There are two ways to do this. The first is to share by collection, rather than by file. This is not anything special, but it is a good idea to name the collection by person or group. The second method is to set up shared collections per individual. This is more work, but it has a few advantages.

For each person, you create a separate, dedicated collection that is only shared with the two of you. Do this for anyone you want to share documents with. Be sure to label the folder something like “their name – your name” and place them in a “Shares” collection. From here, apply the shared label to any file or collection you want. You can right click any item and select Organize… to check-off any labels you want.

The collections that any document belongs to shows next to the file name. With proper labels, you can see exactly who the document is shared with. Not so with traditional methods. From the main document listing, to see who has access to a collection, it needs to be selected. For a group of files not in a collection, you have to select them one-by-one. This can be time consuming, as the share list only shows in the description of individual documents.

For every new shared item, an e-mail has to be sent out to the newly involved party. This can be a problem if a file does not have much information in it. There is nothing to report yet. Since a collection created for an individual (or group) is not new, it can be used to give access without premature notification.

Sadly, there will be times when you want to revoke access. Going through vast amounts of files is a time sink. I have experienced bugs when removing people from the shared list in a collection. With the individual label method, you can see exactly what is shared to them by viewing that person’s label. You can also delete the label entirely.

You can take this idea to the next level by having two shares per person. Use one for complete access and another for read-only access. Another level of sub-collections and some color- coding will help to organize your system. This is more than most people really need, but it is an idea worth considering.

An easy way to lose track of document shares is to assign them to people by file. There is no easy way to administer documents with this method. This goes double for sharing a file with a link. Granted, for a person who does not use Gmail, this may be your only option. Sound advice would be to make a public collection for files individually shared via links. Then you would be able to keep track of them.

This individual label method will take some initiative, but it is worth the work. Creating the share is a one-time hassle. In the long run, it is less intrusive to contacts. The end result is an organized, flexible, visual system designed to be easy to administer. You even have revocation abilities. Other features, such as group e-mailing, should not be hampered at all. Users can still see who has access to a document from the Share button.

Google has just announced the general availability of Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office which acts as a bridge between Microsoft’s desktop application and the Google Docs online service.

Cloud Connect adds sharing and simultaneously editing of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint to Microsoft Office.

Documents can be synced with Google Docs which has the additional benefit that they are constantly backed up from that point in time and since all documents can be accessed via a unique web address it is easy to share files with other users and access them from other computers and via mobile devices.

Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office remembers edits if the user is offline to sync the documents once a net connection becomes available again.

Users need to install Google Cloud Connect first, then log in with a Google account. It is possible to log in automatically from that point on to avoid having to log in every time Google Docs need to be accessed in Microsoft Office.

A toolbar displays the features, for instance the web url of the current document, syncing button or the share button.

A click on the share button opens the sharing menu with options to give other users permissions to access the document.

The integration into Microsoft Office is solid. Documents can only be shared with other users once they have been synced with Google Docs.

Google Cloud Connect Feature Overview

Collaborative editing

Multiple people can edit the same doc at the same time. New users can be added as editors by the document owner. They then receive an email with a link that allows them to view the document in read only mode in Google Docs. Documents can be downloaded to Microsoft Office and edited simultaneously, providing that both users have Google Cloud Connect installed on their system.

Edits are automatically synced with all collaborators.

Revision History

Google Cloud Connect tracks, manages and syncs all changes into one updated version of a document. Older versions of a document can be retrieved directly in Microsoft Office.

Share a doc

It is possible to share documents with other people and give them specific access rights. Sharing and visibility settings are configured in Microsoft Office.

Resolve Overlapping Edits

Edit Offline

Syncing in the cloud

Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office can be downloaded and installed from Google Tools. The application is compatible with Microsoft Office 2003, 2007 and Microsoft Office 2010. It runs on Windows XP with the .NET Framework 2.0 and Windows Vista or Windows 7.

It is possible to log into Office Web Apps from other locations in the world and use all of the features offered. The only downside currently is that it may not be presented in the local language but in English as those updates will be rolling out later this year.

A Windows Live account is required to use the service. Office Web Apps allow a logged in user to upload documents, edit documents and create new documents. Supported are Office Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote documents including the 2007 Office formats docx, xlsx and pptx.

The official homepage of the Office Web Apps service can be accessed by loading Office.live.com in the web browser of choice. Documents can be simply uploaded by using the available file uploader or by uploading them with third party software like the Windows Live SkyDrive Explorer.

office web apps

The main Office Web Apps window displays recent documents, document editing activities of friends that have been added by the Windows Live user and options to create new Word, Excel, PowerPoint or OneNote.

Hovering the mouse over a document displays links to edit it right in the web browser, share it or check the version history, properties and download it to the local computer system.

A click on edit in browser opens a new screen that looks similar to the Office 2010 interface. New documents are converted automatically by Office Web Apps so that they can be edited in the browser. Most text editing and manipulation controls from Office are also available online. Documents are saved automatically, it is however possible to download a copy, share the document with other users or save it under a different name online.

excel document online

Office Web Apps on SkyDrive supports other features including work collaboration, mobile access by browsing to the same website and instant messaging.

messenger web

Office 2010, the new version of Microsoft’s document management software, offers Office Web Apps integration. It is for instance possible to send local documents to SkyDrive so that they can be edited from Office Web Apps.

Document management on the other hand should provide additional features such as advanced search options and filters, categorizations, conversions, distribution options and more.

Benubird PDF is a document management software that unlike its name would suggest supports not only pdf documents but also other document formats such as text, Microsoft Word, Excel and image formats.

New documents can be easily added to the software program by either handpicking them or selecting folders that should be imported. Filters aid the user in importing documents from folders, it is for instance possible to only import specific file types from that folders in the program.

