Printer Friendly Version

A new solution called Basecamp from the Chicago, Ill., design firm 37signals makes it easy for small companies to create online project centers and keep track of the various tasks involved without headaches or major expense.

The president of 37signals, Jason Fried, says that Basecamp was originally designed to meet the company's own in-house needs, but he decided to offer it to the public after several of his clients raved about it. It's not a robust tool for the enterprise, but a simple and useful tool for small companies. We think it's a great way for intranet departments to organize their work as they tackle new projects. It's also ideal for remote teams or shops that work with outside clients.

Basecamp is a hosted solution, so there's no hardware or software to install, and since users access it through a browser, it works on all platforms. Create a trial account for free at www.basecamphq.com and you'll see how simple it is to create new projects and manage your team's tasks and schedules.

Once you have an account, you can create new projects in it and add members to your team in seconds. You can specify whether a project is internal only, or whether you'll be working with an outside client. Clients can log in to Basecamp too, to see to how work is progressing.

Each Basecamp project has four main areas: a message board, to-do list, milestones section, and files. In the message board, you can post notes and images, and even request e-mail notification when someone responds to one of your posts. The to-do list is the place to enter all the tasks that need to be done, then check them off when they're completed. Milestones is where you enter important dates in a project's timeline, so that everyone knows what needs to be done by what time.

The milestones section includes some nifty extras. Because it uses the iCalendar format, you can subscribe to it using Apple iCal (on a Macintosh) or Mozilla Calendar (on Windows), to see project dates right alongside your own schedule. We also like that you can enter up to 10 milestones at once when setting up your project. Once you've completed a milestone, simply check it off. The fourth section, files, lets you post and share important documents with others on the team.

The programmers behind Basecamp have kept the tool light, with as little HTML as possible so that it loads almost as quickly as if it were an application on your computer. You can customize all the colors within your project's pages, so that they're the same as your company colors. You can even add your corporate logo.

For all its functionality, Basecamp comes at a bargain price. If you want to manage only one project at a time, you can use Basecamp for free. Manage up to 10 projects at once for $19 per month, and 25 for $59 per month. Topping it out, $59 per month lets you manage an unlimited number of projects.

If you're struggling with overly complex project management systems — or, worse yet, no project management system at all — give Basecamp a try. It's an elegant solution at a rock-bottom price.

Basecamp's overview page gives you a quick take on what's happening with your project, including what milestones are late or due, and what changes have recently been made to the project site.