Intro to Basecamp

Basecamp is an incredibly popular project management system built by 37Signals. It is known for being very user-friendly with essentially no learning curve. Most people can quickly figure out how to use it intuitively.

I use Basecamp to collaborate with clients in a private setting. By keeping our communication mostly within Basecamp, this means:

• We won’t lose things in the mess of our inboxes.
• We’ll have an ongoing record of the work we do together… all in one spot.
• There’s a task list, so you can assign me tasks and (if necessary) vice versa.
• We have a message area which is private between you and me.
• If there are other parties we need to get involved (such as partners or co-workers), we can invite them in and interact with each other without it being a mess.
• There’s even a chatroom which is as simple as sending a text or direct message.
• We have an easy, central place to store files if necessary.
• You can reply to email notifications and it is automatically posted to our project portal… meaning you can still interact from your email inbox if you want.
• Basecamp also has a great, free app for your device.

As a client, you will be getting your own, private project inside of my Basecamp account. When I invite you, you will get an email and then create a Basecamp account to join. It is completely free to you.

The Sections Of Your Basecamp Portal

Your project portal will have a few different sections available…

Message Board

We will use this as our private message board. Each message thread has a subject line and then we discuss that topic.

To-Dos

This area will be used for tasks. You can post tasks to be done, assign them to me. And then each task can have a discussion thread directly associated with it so we can work out details as necessary.

Docs & Files

This is for storing files related to your site. If you need to send me logos, images, documents… this is the place to put it instead of emailing it to me or sharing it from a different source.

Chat

This is our private chatroom. There’s no subject line for this one… it is just a running stream of back-and-forth. If we’re online at the same time, we can use it for real-time interaction. But, even if we’re not there together, messages are there and we’ll both see it next time we come into Basecamp.

Project Activity

Below the above sections, you’ll see a running feed of everything going on in our project. All messages, chats, task activity, etc.