-: Hey there.
I'm Kimberly from Basecamp's Customer Success team
and I want to show you a tool in Basecamp
you might not yet know about.
It's called Card Table,
and if you're familiar with the concept
of Kanban or a Kanban board, you're gonna like this.
In this video, I'm gonna show you how to add a Card Table
to a Basecamp project.
I'll also walk you through the various parts
of the Card Table tool
and how to customize them for what you need.
And make sure to stay until the end
because I'll show you some examples
of how we've seen customers using Card Table
and some ways we're using it internally here at Basecamp.
Now first, to add the Card Table tool,
you'll use the three dot menu
at the top right of your project page
and select Set Up Tools.
You'll toggle the Card Table tool on,
and in this section, you can also rename it if you want to.
When you open up the Card Table tool,
you'll see it's divided into two sections.
Across the top is Triage and Not Now.
And we consider this the area for tasks
that have not yet been started
or for work that's under consideration.
Below that, you'll see a couple of columns
and this is where work gets done
and where you'll track the progression of that work
from left to right.
New Card Tables automatically start with three columns
in this working section,
Figuring It Out, In Progress, and Done.
Now, if those labels don't fit your needs,
you can rename the first two columns
using the three dots at the top right.
You can also add additional columns with the plus button.
Reordering columns is easy too,
just drag and drop them into new positions.
And if you wanna add some color,
you'll do that with the same three dots
at the top of the column.
How Card Table works is fairly simple.
You'll add tasks as cards with the green Add A Card button.
From here, you'll give the card a name,
and if you want to assign the card to someone
or give it a deadline, you can do that too.
You can add a description and provide additional details,
including links or attachments.
When you save a new card,
it automatically goes into the Triage section,
and that's because when cards are in this section,
they aren't yet in progress.
It's kind of a holding area for tasks or ideas,
so feel free to load up that Triage section if you want to.
When you're ready to start working on a card,
you'll drag that card from Triage
down to the working section.
Typically, you'd be moving a card from Triage
into your first or far left column,
but if a task is already somewhere else in the process,
you can drag it there too.
You'll see that the column header updates
to indicate the number of cards in that column.
If you wanna assign a card to yourself,
you can do that with one simple click.
As your card progresses towards completion,
you'll simply drag and drop that card to the next column.
Ideally, you'll be moving cards from left to right
but if there's a change in status,
you can move a card backwards as well.
When you click on a card, you'll get a full view of it.
Anyone who has access to the Card Table tool
can comment on the card
and you'll also see when the card has changed columns.
Just like in other areas of Basecamp,
you can @ mention someone to make sure they get notified
and give someone's comment a quick boost.
With the card open, you can also move it to another column
by using the dropdown menu at the top.
All the communication about the card stays on the card
so it's really easy to stay organized
and keep things on track.
Notifications with Card Table are simple.
If you wanna be notified about the status of cards
as they move along the process,
just click the three dot menu and select watch this column.
You'll receive a notification in your Hey menu
when a card is added to this column.
So if you want to follow along the full progression,
you'll wanna make sure to watch each of the columns
on your Card Table.
You can also watch the Triage section
so you know when cards are added to that section as well.
Just a couple of other things I wanna point out.
I mentioned that Not Now section at the top earlier.
You may run into a situation
where an idea or task that's in the triage section
isn't something that should actually be worked on,
or at least not right now.
Those cards can be moved to the Not Now section
and they'll be safely out of sight
but not completely deleted.
You can click on the Not Now header
to see all the cards that are in that section.
Another feature of the Card Table
I wanna point out is On Hold.
The On Hold area is really helpful
when you can't take action on a card
but it still needs to stay in its current column.
To turn On Hold on,
just click the three dot button at the top of the column
and select Enable On Hold.
This adds a section at the bottom of the column
for any cards that are temporarily paused.
One thing I personally love about the Card Table
is that cards with deadlines
also appear on the project's schedule.
You'll see the little card icon
and when you click on the item in your schedule,
it automatically opens up the full card.
The Card Table is a great way
to visually see the status of your work
and track the progression of tasks.
Now, we often get asked
when someone should use the Card Table versus to-dos
for organizing their tasks.
And to be perfectly honest, there isn't one right answer.
I personally prefer to use to-dos for simple tasks
that are either done or not done,
and I like the Card Table
for tasks that progress through stages.
An example of that is the REWORK Podcast
we produce here at 37 Signals.
I use the Card Table for that
so I can track individual podcast episodes
from the initial idea,
which goes up in the Triage section,
and then as the episode moves through the process
of scheduling, recording, editing,
approvals, posting and completion.
Our programmers also use Card Table
for tracking bugs or software fixes.
Anyone on the team can add a card to the Triage section
and our development team
moves that card through the process.
We've also seen customers using Card Table
as a way to track inquiries or as a CRM tool.
This allows you to see where a customer is in the pipeline
or what stage of a sales process they've gone through.
These types of use cases are great for Card Table
where a simple to-do just isn't enough.
And last thing, a little pro tip
for all you tech savvy folks.
We also have a Card Table API.
If you'd like more info about that or have any questions
as you're trying out the Card Table tool,
definitely reach out.
Just click that question mark
at the bottom right corner of your screen
and we'll be there to help.
(upbeat music)