Sharing documents online

Sharing documents with others has never been easier. And you have lots of options:

1. Send as an attachment in email.

If all you want to do is to send a document in its final form to just to one person or a small group, email attachment is the simplest. However, there are limitations:

• Many Internet service providers limit the size of the attachment - so if your file size exceeds the limit, you won't be able to send it this way.
• Even if you are able to send large files, they may clog the recipients' inboxes - either by hogging space (and potentially filling up the allotted capacity) or by slowing message retrieval time.
• If you are requesting suggestions from several people for changes to the document, the back-and-forth emailing can become quite complicated and confusing.

2. Use a file upload/storage/transmission service.

Upload your file to yousendit.com, megaupload.com, sendthisfile.com or similar free file transfer services. You can specify a recipient, who gets an email with a private link to download your file. Or, you can copy the link yourself and post it in your email or on your webiste.

Note: For the free versions of many of these services, the file that you uploaded is destroyed after a few days. To keep it accessible indefinitely, you must sign up for a paid account.

Another option is to simply get a free files storage account at box.net or skydrive. Upload your files, create shared folders and send people the link.

The above services solve the file-size issue, but they are not meant to be used for online collaboration.


3. Share files directly online.

If you want others to edit a document as well as view it, use a document collaboration service. Everyone with password-protected access sees the same updated version of the file, and can make changes.

There are many commercial services that provide secure workspace for group projects, but for your purposes the free options may suffice:

Google Docs has provided this service for a few years. Now Microsoft has come up with their own online file storage/collaboration product Office Live Workspace. Here's a feature-by-feature comparison of the two.

A third option worth looking at is Zoho.

Pauline
teachmeinternet.com