One of our favorite uses for Backpack: "How to" pages

One way we love to use Backpack is for "how to" pages that guide us through confusing tech waters. These tutorial pages mean we don't have to waste time relearning processes from scratch. Some examples:

How to change FTP server for existing files
How to checkout apps from the Subversion repo
How to create accounts for Basecamp and Backpack from the console
How to create File Attachments in the console
How to deploy to staging
How to failover to status.37signals.com
How to format dates with strftime
How to merge a branch into trunk
How to rebase in SVN
How to restart a stage on dev
How to run solr locally
How to setup a local nameserver
How to setup MySQL databases for local apps
How to setup the Unix programs required by our apps
How to test local apps in VMware

And here's a look at one:

Jamis put it together and this was the reaction to it (from a Campfire chat):

Ryan: Jamis, thanks much for that page. really informative and well put-together
Jamis: thanks RS! I'm glad it's been helpful
David: haha, I bookmarked that page! went back there a ton of times for the openbar reform. merged trunk more times than I'd care to remember.
Jamis: yeah, svn rebasing is so insane. Most of the reason I made that page was for me to refer back to :)
Ryan: what a great use of Backpack

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

CSS tip for customizing the appearance of Backpack pages

Brian Bailey recently posted about how he adds some CSS to Backpack pages in order to customize them. "Simply add a small amount of CSS to the page in the form of a note and you can change the formatting to meet your needs," he writes. Details below.

If you use Backpack, the organizing web tool and intranet from 37signals, you may sometimes wish you could modify the text on a page to fit a little more information on it. I have a page where I collect code snippets and terminal commands and the default font seems a bit large with so much content. Turns out there's an easy solution to this: simply add a small amount of CSS to the page in the form of a note and you can change the formatting to meet your needs.

I've known this was possible for a long time, but finally took the time to figure it out the other day. After a few experiments, I came up with a solution that works great for me. Those of you with actual CSS skills may find much to laugh at with this example - feel free to post improvements. Plus, there is much more that can be done once someone with design skills starts playing with it.

To do this yourself, just create a new note on a page with what you see above (I like to put the note at the bottom). As soon as you save it, refresh the page to see the changes. Feel free to experiment with the font sizes (just change 14px and 12px) and the title colors (color:brown).

Here are two examples, with the standard version first. Check out these ideas if you'd like to explore further. Enjoy!

#1: Before.

#1: After.

#2: Before.

#2: After.

Do you have a neat trick re: a 37signals product? Let us know.

[Case Study] Trigger brings Los Angeles and Shanghai offices together with 37signals products

Melanie Orndorff, Account Manager at Trigger, an entertainment marketing and interactive design company. She writes to tell us how the company unites its two offices, one in Los Angeles and the other in Shanghai, with 37signals products:

At Trigger, we design, develop, and deploy games, websites, and social media applications for clients such as Sony, Paramount, Fox, and Universal Pictures. It's fun work, and it can also be pretty hectic. We use a few 37signals products here at Trigger, but Basecamp and Highrise have proven most useful for our team.

Previously, we would send a huge volume of work assignment emails, project questions, and replies back and forth between our Los Angeles and Shanghai offices. Since many of our team members in Shanghai are not English-speaking, most of those emails would need to be read and translated before work could begin. It could get confusing, and somehow emails always seemed to get lost.

With Basecamp, our project managers in both offices (plus some team members in Portland, Seattle, and Las Vegas) are able to keep all of the communications in one place. Email volume has dropped, and team members are more informed. Because of this, we've been able to take on far more projects than we could handle in the past.

We love being able to discuss projects collaboratively between the offices. Because the messages are displayed in chronological sequence, we know that everyone has the most current information. When updates to work requests are needed, we can follow up with additional instructions and each developer and manager gets the info.

Learn how Trigger uses Highrise after the jump.

Use Jott to transcribe a voice message and post it to your Backpack homepage

Jott converts your voice into emails, text messages, reminders, lists and appointments. You can even use it to transcribe a voice message and post it to your Backpack homepage. Full details and an example audio track at Jott.

You: Call 866-JOTT-123
Jott: Who do you want to Jott?
You: Backpack
Jott: Backpack, is this correct?
You: Yes
Jott: Beep!
You: Add Task to Home, remember to get lunch for the team.

Jott transcribes your message and posts it to your Backpack homepage.

If you're constantly on the go (or just prefer talking to typing), this sounds like a great way to get entries into Backpack via your phone.

(Note: If you're already a Jott user, add Backpack to your Jott links.)

How to use Fluid to "create a kick ass intranet app using 37signals"

"Create a Kick Ass Intranet App using 37signals" explains how to use Open Bar and Fluid to create "a stylish intranet app that lives in your dock, complete with all of your 37signals services."

The post explains how to set up Open Bar so you can switch easily between apps and explains the benefits:

Having all of these applications in place really creates a great intranet-type workflow. It’s helpful even when working solo but if you have a small team like me it really shines. I also noticed my people used the various apps a lot more once I introduced them to using OpenID to bring them together — as well as putting it all together in Fluid.app.

It then explains how to get the apps to live in your dock:

So we have our cool kid intranet setup with OpenID. Now we need to go download Fluid.app and turn this puppy into a desktop-like application. Fluid is an SSB (site-specific browser), which is basically just a web browser without all the extras and with a customizable dock icon (I would recommend grabbing these nice icons for use with Fluid).

It’s great for tabbing to your intranet window, adding a calendar entry, and tabbing back to Photoshop, to give a quick example. This is a process that just isn’t as exciting when you’re stuck in Safari.

Mac users: Create a Backpack Journal Dashboard widget using Safari's webclip button

Elaptics.co.uk has a blog post on rolling your own Backpack Journal Dashboard Widget using Safari's webclip button:

Safari on Leopard has an awesome, but probably somewhat underused, webclip button which allows you to grab part of a webpage and have it turned into a widget. And as all programmers know, the best code to write is no code. So I have grabbed the updating part of the page as per the widget described and also the team’s recent updates. As a double bonus, it updates the clips when you invoke Dashboard so you get the latest team updates straight away rather than what you’d normally be having to do is refresh your browser’s page yourself.

Ok, I’m blind, where’s this button?

Right here….

And this is what mine looks like on my Dashboard. The webclip widgets also allow you to put different frames around the clip, just flip it over and pick from the options. This season my two widgets are sporting the latest in Torn Edge and Glass themes fashion.

