The more choices the more confusion. In our quest to simplify everything, today, we are resting out the $10 Personal plan for all new accounts. Existing users will still be able to upgrade or downgrade to the Personal Plan at anytime. The new plans look like this on our revamped pricing page:

This is the first time we have made change to our pricing plans since 2007. Again, this change will not affect existing account owners.

Simply put, project templates are re-usable portions of a project (milestones, task lists, tasks, doc templates) that can be used in creating other similar types of projects. Something like a ‘project clone’. Ever had a process that you follow and wish you did not have to type it out everytime you made a new project? Templates will help you save time and get you more process-driven.

Here is a quick update on new fixes and feature updates for making project templates more powerful and better looking:

1. The Task List description is now saved into the new template.

2. Open Task lists and recurring tasks are being recognized when the template is created.

3. Milestone and tasks ordering is preserved in the new template.

4. Milestone and task dates are also now saved to the new template

5. Hence, if we save dates (as in point #4) we need to shift them according to the project start and end dates. Here is an example of how your dates will shift when a new template is created out of a Project ABC that starts on August 1st and has a task that starts on Aug 3rd and ends on Aug 10th.

After creating the template and loading the template into a new Project XYZ (starting on Oct. 1st) the dates of the Task A will be:

Start on Oct 3rd
Due on Oct 10th

6. Updated UI of the template listing page.

7. Some other small bugs and fixes.

To learn more about project templates click here.

We are listening. Do keep the feedback coming

BaseEscape is a tool that we developed in order to facilitate smooth transfer of your data from your Basecamp account to DeskAway. Below are the fixes and updates we carried out this week from the feedback we recieved from users.

1. Error checking to see if the imported xml file is valid.

2. Fixed a caching issue that would not allow users to upload the xml file if an error was found while parsing the file.

3. Basecamp retains data in their system (which is available in your exported xml file) for deleted users - time sheet entries, messages, milestones and/or task lists. BaseEscape is now importing this data and will disable the deleted user in your DeskAway account. This way you will know what milestone was assigned to Rita, who no longer can access the system.

4. Fix div tag displays after importing.

5. Better error messages to help you understand why your import didn’t work.

6. Fixing of milestone progress status which somtimes showed “(0% complete: 0/0 Task, 0/0 Issue)”.

7. Free plans cannot see the BaseEscape link. BaseEscape is only allowed for Personal, Professional, Plus or Power plans.

8. Some other small bugs and fixes.

To learn more about BaseEscape click here.

We sent our a sneak preview of our new logo and then launched it on August 1st. Here are some reactions (positive as well as negative) from people:

“Looks Great!”

“Wow, my lips are sealed!!!!”

“I love the new logo - seriously, nice work”

“improve your product, not your logo”

“This is really good! Congrats!”

“Very nice logo!”

“your current logo is much better than any of the new ones (I feel)”

“new logo looks awesome :-)”

“really like the new logo. looks fresh.”

If you have missed it, read the making of the logo here.

We have very excited to announce the integration of DeskAway into the Google Apps Marketplace™, Google’s online storefront for Google Apps™ products and services. DeskAway will join a diverse group of applications/tools and will now be available for direct signup by all Google Apps™ users and customers. Read the official Google announcement here.

We think that cloud computing and web-based applications are the future of enterprise software and integrating with Google Apps is an excellent move forward.

The Google Apps Marketplace makes it easy for more than 2 million Google Apps customers to discover, purchase and deploy integrated business applications and related professional services. By integrating with user account and application data stored in Google Apps, these cloud applications provide a simpler user experience, increase business efficiency, and reduce administrative overhead. To learn more, visit google.com/appsmarketplace.

Here is what we really love about the Marketplace:

1. Existing Google Apps users can easily setup and integrate 3rd party applications
2. As a vendor, it was easy for us to complete the integration as the resources and online help provider by Google was more than excellent.
3. We are current users and fans of Google Apps
4. We got to interact and work with the amazing team at Google - technical as well as marketing!

The DeskAway and Google App integration is really simple and takes not more than a few minutes. Once integrated, Google Apps users will seamlessly be able to access all their project communication without having to sign into DeskAway through a separate browser every time. Watch videos and learn more on our help page here.

Google is making it easier for small businesses to leverage the best of the web’s applications to power their business with the least amount of IT setup and overheads. We are very excited to be a part of this movement.