Alberon Newsletter - March 2009

Have you tried Google Docs yet?

Google Docs is an online office suite - it's like having Word, Excel and PowerPoint all within your web browser, accessible from anywhere... for free!

(Now admittedly it doesn't have all the features of Microsoft Office... but how many do you actually use anyway?!)

Here are some useful features of Google Docs that you may not know about:

Share a document, and have everyone always see the latest version

If you email a Microsoft Office document to someone, every time you edit it you have to email them the updated copy. This can get time-consuming, and annoying for everyone.

With Google Docs, everyone sees the latest version whenever they open the document. No more emailing another copy every time you make another change!

Allow multiple people to edit a document

Imagine this: You write a document, and email it to 5 co-workers for comments. All 5 come back with their changes, and now you have to go through them all and merge the changes (side note: Track Changes really helps here!) and send the updated document to everyone again.

But with Google Docs, everyone can edit the same document, and see each other's changes. This greatly reduces the amount of work you have to do, and encourages everyone to critique everyone's changes, hopefully resulting in a higher quality final version.

And don't worry about someone deleting your original text either - Google Docs automatically saves a revision of the document every time a change is made.

Works everywhere - offline as well as online

As we mentioned, you can use Google Docs from any PC connected to the internet. But if you need to work offline, don't worry! Simply install Google Gears, open Google Docs and click the "Offline" button.

Google Docs will automatically copy your documents to your computer, allowing you to work on them with no internet connection required. Next time you go online, simply open up Google Docs and it will upload your changes to the web.

Get started now at docs.google.com.

Or if you have Google Apps, ask your administrator to set you up. (Oh, and did we mention that we can help set up Google Apps? Give us a call if you'd like to know more.)

P.S. On our website you can find one more Google Docs tip that we didn't quite have room for!

Project Spotlight: Summer Schools & Summer Courses Directory We have re-launched the Summer Schools website. It is a great way to find summer courses for adults and children, and it's free to add a listing. Read our Case Study

Alberon builds website for Prince Charles

Climate change is going to be in the news over the next few weeks. Prince Charles is going to speak about global warming in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday. Climate change campaigners hope that the environment will feature prominently at the meeting of G20 leaders in London next month.

Did you know that Alberon built the Prince's Rainforests Project website? Prince Charles set up the project in October 2007 to work with governments, business, NGOs and individuals to find solutions to the deforestation of the world's tropical rainforests.

The website was launched in July 2008 and has since been translated into Portugese, Spanish and French.

There's a huge amount of information on the site about rainforests and why they matter. You can also read about what the project has achieved so far, and what they are hoping to do next.

If you want to show your support for the project you can do so on the site.

In September 2008, we helped launch The Prince's Rainforests Project For Schools. This site is aimed at teachers, and includes the ability for schools to upload photos, videos and documents created by their pupils, which are then showcased on the site.

Most recently, the Prince's Rainforests Project and the Sony World Photography Awards announced a photographic competition for schools open to 4-18 year olds in full time education. Entries can be submitted and are displayed online.

Read more about Alberon's involvement with The Project

Project Spotlight: Alberon develops reporting system for local Mental health charity Restore is a charity that supports people with mental health problems. The work they do is supported by several funders and they need to report back on their successes to each funder. However, every funder requires different data, in a different format! Alberon wrote a system for capturing their key data to a database. Reports for funders will now be produced automatically at the end of each quarter. Read our Restore Case Study...

Two new members of the team

In the autumn of 2008 we recruited two new members of the team. They are:

Calvin Butcher who joins us as a software developer. Calvin brings to the team many years of experience in software development in both the academic and commercial worlds.

Olga Shihova who joins us as a graphic designer. Olga has over 5 years experience designing for both websites and print for a wide range of business sectors.

You can meet the rest of the team on the Alberon staff pages.

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