Do you have a neat tip for a 37signals product? Let us know.

"100 Useful Web Tools for Writers" includes Highrise, Backpack, and Campfire

100 Useful Web Tools for Writers [CollegeDegrees.com] is a list that "will help you with your career, your sanity and your creativity whenever your write." The following 37signals tools made the list:

Highrise: Manage all of your employers, vendors, designers and partners with this CRM tool.

Backpack: This 37signals tool organizes group calendars, announcements, files, task lists and more, perfect for writers who frequently work with or manage others.

Campfire: Another 37signals tool, this collaboration solution lets you set up secure chat groups where you can send and share files.

View the entire list.

Kidmondo uses Basecamp and Backpack to create online baby journal

Kidmondo.com is a unique online service for new parents that recently launched. Site creator Daniel Hallac wrote to tell us how he's been inspired by Basecamp and 37signals:

Kidmondo is a personalized online baby journal that helps parents to easily chronicle their child's life and share it with friends and family in a safe environment. Some of the tools we offer parents include, a online diary, photo & video gallery, growth & dental charts, medical & food journals, and an interactive timeline of the child's life.

The early reviews have been positive and many people have equated it to a baby blogging platform or even a baby Facebook. My response tends to be that I find it closer to a baby Basecamp. Basecamp --which we used religiously in the development of the product-- has been a constant inspiration in the design of the site. When we were stomped, we often asked ourselves, "what would 37signals do?"

We asked Daniel (pictured below with his son Davide) to tell us more about Kidmondo's use of Basecamp (and Backpack too):

How do you use Basecamp and why do you like it?
Kidmondo is an online baby journal founded by my wife, Carole and I soon after the birth of our second child. We couldn't find a compelling way to chronicle and share news about our kids with our family and friends, so we went ahead and built one. When we first came up with the idea, we started with another 37signals product you may have heard of, Backpack. Backpack to help us brainstorm and flesh out our ideas and the exact requirements for Kidmondo.

When it came time for the implementation, we switched to Basecamp to manage our engagement with Eastmedia Inc, the web development shop we commissioned to build the site. Luckily for us, Basecamp was also their recommended project management tool and the transition was a smooth one.

We picked both products because they just worked! My wife has a very low tolerance for complex tools and was able to quickly adapt and use it. It allowed us to concentrate on the work at hand and not have to worry about learning the idiosyncrasies of the product.

Which features do you use most?
I believe the message board were the most used tool and became the primary communication channel between us and the developers. Having all communications in a central and searchable repository really helped cut down on miscommunications. Funny story, during the project I was often away from a computer and commented that Basecamp really needed a reply by email function. Low and behold you announced this feature it a few days later. That soon became the most used feature!

Productivity blogger calls Backpack "insanely easy"

Charles Gilkey writes Productive Flourishing, a blog devoted to "all things having to do with flourishing" (i.e. it covers creativity, time management, GTD, personal development, personal productivity, etc.). The site recently asked the question, "Is Backpack Worth the Time and Money?" The answer: Yes!

Backpack proved to be that integrated solution.

Calendar sharing is also a huge feature for me. I’m horrible at telling Angela what I’m doing, even though I often put it in a calendar. My old DotMac service automatically updated her computer when I made changes - so when I no longer had that feature, there was considerable tension as my shifting schedule changed and I didn’t tell her. Having your spouse cook a meal because it’s her turn only to tell her way too late that you’re going to stay late for work causes considerable frustration.

Backpack stepped in quite nicely there, as well. Now when I update my Backpack calendar, she gets an RSS notification that I’ve done so.

But I gained more than those two features. I also really started using the Reminder feature in Backpack, as well. I schedule reminders for important things to remember, and I can set it so that it reminds both of us or one of us. For instance, she had surgery last Thursday, and the doctor informed her that was not to take anti-inflammatory meds for one week prior to her surgery. Rather than try to remember that, I just programmed a reminder that emailed us one week prior indicating that from that she wasn’t supposed to take anti-inflammatory meds during that period. Simple and efficient.

I’ve also been continually using their Pages feature in many different ways. One time I used it to keep a rolling ToDo list for things I needed to do during Annual Training. Another time I used it to keep track of the wines that we like. Another use has been as a shared project tracker. It’s really so easy and modular that you can use it for about whatever you need.

Rarely have I used a product that was so easy, and I dare say fun, that it encouraged me to use it more. Backpack does that to me on a daily basis.

Video: Backpack tips for dragging

This video shows you how to use the Home/End and Page Up/Down keys for dragging items around a Backpack page quickly. Also, you'll see how easy it is to drag an item to a page in the sidebar.

Dashboard widget for Backpack Journal

The latest addition to Backpack: The Journal. And now, if you're a Mac user, you can post your status and create new journal entries right from your Dashboard thanks to Roobasoft.com's Dashboard widget.

Recently, 37signals added a Journal feature to Backpack. I wrote a little dashboard widget that uses their API and can post your status and create new journal entries.

Download BackpackJournal.wdgt

To use this, you’ll need your Backpack API Key. To get that, go to ‘my info’ and click the ‘Show your API key’

After that, enter your text in whichever field you want and hit enter. Only the field you changed will be submitted.

Developers, you can use Backpack's API to create your own add-ons for Backpack.

Introducing the Backpack Journal

A few weeks ago we gave everyone a peek at in/out, our internal app for keeping track of who's doing what and what everyone's recently completed.

We mentioned that we were considering building it into Backpack. Today we're pleased to announce that the Journal is now part of Backpack. Just log into your Backpack account and click the Journal tab. The Journal is available on all plans -- from free to Max.

The Journal eliminates the need to constantly ask each other "What are you working on right now?" and "What did you do today?"

Watch a video

A full-size video is also available.

An API too!

As part of the Journal launch, we've updated the Backpack API to include journal entries and status listings. We're excited to see what people build with the journal API.

We hope you find the Journal useful

The Backpack Journal has become an integral part of our work day. We're checking it all the time to see what everyone is busy with and what's been finished. We don't have to bother each other to find out what everyone is up to. It's a huge interruption saver (and we know how interruption is the enemy of productivity).

Web marketing strategist uses 37signals products to replace spreadsheets, email, an address book, folders and sticky notes

Essential Keystrokes recently published "4 Great Tools to Help You Organize Your Business and Projects from 37signals":

How do you keep track of your contacts, project notes, files, status updates, and sign-offs? For many years I relied on a combination of tools such as an Excel spreadsheet, my email, an address book, folders and sticky notes. As my business has grown and become more mobile (meaning some days I work from Panera Bread, some days from the patio, and others in my main office) I have found these tools just aren’t working for me anymore.

