# 16 (Week 7) Take a look at some online productivity (word processing, spreadsheet) tools

One major benefit to web-based applications is that they eliminate the need to worry about different software versions or file types as you email documents or move from PC to PC. Another bonus is that they easily accommodate collaboration by allowing multiple users to edit the same file (with versioning) and provide users the ability to easily save and convert documents as multiple file types (including HTML and pdf). And, you can even use many of these tools, such as Zoho Writer and Google Docs to author and publish posts to your blog.

It’s this type of integration with other Web 2.0 tools that also makes web-based applications so appealing.

For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a look at a web-based word processing tool called Zoho Writer, create a simple document and then document your discoveries in your blog. If you are up to the challenge, you might even export your document as an HTML file or publish it through Zoho to your blog. With Zoho and web-based applications, the possibilities are endless.

Discovery Resources:

A short list of web-based productivity applications – Note: This list was authored in ZohoWriter and exported as HTML.

Discovery Exercise:

1. Create a free account for yourself in Zoho Writer (Note: if you cannot register for Zoho writer please use the same exercises for google docs).

2. Explore the site, create a test document or two and try some Zoho's features.

3. Create a blog post about your discoveries.

4. Use your gmail account to email northshorelibraries@gmail.com with a link to your blogpost. Please put Exercise #16 in the subject heading.

Optional: If you’re up for the challenge, try using Zoho’s publish options to post to your blog.

* Note: You can also explore Google Docs, Google's online word processing, as an option for this exercise.

FYI: On Oct 11th, 2006, Google re-launched Writely (which it acquired in Spring 2006) as Google Docs. BTW: Here’s a Zoho-created document (viewable as a webpage) about some of the beneficial features of Zoho.