Tracking to-do lists on the Hill Chart
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 show its progress alongside the rest of your project.
Hill Charts are only visible to your team. Clients can’t see the Hill Chart, even when the to-do list itself is visible to them.
To track a list, open the 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.
Updating a Hill Chart
Hill Charts don’t update automatically — you move the dots based on your understanding of the work.
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.
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.