We’ve recently released a major update to SharedPlan Pro. Pro is our project planning and management software for Mac OS X and Windows.

Pro 6 has a wide range of improvements with the most visible being the Calendar view and the improved user interface. The Calendar view provides you with a view into each month of your project and the tasks that are scheduled for any given day. The improved user interface provides you with quicker access to the tools that are most frequently used.

The Calendar view rounds out the views available to you by complementing the Visual Plan editor (a dependency focused project editor), the Gantt Chart editor (an editor focused on the project time line), and the Resource Chart (provides a view into the assignments for each project resource).

Beyond the Calendar view and the improved user interface, we have made a number of internal improvements that increase the robustness of Pro from top to bottom.

Pro 6 is available for purchase immediately.

As always, we provide discounts on upgrades to existing Pro customers.

Reusable Resources
Resources are a key component of every project – whether those resources are people, equipment, or material. And, most of us draw resources from a pool for each project. Our customers have told us that when they plan a project they would like to have a common resource pool and select the ones required for the new project.

Well, we’ve added reusable resources to SharedPlan Central and of course integrated them with the project editors in Pro and the Central so they are easy to apply to your projects.

We’ve also taken it a step further so that you can create reusable resource packages which allow you to pool resources into convenient groups.

Basecamp® Import
Basecamp is a popular tool that many people use for day to day management of projects. In some ways, Basecamp is a competitor to SharedPlan but, we believe SharedPlan’s strength in project planning combined with Basecamp give our customers a stronger set of tools with which to plan and successfully complete their projects.

We’ve added support for importing projects from Basecamp and into SharedPlan Central. It’s quick and easy, just login to Central, click on Tools and Help and then click on Import Basecamp Project and follow the instructions.

We don’t plan to stop with just import and are working on support for exporting projects to Basecamp.

More Email Collaboration
We’ve expanded the email collaboration options in Pro and Central. In Pro there is a new option under the Collaborate menu that will allow you to send email to all project resources. In the Central project editor when you open the Resources panel you’ll see an Email All button that will do just what you think. (Thanks to Scott for the suggestion!)

Also, the next time you are in Central you’ll notice that in several places where there are email addresses you will be able to click on the address and send email.

More Is In The Works

As you may know, our future product features are largely driven by feedback from customers so if there is something you need please let us know.

You’ll be hearing from us again in the next month or so with another list of improvements. So, stay tuned…

We formally announced cPro today. The news release follows.

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Project Teams Benefit From Unlimited Flexibility With SharedPlan Central and cPro – cPro Provides Offline Access to Online Project Management Tools

No more forced choices between Mac OS X or Windows or the web for project management support! Use SharedPlan Central when connected and SharedPlan cPro when not.

Boulder, CO November 18, 2008 — SharedPlan Software Inc. today announced the immediate availability of SharedPlan cPro project management software for Mac OS X and Windows. cPro enables offline access to SharedPlan Central (the SharedPlan online project planning and management service). SharedPlan Central provides a robust and easy to use online project planning and management tool suite for creating, editing, reporting, issue tracking, and controlling access to projects. With the introduction of cPro, project managers and their teams can continue planning and managing projects even when they are not connected to the Internet.

SharedPlan understands the unique value of the Internet and web tools but also understands that there are some times when being connected to the net is not possible. An inability to connect need not mean an inability to plan and manage projects. Other project management tools force a choice between Mac OS X or Windows or Web tools thereby limiting customer flexibility. SharedPlan tools are available where and when they are needed whether it’s Mac OS X, Windows, online, offline or any combination. With the introduction of cPro, SharedPlan Central users enjoy a unique degree of flexibility in how and where they plan and manage their projects.

cPro is freely available to all SharedPlan Central users and allows them to edit a project while offline and then later connect to Central and store the new version of the project plan.

cPro is available for immediate download at: http://www.sharedplan.com/cpro.html

SharedPlan Central is always available at: https://www.sharedplan.net

SharedPlan Software Background
SharedPlan Software Inc. creates, markets, and supports project management software tools based on the fundamental belief that iterative planning and pervasive communication are the key enablers of project success. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in beautiful Boulder, Colorado. For more information about SharedPlan Software and its project management tools for Mac OS X, Windows and the Web visit http://www.sharedplan.com.

Boulder, CO October 30, 2008 – SharedPlan Software Inc., today announced the immediate availability of version 5.0 of SharedPlan Pro project management software for Mac OS X, Windows, and online with a number of new capabilities for improved team collaboration and simplified planning of large projects.

SharedPlan Professional 5.0 delivers the following new enhancements:

* Improved cost management – Costs are now managed throughout the entire project with fixed costs and resource costs being rolled up for accurate task costs and project costs.
* Improved resource management – We have completely reworked the resource editor and it is now much easier to manage resources and task assignments
* Improved email security – Task assignment email sent to resources may now be protected with industry standard SSL encryption
* Deadline scheduling – Denote tasks as deadlines and track them using visual indicators and new reports
* Improved task information editor – We completely reworked the task information editor for clearer data visualization and easier navigation
* New resource chart – When you start Pro 5 you’ll see a new tab in the main window along with the Gantt chart and Visual Plan editor. It’s a great way to quickly see who’s doing what at any time in the project
* Quickly email assigned resources – Right click on any task and compose a quick email message to the people involved in the task
* 40 times faster in large projects – Pro is now 40 times faster in calculating updates to project dates, cost, and critical path
* Proxy connections to Central – our enterprise customers can now connect to our online project server ( https://www.sharedplan.net ) through their SOCKS proxy.

Existing project management applications require you to choose between a tool for Mac OS X or Windows or the Web. SharedPlan tools are available where and when you need them whether it’s Mac OS X, Windows, online or any combination.

The new capabilities in Pro 5 extend the SharedPlan’s leadership position as the premier project management toolset Mac OS X, Windows, and the web. Priced at $199.95, Pro 5 is one piece of the SharedPlan product suite that works together to enhance project team communication and maximize project success. Pro 5.0 is immediately available at http://www.sharedplan.com/getsharedplan.html.

SharedPlan Software Background

SharedPlan Software Inc. creates, markets, and supports project management software tools based on the fundamental belief that iterative planning and pervasive communication are the key enablers of project success. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in beautiful Boulder, Colorado. For more information about SharedPlan Software and its project management tools for Mac OS X, Windows and the Web visit www.sharedplan.com.