver. The stuff you work on most often will always be in front of you. No more searching or browsing for contacts, cases, deals, or tags you're frequently working on.

Contact zooming.

We've added contact zooming in a few more places. This is especially helpful when you need to make a call or write down an address, but you aren't directly in front of your screen. Just zoom it up and you can see it from across the room.

Significantly improved contact filtering.

Now you can filter your contact list by a variety of fields. Filters can be as simple as a city, or as complex as a combination of city, title, zip, and phone area code. For example, you could set up a filter to show you all the CEOs you know in Miami or all the people who live in Oregon that have gmail.com email addresses. Here are a few examples of filter combinations you could create.

Private items are more obvious.

We've improved the private flag on contacts, cases, and deals so it's even more obvious than before.

New overall layout.

Here's a blurred view of the new overall layout. You'll see the sidebar is on the left instead of the right.

More surprises in store

There are some other things we think you'll love about the redesign, but we'll save those for launch. Stay tuned, it's on the way.

Thanks for your continued support. Highrise had its best year yet in 2010. We hope you did too.

See you in 2011!

Draft for iPad updated to version 1.0.1

Draft, our iPad app that lets you quickly-sketch-and-share via email or Campfire, has been updated to 1.0.1. The update is now available in the App Store.

Included in this update is:

• Unlimited undo
• Unlimited redo
• Save a sketch to your photoroll (Share button)
• Save a sketch to the clipboard (Share button)

Introducing Campfire for iPhone

A year or so ago the folks at Overcommitted introduced Ember, an excellent native iPhone app for Campfire. Ember let you chat, view transcripts, jump between rooms, share pictures in a Campfire chat. It was beautifully done. It caught our eye.

Earlier this year we started talking to them about buying Ember. They were into the idea. We worked out a deal, made a few changes to the app, submitted to the App Store. Yesterday Ember officially became 37signals Campfire for iPhone (iTunes App Store link).

As an added bonus, we've dropped the price from $9.99 to $0.00. Campfire for iPhone is free (Ember was priced at $9.99).

If you use Campfire, and you have an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad (not optimized for iPad, but it works in the standard app mode), head over to the App Store and download 37signals Campfire for iPhone today. We use it every day. We hope you find it as useful as we do.

Thanks again for using Campfire.

Basecamp becomes more finger friendly

If you're on a PC/Mac, Basecamp shows you certain links and features when you hover over an item with your mouse. But if you're on a multitouch device like an iPhone or iPad, you can't "hover" over something - you can only tap it.

Along with many of our customers, we're iPhone/iPad users here at 37signals. We wanted to make sure Basecamp worked well on those devices. With that in mind, we just launched a new feature which makes Basecamp more finger friendly for the iPhone and iPad.

Here's a video showing you how it works:

We hope you find this useful. Thanks again for using Basecamp.

New in Basecamp: Project templates

It's time to check another top customer request off the list. This weekend we launched project templates in Basecamp.

For years Basecamp had to-do templates. To-do templates let you create a to-do list once and then add that to-do list to any project you'd like. It's a big time saver. This feature was accessible from the Templates tab on the Dashboard.

Project templates

Now when you click the Templates tab, you'll see a new option: Project templates. Project templates let you set up a standardized project with to-dos, milestones, and messages. You can then use this project template to create new projects. A new project created from a project template will be auto-populated with all the to-do lists, milestones, and messages from the template. A huge time saver that's especially useful if you do lots of similar projects.

Notes and details

You can only assign milestones or to-dos to people in your own company when you are creating the templates. When you actually create a project from a template you can go in and assign to-dos and milestones to anyone else from any other company that you assign to the project.

When setting up Milestones, you pick relative dates like "Week 1, Monday" or "Week 3, Wednesday". These relative dates are then used to set up actual dates when you create the actual project.

To-dos in templates don't currently have due dates. You can add due dates to any to-do once you've created a project from a template.

Any messages automatically posted to a project when a project is created from a template will be emailed to everyone who's part of the project.

We'd love your feedback

Down the road we'd like to add files and Writeboards to project templates. Until then, we'd like to hear your feedback on the new feature. Drop us a note and let us know what you think.

Thanks again for all your feedback along the way. And thanks again for using Basecamp.

A preview of the new Basecamp messages and comments editor

We wanted to let you know about a big new Basecamp feature we're rolling out shortly. Now you'll be able to use visual formatting tools when you post messages or comments. We wanted to give you a heads up so you know it's coming. It should be any day now.

We've been testing this new feature with about 100 customers for the past six weeks or so. While it looks simple, it was surprisingly challenging to get it just right across browsers. We also had to fine tune the display quite a bit to accept copy/paste from other programs without destroying the formatting.

The new editor (a WYSIWYG - "What You See Is What You Get" - editor) lets you turn text bold or italic without having to know the special "Textile" formatting codes you used to have to use. You can also create bullet lists and numbered lists by just clicking a button. No more battling with Basecamp just to make a bullet list or some bold text in a message.

Starting simple

The new editor is starting out very simple. Bold, italic, bullet list, and numbered list. We wanted to get the basics right first. In time we'll be adding additional functionality. Blockquotes and "code mode" will probably be next.

What about Textile?

If you're a Textile fan, you may be wondering if you can still use Textile/HTML in your messages. The answer is yes. Just click the "Switch to Textile/HTML" link in the lower right corner below the editor to switch into Textile/HTML mode. Then you can use the same codes you used to use. Note: You can't use Textile or HTML in the WYSIWYG mode.

Thanks for your patience

This feature has been a top request for a while. We've been working on it on and off for a while. We're excited to finally bring it to you. It'll only get better, too.

Thanks again for using Basecamp.

New in Campfire: Drag and drop uploading

Use Campfire with either Safari, Firefox, or Chrome? Then you're going to like this.

Now you can drag a file from your desktop right into your Campfire room and the file will automatically be uploaded to the room. You don't need to click "Upload a file" in the sidebar and go through that process anymore. Just drag a file right into your browser window and up it goes.

Note: This only works with Safari 3+, Firefox 3.5+, and Chrome.