Hill Charts
Hill Charts give you a visual way to track progress on work that involves uncertainty. Instead of just showing what’s done or not done, they show where work stands - whether you’re still figuring things out or moving forward with a clear plan.
Most work isn’t a straight line. Early on, progress is uncertain - teams are exploring options, asking questions, and working through unknowns. That phase is often invisible in traditional task tracking, even though it’s where the hardest work happens.
Once those unknowns are resolved, the work becomes more predictable. Execution speeds up, and progress is easier to measure.
Hill Charts make that distinction visible. They help you see not just how much work is left, but what kind of work is happening, and where things might be stuck.
Progress is tracked at the list level, not individual to-dos, so you can quickly understand how larger pieces of work are moving.
Jump to:
To access a Hill Chart, open a project and track at least one to-do list on the Hill.
Tracking a to-do list
Track a to-do list on the Hill Chart to include it in your project’s progress view.
Hill Charts are visible to your team by default. You can choose whether clients can see them.
To track a list, open a to-do list, click the ••• menu, and select Track this on the Hill Chart.
Tracked lists appear as dots on the Hill Chart. You can choose which lists are tracked in settings - if none are tracked, the Hill Chart is hidden.
📝 NOTE: Clients can view Hill Charts for lists that are visible to them, but they can’t update progress.
Updating a Hill Chart
Hill Charts don’t update automatically - you move the dots based on your understanding of the work. You can also control who can see the Hill Chart. When updating the hill chart, use the visibility option to choose whether it’s visible to your team only or shared with clients.
To update progress, click the Update button on the bottom left of the chart.
From there, drag the dots to reflect current progress, add any notes explaining the update, and select who to notify, then click Save this update.
Viewing progress history
Each update creates a snapshot of progress over time.
To view history, click See history under the Hill Chart.
This opens the history view, where you can see each update in order. Each entry shows the position on the hill, the project status, and any notes that were added, making it easy to understand how progress has changed over time.
Clients can view progress history, including past updates and notes, but cannot post or edit updates.
Hilltop View
Hilltop View shows Hill Charts across all projects in one place.
To open Hilltop View, open the Basecamp menu, click Reports, and select Hilltop View. You can also press 3 on your keyboard to open Reports.
Hilltop View highlights recently updated projects so you can quickly see where work is progressing.
📝 NOTE: Hilltop View is not available to clients.