Replaced BaseCamp with ActiveCollab

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I was using BaseCamp from 37Signals as a WASP, but I’ve switched over to ActiveCollab. ActiveCollab is an open-source BaseCamp project management clone.

Installation
Installation is very fast. I have installed it on a local machine to test. I utilized Uniform Server to get my environment setup a WAMP (windows, apache, mysql, php) environment up so I can install ActiveCollab. It has an easy-to-use interface to stop your apache, mysql, and administer your mysql database via phpMyAdmin. The PHP-Apache configuration is all done for you so you can get up and running to test your app very fast.

You will want to modify your “my-small” file and comment the line “#skip-innodb” so that the innodb engine is available in your mysql database otherwise you will get an install error. I also recommend setting up a virtual host on your machine in case you run other apps.

Evaluation
I found my productivity went up with BaseCamp. I see no deficiency in the ActiveCollab product for what I use. One big plus that it has over BaseCamp is tagging. You can tag everything practically - files, messages, tasklists, milestones, etc. This is useful if you want to search across your project by tag. One feature missing currently is searching tags across projects. I’m sure this will be there in future releases. This is still in alpha stage. It is not even a 1.0 product yet, but it looks very mature. I’ve been using it for the past 3 days to work and I haven’t encountered any problems yet. I have created Projects, Milestones, and Tasklists (which can be associated to Milestones), messages, and uploaded files. I like that you can associate everything together. It is meant for collaborative project management, but I find it just as useful for a single-user. It is much easier to use than MS Project, and it has a strong organizational element to it. Instead of sending emails, you can send messages. All messages are captured so communication doesn’t become binary between 2 people. It becomes collaborative and part of the knowledge pool. I feel it makes all parties much more involved and connected to the project.

Try ActiveCollab (open-source) or BaseCamp if you need someone else to host for you.