Introducing our new Copper Community. THE place to add your requests, suggestions, issues, and praise for the web’s best project management software. Help make it better! Spread the word.

http://community.copperproject.com

– Ben Prendergast

First released in 2002 by Australian-based Element Software, Copper is a web-based project management software tool used by creative teams across the globe to manage their clients, tasks, projects, contacts and files.

With a loyal client base, Copper is utilized by leading organizations such as Sony Pictures, Apple, Mercedes Benz USA, Novell and Redken – to name a few.

As the business moves in to an exciting new phase of growth, the opportunity has arisen for an experienced and talented Web 2.0 Software Developer to join this independent company on a contract basis.

Working from the comfort of your own home or studio, this role will see you, the successful candidate, taking technical briefs from clientele in order to diligently and effectively develop & self-test intuitive solutions.

As the successful candidate you must possess:

• High level proficiency with PHP, MySQL, AJAX and CSS
• Experience with Actionscript / Flash / Rails a bonus
• A strong focus on usability and user interface
• An active interest in web 2.0 products, web sites & technologies
• A sense of urgency about your work
• A very strong focus on providing long-term solutions
• A pro-active and disciplined approach to your work

This is your opportunity to work with a leading Australian Web 2.0 product with offices in Melbourne & San Francisco – without leaving your home!

Daily/hourly rate commensurate with technical expertise & experience.

To apply, please forward your current resume and covering letter for consideration to info@copperproject.com.

– Ben Prendergast

Just a quick note to let everyone know that from July we have our new version 4.0 available in Corporate-level, priced at $99/mth or $999 server install. We’ve also updated our Enterprise accounts to include UNLIMITED users, so if you’re looking for an unlimited user plan we have one available via http://www.copperproject.com/buy/

Also, we often get emails asking us how Copper compares to tools like Basecamp, Active Collab, Remember the milk, Things, MS Project and even, ehem, Excel! Honestly, I believe every tool has its place, and we know that a number of customers use these tools alongside Copper (Basecamp and MS Project for instance). I personally used Things for a little bit (before we built our own internal iPhone conduit to Copper – Stay tuned for that!) and obviously I keep an eye on what the others are doing (without letting it affect our singular mission, i.e. providing you with great project management software). But let me be clear on where Copper stands…

The push for oversimplified software comes at a cost. For instance running multiple different software products can be more confusing than the simple solution they represent, and quite often you install these tools and despite the hype they _just_ don’t get you to where you need to be. Sometimes that one little feature that you wish you had just isn’t in that product, and so after one or two weeks you find you (or worse, your team) navigates away from the product. Open source represents the opposite problem, too many features, no singular vision, and an interface that only a mother (i.e. Linus Torvald) could love.

Project Management ISN’T task management. It’s broader than that. It’s tasks, people, time, effort. Manage those things and you manage a project. Create a bunch of to-dos and you’re pushing paper.

For these reasons we stay focussed on offering a single web-based solution, that is elegantly simple, yet feature-rich enough for you to stay focussed on the project, and therefore profitable. Yes, we charge for it, no we’re not in the business of offering free software, but you can rest assured knowing there is continued development, support, and passion, for a fantastic product.

With the release of Corporate v4.0 we’re finally getting a worldbeating product into the hands of those with smaller budgets, and we thank you all so much for your continued support.

Drop me a line at ben@elementsoftware.com if you have any questions. Take care. Ben.

– Ben Prendergast

Hello All!

We are immensely proud to announce that today we are launching the v4.0 beta of Copper Project, which is available for all to see, test, break(!), and enjoy.

We’re in the process of preparing the new website, introductory email, listing of new features, new tour and screenshots, and yes, we’re already planning 4.1, which will contain features that we just couldn’t add this time around.

For now though, I’d like to introduce you all to the next generation of project management.

http://c4.tfgdev.com.au
user: admin
password: admin

While there are still some changes to come over the coming weeks, this will be available for sale in Enterprise edition format only ($2999 or $199/mth hosted) by the end of the week.

Please submit any bugs, issues, along with bullet point list of how to replicate and screenshot (if possible) to info@copperproject.com.

