Freeprojectmanager.com adds new features
Freeprojectmanager.com released application upgrades last week, this includes RSS feeds for projects, Skype “Status” support for team presence, increased file upload size, contact importing from services like MSN, Hotmail, & Gmail. They also increased the user licenses for FREE account individuals and small businesses from 1 users to 2 because of feedback.
Freeprojectmanager has an intuitive user interface. Everything you need to work on in this online application is right at the top of every page. So there is no need to search for buttons to help you navigate through the site to set up your projects. They also have a fairly decent dashboard when you first log in. The design is dark, so they could stand to make the print and icons a little bolder in color and bigger for better viewing purposes.
The user profile is pretty nice. It allows you to add your Skype, ICQ and AOL ID. These options are very handy for freelancers considering majority of us use services such as Skype and AOL on a regular basis to communicate with our clients and partners.
There is a new RSS feature, which has excellent potential for freelancers. At the onset, it was not clear what the RSS was for and I also experienced a bit of trouble using and setting it up. I assume it is an RSS feed for your projects, but it is not clearly stated. Perhaps they are still working out the kinks in this new feature. In this area they could learn and benefit from how Basecamp displays and explains their RSS project feature for Basecamp account users.
In my opinion, the new import contacts feature is the most useful. Freeprojectmanager now allows you to import your contacts from Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail. They also give you the option to upload a CSV file. This is AWESOME to say the least. As freelancers we often have multiples email accounts and it’s nice to be able to simply import them into your freeprojectmanager account rather than having to add each individual contact in by hand. This new import contact feature will save freelancers a lot of time.
Freeprojectmanager has discontinued the old Java version of their desktop application and they’re currently working on a new version that is slated to release by the 3rd quarter of this year, which will bring a lot more robust features. They have also upgraded their servers to a fully virtualized environment with the ability to scale on the fly based on system usage. To learn more about freeprojectmanager, checkout the flash screenshot of the application.
