Field Guide: Home and Families

Outside of work, projects happen in all shapes and sizes — people to care for, birthdays to plan, a house to buy, and so on. Basecamp can manage and organize these projects ✨

In this guide, we'll share how you can work on personal projects in Basecamp

Jump to:

• Getting started with your projects
• Working with others
• Keeping track of things to do
• Keeping track of your schedule
• Keeping everything in one place
• Staying on top of everything

Getting started with your projects

Projects are at the heart of Basecamp. Have a birthday coming up in your family? Caring for your father-in-law? Buying a new house? Create a project for each of these and invite people if you'll need their help.

Each project in Basecamp has a variety of tools to choose from: Message Board, To-dos, Chat, Card Tables, Calendar, Docs & Files, Doors, Email Forwards, and Automatic Check-ins — mix and match based on your project's needs. You'll find that you may not use all of them and you may use more than one of them.

Here's an example of a house buying project:

Working with others

You can use Basecamp on your own, but it’s also easy to bring others in when you need to.

You can invite others to a project anytime. Some projects might stay private, while others like trips, shared plans, or household projects, are easier to manage with others.

Before sending invitations, take a moment to think about what level of permissions each person should have. Especially when you want to keep some items private, limit who can create projects, or decide whether anyone needs administrator or owner access.

Basecamp has three user types: Someone who works at your company, Outside collaborators, and Clients.

The people you add as an 'Someone who works at your company' will be folks you trust most in your account. They'll be able create new projects, add new people to projects, and granted administrator or owner powers.

People added as Outside collaborators will be folks that you trust in the projects you've added them to. They can see everything posted in projects, but they cannot create new projects, add others to projects, or have administrators or owner powers.

In the New House! project, the buyer's brother was added so he can stay updated and chime in if needed (he'll be the appraiser).

Here's what he sees when logging into the account:

And when he opens a project, he'll have the same view as the people added as Someone who works with you, but he won't be able to add anyone to the project:

And finally, anyone added as a Client will have the most restrictions — they'll only be able to add, edit, and view the items made visible to Clients.

In the New House! project, the realtor was added as Client. This way, the buyers can keep items private from their realtor like mortgage documents.

Here's what the realtor, a Client, sees when they log in:

And, what they see when they open the only project they have access to:

Clear communication keeps everyone on the same page.

Use the Message Board to share plans, updates, and important information people may want to come back to later.

To chat in real-time, use the Chat tool. It’s a good place for quick check-ins and casual conversations.

People can also communicate by posting comments and reacting with Boosts. You can also use @mentions to get someone’s attention, or Pings for private messages.

Keeping track of things to do

Whether it’s everyday chores or bigger plans, there’s always something that needs to get done.

Use To-do lists to track things like errands or household responsibilities. You can group tasks however you like — by category, routine, or project.

For projects that move through stages, like planning a move or organizing a trip, use the Card Table.

If you add due dates to any of your tasks, you'll see them on the project's Calendar.

Keeping track of your schedule

It’s easier to stay organized when you can see what’s coming up. Basecamp gives you a single place to keep track of plans, appointments, and important dates.

The Calendar shows everything with a date, including events and deadlines (depending on what you decide to show). As you add due dates to tasks, they’ll pop here automatically so nothing gets missed.

Here's an example of the family's care Schedule for their Dad:

Keeping everything in one place

Keeping everything in one place makes it easier to find what you need when you need it. Instead of digging through emails, notes, or different apps, you can keep it all together in Basecamp.

The Docs & Files is best to store things like travel plans, important documents, receipts, or anything else you want to access easily.

If you use other apps or websites, add them as External links so they’re easy to access right from the project.

Here's an example of two Extenrnal links in a house buying project — one for MLS listings and the other for their mortgage:

You can keep important emails in a project too. Just turn the Email forwards tool on, forward them into Basecamp, and now they're in your project instead of your inbox. Once in the project, users can discuss or respond to the sender.

Here's an example of a the house buyer leaving a comment for the folks in the project on a forwarded email regarding a pre-approval for a mortgage:

If the house buyer wanted to reply directly to the lender, he'd click the 'reply to' link and and the posted message would get emailed to them.

Staying on top of everything

After everything is set up, it’s easier to stay on top of what’s happening without checking every project.

At the bottom of your screen, the “My” bar gives you quick access to what’s relevant to you — your tasks, upcoming events, bookmarks, activity, and notes. On the right, you’ll see what’s “New for you”, along with your Pings.

In addition to the notifications you've set, you'll receive an email with the latest activity every morning, and an email with your upcoming assignments every week. If you don't need those email notifications, you can always turn those off.

For things that come up regularly, like weekly plans or quick check-ins, you can use Automatic Check-ins to collect updates in one place instead of asking the same questions over and over.

We hope this guide helps you accomplish all those big and small projects life throws at you. And if you need any assistance with Basecamp, you can check our learning center, help pages, or send us a note at Support. Happy Basecamping!