I have looked high and low for a solution that would fit my needs (here are some I tested) and after talking with Leah from Working Solo, I have finally found my answer - Highrise and BackPack from 37signals.

The team at 37signals has created a series of web-based products that help you and your organization stay, well, organized! Each of their products serves a slightly different purpose and a slightly different audience, allowing you to get only the functionality you need in a lightweight, web-based application.

I use Basecamp with some clients when managing a large project that requires input, file sharing and deadlines with more than one person. Basecamp is perfect because all the communication is done in one place, thus eliminating the lost emails, constant forwarding and CC-ing that frequently happen with larger projects. You don’t have to worry about missing anything - Basecamp emails you when someone adds anything to the project.

The product I am hooked on that really works for me as a freelance designer is Highrise. Highrise works as a contact management package with a kick. Not only can I keep track of my client contact information, but I can add notes for each one, create my to do list (and get email updates on what is due or past due), and use the dropbox as a back up feature too. When you pull up a client’s name, you get all of their information and notes all at once which is such a nice feature.

Backpack is a great way for your organization to stay on the same page or for you to keep all your notes and files organized. It is a beefed up calendar, file cabinet and white board all in one place. Use it for one person or the whole organization. Get your reminders sent to your phone or email - so you have no excuses.

Campfire is a great way for organizations to stay on the same page even when you are working from multiple locations. Think of it as your own private group IM. The look and feel is no nonsense, elegant and easy to use.

37signals has other products that make collaboration and organization work for you - it is just a matter of checking each of them out and seeing which one fits you best. For me, the answer is Highrise with a bit of Backpack on the side. Each of the 37 Signals products comes with a free trial and depending on the size of your organization and project needs, some of the solutions are free. You just have to give them a try.

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

Four reasons why Backpack is better than other organizational tools

Micheal Hickerson, Associate Director of the Emerging Scholars Network, recently published OneManOffice: Backpack. In it, he describes why he thinks Backpack is great: 1) You can start using it for free. 2) It's easy to use. 3) Multi-user features make it a great intranet. 4) It's a simple way to make public web pages.

What makes Backpack so great, as opposed to say, oh, any of the other organizational tools out there? 

It’s free.  Actually it’s free for your first 5 pages, but that’s very useful in and of itself. That’s how I got started - created a free account and set up a few pages.  I used the free account for months before I upgraded.  And the upgrades are not expensive.  The lowest level upgrade is $7 per month. (All of 37signals’ products are based on monthly subscription rates.) 

It’s easy. It’s very intuitive, and there’s really nothing to learn.  There are certainly some tricks that you can pick up from the user forums, but you can start using Backpack out of the gate without any kind of learning curve. 

Is there anything else you need to know other than it’s free and easy to use? There is one more cool feature that will make it very useful to anyone who has to share information with colleagues in other offices.

Recently, Backpack added a multi-user feature, so that it can act like an intranet for files, notes, or other things you need to share.  You can also make Backpack pages public, making it a very easy way to create simple webpages.  Here’s a public copy of my reading list, so that you can see exactly how behind I am.

"Here’s a page that I created to help me keep track of books that I want to read...(iBackpack is a little snippet of code so that I can use Backpack on my iPhone - cool, eh?)"

PC Magazine and Declutter It agree: Fight clutter with Backpack

In 12 Tech Tools to Clear Your Clutter, PC Magazine offers up ways to tidy up your tech life. The piece recommends getting started with Backpack.

Wouldn't it be great to get those pictures off your digital camera already? Scan that stack of business cards and get them into Outlook? Transfer videotapes and camcorder footage onto DVD so you can actually watch your home movies? Arm yourself with a smartphone and take your e-mail, calendar, and contacts on the go?...Here are our picks for the best stuff to get you organized—and maybe even help you stay that way:

Getting Started
A good way to get inspired to clean up is by making lists. Backpack is an incredibly easy-to-use, Web-based organizational service that's like having an online loose-leaf binder to use as you please, creating checklists, setting reminders, and embedding important files and links on the page. It's so straightforward, intuitive, and versatile it wins our Editors' Choice award.

Declutter It is Jennifer Chait blog's blog about organizing. She says, "I’m big time into simple living and getting back to a less over stuffed way, less commercial way of life, and instead celebrating a more family and people centered approach to life."

In I’ve Decided to Backpackit, she talks about how she's using Backpack to reduce the amount of paper she uses:

To give you a brief description of what this tool is all about, it basically is a way to keep yourself organized on-line. It’s a great way to reduce the amount of paper you use. I am constantly scribbling little notes to myself and when I am in “work mode”, my desk can look pretty scary.

With Backpack you can keep up with your schedule using their calendar and also use their pages to keep to-do lists, notes, ideas or whatever!

Do you want to fight clutter? Try Backpack.

Getting the most out of Backpack as a GTD ("Getting Things Done") solution

Brett Kelly, a programmer from Southern California, writes The Cranking Widgets Blog, a personal productivity blog that focuses on David Allen's Getting Things Done. He recently published a post about why he loves Getting Things Done with Backpack.

So, what does Backpack bring to the table that makes me so giddy? Well, several things, actually…

• Polish - Seriously, Backpack looks and acts just like you want it to. One of the driving concepts in the development process at 37signals is that you only include the features that you think most people will need. Obviously, there are tons of people who wish Backpack did [feature] - hell, there are a couple things I wouldn’t mind seeing in the next update - but they choose features to include and make sure they freaking work. And they do.
• The Free-form nature of pages - My Backpack is made up of many, many pages of lists - but there are also a growing number of pages dedicated to specific projects. For example, I’ve been invited to a special luncheon with the Internal Revenue Service in a couple of weeks, and they’d like me to bring along a few things (financial records and such). Before Backpack, it would’ve ended up with me emailing myself a pantload of PDF bank statements, then aggregating all of those emails under a specific gmail tag. Obviously, that would have gotten extremely unwieldy in short order. Now I have all of those PDFs arranged nicely on a few Backpack pages (where you can actually store the files, not just link to them), as well as notes about specific items, a picture of my daughter and a copy of the Gettysburg Address. You shove stuff on a page, drag it where you want it (including to other pages), there’s very little limitation on how you use it.
• Pages can be arbitrarily long - From what I can gather, there’s no set limit on the size of a Backpack page (well, except for the amount of data you’re allowed to store based on the plan you’re using). Using the previous example, I’ve got 38 PDF files on a single page as I write this. I’m pretty sure I could add another 50 and be just fine as cherry wine. I’m also not the least bit concerned with how long my lists get or anything like that, so even you mover-and-shaker types out there can rest easy knowing that you’re not going to “break” the Backpack.
• Each page has an email address - I have one page called “Inbox” where I send random thoughts, new inputs I receive while away from a computer, as well as messages sent from Jott (yep, Jott has built-in support for Backpack through it’s Jott Links service). The magic here is that my new “stuff” is now sitting a click away from the lists that manage the rest of my stuff. Hell, I can even *drag* it to the appropriate list. Freaking sweet.
• iPhone friendly (sorta) - While the default Backpack doesn’t have a special interface for the iPhone (and I’m sure this is one of the most requested candidate features), there are a couple of super easy tricks that allow you to reformat a Backpack page for easy iPhone viewing (without making it look wonky when viewed through a regular browser) and even change the WebClip icon for Backpack when you add it to the home screen.