Each document and file that is loaded into the program is automatically added to the library which contains filters to view all or only specific file types such as spreadsheets, presentations or videos.

Collections can be created as well which provide another option to sort documents. It is for example possible to create collections that contain financial or work related documents.

The properties of each document can be edited to contain a title, author, subject and tags, some of which are automatically imported if meta tags exist.

A search is offered that makes use of the meta data of the documents. Another interesting option of the document management software is the ability to watch folders. New documents of those folders will be automatically added in the document management software.

Benubird PDF is a interesting document management software for the Windows operating system. The program is freely available for download at the developer’s website. It is compatible with most 32-bit and 64-bit Windows operating systems.

One such solution is Kraft. Kraft is a software designed to help you write and manage the documents you use to run your business. It works with a MySQL backend, is designed for the KDE desktop (but will run in GNOME once all dependencies are met), and can even handle some calculations for you. In this tutorial I will show you how to install and use Kraft. NOTE: As of this writing Kraft can only create Offers, Acceptance of Offers, and Invoices. Hopefully in the future a document-type creator wizard will be added.

Installing

Currently Kraft has binarys for Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSuSE, SuSE Enterprise Linux, and Debian. These can all be found in the Kraft download page. You will have to download various files from here (depending upon your distribution) and then install one more package from your package manager. For example, when installing on Ubuntu I have to download:

• kraft_0.32_i386.deb
• libctemplate-dev_0.93-1_i386.deb
• libctemplate0_0.93-1_i386.deb

Download those and then open up your package manager to install one more package. The package you need to install is libqt3-mt-mysql. Search for that package, select it for installation, and apply the changes to install. If you do not install that final package Kraft will not be able to connect to your MySQL database. Now go to the directory you downloaded the packages for your installation and install them. For our Ubuntu example I would issue the command:

sudo dpkg -i *deb (assuming the three deb packages above are the only in the directory).

Creating the database

Before you start Kraft you need to create the database. To do this go back to your terminal window and issue the command:

mysql -u root -p

Hit the Enter key and then type your MySQL administrator password. You will now be at the MySQL prompt. Issue the following command to create your database:

CREATE DATABASE kraft;

Hit the Enter key and then type quit and hit the Enter key to exit the MySQL prompt. You are now read to fire up Kraft and begin creating documents.

Using Kraft

Figure 1

The first time you fire up Kraft you will be prompted to configure your database. Figure 1 shows how this is done. Once you fill out the details, hit the Check Connection. When you see the Connection State listed as Good you can OK these changes and then restart Kraft to ensure the connection is made.

When you restart Kraft you may be warned that your database will be over written. This is okay because you have not inserted any data into the database yet.

Figure 2

When Kraft finally opens you will see a very simple user interface (see Figure 2). Don’t let the simplicity of the interface fool you, Kraft is a powerful, useful tool.

To create a new document click the Create Document button to begin the Document Wizard. One of the first things you will notice is the warning that “Customer: Not yet selected”. This should indicate to you that you will be able to build a customer database with Kraft. Brilliant.

The wizard is very simple. The steps are:

1. Select the document type, add a date, and add any Whiteboard content to the document.
2. Select a customer (if none exist you can create one here).
3. Add items to the document.
4. Save the document.

Once the document is saved it will be listed in the Main window where you can right click it and handle numerous actions (such as Print, Edit, and Email).

One thing of note. You will want to go to the Settings > Configure Kraft window and configure your taxes. By default they are set at:

• Full – 19.0 %
• Reduced – 7.0 %

Make sure you adjust these to reflect your locations tax.

Final thoughts

I hope the developers of Kraft continue working on this tool and even make it more versatile so that more document types can be created. But even as it stands, Kraft is a very useful tool that will allow you to create outstanding invoices, offers, and acceptance of offer documents.

All that it takes now is to move all documents of a project into one folder and share that folder with all project members. The share functionality is added to Google Docs accounts gradually. Notifications appear on screen on the next login if the feature has been enabled.

There are several options to share a folder. It is possible to right-click a folder and select the share option or to use the Share this folder option when the folder has been selected.

Another new feature is the possibility to upload multiple documents at once to Google Docs. The usual controls to upload multiple files (holding shift or ctrl while selecting files) are available to add multiple documents to the upload queue.

These two new features should come in handy for a lot of Google Docs users.

The document management software DocShield has been designed to protect the most important documents from these kind of errors. It looks like a backup software on first glance but it is actually more than that. DocShield can monitor document file types like doc, xls or txt in multiple directories that are available on a specific computer system. It is highly flexible and offers the possibility to add file extensions that should be monitored to the interface. The main window offers the additional option to add single documents or groups of documents from a folder to the document management program.

These directories are monitored in intervals and document snapshots are created whenever the document change. These snapshots can be stored in multiple locations and packed to save storage space. A password can be assigned to secure the document archives.

The number of snapshots and a maximum file size per document archive with options to prompt for action if the limits are reached can be defined in the settings of Doc Shield as well. Event notifications either come in the form of a message box or email if a SMTP server is configured by the user. One interesting option is to automatically copy these document backups to a ftp server. Data can be moved manually to an USB device which will not only copy the documents but also a portable viewer that can be used to view archive contents and open documents.

The document management system offers an extensive log and overview of all the documents that have been backed up in the past. These documents can be opened or extracted to the local computer system.

DocShield can protect documents. The option to automatically move the backups to a server and the USB viewer make it an excellent tool for many occasions. The document management software is compatible with most Microsoft operating systems including Windows XP and Windows Vista. It requires the Microsoft .net Framework 2.0 and is free for personal use.