GigaOM » Collaboration

PBworks to Add Real-time Collaboration Tools

Simon Mackie — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:00:09 +0000

At the Enterprise 2.0 conference today in San Francisco, PBworks (formerly PBwiki, see our previous coverage here) announced that it is adding built-in, real-time collaboration tools to its wiki software. The new suite of tools will include in-app IM, Live Notifications of changes to an organization’s workspaces, Live Editing of documents, and Voice Collaboration.

The planned changes should make collaboration using PBworks much easier and faster, with less need to rely on external services. For example, imagine that you’re working on a document and you’d like some input from your team. You could use the built-in IM tool to see who’s online, direct them to the page, start a Live Editing session (which lets them see any changes you make to the document in real time), and even set up an ad hoc conference call using the Voice Collaboration component.

IM Collaboration, Live Notifications, and Live Editing will be available for free to customers with Project Edition and Legal Edition plans beginning Nov. 17, while the Voice Collaboration component should be available in early 2010 (pricing hasn’t been set yet).

Would you use built-in voice chat/conference calling if it was added to your favorite collaboration suite, or would you continue to use an external conference calling app, like WebEx?

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PBworks Introduces Project Edition

Simon Mackie — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:00:26 +0000

PBworks (formerly PBwiki) today introduced PBworks Project Edition, a modified version of the collaborative wiki software that incorporates some project management features.

Simple project management functionality, like workflow management, task assignment and milestones, is built right into the tool, so there’s no need to use a separate app like Basecamp to handle simple project management. This makes PBworks an attractive option for teams looking for a tool for collaborative project tasks, like document authoring, requirements gathering or design review. Task management is kept together with the actual task itself, which makes a lot of sense.

This idea of providing task and project management functionality in apps that are used for the tasks seems to be gaining popularity; we recently saw Box.net add task management features to its file-sharing service, for example. Including task management functionality within an app should help many teams handle project management tasks themselves, reducing the need to have a designated project manager on simpler project. (PBworks calls this “organic project management.”)

PBworks Project Edition costs $20 per user per month, with “guest” licenses (for clients and contractors on a particular project) available for free.

Have you tried PBworks Project Edition? Let us know what you think in the comments.

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PBWiki Adds New Features to Compete in Wiki Market

Jason Harris — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:20:18 +0000

For those of you who work with wikis on a regular basis know, they can be a hard concept to explain to people. This is why PBWiki has been a blessing for us. Their funny name stems from their intent to make the concept of a wiki as easy as a peanut butter sandwich.

They may have a funny name, but PBWiki has gained considerable traction in the collaborative web space. Mostly popular in the education and non-profit web site market, PBWiki has generated more than half a million wikis. Now with the re-launch of Jotspot as Google Sites, PBWiki is releasing new features and capabilities to make itself a more business-friendly wiki engine.

The first new feature most people will notice is the new and improved user interface. The administration interface received a new look and feel along with improvements in speed and performance. Additionally, the PBWiki team made it easier to brand and customize your PBwiki by allowing users more control over the design of their website. You can easily upload your company logo and if you want, PBWiki will create a color scheme for your website based on your uploaded logo.

In addition to the fresh new UI, PBWiki 2.0 new features are also focused on security. Now you can create folders and organize your web assets by directory. PBwiki has built in folder level security, allowing site administrators to grant users granular security to each folder. If site administrators want to get even more detailed, individual pages can have security set on them as well. Finally, PBWiki 2.0 allows for individual logins for site editors.

If you are looking for a collaborative website and like the idea of using a wiki, PBWiki deserves a look. They’ve always been a drop-dead easy site to use and now have some new features that make them a more attractive website tool.

To check out the new 2.0 features, head over to PBWiki, create a new wiki, and chose “2.0 Beta” as your wiki type. Alternatively, you can see some of the new features at their demo wiki site.

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