Derek Newman: Backpack calendar makes family planning "a lot easier"

In "My Tools, Techniques, and Ideas about Digital Learning," Derek Newman talks about using Backpack:

The other tool I use daily is 37signals Backpack application. This is one web application that is bound to grow and grow. Their homepage states that over 1 million people use their products to manage their lives. I use it to take notes on books, digital reading, and anything else that I want. We also use the calendar feature to coordinate our family. Having one central calendar the entire family can access and change makes our lives a lot easier.

See what other tools Derek recommends.

Improved Backpack Calendar Reminders

By popular request, last night we pushed an update which allows you to notify everyone, select people, or just you via email/sms of an event on the Backpack Calendar. Prior to this update, everyone in your account was notified on every event. That lead to a lot of unnecessary notification.

Notify me

Notify everyone

Notify just some people

We hope you find the improved notification system useful.
Thanks for your continued support.

Tips for getting the most out of Backpack on the iPhone

Just Another iPhone Blog recently posted "Tips and Tweaks Make 37signals’ Backpack A 'Must Have' iPhone Application." It discusses using iBackpack to make your Backpack pages look nice on your iPhone and also links to a Forum post that shows how to add a custom Backpack icon to your iPhone home screen.

I came to Backpack to solve a specific work issue/need but am finding it to be an incredibly powerful and useful web-based application. I now use it to communicate with my colleagues and reduce the amount of “telephone” we play when information is incorrectly transmitted. I use it to collect pictures, manage a to do list, store files and documents for easy access anywhere anytime. I used it to collect ideas, information, slides and random thoughts as I prepared a talk I gave at a conference last week. Best of all, it is not only powerful but it is easy to use. In fact, it is the first time I pushed my colleagues toward a new technology that they did not initially curse me about.

The problem is- while Backpack’s pages are fully accessible from an iPhone or iPod Touch they are a bit too difficult to manipulate easily.

Fortunately, some incredibly smart folks have created some amazing “add-ons” that make Backpack one of the most iPhone-friendly and powerful applications around.

Justin Michael at violetpixel.com as created iBackpack. iBackpack is code that optimizes Backpack pages for viewing and use on an iPhone. He has posted screen caps on his site that show the difference...

Justin’s code make each page easily accessible, fully readable. It makes adding, editing and changing the information on a page a breeze. It makes Backpack one of, if not the, best iPhone organizational tools around.

But that left an additional issue. Once I optimized my pages using iBackpack I created direct links to some of my most-used Backpack pages on my home screen. They work great but look downright ugly.

Luckily Grettir Asmundarson at tinypineapple.com created a lovely little iPhone icon and has shared it with anyone who wants it.

Now Backpack works great AND looks great on my iPhone. It has become my most important organizational application in a short period of time and I have no doubt that will only increase as 37signals and other creative folks find new and powerful uses for it.

How do you add that custom Backpack icon to your iPhone home screen? Grettir offers step-by-step instructions at the Backpack Forum.

Backpack is "killer" according to Business II Business

Blair O'Neil, co-owner of Integris Marketing, recently named Backpack the featured business resource at the Business II Business networking group's site.

Backpack now comes in a multi-user version that really makes this tool more like an powerful, on-demand, simple to use, Intranet for small business. You can create as many users as you like (price varies with number of users) and each user can have their own calendars, effectively creating an online sharable calendaring system. The newsroom feature is a like an activity dashboard that also keeps group messaging tidy...

I really think it’s killer when combined with Basecamp. If you use multiple offerings from 37signals, one tip I would suggest is to get an OpenID and use it to log in to your accounts and then you will have the ability to jump back and forth to all of your accounts from a simple dashboard interface.

Try Backpack today.

[Case Study] Author and conflict resolution consultant uses Backpack as "business home-base and sanity tool"

Tammy Lenski uses Backpack to run her conflict resolution firm, Tammy Lenski LLC, and manage client and business projects. She recently released a new book and Backpack is the foundation for her marketing campaign and virtual book tour. Below, she answers a few questions about her use of Backpack.

How do you use Backpack and why do you like it?
My business is a full-service conflict resolution consulting firm for individuals and organizations. That means I offer a mix of services from speaking engagements to seminars and one-on-one coaching to professional mediation. I also blog about conflict resolution at Conflict Zen and about running a conflict resolution business at Mediator Tech. My business is mobile, so I go on-site with clients and use my home office on days I'm not traveling.

Backpack is my business home-base and my sanity tool to manage it all. It's set to load when I open my browser each day because I do almost all my administrative work from Backpack. I love that I can access my project files from any Internet-connected computer and from my iPhone. And I love that everything I need for a client or business project is in one place. When I'm busy or on the road, that helps keep me organized so I can give my full attention and energy to my clients.

Which features do you use most?
I use the Lists and Notes sections every single day, because Backpack is my hybrid GTD/project management tool. I use the Dashboard to keep me focused on big business goals and major goals for the day, and create pages for everything from my annual marketing plan and website updates needed to business projects and travel itineraries. I also use the forward-email-to-Backpack feature to make sure that the most important exchanges about a project are also in the same place as other project files and notes.

What did you use before and why did you switch?
I used a combination of online task lists, Google home page, and Google docs before Backpack. It always felt cobbled together and I wanted a "one-stop" experience for my projects and business planning. I value elegant simplicity -- that's the way I work as a consultant and coach, and it's the way I want to navigate my own work -- and my prior system certainly wasn't elegant or simple! Backpack is. I don't want tons of bells and whistles I'll rarely use, I want a few key features done really well.

