Highrise and 37signals "set the standard for web 2.0 apps"

We're pleased to announce that Highrise is one of Lifehack.org's 11 Top New Web Apps of 2007:

Highrise: From the good folks at 37signals comes Highrise, an enterprise-grade contact manager and customer relations manager. 37signals sets the standard for web 2.0 apps, so you know it’s good: clean design, a highly functional interface, and interconnectivity with other 37signals apps.

You can see what all the fuss is about at HighriseHQ.com.

Use calendar colors in Backpack to "pencil" in events

Alan Zeichick wants to know why he can’t pencil an appointment into his digital calendar.

Why is it that calendar software doesn’t understand the difference between a confirmed appointment and a tentative one? Sure, you can add in descriptive text: “Lunch with Bob – tbc” is what I usually type, with "tbc" meaning “to be confirmed.” However, that entry in iCal or Google Calendar, or on my BlackBerry, looks exactly the same, whether it’s a tbc or not.

In other words, I can’t see at a glance which appointments in my calendar are definite vs. penciled. I have to read the text and look for that “tbc.” I can't easily see an actionable list of unconfirmed events, unless I do a text search. Nor am I prompted by the software to confirm tentative appointments: the software doesn’t understand the concept.

In Backpack's Calendar, the different calendar colors are a great way to differentiate events in this way. Use gray for maybe events and blue for definite events. Then you'll be able to see, at a glance, which events are merely "penciled" in. Plus, you can change an event from maybe to definite by just changing the event's calendar (located in the pulldown menu next to the event).

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

How marketing consultant Jon Moss and his clients rely on Highrise

Jon Moss is a photographer and marketing consultant who uses both Basecamp and Highrise with his clients. He answered some questions about how Highrise helps him and his clients...

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Tell us about what you do.
I'm a freelance marketing consultant, just setup after working 11 years for a big healthcare corporate. I've been using both Basecamp and Highrise since last year, and find them invaluable in my day to day life. It is great to be able to finally use them properly with my new clients!

My first major contract is for a high end watch and diamond jewellery business called Ian Blowers Jewellers. Whilst they are a very successful, small, family business, one of the key areas they needed improvement was customer data and communication. This is where Highrise fitted in perfectly! As well as working with customer information, I am also looking after their rebranding, new websites and also general marketing, so Basecamp is the perfect tool for keeping people within the business up to date with what is going on, and what needs to be done.

How do you (or your clients) use Highrise and why do you like it?
They have implemented Highrise within the business, so every new customer is now logged into Highrise when they are taking details on the phone. This includes, normal contact details, but also items that they have bought, items they want and also misc details like partners name, likes and dislikes.

Consumerist praises 37signals customer support

Consumerist is impressed by our customer service:

37signals, the company behind the affordable online project management service Basecamp, has some of the fastest customer service we've ever seen: twice over the past year, they've responded in near-real-time to support questions with helpful, non-canned responses. We're so used to big companies that sacrifice customer service in the name of profit, or small companies that aren't prepared to handle queries, that it's nice to come across a company that does it well.

Thanks! We do our best to provide quick, helpful responses to support queries. It's great to see it's appreciated.

Publish your Christmas Wishlist at Backpack

NathanD is using Backpack to share his Christmas wishlist with the world. He discussed publishing his list over at the Backpack Customer Forum...

Christmas always has people asking me for lists of things I want for Christmas. Over the years I tried various ways of sharing that. Word Documents (bloated, slow, problematic, version issues), HTML pages (slow to update, cumbersome) and just plain ‘ole e-mail.

This year, since I subscribed to backpack, I decided to give it a try.

All I have to say is: wow. SO MUCH EASIER.

All I do is e-mail everyone a link to the public page and boom, I’m done. I can even take pictures on my phone and e-mail them (and list additions) to the page and have it updated for me. Fan-freakin’-tastic.

An excerpt from Nathan's wishlist.

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

Subscribe to Basecamp project feeds via email with Nourish

Want to get a summary of your Basecamp projects emailed to you? Then check out Nourish, a newsletter service which allows you to take any RSS feed from content you publish (like a blog) and convert it into an automated email newsletter readers can subscribe to.

They even have a theme specially designed for emailing Basecamp activity.

Nourish's Basecamp theme: "Here is how we have ‘mashed up’ Nourish + Basecamp to provide a better service for our clients who don’t regularly subscribe to RSS feeds. Now our clients get updates daily with what items have been completed. No more emails asking, 'Is this done yet?'"

Matt Browne, one of the app's creators, recently wrote a blog post detailing how Nourish integrates with Basecamp.

We are big fans of 37 Signals products, specifically Basecamp. The most common request we get from our clients using Basecamp is that they never know when to-do list items are complete. I am sure you have heard than one before.

We recently launched an RSS to email service called Nourish. We feel Nourish is the perfect vehicle to deliver updates automatically from a Basecamp RSS feed.

Here is how we have 'mashed up' Nourish + Basecamp to provide a better service for our clients who don't regularly subscribe to RSS feeds:

(1) Sign up for a free Nourish account: http://nouri.sh/
(2) Set up a campaign called Basecamp Updates
(3) Grab the RSS feed from Basecamp
(4) Make a list of people who should get the updates
(5) Set the delivery for daily (you can do weekly or monthly)

Now our clients get updates daily with what items have been completed. No more emails asking, "Is this done yet?".

New 37signals Twitter stream

We're experimenting with a Twitter stream: Twitter.com/37signals. We plan on posting status updates for 37signals products, occasional links to interesting posts, and, well, we'll see. If you have a suggestion for what you'd like to see there, let us know.

