Happy Anniversary, Freedcamp turns 1

Posted on January 31, 2012 by agrublev

Happy Anniversary Freedcampers!

I am honored and privileged to be writing this post and to be able to say that it has been a year since we launched Freedcamp to the world. Thats 365 days or 8,760 hours of free project management. Now multiply that by our 54,000+ users and you will understand the scale to which Freedcamp has grown.

The Freedcamp team has achieved a lot, sacrificed a ton, and moved innovation forward. I stand here this day proud for what my fellow co-workers and I have been through and where we are today. I look back at thousands of emails from happy users, a couple of occasions where our servers went down momentarily, so many experiences so much passion. I see a bright future for all of us, here at Freedcamp, and to our users who know what collaboration is. We couldn’t of done it without you, the user.

I don’t want to make this a long post, because the message is simple. We did it. Many doubted our ability to both remain free and stay up, we did. Many expected us to achieve great things and make project management simple, we did. But what’s more important is that we continue doing it every day.

Tonight we celebrate that free software does exist, and that good people can make good things happen.

Salute dear user, we are pleased to have you!

Angel Grablev
Freedcamp CEO

Freedcamp 2012

Posted on January 5, 2012 by agrublev

Dear Freedcamp Users,

First I want to take a second and mention we finalized a partnership/sponsorship with RackSpace which will help us tremendously to continue our efforts in supplying the best free project management application to you all. Thank you RackSpace for this amazing opportunity.

Secondly I would like to apologize for any delay in launching certain promised features (mobile, invoices+), we have had some unforeseen events, but rest assure that this is all going to change very shortly after the new year and we will be back in full speed and better than ever!

Now I would like to recap what has happened in this past year. We launched Freedcamp on January 31st 2011, it was a simple dream, bring project management to everyone everywhere… for the ultimate price of $0. We had achieved that from day 1, what we really had envisioned though was just about to start taking shape amongst a team of passionate and dedicated people.

First we needed a way to support ourselves and the expensive servers we were running, so we wen out and found an amazing person who was interested in investing his hard earned money to help us achieve our grand dream. Once we secured our funding we began almost instantly the building of Version 2, the ultimate collaboration platform. A customizable experience which will soon house a plethora of applications making Freedcamp the irreplaceable office tool whether you are managing your To-Dos or sending out Invoices.

With the launch of Version 2 we had a very basic marketplace hidden behind development walls, wasn’t long before we launched the beta. As of today we have over 10,000 installations of our applications. That’s huge! We couldn’t be more proud.

So now that we covered the past here is to the future, a toast if you will. In this upcoming year we will be focusing on extending the interaction between our applications, allow more customization while keeping the interface and functionality just as easy if not easier. Overhaul all the processes that you do everyday to make them even easier. Focus on only a select few more applications to release in the marketplace. Most importantly release our SDK so that anyone can create applications in the Marketplace.

Thank you all, our dear users, for all your support. We couldn’t of done this, or gotten this far without you.

Yours truly,
Angel Grablev
Freedcamp CEO

Version 2.3 Release.

Posted on December 1, 2011 by lt4ylor

Version 2.3 has arrived. Here is a list of the important additions and changes:

Calendar Application – Now Available In The Marketplace!

The long awaited Calendar application is finally here! Calendar provides a monthly overview of all your tasks and allows you to create a to-do, edit a milestone, or schedule an event, all from one location! Calendar provides direct integration with both to-do and milestone applications, allowing you to: add new entries, edit existing ones, and remove those that you no longer need, directly from the calendar!

UX & UI Changes

New User Intro Wizard - We have provided a step-by-step guide for new users to get accustom to Freedcamp’s features and layout.
CRM Additions - Added fax number support and ability to create contacts in leads page.
Basecamp Import - Basecamp import is fully optimized allowing you to import your data, easily and efficiently.
Activity Widget For All Projects - This feature is now fully functional, allowing you to view an activity log across each and every project.
Private Wiki – Just like Discussions, Wikis now have the option to be set as private.

Additional Features

Remove Account - Though we would never like to see you leave Freedcamp, we have added the ability to delete your account. This can be found under the my account page.
Security Enhancements and Bug Fixes - Thank you for taking the time to report bugs to us. We’ve fixed majority of the bugs that have been reported, and added extra security enhancements to keep your projects safe.

Freedcamp Mobile Teaser Video.

Posted on November 24, 2011 by lt4ylor

Here is a quick teaser video of our mobile application.

From Project Management To Household Management.

Posted on November 19, 2011 by lt4ylor

Freedcamp is more than just a project management application, it helps families organize their day to day activities, chores, and goals. Today we introduce one of the many ways Freedcamp can be used within a household setting.

Need to organize a list of weekly chores for your kids? Start a to-do list of who does the dishes, takes out the garbage, mows the grass, or vacuums the living room.

What about after school activities such as baseball practice, band, or swimming lessons? Start a discussion listing important details and upload timeless memories such as pictures, statistics, and videos.

