The Online Office Nicole C. Engard Princeton Public Library Tech Talk May 6, 2008

Summary Introduction to 2.0 office options Using Wordpress to create your own blogWordpress Getting your blog found Setting up & posting to your own PBWikiPBWiki Intro to Google Docs, Presentations, Spreadsheets and CalendarGoogle Docs, Presentations, SpreadsheetsCalendar Other options for office tools Additional office tools that are worth playing with Nicole C. Engard – Princeton Public Library Tech Talk – May 6, 2008

Blogging & Wiki Options Remotely Hosted − Stored on someone else’s server − Managed by an off-site system admin − May have a cost associated with it − Easy to learn − Limited control Locally Hosted − Your own web server required (will cost money) − Technical skills required − More of a learning curve − Complete control Nicole C. Engard – Princeton Public Library Tech Talk – May 6, 2008

Blog Tools Many free and affordable tools to choose from Weblog Matrix: weblogmatrix.orgweblogmatrix.org Demo blog software: opensourcecms.com opensourcecms.com TIP: − Start with a freely hosted blog package to learn the ropes Nicole C. Engard – Princeton Public Library Tech Talk – May 6, 2008

Big names in blogging Remotely Hosted: Free − WordPress.com WordPress.com − Blogger.com Blogger.com Remotely Hosted: Fee Based − TypePad.com TypePad.com − LiveJournal.com LiveJournal.com Locally Hosted: Free − WordPress.org WordPress.org − Moveable Type Moveable Type Nicole C. Engard – Princeton Public Library Tech Talk – May 6, 2008

Live Demo Nicole C. Engard – Princeton Public Library Tech Talk – May 6, 2008

Getting Your Blog Found Technorati – Blog Search Engine Technorati Zuula – Meta Blog Search Engine Zuula Tools − FeedBurner – Keep stats on your RSS FeedBurner − Pingoat – Send your feed several searches Pingoat Nicole C. Engard – Princeton Public Library Tech Talk – May 6, 2008

Wiki Tools Many free and affordable tools to choose from Wiki Matrix: Demo wiki software: opensourcecms.comopensourcecms.com Start with a freely hosted wiki package to learn the ropes Nicole C. Engard – Princeton Public Library Tech Talk – May 6, 2008

Big names in Wikis Remotely Hosted: Free − pbWiki pbWiki − WetPaint WetPaint − Wikispaces Wikispaces Locally Hosted: Free − MediaWiki MediaWiki − PhpWiki PhpWiki − Twiki Twiki Nicole C. Engard – Princeton Public Library Tech Talk – May 6, 2008

Live Demo Nicole C. Engard – Princeton Public Library Tech Talk – May 6, 2008

Intro to Online Office Tools Work similar to Microsoft or Open Office Tools Hosted online (accessible from any computer) Privacy and Sharing options Allow for collaboration in one place Now available offline!! Nicole C. Engard – Princeton Public Library Tech Talk – May 6, 2008

Why?? Why use these tools? − Because it keeps information in one place. − Communication is scattered during projects − More people are telecommuting − Easy way to work with colleagues in other offices − They’re easy to use (and mostly free) Nicole C. Engard – Princeton Public Library Tech Talk – May 6, 2008

Communication Without Shared Tools Nicole C. Engard – Princeton Public Library Tech Talk – May 6, 2008

Communication Without Shared Tools Nicole C. Engard – Princeton Public Library Tech Talk – May 6, 2008

Communication Without Shared Tools Nicole C. Engard – Princeton Public Library Tech Talk – May 6, 2008

Communication Without Shared Tools Nicole C. Engard – Princeton Public Library Tech Talk – May 6, 2008

Communication Without Shared Tools Nicole C. Engard – Princeton Public Library Tech Talk – May 6, 2008

And now,everyone knows little bits and pieces and no one knows everything. Communication Without Shared Tools Nicole C. Engard – Princeton Public Library Tech Talk – May 6, 2008

Keeping Everyone in the Loop Shared tools allow you and your colleagues to work more productively and efficiently, never excluding someone who needs to be in the loop. Nicole C. Engard – Princeton Public Library Tech Talk – May 6, 2008

Live Demo Nicole C. Engard – Princeton Public Library Tech Talk – May 6, 2008

Additional Office Tools Sometimes we still need the traditional tools − Drop.io is a free tool that will give you a phone number, fax storage and conference number Nicole C. Engard – Princeton Public Library Tech Talk – May 6, 2008

Big names in Office Tools Google Docs, Presentations, Spreadsheets & Calendar Google Docs, Presentations, Spreadsheets Calendar Zoho Office ThinkFree Online Comparisons − Computerworld (January 2007) Computerworld − Read/Write Web (August 2007) Read/Write Web − Wikipedia Wikipedia Nicole C. Engard – Princeton Public Library Tech Talk – May 6, 2008

My Suggestions for Office 2.0 Options TypePad ( − Not free, but a viable blogging option if you’re interesting in something hosted, but not as limited as WordPress and Blogger Twiki ( − A bit easier than MediaWiki to use if you want to host your own wiki Zoho ( − Offers the same functions as Google Docs, with a bunch of added tools that may be of interest to you and your staff Nicole C. Engard – Princeton Public Library Tech Talk – May 6, 2008

What else can I play with? Nicole C. Engard – Princeton Public Library Tech Talk – May 6, 2008

Other Possible Tools Flickr ( − Share your photos online – can be made private so only family and friends see – or public for the world Facebook ( − Organizations can now have their own profile on Facebook – allowing you to reach your customers on a new level – but also giving staff members a sense of community and fun LinkedIn ( − Professional networking tool that allows you to find connections and recommend colleagues for their work Nicole C. Engard – Princeton Public Library Tech Talk – May 6, 2008

Thank You Nicole C. Engard Open Source Evangelist LibLime –