[Case Study] Swimming pool company uses Backpack to track equipment, send reminders, and more

Stephen Sowa owns a small commercial swimming pool company based in Addison, IL and he uses Backpack to inventory equipment, send reminders to contact clients, and more. Stephen tells us more:

How do you use Backpack and why do you like it?
One very frustrating thing we run into is one of our clients calls us to get a piece of equipment fixed, but they do not know the specifics on that piece, i.e. heater, pump, filter.  

We used to either rely on memory, or we would have to wait until the engineer got back to us with the information.  Sometimes they would give us correct information, but most of the time not.  So we would have to drive to the facility and gather information.  Sometimes we would have to tear apart a pump to see if the updates had been done, because this dictates which parts we need.  As you can see, we would waste a lot of time just gathering information when we could be repairing.

Enter Backpack. I use Backpack to inventory all their equipment, model numbers, serial numbers and any odd parts that facility has.  Now when a client calls us all we need is what that piece of equipment operates.  I then can log into Backpack via my Blackberry and get all the information I need to pick up parts on the way to the job site.  The minimal amount of money we pay for Backpack has returned itself many times over in productivity.

Which features do you use most?
I use the reminders a lot.  I have all my families birthdays in there.  I also use it to remind me to contact customers.  When customers shut down their pools for the winter and I know I need to contact them well before summer starts to quote them on something, I set a reminder.  I also use them to remind myself to shop around for insurance, and I upload the contact information into it own file.  Now I know when I need to start making calls and where they are at.

I also use linking.  Any project I have going on I put it on my front page and then create a link to the file. This way I don't forget about it, and I don't have to wade through my pages sidebar to find it.

More Backpack demo videos: adding users, sharing pages, and importing Basecamp Milestones

From Signal vs. Noise:

We've recently added a few more "quick hit" demo videos to the Backpack tour. These tutorials show how easy it is add users to your Backpack account and share pages with them:

Video: Add others to your Backpack account
"Backpack excels when you use it with other people. Add co-workers, colleagues, friends, or family to your account and share pages, knowledge, files, calendars, reminders, and more."

Video: How to share Backpack pages with colleagues and friends
"Backpack makes it easy to share a page of information that you've created. People you share with can also add new items and change content on the page. It's perfect for quick collaboration or sharing knowledge."

And this video answers a question we get a lot...

Video: How to get your Basecamp Milestones into your Backpack Calendar
A FAQ from people who use both Basecamp and Backpack is "How do I get my Basecamp milestones to integrate with my Backpack Calendar?" The answer: By adding the Milestones iCal feed into your Backpack calendar. This video shows you how. More details here.

Telegraph names Backpack #6 on its list of the 101 most useful websites

Telegraph.co.uk, "Britain's No.1 quality newspaper website," just published a list of the 101 most useful websites. #6 on the list: Backpack. The Telegraph site says, "To-do lists, notes, ideas and calendar. Excellent for juggling projects and much more versatile than a ring folder."

Web designer finds Backpack addictive

In "Backpack is addictive, given a chance," web designer Zaharenia Atzitzikaki says, "Backpack has found a niche in my digital life that no other online tool has managed to fill."

After a few months I decided to give Backpack a second chance. It had matured, it had collected raving reviews, it was holding a high rank among the GTD crowd, so I succumbed. Then I found out, in my surprise, that Backpack works, after all...

Interesting links that pop into my screen while at work and need some “private” time: Backpack Inbox for later. Work todo lists and notes and drafts and mockups and files I want to share, @Work. Stuff that I wanna buy someday, an image gallery @Shopping. Blogs posts and drafts and ideas, @Blog.

A sample Backpack page (click for larger version)

It’s a terrific tool for the day-to-day digital notetaking, while the new multi-user features that were recently added make it a solid small company Intranet solution, with calendars, whiteboards, shared editing.

Thing is, I don’t think I ever fell in love with this product. I never had an infatuation that faded after time (I tend to do that a lot with applications, both online and offline). My Backpack love grew after quite some time of working with it, so I don’t see us getting a divorce anytime soon.

It’s not only the finished product, it’s the 37S way of thinking: declutter, simplicity, straightforward are some of the words that pop in your mind while using its products, be it Backpack, Basecamp or Highrise.

Give Backpack a try.

Thanks for the kind words Zaharenia.

Backpack is "an invaluable tool" in fighting ADD

An ADD sufferer recently wrote to us about how Backpack has been "an invaluable tool" in helping her stay on top of things:

I have attention deficit disorder (ADD) and Backpack has been an invaluable tool in helping me stay on top of things both at work and at home. I have the "inattentive" version of the disorder, which means that it's really difficult for me to remember things in the short term. If I'm at a meeting and I don't take notes on upcoming deadlines and action items, I literally won't remember them by the time that I get back to my desk.

I used to write this stuff down on post its, and carry a PDA or a binder with a calendar that I'd color code by hand with highlighters, as well as any important documents that I'd need to complete a project. Backpack has become a central repository for this information and has literally taken a load off of my back. My to-do lists, memos, projects files, address book, even things like the meals I'm planning on cooking for the week and my household budget are all in one place.

Backpack makes it easy for me to track and manage complex to do lists, including all of the tasks that I've delegated. Did I remember to follow up with an assistant about a project that I assigned her a week ago? Did my coworker get back to me about when that newsletter has to go out? Because it's so easy to create and maintain multiple lists, I never have to second guess myself.

I keep files on every major project that I'm working on, both at work and at home. I also keep a page on every vendor that I work with, detailing our relationship history, quotes that they've submitted. I forward any important correspondence that I've sent or received from them to my vendor pages, so that I don't have to waste a lot of time trying to locate it in my inbox or finding a hard copy in my filing cabinet.

I love that Backpack's calendar is color-codeable. It makes it easy for me to tell at a glance, where I am supposed to be, which appointments are associated with home or with work, and even whether an event has been confirmed or whether it's still penciled in.

Possibly my favorite feature of Backpack is the "reminders". I get a discreet reminder at 12 noon every day to take my medicine (important, because it helps me to remember things). If I know I have to grab my gym back on my way out of the door in the morning, throw a letter in the mail, or take a birthday present with me for a party that evening, I simply schedule a reminder to be sent to my cell phone in the morning before I hop on the train.

