OpenID screencast features Basecamp and Highrise

If you're still wondering exactly what OpenID is or how it works with apps like Basecamp and Highrise, check out ScreenCastsOnline's free, 15 minute screencast about OpenID.

The video includes a section that demonstrates how to obtain an OpenID (using MyOpenID as a provider) and then shows how to use it to access both Basecamp and Highrise.

It also shows the new Open Bar in action. If you've got both a Basecamp and Highrise account (or multiple accounts in either), you really oughta get onboard the OpenID train. It makes navigating between your accounts way smooth.

Related: About OpenID section at 37signals.com.

Wake Interactive stays in the zone with Basecamp

Basecamp customer Wake Interactive is a web design agency based in Boca Raton, Florida that believes in keeping things simple.

Our principles lie in the use of simple and thoughtful design decisions to make interaction between customers and businesses more enjoyable and effective. The most challenging aspect of modern interface design is that it's easier to achieve complexity because complex interfaces are so hard to simplify. We believe in taking out as much as possible without losing the message or the purpose.

The team uses Basecamp to unite its members from around the globe. Wake's Damien Huze talked to us about how Basecamp helps them stay in the zone.

How do you use Basecamp and why do you like it?
Wake Interactive is a team of web design consultants, currently working from Florida, Texas, Chicago, and Melbourne Australia. We use Basecamp (affectionately dubbed Wakecamp) to exchange ideas, solicit comments, and upload creative output for client feedback and approval. We like it because it’s web-based and platform independent. Most importantly, we don’t have to worry about training our clients to use it.

When I decided to form Wake, geographical location wasn't high in priority for finding the right people to team up with. It wouldn’t be a smart business decision to pick a designer or programmer based on physical proximity, when the right fit could be 3000 miles away. The virtual proximity Basecamp forms is just as good or sometimes better because it encourages thoughtful participation in problem solving, rather than vague and sometimes digressive physical discussions.

Wake Interactive's site.

Which features in Basecamp do you use most?
Messages & Comments for accountability
To-dos to delegate responsibility
Files to insure compatibility

What did you use before Basecamp and why did you switch?
We used email. Basecamp solved the biggest counter-productive aspects of email communication in project management.

Email is the biggest source of distraction and will quickly derail just about any current task when that “new mail” notification sounds. I now keep my email program closed, only to be opened at scheduled “processing” times. This is because having to open email to find something a client sent will push other commitments of varied importance to the forefront of my consciousness and break focus. It’s important to train yourself, your team and your clients that if it’s not posted in Basecamp, it won’t be regarded as part of getting the project done.

Switching to OpenID is easy

Have you caught OpenID fever yet? It's the secret sauce behind the new 37signals Open Bar.

Our Why OpenID? page sums up the advantages nicely (e.g. remember just one username/password instead of dozens, getting one is easy, etc.)

We've also created step-by-step guides showing you how to set up Basecamp & OpenID and Highrise & OpenID. These guides will make your login switch a breeze.

Once you go OpenID, you'll never go back.

Avalanche is a free Yahoo Widget for Basecamp customers

Avalanche is a free Yahoo Widget that lets you access Basecamp right from your desktop.

Avalanche connects users to Basecamp in an efficient, compact application called a widget. It uses the Yahoo! Widget Engine to run the application, which allows access right from your desktop. You can access messages, to-do items, time entries, contact information, and the next upcoming milestone from Avalanche for each of your Basecamp projects...

Features in Avalanche that are not offered by the Basecamp website include automatic time entry, spreadsheet time report generation, time estimate tracking, and contact exporting. Automatic time entries allow you to clock in and out while performing tasks. This gives you more accurate time entries, and helps keep track of your project activity. Notifications of new data can be seen in the Widget dock, as well as in the Overview tab title.

A script that emails log files to your Highrise dropbox for easy backup checkup

Ross Belmont has rigged up a backup solution using the UNIX philosophy of employing many small tools, each perfectly suited for its job.

