Incremental and consistent improvements can lead to great victories. That’s what I wrote on my personal blog moments ago. Here is a list of recent improvements we made to PlannerX.

Bookmarklet works in IE8

We announced PlannerX bookmarklet last week. The bookmarklet lets you open PlannerX right in your Basecamp page. This makes updating your plans super quick and easy. We had a small issue that prevented it from working in IE8 (thanks Stephanie for reporting it!). We fixed that and even added a visual guide about setting up the bookmarklet with IE8. Enjoy!

PlannerX Bookmarklet in IE8

Login problems solved

Few customers mentioned they could not login to PlannerX despite making sure everything was setup correctly – username, password, URL, API access – everything. This was a puzzling problem, but we could solve it in minutes once we got access to the problematic account. It was actually our mistake. We forgot to handle dashes in Basecamp sub domains in a recent upgrade. It’s now fixed and working fine.

Easier login form

While we were on the login functionality, we also made a small usability improvement to the login form. You now don’t have to enter your full Basecamp URL. Just enter the initial company name / sub-domain part. .basecampq.com is added already. This will even make it easier for people to understand what they need to enter in that field! Here’s how the revised login form looks.

More usable login screen for PlannerX

Bug with new task saving solved

I am glad not many customers noticed this 😉 We had a jarring bug that wouldn’t save a new task if both the milestone and todo list were also freshly created. It was another quick fix, but a significant one!

How do all these small improvements measure up?

Here’s what Ben Thomas, a PlannerX customer had to say:

WAHOO!

Fantastic response.
Thank you ever so much. Wonderful.
That is brilliant. Thank you.

Ben

Makes my day!

Good news! You no longer need to remember PlannerX website address and login to a separate page to use PlannerX. We created a bookmarklet so you can open PlannerX right within your Basecamp page. It’s as easy as clicking a button in your browser toolbar and saves you a lot of back and forth. It’s also safe and secure.

Here’s how it looks

PlannerX Bookmarklet in action

Activate the bookmarklet from here

What are the advantages?

A lot of users found it inconvenient to open a new browser page and login to PlannerX. We felt that if we could integrate PlannerX within Basecamp, things will be a lot easier. While we were figuring out the best way to do this, Countdown guys released a bookmarklet that opens Countdown within Basecamp. We loved the idea and implemented it for PlannerX. We also revised our login process so that it works well with this system.

With the bookmarklet,

• You can now open PlannerX within Basecamp
• You don’t have to open another browser page for PlannerX
• PlannerX auto detects which project you are working on and loads that up
• If you select “Remember Me” on our login forms, you can go straight to PlannerX next time onward.

This is a significant improvement in usability for PlannerX.

Activate the bookmarklet from here

What is a bookmarklet?

A bookmarklet is a small JavaScript that lets you quickly perform an action. They are typically stored in browser’s favorites / bookmark / links bar. Just like you open your favorite website by clicking on it in your Favorites bar, you load PlannerX within Basecamp by clicking its name in your Favorites bar. You can read more about bookmarklets in this Wikipedia article.

Credits

Our bookmarklet was inspired from the Countdown bookmarklet. And was coded by Malay Ladu.

Activate the bookmarklet from here

We launched PlannerX v2.0 today. This release adds estimates, start dates and due dates with all project plan items – Milestones, Todo lists and Todos. Gantt charts work much more reliably now and we have included numerous other functionality, performance and usability enhancements. This is the biggest upgrade after our initial launch about a year ago.

The new version helps you plan your Basecamp projects even faster. Here are some highlights.

Smart Estimates

Smart Estimates

Finally you can add estimates for your milestones, todo lists and todo items. Estimates total up automatically, and show up in an easy to understand format. Some examples of estimate’s smartness:

• 2 becomes 2h
• 8 becomes 1d
• 5d becomes 1w
• 160h becomes 1m
• 170h becomes 1m 1d 2h
• Adding estimate for Todo updates estimate for Todo list and Milestone too
• Totaling up updates parent’s estimate only if parent’s current estimate is lower than sum of children
• And there is even an estimate slider in Card view and Batch Update
• You can configure estimate conversion calculations from your account settings

We don’t compare Estimates with Actual Time yet. That’s reserved for another release!

Start and Due Dates

Start & Due Dates

Basecamp added Due Dates to todo items a while ago (this was the most demanded feature from Basecamp!) PlannerX allows you to add due dates for Todo lists and Start dates for all items. We listened you and have added a date picker. At the same time, we have made it easier to enter dates with auto completion. Enter “6” in a date field in Outline view, and it will automatically convert it to “3/6/10″ (6th March, assuming you are using MM/DD/YY format – configurable from your account settings). We believe you will love it!

Intelligent Batch Update

So far, you could update the assignee name using Batch Update. You can now update estimates and dates as well. Here are some cases on how Batch Update can come in handy.