Thanks for the great product.

"I love that Backpack's calendar is color-codeable."

"Possibly my favorite feature of Backpack is reminders."

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

Using rules in your email app to forward items to Backpack

Samuel Kordik recently named Backpack his website of the week:

It is slick, flexible, and super-cool. In fact, it combines the total flexibility of a paper-based notebook with the infinite re-writable possibilities of electronic data...Backpack is one of those no-brainer tools that hides mindblowing capabilities. It actually significantly reminds me of an Apple application. It just makes sense...

What do I use Backpack for? To run my life. At this point in my life, it makes sense to have things online. I have internet at work and in my room, and so it provides a handy central point to run things through.

I use a page for each of my action lists, and then a page for projects, a page for Someday/Maybe’s, and a page for Notes. This flexible solution works quite well for me and is well worth the paltry $60 a year price tag. Which is about what I paid for my planner in previous years.

We contacted Samuel and he gave us some more info on how he uses Backpack:

—

I create rules in my email client that automatically forward different items to my Backpack page. This is especially great for emails with attachments since the attached files are automatically placed onto the page.

I've attached two screenshots that demonstrate three rules that are examples of the kind of rules I use.

1. (See Gmail screenshot above): Any thing emailed to my address & +action@gmail.com automatically gets forwarded to my Backpack inbox, skips my Gmail inbox, and gets labeled "_ACTION" in Gmail. I use this a lot; so do others. My supervisor, my friends, etc. can virtually place something in my Backpack inbox by emailing to that address.

2. (See Gmail screenshot above): Specific projects get their own Backpack page, and here I've setup a rule that scans for keywords, labels it in Gmail with the project tag, and forwards it to the project page.

Example Backpack workflow for lightweight project management

We recently discussed how Ruby on Rails firm Rails Envy uses Backpack to organize its podcasts. In this post, Jason Seifer describes how the team uses Backpack to manage freelance projects too:

—

When we were doing consulting, we had everything down to a science. Basecamp, while a great product, turned out to be too much of an app for our two man (and freelance designer) team.  Here was our Backpack workflow for projects:

Proposals: Create the project page in Backpack.  Create the writeboard from Backpack so it's linked on the page.  We would then spec out the functionality needed for the site.  This isn't a huge spec -- a list of features and a brief description of  how they work.

Meetings and Conference Calls.  After (or during) every conference call we'd jot down some notes about the meeting -- tasks to complete, things that needed to be addressed, goals for the week, things like that.

All of your info in one place. The backpack page for a project becomes the central repository of information. You can put in server addresses, login *names*, lists of associated sites like the bug tracker and code repository, and anything related to that project. Forwarding emails to the page is a big help here. Sure Gmail lets you search everything in no time at all, but you really can't compare that with having the most important emails right alongside the rest of your project info.

Online Tech Tips publishes overview of 37signals products

Online Tech Tips just published an overview of 37signals products and calls them "an excellent starting point" for small business owners who want to get organized.

37signals.com offers robust programs at affordable prices. Small business owners will be able to compete with larger companies and increase employee work productivity. Using each one of the previous tools will almost guarantee that a small business can organize itself with ease. Working with the simple interface of each application and user friendly features makes this suite of applications great tools.

The post also offers up a quick summary of 37signals products:

Basecamp will help you to manage multiple projects with customers or team members. Setting restrictions for users will take just a few moments. The interface is completely simple and easy to operate. Touching base with the latest changes with business projects won’t be such a hassle anymore...

Highrise is a great way to organize customer contact information. Having instant access to a customer’s contact information and contact history will save you from mismanaging important data. Instead of trying to remember your last conversation with a customer, you will be able to refer to the details within this program...

Backpack will let you conveniently create your own business intranet. Now employees will have access to the latest changes going on in the company. Setting up a business calendar for all to see will also provide an organized way of reminding employees of upcoming events...

Campfire provides its users with real time chatting capability. Waiting for email responses can sometimes be time consuming. Using real time instant messaging not only gets the job done faster, but it will allow you to communicated better with remote employees...

Read the whole piece for more.

Rails Envy team uses Backpack to organize its podcast

"Ever since we started it, Backpack has been what we use for organizing the Rails Envy podcast every week," writes Jason Seifer of Rails Envy, a two person team that codes, blogs, and podcasts about Ruby and Rails.

Jason emailed to tell us how it works:

Gregg and I each figure out our own stories to do for the podcasts and do a short write-up in Backpack.  Since it's essentially a rails news podcast, we have to  keep organized the stories we get and attempt to not step on each other's toes.

This is why Backpack is so great.  For each podcast we set up a different page in Backpack with the title as the episode number.  From there, we create a note for each story.  We add these throughout the week or when we clear out our RSS readers.  

When it's time to create the blog post about it, it's really easy to go in and copy the headlines and URLs and paste them back in to Textmate (where we have snippets set up to make creating the blog post really easy).

We're loving the new multi-user Backpack.  We don't have to worry about sharing every page with each other. It also makes it a snap to see at a glance what stories the other person has added since we last logged in.

Every story is a note with the headline, a write up, and a link to the article.

More screens after the jump.

Backpack Newsroom gets the Calendar

Tonight we pushed a Backpack update we've been working on over the past few days.

When we launched the multi-user version of Backpack last week we added the Newsroom. The Newsroom has a message board (for Basic plans and higher) as well as a latest activity block that shows a list of new pages, changes, calendar additions, etc.

But the Newsroom was missing something. Tonight we added it.

If you have any events on the Backpack Calendar that are coming up in the next 7 days we'll show up to 15 of them them in a strip on the right side of the Newsroom. If there are no events in the next 7 days the strip won't appear.

The colored calendar name appears above the event. And if there's anything coming up today the date is yellow (otherwise it's a muted grey).

We think this really improves the Newsroom. We hope you love it as much as we do.

Note: The Newsroom is only available on multiuser accounts and the Calendar is only available on pay accounts.

Thanks again for your continued support and enjoy Backpack! If you don't already have an account, why not sign-up today!

Satchel, a Palm OS client for Backpack

Use a Palm or a Treo? Use Backpack too? You're in luck: Now you can access your Backpack account on the go with Satchel.

• Create and edit all of your Backpack pages.
• Manage and edit your Backpack notes.
• Set reminders and automatically add them to your handheld's Calendar.
• Import your existing handheld to-do items to Backpack.
• Edit your Backpack items offline and update them all at once when you're back online.
• And much more!

