Project83 { Websites that Smile! }

March 18th, 2008

Dropbox: File Sharing made Perfect

I recently had the opportunity to participate in a beta for Dropbox. Like so many people, I have experimented with tons of various file sharing/storage applications, and most of them did not last half a day. Dropbox is not only the exception, but it has made my workflow and communication with our team fundamentally easier. Here are 3 of my favorite things about it:

2 Minutes to Setup and Start Syncing

Simple setup was the key to hooking me. It’s mostly self-explanatory, and took less than 2 minutes for me to drag a bunch of files into my Dropbox and start the upload process. Within about 24 hours, I had 8GB of my files uploaded to Dropbox.

Dropbox has already bailed me out in a serious way. A couple of weeks ago, prior to leaving for a week of work in New York and Austin, my powerbook stopped working completely. No power at all after 2 batteries and days of charging. I had to get a new MacBook (love it, by the way) in New York when we arrived.

The first thing I did on my new computer was try to access all my important business files that I would need over the next week. Once I linked my account, I had the latest versions of all my files downloaded locally within 2 hours. WOW! Not only that, but when I got home and started up the desktop, it automatically downloaded the updated files from my laptop that were created or modified during the trip.

File Backup and Restoration

Another really great feature of Dropbox is that it constantly keeps backups of your files. Let’s say you save the same file 5 times over 5 days. All 5 versions of the file would be available from the web interface, and it only takes one click to restore a prior version. This feature also bailed me out recently.

Dropbox Screenshot

Super Simple Sharing

Sharing files and folders is also quite easy with Dropbox. From your desktop, simply right-click the folder you want to share, and Dropbox has sharing options in the contextual menu. This takes you to the web interface, where you can instantly share folders with other people that you specify.

Sharing folders is also a nice way of providing your friends and family with Dropbox accounts rather than making them wait in line for the beta. In the last week, our team has gotten on board and is sharing files for projects and other work.

Dropbox Screenshot

Obviously, Dropbox gets 5 stars from me. It’s the way file sharing and storage always should have been. I can’t wait for them to release plans with more storage space so I can ramp it up even further. You can visit their site to signup for the beta and also watch a cool video of the application in action.

Posted in Reviews, Software - 4 Comments

September 18th, 2007

Tools We Use

There’s a great deal of amazing software out there these days to help web design companies manage projects and build great quality websites. I’m always wondering what kind of cool applications people in our business are using, just in case one of them would be great for my own toolbox. So I want to take the opportunity to share tools our team uses on a day-to-day basis and give them some link love (as if they need it).

Disclaimer: Any of the following desktop applications are for Mac, so PC users may be out of luck on some of them. Sorry, but not really since I love my macs.

Web Development

Web-Based Tools

Administration / Management

Cool Mac Utilities

Thanks to the awesome software creators and providers out there! It sure makes my day much easier with software and services like this.

Feel free to mention any cool apps I am missing out on in the comments!

Posted in Software - 1 Comment

January 17th, 2007

Pingdom: A Great Little Web App

Pingdom

Although I work on the web, over the years there have been very few web applications that have truly become instrumental to the way we do business. Pingdom is certainly an exception.

Pingdom is a very simple service really. For a small monthly fee, they allow you to monitor a number of websites 24/7 and check for downtime or errors. Their monitoring servers will check your website any number of times, from once per minute to once per hour. Should it be down, you instantly get an email, and if you choose, an SMS text message on your cell phone. You also are notified when the server is back up.

Users can actually setup similar monitoring for mail servers as well using Pingdom. I find it to be a must-have for any website administrator, and it is great security for your clients to know that you are on top of their site.

A Fun Registration Process

I love studying checkout and registration processes, and I must say that signing up for Pingdom was an absolute pleasure. I started by signing up for their risk-free 30-day trial. It took maybe 60 seconds and there was no billing information required. Then I saw something I thought was really great. Following my sign-up confirmation, I was offered a one-time discount on the pricing if I were to make a purchase immediately. Being a sucker for a great bargain, I took advantage of their offer and bought a one year plan.

Following my purchase, I was immediately emailed new login information. I was able to login and setup all of my sites in less than 20 minutes, and have been absolutely thrilled with the application ever since. The administration area is very intuitive, and makes use of some very clever javascript throughout to keep things moving along rapidly.

All in all, Pingdom is a must-have in order for our company to continually provide clients with exceptional customer service. By all means, check it out today.

Posted in Software - 4 Comments

October 3rd, 2006

5 Things Learned Building a Web Application

Angry Computer UserMost people that have built a web application would probably tell you that great design and development are the last things you should worry about. They are absolutely correct. It has much more to do with the process and mentality through which you create your application. Each person involved must possess a great deal of passion, optimism and foresight to see a project of that magnitude through to the end.

If you have read this far and are still fired up, I would like to share 5 things our team learned so far in developing our new web application called Dayscape.

1. Find a Niche

While listening to a podcast from the Web 2.0 Show recently, I heard a great comment from their guest Richard White. Richard was on the team that developed Kiko, an online calendar that ultimately did not pan out and was sold on eBay, so I was very intrigued to hear what he had to say.

When asked why he felt the application failed, he said it was because they were trying to be all things to all people. In a market where few have the capability to reach the masses like Google can with their products, it only makes sense to find the right niche. One of the first things you do when building a web app should be to define your audience. Who would benefit from this product the most and why do they need it?

For example, our team knew about Google Calendar while in the planning stages of Dayscape, and it never shook our desire to build the application simply because we are going for a different niche of people. Our product’s primary use is within businesses, so we decided to focus on personalization, communication options and using a more elegant, professional user interface.

