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[OCLUG-Tech] Simple web-based collaboration, project management: emphasis: small scope, simple

  • Subject: [OCLUG-Tech] Simple web-based collaboration, project management: emphasis: small scope, simple
  • From: Bruce Miller <subscribe [ at ] brmiller [ dot ] ca>
  • Date: Wed, 6 Jul 2011 07:36:21 -0700 (PDT)
I know that this is a Linux technical list, but I hope that readers will forgive 
me for coming here to seek more general advice from a local source of advanced 
technical expertise.

I want to set up a web-based collaboration and "project management" facility for 
a late middle-age engaged couple living 250 km apart to track plans for their 
wedding and for redecorating a newly-purchased old house.

The trap lies with the fiancee: she is very bright and relatively 
computer-literate. But she has spent her entire computing life in a 
Windows-based world and has the typical resistance to new ways of doing things. 
Given the long-distance relationship, softening these tendencies will take time 
and a gentle approach. If she sees "complication" in a new tool, she is at risk 
of quietly "never getting around" to using it. The fiance is a civil servant 
with policy rather than IT responsibilities. He is not an IT professional but, 
during a long period on medical disability, he learned at least advanced 
intermediate Linux skills. Returning to work has led to some decline in those 
skills, but he is generally a quick learner and is used to following 
instructions and troubleshooting when things do not go perfectly.

I hesitate to use the words "project management," because it conjures up images 
of complexity which might require a maintainer working full-time to manage the 
software. That is overkill in these circumstances.

The scope of what I envision is roughly the following:
- two indexed tables, one for the wedding, one for the redecoration project;
- indexes on action dates, completion dates, person responsible, questions for 
answer;
- desirable, but not mandatory: e-mail notification when one party posts a 
change. 

The obvious traditional and amateur approach is a spreadsheet or a flat database 
file. An obvious locale is Google Apps. However, when I added "collaboration" to 
a Google search phrase, all I got was information on the fee-paid business 
service. Does the free implementation of Google Apps allow sharing? Or is there 
a more appropriate web-based service for this task? Does anyone know a simple 
web-based tool for this kind of task which would be better than the traditional 
office productivity tools such as spreadsheet or a database? I personally have 
never used even online note-taking, note sharing apps (like Evernote, for 
example, or its Linux-based competitors) and have no idea whether they might (or 
might not) hit the sweet spot of functionality and simplicity.

All ideas would be welcome.
 --
Bruce Miller, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
bruce [ at ] brmiller [ dot ] ca; (613) 745-1151


In archaeology you uncover the unknown. In diplomacy you cover the known.
attributed to Thomas Pickering, retired US diplomat, born 1931