So if you're on Palm, check out Satchel today!

"What do I use Backpack for? To run my life"

Samuel Kordik recently cited Backpack as his website of the week (this was before the recent Backpack Multiuser launch).

He says he uses Backpack "to run my life...I use a page for each of my action lists, and then a page for projects, a page for Someday/Maybe’s, and a page for Notes." Here's more:

Backpack is an amazing website/service from the innovative startup 37signals. It is essentially a web-based productivity/organizational tool. It is slick, flexible, and super-cool. In fact, it combines the total flexibility of a paper-based notebook with the infinite re-writable possibilities of electronic data.

Built using the flexible power of Ruby on Rails, Backpack is one of those no-brainer tools that hides mindblowing capabilities. It actually significantly reminds me of an Apple application. It just makes sense...

What do I use Backpack for? To run my life. At this point in my life, it makes sense to have things online. I have internet at work and in my room, and so it provides a handy central point to run things through.

I use a page for each of my action lists, and then a page for projects, a page for Someday/Maybe’s, and a page for Notes. This flexible solution works quite well for me.

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

Reactions to the new Backpack from around the web

The recent Backpack update has been a huge success. Here's a look at the first 24 hours of the updated app's signups, upgrades, and financial performance.

And here's some of the blogosphere's reaction to the new Backpack...

Web Worker Daily: Equipping your Virtual Office with a Multiuser Backpack

Backpack, 37signals lightweight online information organizer has just morphed into a very handy intranet for web worker online businesses with the addition of multiuser page, calendar, messaging and reminder functions.

“The concept of an intranet has been perverted over the years to be a bunch of different things,” said Jason Fried, CEO of Chicago-based 37signals. "Our idea of what an intranet needs is what we have encountered over and over and over when we used to do client work. People just need a place to share common information. They need a place to keep track of very simple calendar items - when a meeting is, when something is going on. And they need a way to share documents. So we see Backpack as a new breed of intranet - returning to the original promise of the intranet: a closed system for people within an company to share information.”

Deep Jive Interests: 37Signals’ Backpack Evolves Into Intranet 2.0?

This upgrade is fairly substantial, as it allows multiple users for any given account, mimicking, in effect, a remotely-hosted “intranet”; a gathering place where you can organize notes, files, calendars, and messages. In a way, its almost like Basecamp “lite”, although it clearly does not have the heavy lifting that Basecamp has, with respect to specific project management.

Brian Bailey: Backpack is more fun with friends

I've always been a big fan of Backpack, but this is a whole new thing. If you're part of organization that has always wanted a single place where staff and volunteers could share information, calendars, even reminders (including SMS), definitely give Backpack a try. I can't think of better option, especially for churches and non-profits.

Launch: Backpack Multiuser (and single-user)

Backpack Grows Up

Today we unveil the major updates to Backpack we've been blogging about over the past week. We've been working on these for months and are excited to finally let them loose.

The Intranet Is Back(pack)

Intranets were big five years ago, but fell out of favor because of they were too hard to use. Back when we did client work we were hired to "repair" a number of intranets. They were a mess.

No matter the company, people's goals were similar: They just wanted to share common information across their organization, keep a simple shared calendar so they knew when their co-workers would be out of town or at a meeting, make an announcement or two, and grab a few important files here and there. Simple things, right?

But man, the systems they were forced to use would confuse Mensans. They weren't intranets, they were mazes. Clicks to who knows where. Clicks to nowhere. When something is too hard to use people don't use it. No one used these intranets.

Backpack brings the promise of the intranet back and delivers real value by keeping things simple. Now you can easily share information, files, and a calendar across your company.

And for those who don't need a company intranet, Backpack remains the same familiar personal intranet it's always been. A place to organize your thoughts, ideas, to-dos, notes, files, calendar, and reminders.

Here's a list of what's new:

New features coming to Backpack

There are some great changes coming to Backpack. We've been previewing some of the new features over at Signal vs. Noise. Click through the links below to read the full descriptions and see screenshots.

Preview 1: Backpack Multiuser
Instead of having to share pages by email and deal with multiple Backpack accounts and URLs, soon you’ll be able to just add multiple users to your account.

Preview 2: Backpack Messages & Newsroom
Messages make Backpack a great hub for internal discussions and conversations that are usually passed around in mass emails. Toss the email mess and post in Backpack instead.

Preview 3: Backpack Page Changes
When you have multiple people contributing to a page it’s handy to know when and what changed since your last visit. We’ve made this really easy with the new Backpack.

Stay tuned for more info!

Backboard is a new app that makes Backpack more Mac-like

Backboard is Lars Steiger's new app which bills itself as "the far side of Backpack." That means it gives Backpack customers a dashboard-like overview of tasks, the ability to edit and search them with a more Mac-like interface, and the ability to attach dates and priorities.

Here's how Lars describes its features (along with some screenshots):

Prioritize Task Items
Get focused and attach a date, priority, or a Reminder to a List Item.

Notes
Add, Edit and Search Notes across all Backboard Pages.

Multiple Account Support
Do you have more than one Backpack account? Use the simple Backboard Account Switch.

List Items and Reminders
Add, Edit and Search List Items and Reminders across all Backboard Pages.

Intrigued? Join the Backboard private beta and check it out.

Library professionals use Backpack for presentations (and more)

MCLC Library Tech Talk, a technology interest group for the library professionals in Maricopa County, AZ, recently published a review/description of Backpack.

Lists are easy: you just create a title, then add the items to your list. When you’ve finished, you just click “done” and you’re done! Lists are always editable, and it’s easy to add or delete items. Once you’ve checked off an item, it drops unobtrusively to the bottom of the list. You can also rearrange the order of lists on your page, and items in a list.

A note is just what it says: an easy way to make a note. Again, you create a title, then just plug in the text of your note. Once you’re done, click on “Add this note” and voila! A note! The default option is to add the date after your note title, so that automatically helps organize and place notes into context. I haven’t run into text limit on notes, so you can type a rather extensive bit of text for your page. Again, notes can be rearranged on your page by just clicking and dragging them around...

The reviewer says Backpack and presentations go hand in hand: "I use Backpack in particular to collaborate with colleagues on projects or presentations, and often use it to outline any presentation I might give."

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

iBackpack makes Backpack pages friendly for the iPhone and iPod Touch

iBackpack optimizes Backpack pages for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

iBackpack is code (mostly CSS) that optimizes Backpack pages for use on the iPhone and iPod touch. The iBackpack code is hidden from other devices, so it won't change the way Backpack looks or works on other devices.

