The Interactive Web

In the beginning, we had websites, both corporate and personal, the latter generally referred to as "home pages". Then, as people began to realize the potential of the writable web, we saw the emergence of weblogs and Wikis. As we move forward and more people get involved, we've seen an explosion of choices in social software, web-based communities, and other forms of interactive web sites and tools.

I am very interested in these types of web applications, often referred to as "Web 2.0". Obviously I've been creating and using "static" web sites and pages, as well as weblogs, for a while now. I have also had some experience with wikis, notably TWiki.

When I read or hear about a new type of site, or an interesting example of a type I already recognize, I go take a look. If I like the site, I add it to my growing "collection" by bookmarking it, downloading and installing it, or registering for an account.

Interactive web applications can be accessed in one of two ways.

1. Many such applications are available for download and installation on your own (or your company's or ISP's) server. You will probably need to understand a lot about your system's features to use these. In some cases, it helps to have a programming background.

2. Many other applications are "hosted", available by registration at a specific location on the 'Net. Many of these sites offer free (or very economical) membership; frequently, members can choose to pay for additional features such as "no ads", more configuration options, or different publication/privacy levels..

As an example, I'm posting this entry to TypePad, a hosted weblog service provided by SixApart. I pay for the "Pro" services level which allows me to exercise more control over the design and features of my weblog.

I also have a weblog I write which is running under MovableType, a similar but different weblog engine, also from Six Apart. Movable Type is available for download and installation; I do my own system administration for the weblogs running under Movable Type.

From here on, I'll only be discussing hosted applications. These are available to anyone with a web connection. You may need to register before you can try something out, but you won't need to install any software.

This overview is by no means inclusive! I'll mention just a few of the sites available; these happen to be sites where I've registered or sites that otherwise interest me. If you have a favorite that I don't mention, that doesn't mean I don't like it; perhaps I simply haven't heard of it yet.

Bookmark Management

The first web-based bookmark manager I heard about was del.icio.us — I love it, if only for the domain name! If you don't want to use del.icio.us, there are many other options to choose from. After trying several, I decided that I liked Simpy for it's (relatively recent) "groups" feature; bookmarks can be shared with a limited group of specified people.

Calendar and Schedules

Do you have a busy schedule? CalendarHub is a web calendar that allows you manage and share date-based events and information with your family, friends, and groups. You can import schedule information any calendar program that supports the ICal standard.

Community and Epinions

Do you want to find a dentist in your local area? A good carpet shop? A Thai restaurant? A job?

cragislist was the first such site I knew about. Started in the San Francisco area and now spread around the world, craigslist offers discussion forums and classified ads of all kinds. It may not have a snazzy interface but it's very popular.

Local2Me is "an online community connecting you to your neighbors to share local knowledge of all kinds."

Local2Me enables you to easily communicate with people geographically near you who meet the criteria you specify. ... The system creates a customized community, unique to you. You can think of all the customized groups as overlapping circles, where your circle may have many of the same people as a neighbor's circle.

Yelp (Real People, Real Reviews) calls itself "the fun and easy way to find, review and talk about what's great - and not so great - in your neighborhood and beyond." Yelp is primarily in the SF Bay Area right now, but making headway into other major metropolitan regions such as New York.

Information Management

The ability to manage projects and keep "to-do" lists on the web has become very popular. Again, there are dozens (more likely hundreds) of choices. These range from simple note-saving applications to much more complex "PIM" applications. For just a few examples:

• MyYellowPad provides a place to store your notes. (I love the "look" of this one. :-)

• Remember the Milk stores task lists and can send reminders for upcoming deadlines.

• AirSet web services include calendars, contacts, and lists, with the ability to create groups that can share tools.

• Backpack allows you to organize to do lists, notes, images, and photos.

• Basecamp, (Backpack's "big brother), is heavy-duty business project management tool, featuring multiple logins, firm/client collaboration, responsibility features for tasks, and scheduling.

• Use Tasks offers a hosted site for Alex King's Tasks or Tasks Pro. Tasks is a hierarchical, web-based personal task manager that can be downloaded and installed on your own server; Tasks Pro is the multi-user version of Tasks.

Personal "Home" Pages

Do you want to create a set of personal web pages? If you want to do so "through the web", you may appreciate the Way of the Wiki.

Try pbwiki, where you can "make a free, password-protected wiki as easily as a peanut butter sandwich." Or register at wikispaces, "a place where you can easily build web pages with other people".

Wikispaces is great for any kind of group website. It's for families, classrooms, sports teams, community groups, book clubs, fan clubs, party organizers, wedding planners, and more. ... We make wikis accessible to everyone, not just technical users. We provide a clean interface, a visual page editor, and a focus on community collaboration.

If you're not interested in a wiki, don't worry. There are other options.

Protopage lets you configure pages with personalized news, sticky notes, and bookmarks, all easily editable. It has a snazzy graphical interface in which you slide around windows that look like sticky notes, just as you might in a non-web application. You have control over colors, background, content, and number of pages. You can also choose how to share your pages with your friends.

Photo Sharing

By now you've most likely heard of Flickr (be sure to include the c in the name!). Flickr is a tagged photo-sharing site. It allows people to post their photos to share with family, friends, or anyone at all. Members assign tags (i.e. keywords) that allow other users to search for related types of photos,

Weblogs

While many weblogs are personal, written by one person, others are shared. Boing boing, and Slashdot are popular multi-author weblogs.

LiveJournal provides not a multi-author weblog but rather a multi-weblog community in which LiveJournal members can interact and share interests. Other hosted weblog sites (e.g. TypePad, DiaryLand, Xanga, ...) provide more or fewer (or just different) community-building tools, depending on the site.

9rules network is both a site and an index of sites, providing "a community of the best weblogs in the world on a variety of topics." (Unlike the other sites I've mentioned, you can't just join the 9rules network. You must apply and be accepted.)

Some weblog communities are based on physical geographic location. For example, ORBlogs is a directory of weblogs written by Oregonians. In the San Francisco area, KRON TV's The Bay Area is Talking aggregates weblogs located in or written about the Bay Area. Check your local area for something similar.

What Did I Miss?

What category did I miss? What's your favorite web-based application in that category?

Take a look here and here for many more choices!