Version 1.3s – 16 August 2022
Basecamp is the tool the NCETM and Maths Hubs use to manage online communication and collaboration within the Maths Hubs Programme. As of August 2020, Basecamp replaces the use of NCETM Communities on the old NCETM website.
This document is intended for hub leadership teams and is supplementary to the ‘Key Information and Getting Started Guides’ document written for Work Group Leads and Participants. It’ll be helpful if you are read that too before you start to set up new ‘Projects’ in Basecamp. In addition, the ‘Basecamp Guidance’ document covers relevant considerations on the use of Basecamp, including GDPR.
Creating Projects in Basecamp
As a hub, you will need to create Projects within Basecamp for each of the Work Groups your Work Group Leads are running. When creating new Projects, this is the process you should use:
Click on the ‘Make a new project’ button in the top section of Basecamp.
Choose a name for the Project (see below for naming guidance)
Add a description
Select ‘Use a project template’
Choose ‘Work Group’ from the options list
Click ‘Create this project’
Basecamp Projects naming convention
When naming a Project within Basecamp, you should always include the academic year, the name or code of your hub and the name of Project or Team. This can include the name of the NCP that the Work Group is part of, the Work Group code, and the NCP code.
For example:
2022/23 - Turing NW - Secondary Mastery Specialists Programme (Cohort 4) - WRK123456789 NCP 20-03
Though this makes the name long, it will make administrating and supporting the Projects behind-the-scenes more straight forward as it will be much easier to search for them in long lists.
Adding Work Group Leads and Participants to Basecamp Projects in a GDPR safe way
Once you have created a Project for a Work Group, you will need to add the Work Group Lead to it. It has come to our attention that there is a potential GDPR risk here, depending how people are added to a Basecamp Project or Team. It is up to you whether you add the Work Group Participants to the Project as well or if you have your Work Group Lead add their participants. Either way, when inviting people into a Basecamp Project or Team, to avoid any GDPR risks, follow these steps:
Click on the ‘Setup people’ button
Click the ‘* * *’ menu button in the upper-right corner
Select ‘Share an opt-in link’
Click on the ‘Copy to clipboard’ button
Share the link with the people you want to invite (including a copy of the ‘Basecamp: Key Information and Getting Started Guides’ document
Don’t use ‘Client Access’ facility
One of the features of the Basecamp is the ability to add people with one of two different access types. People can be added as full users, or given just ‘Client access’.
However, this ‘Client access’ feature is designed for when single companies are using Basecamp and making some sections available to their clients. With how the NCETM and Maths Hubs are using Basecamp, adding people as clients is not recommended.
This can lead to account issues when people are invited to more than one Basecamp project. Once a person is added as a client user to a project, they cannot be a full user in any other project.
Exporting Basecamp Projects after Work Group completion
In most instances, a Basecamp Project setup for a Work Group we expect to have a one-year lifespan. In order to prevent Basecamp becoming overwhelmed with historic Projects, all Projects from the previous academic year will eventually be deleted.
We will give plenty of notice before we do this and, in addition, during that notice period it will be possible to request an export of all the content (including conversations and documents) as a Zip file. This can be posted in the Project for members to download prior to the Projects removal. You will be notified in the bulletin as to the deletion dates for 2021/22 later this year and a reminder will also be placed to prompt you to request any exports.