# Online Collaborative Software **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 14, 2008, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-collaborative-software/433445 "2008-01-14T03:04:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![xiix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d6d6ee/32.png) [@xiix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xiix)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-collaborative-software/433445/1 "2008-01-14T03:04:16Z")
I’m working with a newly founded non-profit foundation and we’ve reached a stage where online collaborative software would be very helpful to keep the 16 or so founding members connected with one another. I was wondering what might be available thats a bit more sophisticated than a simple phpbb solution. Due to our limited budget, free (or cheap) open source software that we could toss on a Linux server would be ideal. I’m not able to provide a comprehensive list of the functionality we require, nor am I certain what the state of the art is so to speak, but ideally I’d like to find an intuitive platform that lets the users communicate with one another, work together on documents, easily locate shared resources…and probably lots of other things that aren’t coming to mind at the moment. But I’m hoping some you out in Doperville have come across good examples as what you consider well-written ‘online collaborative software’. much obliged! —xiix— ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-collaborative-software/433445/2 "2008-01-14T13:15:49Z")
Read this thread. [Wiki engines that run on Windows + IIS + SQL Server? - In My Humble Opinion - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=440069) In there I talk about wikis, but it does all the things you’re describing & more. It’s 100% free, assuming you’ve got a Windows web server. ---
**Author:** ![xiix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d6d6ee/32.png) [@xiix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xiix)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-collaborative-software/433445/3 "2008-01-14T15:18:32Z")
Our server runs Linux. I have also found mediawiki to be a bit complex for some users ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-collaborative-software/433445/4 "2008-01-14T17:07:18Z")
How about [Basecamp](http://www.basecamphq.com/)? I don’t use it myself but it looks pretty useful. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-collaborative-software/433445/5 "2008-01-14T17:14:33Z")
I’ve used Basecamp. It’s OK, but not that great. Google documents might go a lot of the way. There’s a “chat about this document” feature too. And it’s free. ---
**Author:** ![xiix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d6d6ee/32.png) [@xiix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xiix)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-collaborative-software/433445/6 "2008-01-14T19:18:50Z")
basecamp looks kinda awesome. I like the fact that its remotely hosted, that certainly makes managing it a heck of a lot simpler. I guess I just need to figure out what other sort of functionality we might require down the road. ---
**Author:** ![SiouxChief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@SiouxChief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiouxChief)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-collaborative-software/433445/7 "2008-01-14T19:24:43Z")
I second the recommendation for Google Documents. It can handle not only documents but also spreadsheets and presentation as well. You can chat inside the browser window while working on the document, and you can see who else is currently editing the document. In the spreadsheet, you can even see what cell the other person is modifying. I’ve used basecamp for a while also, and it is nice, as long as you meet your specific needs. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-collaborative-software/433445/8 "2008-01-14T20:38:01Z")
We are using a CMS system called [Drupal](http://www.drupal.org/) for the new “46 Best Freeware” site. So far it is working out pretty good in our tests.