Got Questions?
- What do I need in order to use TrailGuide?
- How do I enable the Basecamp API?
- Does TrailGuide give me access to all of my Basecamp data and capabilities?
- Basecamp is a web service. Cant I just use my mobile web browser to do the same thing?
- What happens to changes Ive made if Im not in a service area?
- If I have all my Basecamp project data on my phone, wont it fill up my device memory?
- How will this product impact my data plan?
- In Basecamp, I can have unlimited users access my projects. Does your licensing work the same way?
- It looks like your service uses a server. Is my Basecamp data safe?
- I have changed my Basecamp login to use OpenID. Can I use still use TrailGuide?
- Why do I have to create a PayPal account?
What do I need in order to use TrailGuide?
You need a Windows Mobile 5 or Windows Mobile 6 Phone. TrailGuide supports both Windows Mobile Standard (Smartphone) and Windows Mobile Professional (Pocket PC). Click here for a list of supported phones.
You need to have a Data Plan on your phone so that it can connect to the internet, access the TrailGuide server, post changes to and download updates from Basecamp.
You need a Basecamp account. TrailGuide works with all Basecamp account types, even free accounts. See for details on the different Basecamp plans.
You need Microsoft .NET Framework v.2 installed on your phone. Most Windows Mobile 5 phones do not have this latest version installed, so you will have to download it directly to the phone or install it using ActiveSync. Details on how to install the .NET Framework can be found on the .
You need about 2.5 MB free on the internal memory of your device. Although TrailGuide can be installed to external storage cards, the .NET Framework needs to be installed on internal memory and should NOT be installed on external media. Doing so can affect overall performance of your phone.
Basecamp API needs to be enabled.
How do I enable the Basecamp API?
The first step before launching TrailGuide is to verify that the Basecamp API is currently enabled for your account. This option allows 3rd party appliations to access your project data.
To verifiy if this is enabled, login into your Basecamp account, click on the "Account (Upgrade/Billing)" tab and scroll down until you find the section titled "Basecamp API". If it is disabled, click on the checkbox to turn this feature on.
Once Microsoft .NET Compact Framework and TrailGuide have been installed and the device has been restarted, you're ready to begin using TrailGuide to access your Basecamp projects.
Does TrailGuide give me access to all of my Basecamp data and capabilities?
Currently, TrailGuide supports Messages, To-Do Lists, Milestones and Files for multiple projects. You can view data as well as post new items and comments. It also shows login information and a Whats Fresh view that shows recent project activity.
Writeboards, Campfire Chat and Time Tracking are not supported. See the product tour section for more specific details. Additionally, only non-archived projects will be available to download to your phone.
Basecamp is a web service. Cant I just use my mobile web browser to do the same thing?
Basecamp is a great example of a web application done right. However, the state of mobile web browsers makes the experience much less useful on a phone than on the desktop.
The limited size of the screen and the overall slower data speeds can make for a frustrating experience. Even on fast networks, browsers just respond like they do on the desktop. Just take a look at the mobile version of the basecamp overview screen on a windows mobile smartphone.
Scrolling and selecting links is very difficult, especially on a Windows Mobile Standard smartphone which lacks a touchscreen.
TrailGuide is a Windows Mobile appplication, designed for the platform so it is familiar to use and get to important data - despite the limitations of the phone.
What happens to changes Ive made if Im not in a service area?
One of the great things about TrailGuide is that you can work with your Basecamp data even if you are in a poor coverage or on a plane where you have to switch the phone into flight mode.
Since the data is stored locally you can still read messages, make comment and update To-Do lists.
If you make changes and a connection cannot be made, the changes will be stored on your phone until you are able to connect. The next time you check your projects for updates, your pending changes will first be posted to Basecamp.
If I have all my Basecamp project data on my phone, wont it fill up my device memory?
You have control over how much data is downloaded to your phone. TrailGuide will show you when projects have been updated and you can decide to download the project data to your phone or not. In addition, you can easily delete old project data to free up space on the device if you need it, and then re-download just the project information you need.
Plus, TrailGuides optimized format minimizes the total overall amount of data stored on your device.
How will this product impact my data plan?
TrailGuide should have minimal impact on your data usage. You are in control of how often the aplication connects to the server. There is no automatic background process checking for updates throughout the day.
You will always be prompted before the application checks for updated projects, downloads new project data or downloads a file.
When adding new items, commenting on items and marking To-Do items complete, a connection is made automatically and a very small amount of data is sent.
When you are working with stored data on the phone there is no impact on your data plan, which is very different from a mobile browser experience where each page you look at requires a connection and data transfer.
And again, the optimized TrailGuide data format minimizes the total amount of data transfer even when downloading all the data from a given project.
In Basecamp, I can have unlimited users access my projects. Does your licensing work the same way?
No. TrailGuide licensing is based on the number of users with phones that will be accessing their Basecamp data using the TrailGuide service. See our pricing page for more details and pricing options.
It looks like your service uses a server. Is my Basecamp data safe?
TrailGuide does use a server to communicate between the mobile client application on your phone and your Basecamp data. The purpose of the server is to efficiently retrieve your Basecamp data based on your account information that you provide in the mobile client. The server then processes the data into an optimized format that makes for a better experience on the phone.
Throughout that process, all communication between the TrailGuide client and the TrailGuide server - and between our server and Basecamp - is done via SSL security (the same level of security that online banks use).
Finally, none of your data is permanently stored on our server. It simply acts as a go-between when TrailGuide posts new information to Basecamp that you have entered on the phone, or updates your phone with new changes others have made on the web.
I have changed my Basecamp login to use OpenID. Can I use still use TrailGuide?
Yes. However you need to use a special User ID and Password that Basecamp provides for applications like TrailGuide that use the Basecamp API for accessing data. If you have enabled OpenID login, go into the user info screen in Basecamp and click the link that says "use this username/ password" to show the information you need to enter in the TrailGuide Account Settings screen.
Then enter those settings in TrailGuide.
Why do I have to create a PayPal account?
TrailGuide is a subscription service with monthly billing to your credit card. The service uses the PayPal subscription billing services to safely store your sensitive credit card information and process the monthly payment. PayPal is an eBay company and a trusted name in Internet commerce,
When you purchase TrailGuide, you will be redirected to the PayPal secure billing site. If you already have a PayPal account, you can just log in to make the purchase. If you don't already have a PayPal account, you will be asked to save your credit card information to a new, secure PayPal account so that your card can be charged each month.
As an added bonus, you'll then be able to streamline your purchase and checkout process on the many sites that accept PayPal.
(change license level or cancel at any time)