Working on a kitchen remodling project and need supplies from the store? Post some to-dos for your spouse listing materials that need to be purchased. They will thank you later when you save them an extra trip to the hardware store.

Kids bugging you about that cute puppy you saw at the animal shelter? Set a milestone for the day you want to bring him home, and relate the date to additional tasks that need to be completed before hand.

The other day we received a real world example from one of our users. Here is a quick snippet on their collaboration:

“The first project included me and my daughter. She has been wanting a hamster so we started a project about that. We write ideas and links back and forth on the wall and we have a milestone set for when she uploads a document that details all of the supplies needed to take care of a hamster for a month. It’s really been working well.”

“My wife and I have been using it as a discussion place for a redecoration project for our living room…. my wife loves that I stay on top of the organization. She loves having only a handful of places to go to stay on top of things and jot down ideas.”

We love to see Freedcamp used in creative ways. It’s not only inspirational to us, but gives a great example on how it can be used outside of your business. If you would like to share how you use Freedcamp in your day to day activities, leave us a comment!

Version 2.2 Release.

Posted on September 28, 2011 by lt4ylor

Version 2.2 is here. Here are some of the important additions and changes:

Marketplace Revamp

Enhancements to purchasing applications, installing, and handling billing subscriptions. Added extra security enhancements, and fully qualified for PCI Compliance

UX & UI Changes

Project Switcher Upgrade - You can now go directly into applications of a project using our new and re-styled project switcher.
Sorting 2.0 - We’ve been building our own sorting framework to easily sort your items in each applications. Feel free to try it out!
Last Login on Group Wall - We’ve added “Last Login” message for offline users. Keep track of who’s online, and keep better track of who’s offline as well.
Activity Widget Links - Activity widget now has links to the relevant item, making it easier to navigate through project’s progress.

Additional Features

Login Using Email - Forgot your username? Just use your e-mail to log in instead. You can use either your username or email.
Security Enhancements and Bug Fixes - Thank you for taking the time to report bugs to us. We’ve fixed majority of the bugs that have been reported, and added extra security enhancements to keep your projects safe.

Version 2.1 Release.

Posted on September 16, 2011 by lt4ylor

Version 2.1 has arrived! Here are some of the important additions and changes:

To-Do Filtering
New and Improved Widgets
Activity Widget (old style dashboard)
CRM Widget
Tasky Widget
Printer Friendly Freedcamp (you can now print pages that look great on paper)
CRM Leads Category
CRM Campaigns Category
Improved Support for Older Browsers
Security Improvements
Minor Bug Fixes and Speed Optimizations (throughout the system and applications)

Support and Help

If you find any sort of bugs, or have any questions feel free to checkout help.freedcamp.com. We recently have had a high number of support items, so we ask that you please browse other questions on the support forum before posting.

Introduction Video

We have created a nice introductory video that will help you transition into Version 2.0, you can check that out by going to freedcamp.com and scrolling to the bottom of the page.

What’s Coming

Version 2.1 is our first milestone, and we cleared up each and every bug we had reported since the launch of Version 2.0. Now with version 2.2 in the works, we get to focus on those amazing new features everyone has been requesting. So here’s what we have coming.

Development Roadmap:

Freedcamp Export
Invoices Plus
Calendar
Gantt Charts
Marketplace (new apps and improvements)

Recent Server Downtime.

Posted on September 8, 2011 by lt4ylor

A response to our users regarding our recent downtime.

Our service provider has made a few mistakes with our server configuration, causing our servers to become unavailable for short periods of time. With this in mind, we’re trying our best to keep everything running as smooth as possible and ensure that there is no more downtime.

We’re always on call, 24/7, and we’re ready to fix any server outages that may be caused from our service provider. We have also set in place systems to mitigate these types of issues and hopefully prevent them from happening in the future.

We have succeeded in keeping our Version 1 server uptime to 99.9%, and we are very hopeful that we will achieve the same with our Version 2. Keep in mind that Version 2 is a brand new system with a brand new set of servers which all need to be fine tuned to work flawlessly.

Thank you for being patient with us, we truly appreciate your support.

Version 2.0: A Milestone In Project Management.

Posted on August 30, 2011 by lt4ylor

After countless hours in the office, and an unmeasurable amount of coffee, Freedcamp has climbed yet another step in online project management. Today, we unveil our newest creation of the free application that you have come to love. We would like to thank you, each and every user, as we could not have done this alone. You have pushed us to create a product that we are exceptionally proud of, and without your support this would not be possible.

Now that Version 2.0 is official, what’s in store for the future? Lots, lots more. We will continue to fully support and improve Freedcamp each and every day. We believe project management is an ever-growing field and can only be improved.

UPCOMING FEATURES

Private Messages
Social Integration
Instant Updates – Application Wide

Progress happens one step at a time. So, to each and every user out there, including those we have yet to reach, please continue your support and help spread the word that free project management is here!

Highlights of Version 2.0!