It has been awhile since I have run my Cool Tools column. But today I read that JotSpot just released an upgrade to its service that includes collaborative calendars, spreadsheets, file repositories, and photo galleries. It also allows the user to fully control the look and feel of the site.
Way back when (October 2005), before I started Communication Overtones, I signed up for a free wiki at JotSpot. I thought it would be a good way to sare files with my clients, in lieu of an FTP (with which some of my clients were having problems).
It seems that JotSpot JotSpot offers various solutions, including an option to host your wiki on your own server. The costs run from free to several hundred dollars a month, depending on your needs. I am looking forward to trying out the new features and getting back into wikis in general.
Though not built on the JotSpot plantform, participating in the New PR Wiki, which contains a wealth of information for PR professionals, has been edcational to me in opening my eyes to the power of these tools.
One things that blogs don't do is make a good archive or timeline of ideas and their development. A wiki is an ideal tool for this. Blogs are also not really collaborative. Comments are a good way to “talk” about a subject, but in and of themselves they don't move something forward. A wiki can provide a platform to pull all of the relevant ideas together.
What are your favorite collaborative tools and how do you use them, both internally and externally?
