Блог : Новости и новинки

The Overview app in your online project management tool gets a brand new look with a series of new features. We have changed the way late items are displayed and the project schedule gets a brand new interface. The new updates presented in this blog are related to the changes made to the way milestones are now linked to tasks (please see our blog posts on Milestones and due dates on linked tasks)

A new presentation of late items

Late tasks and milestones in a project are now grouped and sorted by date in a single 'late items’ category in the overview of a project. We present the more recent late items first to allow for a fast response on those items which often require minor updates.
With the new task update widget, you can now :

• edit and update a task,
• change the priority level of a task, move the task to another list, or enter an estimated time
• as always : you can view and update comments on a task.

The way Milestones are presented also gets a new layout:

• The Milestone icon is now displayed next to milestone description
• You can view late tasks linked to a milestone
• to complete a milestone, you need to edit the milestone first

Please note that, the mobile web app version for your iPhone and Android smartphones are also updated accordingly.

GroupCamp Project’s task management app now comes with a brand new task form to add and edit tasks.
The screenshot below shows the changes made to the task form with all options now visible on screen.
This comes with our new UI design principles in which we are introducing new icons and less text with direct access functions.
The new widget will help move the Tasks app towards its upcoming features which will include the following:

• start dates on tasks,
• the progress level or percentage completion reached on an on-going task,
• recurring tasks,
• and many more.

You can now edit tasks from various applications  where tasks are displayed (this is not yet the case in the project schedule).

Hi,
Following the latest release in the Project Overview application, we have improved the way the cross-project dashboard is designed. Late tasks and milestones are now presented as ‘late items’ and are sorted by date. Our new project schedule view presents your personal planning (as a user) for all projects in which you will find your upcoming tasks and milestones.
We have updated the weekly email reports with new settings and a new way of presenting upcoming dates for all projects.

Presenting late items in the cross-project view

On the screenshot below, you can see the three different examples of late items:

• The first example is a late task assigned to the current user and the task list for this task is linked to the milestone “Client Monthly Review Meeting” which is a late milestone (there are no due date on the task but the milestone to which the task list is linked is actually late). Please see our blog on how Milestones and due dates on linked tasks work,
• the second example shows a late milestone with 7 linked tasks which are not completed
• the third example shows a task assigned to the current user with a late due date

We have made some significant changed in the way milestones and tasks are used in your project management app. The new key rule is this one:

When a task list is attached to a milestone, the date set on the milestone becomes the due date for the task

In the example depicted in the screenshot above:

• the task list is linked to a milestone which is set for the 8th of May (Press Release & Conference)
• The tasks assigned to James and Barbara have no individual speicific due dates and therefore are considered as being due for that same date (8th of May)
• The task “New revision for Product documentation” assigned to Adriana has its own due date and remains due for that date.

We have been working on optimizing the GroupCamp Project interface for iPad and Android tablets. This follows our recent release of the web application for the IPhone and Android smartphone.

Using the iPad to access your Project management tool

When accessing your GroupCamp account from your tablet browser, the GroupCamp interface will automatically switch to the tablet view. Please note that you can bookmark the access to the GroupCamp icon by creating an icon on your homescreen.

GroupCamp has recently announced the task dropbox feature which allows you to add a task in an online project simply by forwarding or copying the dropbox email address to your email. The task is automatically added to the Tasks application, it is assigned to the person in the To: field if that person is a member of your project and any attached files are automatically added to the Files application in your project.

This blog post will focus on how to make the most of the task dropbox feature when you are on the go and only have your email app on your smartphone.

Saving the task dropbox address in the Contacts app of your iPhone or Android Smartphone

The first step when using the Tasks dropbox is to share that dropbox email address with all project members and make sure that it is saved in your contacts including the address book on your iPhone or Android smartphone. The screenshot below shows how you can share the dropbox address with all team members.

This post is meant to answer regular requests we have from our clients about what are the some of the best practice they should know about when using GroupCamp Project to collaborate with clients. Over the last months we have built many features which makes customer collaboration even easier for our clients. This post presents the 10 best practices which have proved to be key in building successful customer projects. Please note that the basic features for client collaboration video can be found in the video at the end of this post taken from the GroupCamp Webinar series and available in the GroupCamp Youtube Channel 

I - Invite your clients into projects as guests and customize application settings

As described in our FAQ, there is a key difference in GroupCamp between Users and Guests. By adding your clients as Guests you can easily control what they can or cannot do in the project settings. You might decide that clients should not be allowed to complete tasks or delete files. This can be achieved in Application Settings.

2 - Plan your teamwork so your team is synced on the key deadlines

There is no client project without key milestones. By using the Milestones app and linking them to task lists, your client can see the key steps (and the updates) in the milestones graphic view. The same of course applies to the cross-project view if your client has been invited in multiple on-going projects within your account. By putting themselves as owners of all milestones of a given project, managers will receive weekly email digests of all tasks related to the milestones of the client project.

3 - Don’t start from scratch every time, build a client project template for Files and Tasks

Client projects often follow the same business process. Automation is therefore key to make sure your team can be as productive as possible. By defining a client template project (create a project and call it ‘Client Project template’) you can import files from the template project using tags and you can import task lists the same way.