Comments on: Equipping your Virtual Office with a Multiuser Backpack

By: Michael (Nozbe.com)

Michael (Nozbe.com) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 08:03:51 +0000

This is really a nice coincidence… I’ve been using Backpack and since it wasn’t good with GTD (Getting Things Done), I developed Nozbe and now we both launched our multi-user accounts in the same time.

However in Nozbe I take a different approach, it’s not multi-user, it’s multi-accounts – so each user has separate account but “under one roof” so it’s just easier for these users to share projects together, they share messages, have one “business” login screen, etc.

But the idea is similar – you buy one multi-account for your company and let everyone in your firm to get things done… together.

I think the approach 37signals did with Backpack is good as a company intranet… Nozbe is meant to be a collaborative tool to get things done… thus I took a little different approach to the multi-user thing.

By: Wes

Wes — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 01:23:19 +0000

Bob,

Oh, one more thing. When you share pages with specific people, those pages are not open to the public. Pages are only open to the public if you specifically share them with the world.

Wes

By: Wes

Wes — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 01:21:32 +0000

Bob,

You can share an individual Backpack page with anyone; they don’t need to have a user in your account. They do, however, have to sign up for a free Backpack account.

I get the impression that multiuser Backpack is intended as an intranet, within a company. Another of 37Signal’s products, Basecamp, is intended as an extranet/project manager; you can invite an unlimited number of clients to it at no extra charge.

Regards,
Wes
(a very happy Backpack solo user)

By: Bob

Bob — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:56:57 +0000

Jason,

I signed up for a free account to test the multi-user capability. Very slick, very well executed. However, a little too pricey for what I’m willing to pay at the moment. A solo consultant like myself with 50-60 clients would have to pay $149 a month. I don’t need 7,500 pages, I need 60 users with about 100-200 pages.

So, keeping it real, I love your new Backpack but it just doesn’t fit my budget. I’ll have to continue to use Google Docs with its built in sharing, and hope that their new upcoming Google Jotspot rollout will give me some Backpack intranet functionality that I’ve been hoping for.

Thanks

Bob

By: Jason Fried

Jason Fried — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:03:25 +0000

“If they had an easy way to share password protected information, I would upgrade to multi-user account in an instant.”

Bob: We do. That’s the point of the new Backpack. You can create an account for your client and share a page with them. You can specify who can see which pages.

By: Bob

Bob — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:56:34 +0000

I’ve been a solo Backpack user for years, using it to track my assorted information. However, I’ve never used it with my clients due to the requirement of each user needing a Backpack account. I don’t want to put my clients in the position of signing up with 37Signals just to view their data. And if you make the pages public, then the whole world can view the semi-private data.

If they had an easy way to share password protected information, I would upgrade to multi-user account in an instant.

Bob