“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”
-Steve Jobs

Thank you Steve.

Artwork by @gapingvoid

When I announced this app and the Force.com toolkit, I anticipated the app would be available within a matter of weeks or even a couple months. Unfortunately, I discovered the pitfalls of the Basecamp API shortly after the announcement. When combined with the restrictions and governor limits of the Force.com platform, the Basecamp API is very difficult to use efficiently.

So, is it going to be available or not?

Yes. The application is currently 95% operational. Currently, the app allows you to connect Opportunities to a Basecamp Project. Once they are linked, you can manage Messages and Milestones but not To Do Lists or To Do List Items.

I have a workaround for the obstacle that we’ve run into but ideally, we’d love to see an update to the Basecamp API. Regardless, you can expect to see the application on the AppExchange very soon. I know better than to give a date again but this is not vaporware and you can watch for updates here or sign up to be notified on the Lively Labs’ Basejump product page.

Why not To Do Lists?

The Basecamp API allows us to look at a project and ask for the to do lists. However, what it sends back is just an xml file of lists with no items within it. That’s pretty pointless, there are few times we would ever care to know how many lists there are or just the names of the lists.

So the conversation has to go like this:

Salesforce.com: Basecamp, can you give us this Project information?

Basecamp: Certainly, here you go.

Salesforce.com: Ok, how about To Do Lists?

Basecamp: Of course, there are 12 To Do Lists in this project. Here they are in a nice XML file.

Salesforce.com: Wait, these are just list titles. What about the items inside them?

Basecamp: Which list would you like to have items for?

Salesforce.com: All of them.

Basecamp: I can only give you one at a time.

Salesforce.com: Ok then…How about this one? To Do List #1234

Basecamp: Here you are <xml>

Salesforce.com: And this one?

Basecamp: <xml>

<repeat for 8 or so lists>

Salesforce.com: Error: You have exceeded the number of available callouts.

Basecamp: Are you still there Salesforce?

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could do this efficiently?

Yes.

37Signals, if you’re reading this, adding a single method to your API will allow for more client applications to be built for more platforms! Let developers get ‘all to do lists and all to do list items within a project’. I know a lot of devs would also love to get ‘all to do lists and all to do list items across all projects’ but this at least makes the process of getting to do items out of Basecamp more efficient, something that is extremely important when you’re working within strict limitations like those on the Force.com platform.

I would love to see something like this make it into the API. I know, 37Signals will not put in time and money on features that bloat their product for the 1% minority but after scouring the web and the Basecamp API mailing list, this is not just for the minority 1%. Most platforms don’t complain about the number of callouts, they just take a few extra seconds. I can make as many calls as I need to in PHP on my own server and we’re good to go, but its not practical for a mobile device or working with other platforms.

Get all lists & list items (within project)

GET /projects/#{project_id}/todo_lists.xml?filter=#{filter}&include=items

<todo-lists array="true">
  <todo-list>
    ...
    <todo-items array="true">
      <todo-item>
        ...
      </todo-item>
    </todo-items>
  </todo-list>
  ...
</todo-lists>

With this developers can pull information by project and iterate over the lists and list items. We can already do this for milestones and messages, why not lists too? A method already exists to get all to do lists and to do items assigned to a responsible party, it should be very straightforward to get this added.

Developers, Call for Change!

Do you also need/want this ability with the Basecamp API, make it happen by letting 37Signals know on the Basecamp API mailing list.

/end rant

via FreelanceSwitch by N.C. Winters

Now that I’ve graduated, here are the different areas of my world:

Twelve Horses

I’m still working on Salesforce.com projects at Twelve Horses and taking on a few projects with a project management role.

Social Network Project

I can’t name names right now but I have been hired by a social network startup in San Francisco as a contractor to do two things. The first is to take their existing website and social network framework, originally built on Ruby on Rails, and move it to WordPress MU with BuddyPress. The second is to implement a full redesign that they have already had commissioned by another designer.

Their current site is far from being user friendly so I’m excited to be working on the project as it mixes information architecture, interaction design, and my platform of choice, WordPress. Their goal is to be a content provider with many of the elements you would find on a social network. In fact, because of this, instead of competing with other social networks like Facebook, users will actually be able to sign up for a profile using their existing Facebook profile using the Facebook Connect technology.

Random Projects

I just got done acting as a technical editor for a book on developing with the Force.com platform. It was pretty cool to offer insights and feedback on the author’s manuscript as well as providing validation on the concepts and code examples that were covered.

Reno Collective

My biggest endeavor for the last year has been Reno Collective. If you don’t already know what it is, check the website. There have been a few ups and downs and we have certainly learned alot. Ed and I went and visited quite a few coworking spaces when were were in California during the San Francisco WordCamp. Jeremy over at NextSpace in Santa Cruz hooked us up with the inside perspective.

The LLC is in place and everything is on track to open. Our efforts are now being poured into finding a building that fits all of our magic numbers to make the space work and thrive as the community grows. We have a benefit show down at The Amendment 21, featuring a hip-hop and burlesque show that we’ve called Beauties & Beats.

Events to bring people together

In the process of promoting Reno Collective, we started to see a need for social (and yes, often geeky) events in Reno. From this need spawned Ignite Reno, Reno-Tahoe WordCamp and what will soon be a Reno WordPress User Group. WordCamp turned out great and we will definitely be putting on another one next year. The first Ignite Reno was also great success and the second Ignite Reno is quickly approaching this month on July 16th.

Future events that we have in the works are FreelanceCamp Reno and LaidOff Camp Reno. Dates, locations and more details are still being worked out but these events will focus on bringing freelancers together to learn from one another and helping locals who have been laid off from their jobs to get back into the job market by working smarter instead of harder, essentially hacking the job process.

My ‘Infinite’ Amount of Spare Time

Yes, there is and will always be, spare time. I like to work hard and play hard. I just completed the Tour De Nez as my first century bike ride. I’m prepping for Burning Man at the end of the summer with the camp that Ed is putting together, The Black Rock Center for Unlearning. I am still not 100% sure I will be going out to the playa this year as I also have my eye on heading over the England and Switzerland for the first time but I am pitching in where I can to help prepare. Now that it is summer time, I also look forward to many visits up to Lake Tahoe (geocaching, perhaps?), rafting down the Truckee River and getting in hundreds (thousands?) of miles on the road bike.

Meeting Cost Ticker

“I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.”

- Douglas Adams

“Love is of all passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart, and the senses.”
- Lao Tzu

[via SwissMiss]

My Most Popular Tags

Created using Wordle

BMW: “Checkmate”

Original source unknown. Found via @dschach on Twitter