Here's how pages look after they've been through the iBackpack filter:

Use Fluid to get your 37signals web apps on your Mac OS X Leopard desktop

Fluid lets you run any webapp as a separate Mac desktop application if you've got Leopard.

Are you a Gmail, Facebook, Campfire or (Insert Your Favorite Webapp Here) fanatic? Do you have 20 or more browser tabs open at all times? Are you tired of some random site or Flash ad crashing your browser and causing you to lose your (say) Google Spreadsheets data in another tab?

If so, Site Specific Browsers (SSBs) provide a great solution for your webapp woes. Using Fluid, you can create SSBs to run each of your favorite webapps as a separate desktop application. Fluid gives any webapp a home on your Mac OS X desktop complete with Dock icon, standard menu bar, and logical separation from your other web browsing activity...

How does it work?

Fluid itself is a very small application. When launched, Fluid displays a small window where you specify the URL of a webapp you'd like to run in a Site Specific Browser. Provide an application name, click 'Create' and you'll be prompted to launch the new native Mac app you've just created.

Use Fluid to run YouTube, GTalk, Flickr, Basecamp, Delicious, .Mac webmail, or any other webapp as a separate Mac desktop application.

Here are high res logos for Basecamp, Backpack, Campfire and Highrise to use with Fluid.

(If you're not on OS X, Prism does something similar for Windows and Linux powered by the Mozilla engine).

Using Backpack for recruiting project management

Todd Nilson directs a recruiting business based in Chicago focused on finding and placing IT executives and senior technologists. At his blog, he recently described why he's found Backpack to be an excellent and affordable way to organize his job searches.

When it comes to keeping all information together for a job search, Backpack is the best thing I've found. There are plenty of sites that can fire off Reminders to your e-mail and cellular phone. But Backpack is a tidy place to organize all of it. I generally set up one Backpack page per client I work with and include notes about that client's process, interviewing preferences, and stuff that I need to do next in my own recruiting processes. If my client has provided me with a written description as a Microsoft Word document, I upload it here. If I have pictures of the work site, I upload them. In short, that page becomes a clearing house of information relevant to my search and helps me to be efficient in tracking my communications and efforts.

The site gets really cool when you start looking at some of its additional functionality. For instance, I can e-mail Notes, To Do items, and Files directly to the page. Backpack automatically generates a random e-mail for each new page you create. By sending an e-mail to that address with To Do: or Note: in the subject line, it organizes up the data appropriately. Once it's on the page, you can click and drag that content anywhere on the page.

The solution is particularly elegant for independent recruiters with a limited budget. It becomes a CRM that is more flexible and easier to use (and certainly cheaper) than commercial 3rd party solutions like SalesForce.

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

How Backpack is helping one design/writing freelancer

Design and writing consultant J. Bentley recently blogged about how Backpack is the tool that has helped him more than any other in his recent switch to freelancing.

Over the past few days, I’ve had the pleasure of getting a paying writing job and some logo work. I am officially freelancing. The tool that has helped me more than any thus far is 37signals’ Backpack. When I first opened the account I had no idea what to do. It’s a service with unlimited options and for that, it seemed, no options. I couldn’t imagine how I would use it. In the beginning I only had the vague idea of a to-do list. I wanted a simple daily to-do list that could be accessed from anywhere.

The way Backpack is set up you have a few options at the top. You can add a List to the page, a Note, a Writeboard, a Divider and a Tag. They are added instantly when you click. So, using the List feature I was able to get a simple to-do going. I thought that was all I’d ever use it for. As things went on and I needed to be more organized, I was able to add another page with Monthly goals separated by weeks and by those that will take place over the entire month.

Then I decided to make a calorie counter page. I don’t know what I’ll make next. The examples page has so many diverse pages, people planning a wedding, organizing guitar tab, selling stuff, choosing fonts. There are plenty of ways to use it, that’s what makes it so intimidating to start and so addictive once you do.

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

Search Backpack from the desktop with LaunchBar

LaunchBar is a cool utility that provides instant access to your applications, documents, and more. You can also configure it to search all of your Backpack pages. This makes it easy to find anything you've got in your Backpack account right from your desktop.

If you're already setup with LaunchBar, here's how to search Backpack:

1. Open LaunchBar and select "Open Configuration" from the Configuration menu.
2. On the left, under the "Indexing Rules" pane, there is a category for "Search Templates"
3. "Search Templates" includes a bunch of defaults, like Google, Yahoo, Amazon, Wikipedia, etc.
4. You can add your own template here. To add the Backpack search, select "Search Templates" on the left and then click the "Add..." button in the top right.
5. Type "Backpack" for the name and for the URL use this: https://yoursubdomain.backpackit.com/pages/search?term=* (Note: the "https" probably depends on your SSL setting).

When that's done, here's how you use a Search Template in LaunchBar:
1. Invoke LaunchBar and type BP (or whatever you'd like to trigger the Backpack option)
2. Hit the space bar and a field will appear to type your term in
3. Type the term and hit enter and the results will load in your browser.

That should cover it...launch away!

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

Knickers, the lingerie weblog, uses 37signals products to manage its team

Danae Shell, Editor of Knickers, the lingerie weblog, wrote to us about how her team uses 37signals products.

I thought you might be interested in how I use Highrise, Backpack and Campfire to manage my lingerie weblog and related businesses.

I'm the editor of Knickers, the lingerie weblog and work with another writer and my business partner. The logistics of organising and keeping in touch between the three of us were a nightmare at first - two of us are in Scotland and our writer is in the States, and both Katie and Alison aren't tech saavy and react with suspicion to any new technology I turn them onto. I needed a way to capture their work and keep it organised, so I slowly started introducing 37S tools to them - we started with Backpack for writing business plans and doing research, then moved into Highrise to keep a "collective inbox" and mailing list, then finally to Campfire to generally stay in touch.

Backpack
Backpack has been a fantastic way to quickly capture and organise information without any overheads - Alison and I will sit on the phone and chat about our ideas, then will look up prices, etc., and paste them into Backpack. We both edit the page as we talk, and at the end of the call we've captured a ton of research and ideas. It's a great way to store and share research in a structured format without e-mailing files back and forth.

Knickers keeps a to-do list in Backpack.

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.

Publish your Christmas Wishlist at Backpack

NathanD is using Backpack to