One of the tools he uses is Highrise. He has the script e-mail the contents of the log file to his Highrise Dropbox so he can access it easily. "So far, this has worked without a hitch, and I feel much better having my files backed up everyday," he says.

Here's why he chose to incorporate Highrise into his system:

Growl is cool, but it didn’t provide much in the way of detail as to what happened with the script. I kinda wanted to see a log of what happened, except I didn’t feel like managing log files. I was really looking to get the log info via RSS, and for that I had to post it to the web somewhere. Highrise solves all these issues, and the default Dashboard view is great in the way it highlights the latest info. (After all, I really don’t care about yesterday’s backup after today.) My script e-mails the contents of the log file to my Highrise Dropbox, which was really easy to do with just a few lines of Ruby code.

Read Automated backup to Strongspace with rsync, Automator, and Highrise for full details. Or cut to the chase and download this file to check out the scripts.

Related: Ross also wrote some code to create Backpack reminders via e-mail/SMS.

The 37signals Open Bar

The 37signals Open Bar lets you quickly switch between accounts. It originally came to Basecamp. Now the Open Bar includes your Highrise accounts too. So you can get single sign-on for both Basecamp and Highrise accounts (next up: Backpack). Log into any one of your accounts and you’re logged into all your accounts. Learn how to set it up. (It just takes a minute per account.)

Create Backpack reminders via e-mail/SMS

Ross Belmont loves Backpack reminders: "I’d forget to do anything without Backpack’s reminders feature. It’s simple and it works beautifully."

Ross wanted to add reminders even when he's offline, so he wrote some code to create Backpack reminders via e-mail/SMS, which he calls "a no-brainer use of the Backpack API."

Here’s how it works: Type "call aunt betty sat aft" into a new text message. Send the message to “remindme@someaddress.com.” This can be any e-mail account you have that supports POP3. The software Ross wrote picks up the message and sets a Backpack reminder for Saturday at 2pm with the text "call aunt betty."

TrailGuide puts Basecamp on your mobile phone

Carry the Day has just released TrailGuide, a mobile client for Basecamp. TrailGuide works on Windows Mobile Smartphones and Pocket PC Smartphones.

TrailGuide provides mobile access to your Basecamp projects through an optimized mobile application and secure web server. With TrailGuide, the Basecamp experience has been adapted for efficiency on the phone, so you can see more of the most important things on screen quickly and easily.

Overview screen

Messages

To-do lists

Check out TrailGuide today!

Ta-da List named one of the "Top 10 best apps for the iPhone"

We recently announced the launch of Ta-da List for the iPhone. Today MacNN named Ta-da List one of the Top 10 best apps for the iPhone. Thanks MacNN!

Pastor uses Highrise to keep track of interactions with his congregation

Rev. Andrew Conard, Pastor of Congregational Care at The United Methodist Church, writes in: "I have found Highrise to be an excellent way to keep track of interactions that I have with members and visitors to the congregation both in the hospital, in appointments, at worship and around town. Highrise has become an integral part of my task of providing the best possible care for each person."

We asked him to tell us more...

The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection has a unique model for Congregational Care called the Pastorates. A Pastorate is a community within our church family that is led by a Congregational Care pastor. The Pastorate has been designed to encourage every person in our church family to identify with a specific “primary care pastor” to help ensure that great pastoral care is received. I am the pastor for the N-R Pastorate - all those in the congregation with last names beginning with N-R. Currently this group consists of approximately 2000 individuals.

Highrise has transformed the way that I am able to care for the congregation. No longer do I have to worry about someone "falling through the cracks." I am able to log all my interactions - email, phone, appointments in one place and create a reminder for appropriate follow up. Thanks Highrise and 37signals!

Below are some screenshots and descriptions that Rev. Conard sent in to show us how he uses Highrise (click for larger versions).

Tags - Hospital: Tags have allowed me to bring up all the individuals with whom I have had a particular interaction. This screen shot is for people whom I have visited in the hospital and may need follow up care.

Contact: Ongoing Interactions: This is an individual with whom I have been in contact with for various reasons. The task reminders help me to keep up to date on the next time that I need to contact this individual.