Friday, November 20, 2009

Exhaustive list of web-based (group) applications




Web-Based Collaboration


or "keeping each other on the same page"



Introduction




Here is a list, mostly of web-based services.  Generally these are
replacing the old desktop-based software (though towards the end are a
few notable exceptions). Web-based applications have the
advantage of enabling collaboration.  Also most of these are free, at
least to begin with.  Through collaboration we can each improve our
skills and share experience. 



This list is used within tickerTXT.org as our reference list for web and group applications, but hey, why not sharing our experience :-).








A-Z List





What is meant by collaboration?

Collaboration can be a horrible word.  It can bring thoughtsof foreboding.  All it is really about is working better together.

Collaboration is of course about people working together.  There are several ways of working together.  One model is "I create something, followed by I ask others for comments which I then incorporate, and then possibly ask for further comments."  This maintains a lot of intellectual property in the originator.



Across the web new forms of collaboration abound, mostly with the general advantage of speed of development of new thinking, and the inherent ability to get participants on the "same page".  Mostly this document focuses on websites that provide collaboration features.

Platforms

Largely, again, this document focuses on websites that provide collaboration functionality.  However we are not always using our main computer for all of our activity. 

Increasingly we are using mobile phones as they become "smart".  Blackberry have been in the forefront of this for some years, a recent upstart is the iPhone and Nokia is working hard not to be outdone.  So any discussion about collaboration also must consider integration of such technology.

Besides this many of us use more than one computer.  Perhaps one at the office, one on the road of even one at home.  So collaboration can also mean keeping active across different computers.  Websites excel in these aspects.



The small print you need to watch out for



Accessibility: Web apps have the advantage of being accessible, no need to install anything, therefore no technical administration. 



Money: Free is great and obviously no need to go through investment decisions.  A generic team fee is also ok if not too pricey, for example less than 5$ per month.  It is likely that someone within the team just sponsors the money out of his or her pocket.  Generally bad is fee "per user", because new members of the team need to be paid for, subscriptions need to be adapted, which is not only getting expensive when using several services, but also a "per user cost" is simply a pain in the administrational behind :-)






Data conversion, export and backup: Good web services offer a backup whenever the customer wants at no additional cost.  Even greater: an automatic backup service via email or integration in Google Apps / Google Docs or something like Dropbox.  If "export" is a premium feature with a significant markup, the web app is not open anymore, but looks very much like an dinosaur-age lock-in policy which, ahm well you know...




Comments Please! 


For each entry in this document there are several fields.  Please edit these to add your own comments to help others as you try them out.  The fields include advantages & disadvantages as well as experience and other comments.

The "experience" field is meant to act as an indicator as to who else uses this tool so if you want to help get going, or improve then you have an idea who in the team can help you improve your skills, and/or share the experience.

The Tools, Websites etc

This is the main section of the document, and what follows are broken down into categories.  Categories for some tools are obvious, however others cross over into two or more categories.  In such instances we try to put the tool in a main category and provide a "See Also" reference in other related categories.

Blogging

By which we mean the ability to create a website that one typically contributes to on a daily basis in a diary styled way.  Several people can contribute to the same blog.  Blogs can be private as well as public.

There are a LOT of websites that provide blogging facilities, too numerous to name.

Blogger: http://www.blogger.com/, Comments: Owned by google
Wordpress: http://www.wordpress.com/

Calendaring

By which we mean the ability to create events, and share them across colleagues, friends and family.

Google Calendar: https://www.google.com/calendar/ is arguably the most intuitive, powerful and flexible calendaring solution. Advantages: free & easy. Experience: Andy. Comments: Easily integrated into your mobile phone for total synchrony and automatic backup.

Diagrams / Charts


By which we mean tools that can help you draw structured diagrams
usually to indicate process flows, for example first I do this, and
then I do that and then I do one or the other.  In a basic sense this means identifying VERBS, OBJECTS and SUBJECTS and linking these across sentences.



Creately: http://www.creately.com/ Advantages: Fre e for upto 3 collaborators, very powerful Disadvantages: Experience: Andy says this crashed Firefox on first use

MyLovelyCharts: my.lovelycharts.com

Gliffy: http://www.gliffy.com/ Advantages: Free to begin with Disadvantages: Experience: Andy & Moritz, Other Comments:

Diagramic: diagramic.com

Instaviz: instaviz.com Disadvantages: iPhone only
WebSequenceDiagrams: websequencediagrams.com, Draws out UML driagrams from your instructions.
Diagrammr: diagrammr.com








Discussion Groups

By which we often mean email-based discussion forums.  Probably the "oldest" form of online collaboration.  Newer forms often exclude email integration and so the only way to collaborate is via the website.

Google Groups: http://groups.google.com/ has now been around for some time and sadly not as developed as it could be.
Yahoo Groups: http://groups.yahoo.com/ is arguably the largest discussion group forum in the world.

See Also: There are a very wide range of group technologies.  Some of these are direct competitors, some piggy-back on discussion groups.  http://www.BigTent.com/ is a newcomer trying to grab some groups from Yahoo by adding social networking functionality. Also here one might talk of Ning.  Also there is Grouply which does what Bigtent does, but groups  can stay with Yahoo.

Drawing tools


By which we mean tools that can generally help you draw new pictures.  Collaboration here enables several people to contribute to the same picture.