Batch Update

• You have done your initial estimation. But now need to pad them before submitting to management. Just select all items you want to update, click on Batch Update (or Ctrl + . on keyboard). Then Add 25% to Estimates. PlannerX will automatically do all the calculations.
• Someone left your team and you now need to reassign her tasks to a new hire. Select appropriate items and select the new hire’s name from the Assignee drop down Batch Update.
• Your project is delayed. It’s running about two weeks late and you need to update all start / due dates. This would be a nightmare, but with PlannerX, you can just select these items, go to Batch Update. And add 2 weeks to start and due dates. Save back and you are done!
• Completed a lot of items? Select them all and complete them in one go with Batch Update!

We expect Batch Update will save you a lot of time. It’s especially useful on dynamic (read delayed, troubled, messy – or just about any) projects.

Everything Saved back to your Basecamp

We store estimates, start dates and due dates (for Todo lists) with item names in Basecamp. This way you and all other people on your project can see them. You can edit estimates and dates in Basecamp too, and they will be imported to PlannerX. You could even use any other tool to update / manage this information. This is the best compromise between usefulness and readability. We hope you like it.

Gantt Charts that work

We know you love our Gantt charts. We have made them more reliable now. Many customers complained Gantt charts were not working. We have revamped the whole logic and they work much better now. You can even print big charts spanning multiple pages now! They are not editable (we are not sure if we want to add that complexity yet), but super useful even in the current state.

Same Efficiency, and even better

PlannerX is known for its efficiency. Especially how it allows you to manage your project plan quickly. We have retained all those bits and added some more. You can continue using keyboard to navigate and create new items. We have improved keyboard navigation and even added a “text import” feature that lets you type in a plan just as you would in Notepad. PlannerX will automatically convert it to Milestones, Todo lists and Todo items. We have also solved some annoyances (like “Remember Me” not always working) to make your experience more enjoyable.

Text Import

More coming soon

There are numerous enhancements and bug fixes in this release. But apart from that, it is a significant upgrade to our core. This release also brings PlannerX almost on par with our Planning Module for activeCollab.We will release few more upgrades over the next few weeks. Here are two items on our list:

• A bookmarklet that lets you open PlannerX right in your Basecamp project – so no need to come to PlannerX site
• Better printing support for Outline and Card views

We plan to continue improving PlannerX and look forward to your feedback.

Thank you!

Nirav Mehta for the Apps Magnet Team

37Signals rolled out their new unified authentication system – 37signals ID a while back. The new system required all users migrate their accounts and pick up a new username / password. This username / password will work across all Basecamp sites and all 37Signals products.

I wrote about it in December, and was happy that everything worked smoothly after the upgrade, and PlannerX worked without a change.

But I was in for a big shock (since I don’t read the 37Signals API developer’s mailing list!!)

The authentication system has changed. Instead of username and password, third party applications now have to authenticate via a 40 letter hex token. The token can be found under the user’s account info – hidden normally, available only after clicking a link!

This meant users of 3rd party applications that relied on Basecamp APIs – e.g. our PlannerX – would break. And won’t work until users entered their token as username and “X” as password. Crazy!

This scared me. We did not want to scare our users too! As it is, the dual login (first to PlannerX and then to Basecamp) is troublesome, having to find and paste the token for login would really be the straw that broke our camel’s neck!

I came to know about this today, and the deadline is less than 2 days away! This means, if I don’t do something right now, over this weekend, PlannerX will come to a grinding halt, and simply spit out authentication failed errors to all users.

Really a big price for not monitoring the API mailing list…

I took a few deep breaths and continued reading the mailing list.

Surely, the whole topic led to a lot of confusion and discussions among developers. The deadlines for rolling out new authentication system were pushed back so that all developers could accommodate the change.

But there was a silver lining. A new API was added that would work with the username and password as usual, and provide logged in user’s profile information – name, phone numbers etc.

Along with a silver bullet – that 40 letter hex token!

Bingo!

I just finished an update that now makes PlannerX compatible with the new token based authentication system for Basecamp.

And what’s the change for PlannerX users? Nothing! You can continue using the system as usual! When you login with your username and password, we automatically look up your token and use that for all further API communications with Basecamp.

Simple solution to a complicated issue. Took 15 minutes of development, 25 minutes of testing, and 20 minutes writing this post! Not too bad for such a big change! Was certainly less than what I feared!

If you are using OpenID for logging in, you will have to use the 40 digit token as username and “X” as password while you login to Basecamp via PlannerX.

Cheers! I can now have a good weekend!

(PS: I am onto a whole lot of other upgrades to PlannerX. Watch this space for more!)

37Signals rolled out 37Signals ID – a unified, single sign on system for all their products recently. The feature invited a lot of heated arguments, but promises interest integration opportunities.

Transition to the new system was very smooth. A page asking you to select a new username, easy automated checking of usernames and useful suggestions about available usernames, and a one click, quick submission. The email notification too is well designed just like all other 37Signals products.

