Managing writing projects with Basecamp

Noted by Matt on 03.11.10

Web words, Business words

Ensuring the success of a big writing project like a website or a magazine takes teamwork. For us, this means online collaboration is essential.

Everest Basecamp
Every expedition needs a base camp. Photo: Mahatma4711

We use Basecamp to manage writing projects — things like A² magazine, which we write with Arup. Basecamp works because it’s got all the functions you need to work collaboratively on things like web copy, brochures or in-house magazines.

  • It’s got milestones, so everyone working on a project knows who needs to do what by when.
  • It’s got to-do lists for everyone to keep track of their tasks.
  • It’s got messages, which are much more effective than emails because anyone on a project can see them at any time.
  • It’s got a place to store files centrally (even really big ones like video interviews).
  • And — crucially for us — it’s got writeboards where you can write collaboratively.

Plus it works with email, so people don’t have to log on if they don’t want to.

In short, Basecamp does everything we need and nothing we don’t. (For some projects, we’ve also added Campfire for realtime chat). 

This means it’s flexible but it also means you’ve got to create your own simple rules for using it. Essentially, we follow just one rule: our projects in Basecamp should be set up and updated so that anyone logging in can see exactly what’s happening.

So, let’s say our client uploads a Word document with feedback from their boss. When we make changes to the text in the writeboard, we’ll add a comment explaining what we’ve done and linking to that file. When someone else looks at the writeboard, they can follow our trail.

Does it work? We asked a client what they thought. “Using Basecamp with Polon has been invaluable,” says Beth Hurran, a communications manager at Arup. “It has enabled our editorial, graphics and writing team to work completely collaboratively on our company magazine.”

“With each team in a different location, and some working part-time, Basecamp is a brilliant way of communicating. It also ensures that latest draft is always available and easy to find or compare to previous versions. It’s completely compatible with email, so it’s simple and easy to receive updates.”

And that’s the ultimate reason we use tools like Basecamp: to make our clients happy.