If you would like to purchase an Enterprise license and gain access to this beta, visit http://www.copperproject.com/buy/ and purchase the $2999 Enterprise license.

On behalf of Travis and Myself and the rest of the Element Software crew, we thank you all so much for your patience, as I’m sure you’ll see, it has been worth it!

With the utmost respect and thanks to those that helped,
Ben Prendergast
CEO
Element Software

– Ben Prendergast

Thats right folks, on the rarest of occasions we go hat-in-hand to you the good folk of Copper-land, with the promise of super efficient organization, wrapped in the endearing love of a good software developer. I’m talking about a good old fashioned discount, namely on all of our licenses.

So if you’ve been wondering what kind of joy you could bring to yourself, your business, or your business denizens (staff), look no further than a Copper license and be the envy of all. You’ll not just be installing a world leading project management sofware, you’ll be installing goodwill, cheer, and higher profits in this our winter of economic earnest.

How do you get access to this discount I hear you ask? Easy.

When purchasing a license via http://www.copperproject.com/buy simply enter the coupon code ‘silverly‘ and enjoy 20% off that license, until November 30th 2008. This offer will not be available on the 1st December, nor is it available on subscriptions, otherwise our accountant will have us out on our ear!

Love,
The Element Software discount fairies.

– Ben Prendergast

As we move into the final stages of development, we’re truly excited by the direction version 4 has taken. To date we’ve spent countless hours working over and over (and over!) the specification, starting with some core objectives for the release, working toward mini objectives for each module, then setting a three-page specification in stone, before even taking on a single screen!

As you can see from the screens below, there is still a level of sophistication, however we’re attempting to make Copper as simple as ever for customers. These shots probably don’t do the product justice, we’ll unvieling a usable demo to Enterprise Inner Circle customers soon.

Given the significant expenditure, we’ll be releasing this product as an Enterprise version in December, and depending on traction we’re hoping to roll it out to all customers in 2nd Qtr 2009. Of course if you’d like early access to the product the best option is to purchase or upgrade to an Enterprise license via http://www.copperproject.com/buy/

Shown here is the current iteration of the Springboard, the Files, and Contacts. Not shown here is 90% of the awesomeness just over the coding horizon. Much love from us to all those who continue to support a great product. What else would you like to see?

– Ben Prendergast

Well, I’m back in wintry Melbourne, after sunning myself in San Francisco, New York, and yes surprisingly even London.

Lots of fantastic progress on where the company and product-set is headed over the next six months, some fantastic meetings with partners/customers, and some real directional consolidation which makes me smile.

In amongst the business side I also met John Lennon’s one-time girlfriend, Travis and I had a private (accidental) David Byrne concert, and John McCain drove past and waved (I’m not sure that’s enough to sway Travis’ vote though). On that note, if anyone is working for the Barack Obama campaign get in touch for a complementary account.

This week we’re continuing with:

1. Version 4.0 development
2. We’ve launched a new support system
3. We’ll be launching a 3.6 update to Corporate/Enterprise accounts
4. We’ll also be launching a new Features section which will combine the Tour and Guide sections to make learning/using Copper even easier (get us some feedback on that please!) and
5. We’ll continue the push for getting a 100% quota on the Inner Circle offer (currently at 40%).

I’ll post back in a week or two with new screens to pour over, but for now if you have any interest in where we’re headed keep an eye on this blog, our twitter account at http://twitter.com/copperproject, or just get in touch at info@copperproject.com

– Ben Prendergast

Just a quick post, we’re continuing on development of 3.8 and 4.0 respectively, so there will be a minor update to current Corporate/Enterprise in the next month. Version 4.0 is now funded 25%, and we continue to seek Inner Circle participants

We’re also about to release a new Tour page, this will include a lot of existing information from the Guide, as well as frequently asked functionality questions. This is all neatly sectioned and contained so it should be easier than ever to find answers to questions you have about Copper (and why its better than XYZ product!). We plan to add video how-to’s to this section over time.

However, we’re also on Tour during June! So if you’re in San Francisco, New York, or London, Travis and I will be visiting these cities between 6th-17th June, and if you’d like to meet up for lunch/dinner/drinks/coffee just get in touch! We think this is a great opportunity to put names to faces and just get amongst you guys while we’re in development mode.

