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Frequently asked questions about ProjectThingy
General
How did you come up with the idea?
Project collaboration is nothing new. In fact, I started building one of the first online project collaboration tools about 10 years ago.
It was called WebProject and was sold to a company called Novient around the year 2000.
So what's with ProjectThingy? Well, after building uploadthingy, I started thinking about being able to
put a whole application - with login, users and more - onto a web page by simply copying and pasting a few lines of code. I've been working in the field
of project management and collaboration for so long that I can safely say that I have a good, basic understand of the subject.
With ProjectThingy, you just copy and paste a few lines of code to a web page on your site, and presto - you have a full fledged project and file collaboration tool
right there. On your site. And it'll pretty much look like your site as well. As if it was custom built.
I think this is pretty exciting. Instead of using software that is on someone else's domain - and having to adjust and tweak it to make
it look a little bit like it's yours - why not just fully integrate it with your site.
That makes it more comfortable for your team members and clients to use - and also so much easier to find.
So instead of saying "Go to tools.blahblah.com/company/name" or something like that - you can just say: "Go to my site and click Login".
What's the best way to find out how this works?
Watch the videos here. They'll show you how it works. Then grab the code with the form on the right and take it for a spin on your site. Please contact us if you have any questions.
You can also learn more about ProjectThingy and the other Thingys on Thingy Video at 49pm.com. Watch short videos that'll show you how to do stuff with the Thingys on your site. We're adding more all the time!
Where does ProjectThingy and my data live?
ProjectThingy runs in the 'cloud'.
That's a fairly new term and doesn't really mean anything to most people. But it's sort of fun to say. So.
ProjectThingy runs on Amazon Web Services (AWS). The server and database run on EC2 instances.
Those are basically Linux machines that can be easily started up when needed and stopped when not needed.
The big advantage for us is that the cost is relatively low, and we have the flexibility to add servers or move up to bigger and faster machines when the need arises.
Your data is stored in two different areas.
We use a MySQL database with data storage in an Elastic Block Storage (EBS) volume. This is where all data except files are stored.
Files are stored in Simple Storage Service (S3) buckets.
We use these services to give you access to the same highly scalable, reliable, fast, inexpensive data storage infrastructure that Amazon uses to run its own global network of web sites.
Can I make money with ProjectThingy?
Yeah! Earn 50% of the first monthly payment and 5% of all subsequent payments per customer that signs up through your affiliate link! Signup here.
Who's behind all this?
We're Uta Ritke and Chris Ritke and we're located in beautiful San Geronimo, California, USA. That's just north of San Francisco.
Installation
How do I put a ProjectThingy on my site?
Watch the short video here. It'll show you how it works. Please contact us if you have any questions.
My ProjectThingy is all squished
ProjectThingy should have a minimum of 650px horizontally or it'll look weird and squished. Please make sure you give it that much horizontal space.
Please contact us if you have any questions.
I don't see a login form on my site, it just says Loading... with a twirly thing.
This happens when the ProjectThingy code somehow gets messed up by something. That 'something' can be a whole slew of things.
Like when you're using an online site builder tool. They sometimes translate stuff into other stuff that in turn breaks things.
So if you see Loading... with the twirly thing instead of your form, please contact us by phone or email. We'll figure it out!
Subscriptions
How do I purchase a subscription?
Login to your ProjectThingy as an administrator, click the Admin link and then [subscription]. Select an option and click the Paypal Subscribe button. You can subscribe with your Paypal account or a credit card.
How do I change my subscription?
Login to your ProjectThingy as an administrator, click the Admin link and then [subscription]. Select an option and click the Paypal Subscribe button.
How do I cancel my subscription?
Login to your Paypal account, go to the History subtab of the My Account tab, choose the Subscriptions field from the Show drop-down menu, and click the Submit button. Now click on the Active link in the Status column for the subscription you wish to cancel. To cancel this subscription, click the Cancel Subscription button and follow the on-screen instructions.
Users and Project Members
How do I add users?
When you grab the code for your ProjectThingy, you create a user name and password that you then use to login to your ProjectThingy on your site.
You are the first user with administrator permission. To add users that can then become members of your projects,
click the Admin link at the top and then click the + add user link near the bottom. After a new user name and password and save, you'll notice
that their permission is set to Team Member. This means that they can do everything that you as an administrator can, except they won't have access to the admin area.
What's the difference between the different permission levels?
Administrators can add users and determine their permissions through the Admin link at the top.
Each user can be assigned one of 4 permission levels:
- No Access: The user will not be allowed to login to your ProjectThingy.
- Client: The user will only see work items and messages that have been assigned to them. For work items, they will only see the newest link or file attachment. The can't edit any project or work item related information. They can add new work items and messages.
- Team Member: The user has full access to the site, except the Admin area.
- Administrator: The user has full access to the site, including the Admin area.
What's an administrator?
When you add or edit a project, you'll see a list of users that have been added to your ProjectThingy (see above).
Select the checkbox for those users that are to be members of the project.
Only users that have been defined by an administrator in the admin area can become members of projects.
Why don't I see the Admin link?
Because you don't have administrator permission. Ask your ProjectThingy administrator to give you administrator permission if you require it.
Projects
How do I add project members?
When you add or edit a project, you'll see a list of users that have been added to your ProjectThingy (see above).
Select the checkbox for those users that are to be members of the project.
Only users that have been defined by an administrator in the admin area can become members of projects.
I don't see a project even though I know it's in there.
That's because you're not a member of the project.
Ask another member to add you to the project by clicking the edit link in the project and selecting your user name in the Members area.
What happens when I assign a message to a user?
When you assign a message to a user, it also gets a status. So it basically turns into a to-do for that user.
So when something needs to be done in a project, write a message and assign it to the person responsible for doing it.
They can then track the progress through the status indicator.
How do I change the status of a project, work item or assigned message?
That's easy! Just click the status indicator and select the new status from the dropdown menu.
If you decide not to change the status, just click the status indicator again to hide the dropdown.
What happens when I change the project status to complete?
That means you're done with the project and you're archiving it for future reference. Completed projects cannot be edited or added to.
You can always change the status of a project back to a status other than complete to re-enable adding and editing.
Work Items
What's a work item?
Work items are the things you and your team are working on in a project. Like PRDs, Mocks, Financial planning, etc.
Each work item can include revisions of links to web pages or files attachments. Each file can be up to 1GB in size.
Work items can be assigned to users and have a status. Click the status button to change the status.
How do I add a revision to a work item?
You can add as many revisions to a work item as you like. A revision can be either a link or a file.
To add a revision, click the add or upload link next to Links & Files in a work item.
What happens when I assign a work item to a client?
Users with Client permission have restricted access to your ProjectThingy.
When you assign a work item to a client, they will only see the newest link or file that has been added to the work item.
Messages
Which messages show where?
You can add messages to projects and work items.
On the dashboard, you'll see the messages for all projects you're a member of - including the messages on work items in those projects.
In a project you'll see the messages for that project and all associated work items. When you're in a work item, you'll only see messages for that work item.
What's a message thread?
Messages are shown as links in the Dashboard, in projects and work items. Click on a message link to see the whole message and reply to the thread.
Other questions
Yep - sure. There will be more questions. And more answers. We'll be adding them as they come in!
In the mean time: if you have a question, contact us. We'd love to hear from you!
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