I was expecting we will have to do some changes on PlannerX for the new system to work. I was gladly surprised that we did not! You can continue using PlannerX with the new Basecamp username / password (the old ones won’t work, obviously). You don’t have to make any change to PlannerX!

Smooth!

We have got a number of requests to add OpenID support to PlannerX. I just tested it, and it works!

Here’s how you can try it:

• Make sure you have an OpenID profile. I use MyOpenID.
• Add a new user to your Basecamp account and give access to her for relevant projects (this is not necessary if you have users configured to use OpenID already)
• Log in to Basecamp using the new user. Go to “My Info” page. Switch to using OpenID with your OpenID URL.
• Save settings. This authenticates using OpenID and saves the settings.
• Once this is done, you will get a “Reveal my special username/password” link right below your OpenID URL.

Special Username / Password for OpenID

• Click on the link to reveal your special username and password.
• Now use this username, this special password, and your current Basecamp URL (e.g. something.projectpath.com) on PlannerX.
• You will be logged in and see your project list (or get straight to the project plan if you have only one project assigned).

What could go wrong? What should you check if you can’t login with OpenID?

Here are a few things to check if you can’t login using OpenID.

• Are you using your special OpenID username and password? Remember, it’s not your OpenID URL that you can use, you need to use the special username and password. The password will be some combination of characters and numbers.
• Are you using your correct Basecamp URL? Again, this is not your OpenID URL, but your Basecamp URL – it may look like yourcompany.basecamphq.com or yourcompany.projectpath.com
• Have you enabled OpenID access for this user? Confirm by logging in with that OpenID to your Basecamp project. Does it work?
• Do you have projects assigned to this user? If you have no projects assigned, you will get a “No projects found” message in PlannerX.
• Does OpenID login work with some other Basecamp Extra that uses Basecamp API?

Still not working? Let us know the details and we will investigate!

Basecamp team wrote about PlannerX on their product blog today. We welcome you if you are coming through Basecamp blog.

Like the blog mentions, PlannerX is an online service that lets you manage your Basecamp project plans effortlessly. PlannerX gives you a single page view of your entire project plan. This is shown in an outline view, so it’s easy to expand/collapse. And guess what, this plan is fully editable! You can use your keyboard to quickly navigate and edit items. You can even add new milestones, to-do lists and to-do items. You can assign items to people on your team quickly and add due dates to milestones – even using shortcuts!

PlannerX even shows you a Gantt chart of your plan. (It’s really neat, I must tell you!)

Overall, it will make you at least 5 times faster in viewing, managing and working with your project plan.

• Take a live demo.
• Signup for PlannerX.

We look forward to your comments! Let us know how you like it!

Gantt Chart in PlannerX - v1

Yes! This is one of the sleekest Gantt chart implementations for Basecamp. It’s a view only Gantt chart, but it’s been a feature people have been asking for years!

There are still rough edges in terms of the UI, but your plan shows up well on the Gantt chart. Completed items show in green. We distribute to-do lists equally in a milestone, one milestone’s due date becomes next milestone’s start date, and to-dos occupy the full duration of to-do lists.

You can’t edit the plan, plan edited in Outline view won’t reflect in Gantt view until you save it (since we need IDs to establish parent-child relationships, and need to expand dates on milestones). Printing does not work across browsers – but you can right click and save the plan as an image to print it later.

It’s been a full night without any sleep! So I will retire to bed now! But will look forward to your feedback.

Many thanks to AnyCharts team – they make an awesome Gantt chart component. They even gave us a special price, and worked hard with me to get their component to work with Flex! Thank you Timothy and Anton!

Go ahead, take our live demo! Try it out yourself!

Gantt Charts are great to visualize project plan, link dependencies and show reports to top management!

Should we include Gantt Charts in PlannerX?

This has been a big question! We know there are many people out there (in most web based collaboration / project management communities – including Basecamp and activeCollab) who really want it. And then there is this idea of focusing on collaboration to make a project success – rather than charts!

We don’t have Gantt Charts in the current version of PlannerX.

But, we are working on adding some level of Gantt chart support in an upcoming version. It’s difficult to create Gantt charts with Basecamp because Basecamp does not have due dates for to-do lists or tasks. Nor does it have estimates and dependencies. activeCollab does make it easier to add / manage these.

Bottomline: Our activeCollab version may have Gantt Charts sooner than Basecamp version. But we are surely thinking about this.

If you want Gantt Charts, please vote for it over on our GetSatisfaction support system!

PlannerX – our latest product – allows you to plan your Basecamp projects about 5 times faster. It shows you an outline view of your project, helps you navigate quickly using keyboard and lets you edit the plan right in place. You can use shorthand for dates and assignees and save the entire plan in one go. (Gone are the days to keep clicking save / submit buttons!!).

Checkout this demo video. And if you use Basecamp, go ahead and take our free trial.