Web 2.0 productivity tools

A roundup of apps & resources to make your day go easier

Target audience: Nonprofits, foundations, social benefit organizations, NGOs, educators, students, journalists, Web publishers, general public.

Following are Web 2.0 tools we’ve come across that have increased our productivity. Part of the early adopters creed is to share discoveries with others. Please add your own recommendations in the comments!

Academic search

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

Google Scholar
Microsoft Academic Search .

Blog

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

WordPress
(Review of WordPress vs. TypePad) LiveJournal, MovableType, Tumblr, TypePad

Bookmarks

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

delicious
A1-Webmarks, BlinkList, BlogMarks, Buzka, Clipboard, CoReap, Diigo, Google Bookmarks

Calendar

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

Google Calendar
30 Boxes, CalendarHub, Cozi, Famundo, HipCal, Jotlet, Rota Board, Scrybe, Spanning Sync, Trumba, WhosOff

Contacts

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

LinkedIn
Catch the Best, Facebook, Plaxo, Xing

Document manager

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

SimplifyThis
Blinksale, docharbor, docstoc, DocuSign, Adobe Sign, FreshBooks, Invoice Place, Scribd, Sertifi, ShareMethods

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

Gmail
[Office 2.0 review] FastMail, Hotmail, Thunderbird (open source), Yahoo! Mail, Zimbra, Zoho Mail

Feed reader

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

Google Reader
Bloglines, Crowdfavorite FeedLounge, Feeds 2.0, NetVibes, NewsAlloy, Wizz RSS

Instant messaging

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

Digsby
Adium (open source), Campfire, eBuddy.com, Google Talk, imo, Kool IM, MSN Web Messenger, Peekamo, Twitter, Zoho Chat

Microblogging

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

Twitter
Friendfeed, identi.ca, Ping.fm, Plurk, Tumblr,

Personal pages

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

NetVibes
Clic!Dev, Favoor, Google Homepage, HomePortals, My Yahoo!, Protopage, StartForce

Photo editor

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

Picasa
imni (Germany), Phixr, Picture2Life, Preloadr, Pixenate, Snipshot

Photo manager

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

Flickr
Contakme, DPHOTO, DropShots, Dumpt, Photobucket, PhotoShelter, Pikeo, SmugMug, Zenfolio, Zoto

Polls

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

twtpoll
AskItOnline, Buzzvote, PollGenius, PollPub.com, QuestionForm, SurveyMonkey, Tezaa, Vizu, Zoomerang,

Presentation

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

SlideShare
Empressr, SlideRocket, Spresent, ThinkFree Show, Zoho Show

Scheduler

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

Doodle
Acuity Scheduling, TimeBridge

Spreadsheet

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

Zoho Sheet
EditGrid, Google Spreadsheets, Num Sum

Video editor

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

Kaltura (open source)
Gotuit Media, motionbox, MovieMasher, Pixelfish

Video podcast player

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

BS.Player
Media Player Codec Pack, VLC media player

Word processor

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

Google Docs
Docly, Ebiwrite, GreenDOC, iNetWord, Zoho Writer

Development tool

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

Mashery
16bugs, Apprenda, BugJuice, Bugtagger, Click2Map, LongJump, Morfik, Ning, Pingdom, Pipes, Springloops, Tesly

Drawing

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

Gliffy
[Solution Watch review] Floorplanner, Flowchart.com, OrgPlus ,

Event manager

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

Event Wax
Cvent, RegOnline, twtvite

Expense tracker

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

Pro on Go
billQ, BudgetPulse, Buxfer, Cashboard, ClearCheckbook, DimeWise, Expenses Tracker, expensr, Less Accounting, Mvelopes, NetworthIQ

Fax

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

TrustFax
eFax, GotFreeFax, MyFax

Feed processor

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

FeedBurner
Feedity, Feeds 2

File exchange

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

Transfer Big Files Free
DropBox, DropSend, MailBigFile, Pando, Senduit, ShareFile, YouSendIt

File manager

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

eSnips
Box.net, DivShare, Egnyte, ElephantDrive, fluxiom, MediaFire, Nakido, Strongspace, Wiki Upload

Form designer

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

The Form Assembly
[Office 2.0 review] Formdesk, FormLogix, FormSpring, frevvo, Icebrrg, jotForm,

Group manager

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

CollectiveX
AirSet, Central Desktop, e-days, GroupLoop, OnlineGroups.Net, ProofHub, TeamWork Live, WebEx WebOffice

Mind mapper

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

MindMeister
3D Topicscape, comapping.com, Inspiration, Mapul, Mind Decider, Mind42, Mindjet (Mind Manager), Mindomo, Novamind, Personal Brain, XMind

Music player

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

last.fm
nuTsie, Pandora

Notepad

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

Evernote
gubb, Jott, Magnoto, mynoteIT,notebook G, Protonotes, SnapBits, SNIPPit, Ubikuo, Wridea, Zoho Notebook

Office manager

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

Joyent
ContactOffice, OfficeZilla

Outliner

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

Listigator
FlexLists,

Personal organizer

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

Zoho Planner TracksLife, voo2do

Printer

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

FedEx Office
VerticalResponse

Project

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

Huddle
1time, activeCollab, Basecamp, Confluence, CreativePro Office, Intervals, LetsProve, PlanHQ, Planix, ProjectPipe, ProWorkflow.com, Smartsheet.com, teamwork, timeXchange.net, Unfuddle, WhoDoes, Wrike, Zoho Project

Scanner

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

scanR
Mytago

Sound mixer

Socialbrite recommends:

Soundation

Time tracker

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

14Dayz
88 Miles, SlimTimer, Tick, Tiktrac, Time Tracker, Time59, Toggl, Work Timer

Utilities

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

You got us!
Contactify, Naymz, PassPack, PDFescape, ProfileFly, Site24*7,

Voicemail

Socialbrite recommends: Alternatives:

Google Voice
Aptela, eVoice, Eyejot, GotVoice, JAJAH, RingCentral

Web conferencing

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

Vyew
ConceptShare, Gaboogie, Glance, Persony, Userplane, Yugma, Zoho Meeting

Wikis

Socialbrite recommends:
Alternatives:

Socialtext (enterprise); Wikispaces (everyone else) BrainKeeper, Docufarm, LetterPop, PBwiki, Sampa, SiteKreator, Slide, Squarespace, Terapad, Weebly, Zoho Wiki

Sites and links of note

Education

Education 2.0: A good directory of Web 2.0 teaching tools and resources.

Free Music Directory: Where to find legal, copyright-free music and sound clips for your site or presentation.

Free Photos Directory: Where to find images you can reuse and include in your work or on your site.

Free Video Directory: Where to find video footage you can reuse and include in your work or on your site.

Glossary: A quick, thorough guide to social media terms.

Creative Commons: A quick guide to Creative Commons.

Blog platforms: A comparison of different blogging platforms.

Social media essentials: Essential tools for social media from Essential Keystrokes.

Video translation: Everyzing uses voice recognition technology to tease rough transcripts out of videos, making them more searchable and indexable by search engines.

This page may be used for educational purposes only. Collected from various sources on the Web, particularly the Office 2.0 website. Icons designed by Jakub Steiner for the Tango global linux desktop look. What other cool tools have you discovered? Please add them in the comments.

Beth Kanter is CEO of Zoetica, a consultancy for nonprofits. See her profile, visit her blog, contact Beth or leave a comment.