Basecamp Basics

For those of you who are new to Basecamp, it may be difficult to understand at first. However, with a little training, you will be well on your way to understanding the basics to get you ramped up on your new website or marketing project. In this blog, we will start by detailing what Basecamp is all about and how to manage your project like a pro. 

What is Basecamp? 

Basecamp is a project management system we use to communicate the status of your project, send deliverables for your approval, and collaborate with you to ensure the project exceeds your needs. This platform allows for us to keep your project on time, organized, and to keep you informed of the newest developments on your project. There are a few fundamentals that are important for understanding Basecamp and its inner workings. 

What are the Basecamp fundamentals?

During your website project or marketing retainer, there are generally four tasks that you will need to be able to accomplish in Basecamp. These fundamentals include creating a discussion, responding to a discussion or task, completing a task, and viewing your project status. The next four paragraphs detail how you can utilize Basecamp to its fullest potential with these main tasks. 

1. How to create a discussion

Say you have a question you would like to ask your project manager, but it does not relate to any tasks or current messages. You will first need to log in to your Basecamp project, and then click “post a new message” under the discussion board. This will open a new message space where you can submit your project questions. 

Be sure to select your project manager and any other members of the team that you would like to view this message; otherwise, they will not be notified of your message. If you are unsure who to send the message to, select “email to all people on the project” to ensure it reaches the right hands.

2. How to respond to a discussion or task

There are a few ways you can respond to a discussion or task. The easiest way is to respond to the message directly from your inbox by selecting reply in your email. This will then send to an email address that looks something like this: "todo-157239857289379@basecamp.com" 

You can also respond on Basecamp by clicking “View this on Basecamp” in your email. This will log you in to your project, where you can respond to the message by clicking the “Add a comment or upload a file” box. Once you have entered your message or file, be sure to select the necessary members again before clicking “Post this message.” Your message has been logged in the project, and your project manager will be in touch shortly. 

3. How to complete a task 

Throughout the project, your project manager may assign actionables. These actionables are assigned to you as tasks to be completed by the specified due date on the right-hand side of the task. If the task is requesting information, you may upload the file or information as a comment in the task or in a new discussion as detailed above. 

To show that you have completed a task, you may respond to the task to notify your project manager of its completion, or simply click the box on the left side of the task to mark it as complete. You will only need to complete the tasks assigned to you and will not need access to any documents linked to the Coalmarch team’s tasks. 

4. How to view my website or marketing project

In the scenario that you have been out of town for a week, or if you just want to see what has been happening with your project recently, you can click “Catch Up” at the top right-hand corner of your project. This will give you an overview of what was updated on your project that day. To see work accomplished on previous days, you may click the arrow at the top left of the screen. By clicking “Me” at the top of your Basecamp tab, you can also view any tasks that have been assigned to you for the project, and when those need to be completed. 

Basecamp Resources

These four tasks are crucial to staying up to date on your project and should help you get acclimated to the platform. Now go test out your new skills by viewing your project in Basecamp!

Still need more Basecamp resources? Continue learning about Basecamp by watching the following video tutorials provided by the makers themselves!

• https://basecamp.com/help/videos/welcome
• https://basecamp.com/help/videos/client-intro