Email me at ben@copperproject.com or Travis at travis@copperproject.com for more details.

– Ben Prendergast

Ok, last time I talked about our overarching requirements for the next version of Copper, here they are recapped:

1. We’re going to reduce pages/clicks by 40%
2. It needs to be something that I personally will use every single day
3. We’re going to add 100% of the features in our specification document

Simple, right? However where do you start? From the end, of course. We usually have a running document which outlines all of the features that customers want. It’s usually 20 pages in length, and the idea is that we work on adding the most popular features, within the context of our philosophy of building beautifully simple efficiency systems for creative teams.

The problem with this kind of specification process is that Customer A is often unaware that what they think is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL to their business is actually at odds with what Customer B is saying is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL to theirs. If I had a dollar for every time someone said we’d be ‘barking mad’ not to add feature ‘xyz’, I’d have around $12,803. Not much, but still a hefty amount of accused insanity.

So, internally I like to think about ‘Feature Fractals’. A feature fractal is this: Customer A/B/C all talk about a required function using different terminology, and in some cases even different requirements. While most developers would set about adding 10-15 new features, we like to use our experience and distill these requirements into a single feature that will suit the 80% majority.

In our v4.0 spec, we have around 10 phases of development, and roughly 168 new features planned, most of these based on this feature fractal thinking, based on 20 pages, six years of emails, survey responses, conversations, meetings, and gut instinct. There’s a lot in here, yet check out Requirement 1 above!

So far we have around 20% of this next build funded, so if you think your organization might be interested in coming on board to sponsor this latest development, we still have plenty of spots left and they represent amazing value, click here for more information.

For now though here are three untitled screens.

We’re probably 3 weeks on from when these are taken, but you can see that even before we start coding there is some serious consideration around the product. Next week I might provide a little more of a look at the early screens and/or spec, but the in-depth stuff I’ll be keeping for the inner circle.

Feel free to comment, cheer us on, or just tell us we’re mad not to add feature ‘xyz’ ($12,803 isn’t enough to retire on).

– Ben Prendergast

I always get really excited when we kick off development of a new version. It begins after years of customer feedback, and even though we regularly add minor features, a major development like v4.0 means we get to add all of the goodies that we (and our customers) have always wanted.

Of course this is easier said than done!

I need to ensure that the new product doesn’t disadvantage anyone, it needs to be more efficient than its predecessor, yet we want to continue leading the pack with great new features. So for me the process is like a 6-month game of chess. Every small move has repercussions, there are risks, happy accidents, and opportunities.

I’m also a songwriter, and this process is so similar, starting with a theme/idea/rationale, or even a set of principles, and driving your obsession to create a new form. So, this time around I thought I’d share the process with you all. while I won’t be divulging too much I hope you find the journey as fascinating as I know I will. Let’s begin!

The process for me has become refined over the years. It used to be that we’d add one big feature (e.g. Our flash-based dynamic gantt chart, a web-based PM first), and I’d plant myself in a local cafe (e.g. My current fav, A Minor Place, on Albion St, Brunswick, if you’re ever in town!) with a 20-page wish-list document from customers, seven latte’s, and choose five features that would make the most impact for our customers within our limited budget.

Five years on the process is a little more refined (as is Copper these days), however, despite the available technology it still starts with a table full of printouts, three principles and a spec document.

The three very simple principles for Version 4.0 are:

1. We’re going to reduce pages/clicks by 40%
2. It needs to be something that I personally will use every single day
3. We’re going to add 100% of the features in our specification document

These might seem like relatively simple goals, but they’re anything but! Reducing pages/clicks by 40% (point 1) whilst adding over 165 features (point 3)?! Thanks to the Inner Circle program (which is filling fast, click here if you want to secure a spot) all three principles are certainly achievable. We’re about a month on since those above shots were taken.

Next week, I’ll post back with a sneak-peek at the spec doc, maybe a screen or two, and talk about how the mock layouts work hand in hand with the spec doc to arrive a development-ready brief. As always thanks for your continued support!

– Ben Prendergast