Reviews: By allgraphicdesign



Blockposters: http://www.blockposters.com/,

Queeky: http://www.queeky.com/, Queeky is an online drawing community with unique drawing tools. Advantages: Phenomenal freehand drawing ability, free, works on any computer,

SumoPaint: http://www.sumo.fi/ Release your inner artist!,

Flauntr: flauntr.com,

Scriblink: scriblink.com



Instant Messaging

There are quite a number of instant messaging solutions.  There are also websites and tools that aggregate these into a one-stop solution. 

AIM

Google Wave: https://wave.google.com/, Advantages: New, instant shared thinking, Disadvantages: Beta, different, everyone needs an invite, learning curve, Experience: Andy & Moritz, Other Comments:

Fring

MSN

Logos buttons fonts



There are tons of text to graphic converters, but most are cheap no frills, run away.  So here we only list worthy ones...



Mindmapping

By which we mean graphical ways of
brainstorming.  If you are thinking of a new project then these tools
should be uppermost in your mind.



Qompute articles about mindmapping  


Bubbl: http://blubbl.us (no E), Advantages: totally free, good collaboration, very simple & basic.  A good place to start if you have not used mind mapping tools. Disadvantages: Limited functionality, not being developed, Experience: used by Andy, Comments: One diagram can have several roots.
Mindomo: mindomo.com, Advantages:  Disadvantages: Collaboration is not chargeable





mind42.com

See Also:

FreeMind: Freemind Runs locally on your computer via Java, Advantages: Totally free, runs on all computers, Disadvantages: Does not run on the web, a bit quirky.  No development. Experience: Andy & Moritz have used it a lot. Other comments: Works over DropBox.


Maps Mapping map mashups MapCharts


Meeting Whiteboards


By which we mean tools that can help you share ideas on screen, no matter of location.



Dabbleboard: http://www.dabbleboard.com/,

Twiddla: http://www.twiddla.com/,

Photo editing

By which we mean tools that can help you touch up photographs, for example rotation, removing red-eye etc.





Reviews: Article on the ReadWriteWeb

Aviary:aviary.com (asp.net solution...)


Brinkpad: brinkpad.com
Pixlr: .pixlr.com the largest advanced photo editing tool

Sketchcast: sketchcast.com, Record a sketch with or without voice

Splashup: http://www.splashup.com/

See Also: On a Windows computer Microsoft PhotoEditor is free with Office and has basic functionality.

Office Tools


By which we mean tools that can help you create traditional documents such as Powerpoint, Word and Excel.



DropBox: https://www.dropbox.com/, Advantages: Mostly free, works on any computer, being developed regularly, works with a wide range of documents, Disadvantages: Not as interactive as GoogleDocs, , Experience: Other Comments: Inline editive of spreadsheet is quite amazing!

GoogleDocs: https://docs.google.com, Advantages: Mostly free, works on any computer, being developed regularly, Disadvantages: Can be a bit quirky, not as much functionality as Microsoft Office or OpenOffice, Experience: widespread across the team, Other Comments: There is a separate document looking specifically at GoogleDocs.

See Also: OpenOffice (totally free) and StarOffice. These offer considerably powerful desktop functionality.



Organisational Charts

By which we mean diagrams that typically explain who relates to who in an organisation.



Cogmap: cogmap.com

Easyorgchart: easyorgchart.com



See Also: GoogleDocs spreadsheet function has an organisational chart plugin.


Presentation

By which we mean the ability to create and possibly present a presentation on the web.



empressr.com (.asp)


sliderocket.com

Social Networking

By which we mean websites that help you share part of yourself with your friends, family and colleagues.

Facebook
MySpace

See Also
Grouply, a social networking front-end to Yahoo groups.

Spreadsheets & Charts



diychart.com (.asp)


chartgo.com

See Also: GoogleDocs spreadsheet function.


Scrapbooks

By which we mean ways of collecting photos and images together in a book form.

Blurb: http://www.blurb.com/ is a website from which you can create & print professional books of your images. Experience: Andy
Scrapblog: scrapblog.com  (techcrunch article)


Software Development tools UML & co

If you are into software development then these are definitely worth exploring.











pidoco.com from 10$ per month (per user?) onwards  (Berlin-based Startup :-) )


productplanner.com


Screen Sharing


Yuuguu: http://www.yuuguu.com/ is a plugin to Skype, and is also a standalone service. Advantages: Free, easy to use Other Comments: The UK-based service is also offering telephone conference numbers



Telephony, Conferencing & Video

GoogleTalk:
RebTel: http://www.rebtel.com/, enables VOIP over normal telephones, Advantages: Great for international calls which can be totally free. Other comments: although conceived to be available "off" the web, the login and contact administration is only available over the web.   It would be great to have a address sync possibility. Once created on your rebtel.com, the contact numbers can be added "manually" to your personal address books on the phone or the computer.

Skype: http://www.skype.com/, Advantages: Very wide adoption, up to 5 can conference for free, Disadvantages: strangledby the ex-ownership by Ebay, Experience: widespread, Other Comments:

See Also: Fring

Web development / wireframes / prototyping




protoshare.com  expensive from 19$ per month per user onwards



pidoco.com see above 





Further Reading





Interesting resources













Honourable old school



Didn't we say no software?  Well some of the old school software apps seems worth mentioning anyway...






Linux Ubuntu







Mac





Posted by Moritz Schroeder at 6:10 AM

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