CSV2vCard helps import contacts from Excel into Highrise

Highrise imports contacts from Outlook and ACT but not Excel. But there's a way around this: You can save Excel spreadsheets as CSV files (or get a CSV file from another unsupported source) and use CSV2vCard to make vCards, which Highrise accepts.

At Importing from Excel [Highrise Customer Forum], Jeremy C. posted a link to CSV2vCard:

PC users and Mac users both have a better way than going through Outlook or Address book:

There’s a free, generic CSV to vcard conversion tool here: CSV2vCard

This tool allows you to map your contact categories to a bulk vcard fields, which HR happily accepts…you can even map random variables to “notes”. The only issue you’ll have is that for some reason it replaces commas with a &/ combo.

Thanks for the tip Jeremy.

Related: Highrise Help: Import/Export

Great Campfire tips (and more) from New Leaders

Kevin Milden left a comment at Signal vs. Noise talking about how much New Leaders, his team of designers and developers, enjoys Campfire.

Campfire is 37Signals’ best product ever...If you are going to build web based applications Campfire is essential.

We got in touch with Kevin to learn more about New Leaders and how they use Campfire. Read on for more details and to learn some great Campfire tips.

37signals: What is New Leaders and why do you need Campfire?
Kevin: New Leaders is a team of designers and developers working all over the country focused on building high quality, Rails-based web applications for our customers. Talent knows no boundaries — we have team members that work from many different places and Campfire allows everyone to communicate on a regular basis. It acts as our virtual office and provides a centralized place for us to talk and make sure everything is on track.

How do you use Campfire?
I think we use Campfire to it's fullest capabilities. We share screenshots, design concepts, code snippets, and anything that is happening day to day. If one of our team members is not on Campfire it gives us the indication that they are either busy or prefer not to be disturbed. We don't require a status message letting us know you are away we just make the assumption based on how people use it.

When we have a virtual meeting with a customer we'll usually invite them to a campfire seesion while on the phone and share screen shots and URLs. We tried other tools for sharing visual information with clients but have never been happy with web-screen sharing services like Webex. Since there are no java applets or bandwidth issues, and the only requirement is a modern web browser, we are positive that Campfire will work 100% of the time.

What's better about Campfire than other options (IM, etc.)?
1. Web-based — no software, no versions, no bandwidth issues.

2. Group centric — People can jump in and out, no need to approve their inclusion or give people 'presenter' status to share

3. Code Parsing — Campfire can tell when we pasted something so it will break our code snippets our into pastes. Very helpful.

4. Screenshots — We can add an image of anything in-line of the current conversation and get feedback from the entire team. No need for emails or phone calls.

5. Transcripts & File Management — This is the killer feature. Most clients store your conversation transcripts locally and the files end up on your desktop. With campfire everything stays within the application allowing us to find what we need even if from 6 months ago. Unlike IRC, you can read the backlog to an ongoing discussion as soon as you join the room, don't need to keep the session open to record transcripts.

Any tips or tricks for other Campfire customers?
1. the "//km" command will quickly tag a message "Kevin Milden" without the need to type it in. Very useful if directing a message to another user while several people are communicating.

Basecamp permission system improved

We've made some significant, oft-requested improvements to the Basecamp permissions system. These changes should speed up your workflow and make giving/removing access to collaborators simpler, easier, and more consistent.

• Administrators can now control which projects a specific person has access to from the edit person screen. Click the People tab, "edit" a person, and you can give/remove permission to multiple projects at once. Previously you'd have to go into each individual project to change permissions for a specific person. Not any more. This is a huge time saver!
  
• People with permission to work with to-do items now have full access to to-do functionality. They can assign to-do items to people from other companies, edit existing items, and check items off. This makes it much easier for people from different companies (or different "groups" or "departments"  inside the same company) to collaborate on equal footing. No more confusing red dots, partial to-do functionality or "why can't someone assign someone else a to-do?"
• When you add a new company to a project, you have the choice of adding everyone in that company to the project. You no longer have to add them one by one. You can always remove someone's access to a project by either editing them on the People screen or clicking the "People & Permissions tab inside the project.
• By default, everyone you add to a project will have full permissions for messages, files, to-dos, and milestones. This makes complete collaboration much easier while still retaining the option for those who wish to restrict a person's ability to use Basecamp fully.

These changes are based on feedback gathered over the past year. The changes favor participation over non-participation. People can now do more by default. The onus of configuration has been shifted to removing access, not allowing access. Letting people collaborate no longer requires tweaking permissions before starting a project. Now adjustments are only required if you don't want someone to participate on a project.

UPDATE Dec 11, 2007: We've made some additional changes based on feedback.

• We've renamed the "People & Access" tab to "People & Permissions", and also reverted to more descriptive  and familiar "permissions" language inside the tab.
• We've added "everyone | no one" shortcuts to the Permissions screen. Clicking a link will either give everyone or no one from a specific company access to the project. This will save you a lot of clicks if you have a lot of people in a company. For example, if you had a company of 30 people, and only 4 people from that company needed access to that project, you'd just click "no one" then click on those 4 people. This would save you 25 clicks over the previous system.
• We added a "Give everyone from this company access to this project now" checkbox to the new project and add a company to this project process. Clicking that checkbox will give everyone in that company access to the project. Unchecking the box will add the company, but no one from that company will have access yet. You can then customize the permissions on a per-person basis.
• We've improved the new project process so it's clearer if the project you are creating has a company attached or if it's just an internal project.

Thanks again for your continued feedback. We hope you find these improvements useful. Your suggestions will continue to help shape Basecamp over time.