View source for Shared Web Based Spreadsheets

== Introduction ==
See also [http://www.kstoolkit.org/Shared+Spreadsheets | Shared Spreadsheets on the KS Toolkit]
Teams all over the world face again and again the challenged to collect together data in spreadsheets. That's why the following question below was sent to the KM4Dev community:

== Keywords ==

collaborative solutions, Excel, spreadsheets, online

== Detailed Description ==

Dear All,

I am looking for an online solution to collect data with an international
team in Excel sheets. I know that text documents can be drafted by
different people in various locations with Wikis, but I have no idea
whether there are similar solutions for Excel sheets.

We will need this for an international research project, that tries to
calculate the costs that are saved, when the informal sector collects waste
in poor areas what is often the case in developing countries.

I'd be grateful for any ideas of possible solutions that should be at best
simple and for free (as always...) ;)

Urs

== KM4Dev Discussions ==

Members of the KM4Dev community provided a number of solutions. We are trying for the project now iRows, because it's for free and simple to use. We were hesiting to buy or install a software, because we were not sure about the implications, we had no IT cracks in our team, and we didn't have the time to test it. The following solutions were provided:

'''iRows'''

http://www.irows.com/ - an online, collaborative, spreadsheet.

IRows is for free, offers many possibilities, but has also disadvantages, e.g. Excel books cannot be uploaded

'''Numsum'''

http://www.numsum.com/

As well available for free.

'''Conserveonline'''

http://www.conserveonline.org.
A free online place to share documents called  They have [[collaborative workspaces]] which can be accessed by assigned teams.

It might be somewhat of a nuissance but if no other suggestions come up,
you could save your file there and then people can access it, input
information and upload the newer file to the site.

'''Groove'''

http://www.groove.net

Was suggested and recommended by various members. Disadavantage is you have to install a software and to buy it. 
 
"Definitively try Groove, it has sharing documents capabilities ideal for
the type of work you need, it is bandwidth friendly, extremely secure
and includes forms that can be linked to a database to make reporting
easy. Get your team a copy of Groove, create a workspace, create your
Excel spreadsheet and Groove will synchronize its contents when somebody
makes a change in the spreadsheet, Grooves updates only the recent
changes so it doesn't require to send the whole file every time there is
a change, plus the benefit that all your team members have a copy of the
file when they are offline. I have been using it since October 2000 and
never had a complaint."

"Free 60 day evaluation here and if you need it for longer the solution is very cheap for charities."

'''Google Spreadsheets'''

Google has announced Google Spreadsheets [spreadsheet.google.com] which is a web based spreadsheet based on XL2Web software from 2Web Technologies.

Google Spreadsheets is the fourth program of Google Office Suite, the previous ones being Word/Writely, OneNote/Notebook and Frontpage/PagesCreator.

Google Spreadsheet offers limited set of features with no support for Charts or Excel Macros. You can sort data or use the 200 functions and common spreadsheet formulas for doing basic calculations of numerical data. 

Industry experts feel that Google Spreadsheets may pose a threat to Microsoft Excel. "Though Google says it's working on improving printing, charts, filtering and "drag and drop" features, in the current state Google Spreadsheet may offer competition to other web-based spreadsheet software like NumSum, ZohoSheet, JotSpot Tracker , iRows or wikiCalc but not to the rock-solid Microsoft Excel. They are still miles apart." says a community member.

''The following members of the KM4Dev community contributed to the discussion thread on shared web based spreadsheets: Michelle Laurie, Mark Berthelemy, Steven Buckley, Rodolfo Siles, Jaap Pels''

== Examples in Application ==


== Related FAQs ==

Web based survey tools
http://wiki.km4dev.org/wiki/index.php/Web_Based_Survey_Tools

== Further Information ==

[A set of resources to find out more, including key texts, websites and KM4Dev folk (not consultants!). No more than 3-7 sources…]

==  Original Author and Subsequent Contributors of this FAQ ==

Original author: Urs Karl Egger, Skat, urs.egger AT skat.ch

==  Dates of First Creation and Further Revisions ==

First creation: Nancy White, 31 May 2006
Revision: Urs Karl Egger, 2 June 2006

== FAQ KM4Dev Source Materials ==

Dear All,

I am looking for an online solution to collect data with an international
team in Excel sheets. I know that text documents can be drafted by
different people in various locations with Wikis, but I have no idea
whether there are similar solutions for Excel sheets.

We will need this for an international research project, that tries to
calculate the costs that are saved, when the informal sector collects waste
in poor areas what is often the case in developing countries.

I'd be grateful for any ideas of possible solutions that should be at best
simple and for free (as always...) ;)

Urs

--------------------------------------

Hi Urs,

You could try iRows: http://www.irows.com/ - an online, collaborative,
spreadsheet.

Yours,

Mark


http://www.numsum.com/


Num Sum


Easy, Sharable Web Spreadsheets

Track your records, lists and data online Share with everybody or with just your close friends Connect with folks who have similar interests 

Search for spreadsheets: 
 


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It's all online — nothing to install 


Great for teams, clubs & your crew
 
Track all your group data together
 
Easy and super simple to use
 
Hi Urs, 

There is a free online place to share documents called
www.conserveonline.org.  They have [[collaborative workspaces]] which can be
accessed by assigned teams.

It might be somewhat of a nuissance but if no other suggestions come up,
you could save your file there and then people can access it, input
information and upload the newer file to the site.

Cheers, Michelle

Urs:

Definitively try Groove, it has sharing documents capabilities ideal for
the type of work you need, it is bandwidth friendly, extremely secure
and includes forms that can be linked to a database to make reporting
easy. Get your team a copy of Groove, create a workspace, create your
Excel spreadsheet and Groove will synchronize its contents when somebody
makes a change in the spreadsheet, Grooves updates only the recent
changes so it doesn't require to send the whole file every time there is
a change, plus the benefit that all your team members have a copy of the
file when they are offline. I have been using it since October 2000 and
never had a complaint.

Rodolfo Siles
IT Director
CARE

Urs

Try Groove from Microsoft.  Free 60 day evaluation here and if you need
it for longer the solution is very cheap for charities.

http://www.groove.net/downloads/groove/download-preview.cfm

Best,

Steven Buckley
Head of Common Knowledge
Christian Aid, London