2. Celebrate Small Victories

If a brochure web site is a sprint, a web application is surely a marathon. Your team will get easily burned out if you don’t take the time to sit back and celebrate progress along the way. There will be moments of frustration and doubt, but make sure to use every excuse to encourage and praise the accomplishments of those you are working with along the way.

Every 2-3 weeks our team would go out to eat, have a great time and cast a vision for where things are headed next. Those times really provide an opportunity to not only look back on progress over time, but also to get motivated for the next phase of development. By turning a huge project into small, bite-sized projects it is easier to swallow and gives you a lot more opportunities to pat yourself on the back.

3. Set Deadlines

Most people start developing a web application as a side project in their free time, which is great. The downfall in that situation is that people are often too casual in their planning. “As soon as possible” just is not good enough, it is easy to become lazy and lose interest in the project at that point.

At all costs, establish deadlines and do everything in your power to meet them. It creates not only a sense of urgency, but accountability within your team. If you promise to finish a project by a certain date and know that someone is waiting on your work, somehow you do what it takes to get it done.

4. Keep in Touch with the Real World

Those that work within the web community can easily get stuck in a bubble along with everyone else that spends all day in front of a computer and get out of touch with casual users with relatively casual needs. Before spending a significant amount of time on your web app, conduct whatever research is necessary to find out whether there is a real demand for your product with normal consumers. The results could tell you to refine your idea or drop it all together, thus saving a great deal of time and effort.

The community of web developers is a relatively small one. If your product only appeals to developers, chances are that there is not much of a business model for it.

The bottom line is to make a product that fills a widespread NEED, not just a “oh, that would be cool”. People don’t pay for cool applications; they pay for a service that makes their lives easier.

One sobering statistic that can help you figure our whether your application can create enough income to succeed is that only about 2% of your customers will actually sign up for a “paying” account. So if you have 200 customers, plan on around 4 of them actually choosing to pay for the service being provided.

5. Have a Unique Selling Proposition

A similar term was used in a previous article about writing a winning proposal, and the same principle applies here. Do everything possible to separate yourself from competition by outlining unique benefits your application has over other services. Once you find a niche market for your product, setting yourself apart from competition should be easy.

One thing that really bothers me is that so many companies have blatantly ripped off Digg and their model for displaying content. Digg came up with a great idea and providers like Netscape just made a crappier version of the same thing. Unless you can make your product better and set it apart in some way, don’t waste your time. Honestly, no one likes a copycat.

Recommended Reading

I hope this article has shed some light on the fact that there are so many important elements to consider in building a web app other than the code. The eBook Getting Real (from 37signals) imparts a great deal of wisdom to support the principles just mentioned. Anyone thinking about creating a web application must read this book and reinforce its principles each day.

Getting Real helped our team zone in a minimal feature set to start off, keep things simple, and most importantly keep our users the number one priority.

An Update on Dayscape

We have been working very hard to meet our self-imposed deadlines on Dayscape, thus the lack of posts lately. Currently we are doing some private testing among our team here, but if you would like to be among the first to try it out, make sure to sign up on MyDayscape.com.

Posted in Project83, Business, Software - 2 Comments

September 1st, 2006

Email, Web 2.0 Style!

Would you like to see what the future of email looks like?

Zimbra LogoI think it looks a lot like an email product called Zimbra. Over the last year or so, I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of this highly acclaimed software. I had the opportunity to beta test it a while back, and officially made the switch this past week and absolutely love it. It will be compared to Exchange Server by many, but is already miles ahead of it in most categories.

Zimbra was developed for the linux platform, and is open source at the very core. Like exchange, it syncs your calendar, address book and email. If you use a desktop client, you can currently set it up as an IMAP or POP account and it works beautifully. They have made a commitment to working alongside Apple and PC desktop applications to sync the contacts and calendar, though. There are tools for both Outlook and OSX machines that help you sync everything. I have been using the beta sync tool for Mac, which is fantastic. It operates as an extension of iSync, and my Zimbra account is automatically synced every hour, or whenever I make additions to iCal or Address Book.

The Zimbra web client is simply a sight to behold. It takes AJAX to a completely different level. Everything is drag and drop, most things are right-clickable, and the amount of options is just stunning. Instead of going into major details regarding ALL of the features, it would just suit you better to try their hosted demo for yourself.

Here are more of my favorite features so far . . .

I could talk about Zimbra a great deal, but this product is something that must be “experienced”. Set aside 30 minutes or so to play with their hosted demo, it is worth every second.

To be fair, I also wanted to mention a couple things I feel that they will improve on in the near future. Since it is pretty much 100% AJAX, it can move slowly at times. I noticed the hosted demo is much slower than my new account though. Also, I have found a couple things that are a little buggy, but I am sure they will continue to improve their software at an amazing pace.

So are you ready to sign up? Our friendly hosting provider Voxel.net was one of the first partners on-board with Zimbra, and their team has accounts with 1GB of space for only $4 per month. Zimbra is revolutionizing the personal workspace, and bringing innovation to the web with their software. I would suggest trying it out!

Posted in Reviews, Software - No Comments

June 29th, 2006

Google Checkout Changes Things

Paypal finally has a legitimate competitor in the release of Google Checkout today. Offering lower transaction fees and a simplified user experience, I am looking forward to trying it out.

The unknown for me is the other end of the spectrum. I look forward to seeing how easily we will be able to integrate Google Checkout into our own websites. It seems they have said nothing about how to accept Google Checkout on our own websites yet, it should be interesting. Click here to watch a fun promo video for it.
Google Checkout

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