Reporting Tool: Zoho Writer

I have a lot of free time at the moment, so I'm exploring some stuff.

I've discovered something called Zoho Writer. Perhaps it's familiar to some. It works just like Word except that it appears in a web browser. Documents are saved to the online account, and you can choose whether to make them public (available for others to view and export).

It occurred to me today that this is a great tool for reporting. For one, you can e-mail the story directly from Zoho. Or, if it's public, an editor can just grab it online. Even better, desk folks can snag a write-thru several times a night as long as you save over each time you write more. This works particularly well for those nights when you're waiting on copy and want to know whether a writer is almost finished. Rather than making a phone call, you can simply check the site and see whether the reporter has anything started.

Also, it provides an opportunity for everyone to share one Zoho account and then do a team story or a team edit. You could be in Pango Pango and still check a story without having to request a CC and such. Plus, if you're one of those papers that sometimes has an overloaded e-mail server, there's no waiting with Zoho. Go there, and you've got it.

Just a few thoughts on this. I'd love to here some brainstorming from other folks. I think it's a tool worth using. By the way, Google Docs is similiar, but the techies seem to prefer Zoho.

Here's the site: http://www.zoho.com/

An aside, there's less need these days to use an external drive or other device for storing important files. Flickr holds photos. Youtube holds video. And there are several sites now offering 2 gigs of free space for your other files. Add in that Zoho and Google Docs are great at saving documents, and you're set in most regards. In fact, youc an also use delicious to save bookmars. If your computer crashes today, it's really not a major issue if you take the time to use these free services.

That's it. I'm out.

 

I never heard of this, but thanks for such a glowing review, Mr. Zoho.

Jokes aside, this will be extremely helpful. Thanks for the head's up.