<![CDATA[<p>Why isn't <STRONG>web</STRONG><EM>Café</EM> available for my ad-hoc team or non-class project, and what alternatives are there?</p><p><span id="bodyfont">
<p>Unfortunately, a <strong>web</strong><em>Café</em> Classic room cannot be set up for small, ad-hoc groups of students or for projects unrelated to both teaching and recognized student organizations. We are currently able only to provide rooms for Wharton courses, with limited availability for selected faculty projects and student organizations. Student rooms are intended for specific medium-to-large-size groups centered around a recognized activity, such as a WGA or Wharton Council club. </p>
<p>There are many readily available collaboration alternatives you might explore:</p>
<ul>
<li>creating a new forum at <a href="http://spike.wharton.upenn.edu/consult/myaccount/" target="_blank">SPIKE</a>;<br />
</li>
<li>sharing files with other students using <a href="http://spike.wharton.upenn.edu/support/winlive/live.cfm" target="_blank">Windows Live Skydrive</a>, <a href="http://workspace.officelive.com/" target="_blank">Microsoft Office Live Workspace</a>, or similar web filesharing services such as <a href=" http://www.box.net/" target="_blank">Box.net</a>;<br />
</li>
<li>sharing and collaboratively editing documents using a free web-based office suite such as <a href="http://docs.google.com/" target="_blank">Google Docs</a>, <a href="http://www.thinkfree.com/" target="_blank">ThinkFree</a>, or <a href="http://www.zoho.com/" target="_blank">Zoho</a><br />
</li>
<li>establishing a collaborative web site through an easy-to-use free service, such as <a href="http://sites.google.com" target="_blank">Google Sites</a> or <a href="http://pbworks.com/content/pricing-basic-edition" target="_blank">PBWorks Basic Edition</a><br />
</li>
<li>obtaining a free group service such as <a href="http://www.groupsite.com/" target="_blank">GroupSite.com</a>, <a href="http://groups.google.com/" target="_blank">Google Groups</a>, or <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/" target="_blank">Yahoo! Groups</a>. These services typically have some file-sharing capabilities as well as other collaboration tools -- and they're often email-centered, more like a mailing list than a <strong>web</strong><em>Café</em> room. </li>
</ul>
<p>Here's a few other outside services of which we know, although these should not be treated as official recommendations: </p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://basecamphq.com/" target="_blank">Basecamp</a>, <a href="http://www.centraldesktop.com/" target="_blank">Central Desktop</a>, <a href="http://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence/hosted" target="_blank">Confluence Hosted Team</a>, <a href="http://www.mindtouch.com/" target="_blank">MindTouch</a>, <a href="http://pbworks.com/solutionfinder.wiki">PBWorks</a>, and <a href="http://www.socialtext.com/" target="_blank">Socialtext</a> are hosted collaboration services which offer <strong>web</strong><em>Café</em>-like features as well as wikis, project management, or social networking.<br />
</li>
<li>If you enjoy the database capabilities of <strong>web</strong><em>Café </em>and would like to build even more elaborate grids or web forms, evaluate services like <a href="http://dabbledb.com/" target="_blank">DabbleDB</a>, <a href="http://www.editgrid.com/" target="_blank">EditGrid</a>, <a href="http://quickbase.intuit.com/" target="_blank">QuickBase</a>, <a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/" target="_blank">SurveyMonkey</a>, <a href="http://www.trackvia.com/" target="_blank">Trackvia</a> or <a href="http://wufoo.com/" target="_blank">Wufoo</a> (all with free trials).<br />
</li>
<li>If your group is technically oriented and has a PHP-enabled web server account for other purposes, such as for the group's home page, open-source or free software such as <a href="http://www.activecollab.com/" target="_blank">activeCollab</a>, <a href="http://www.phprojekt.com/features.php" target="_blank">PHProjekt</a> or <a href="http://www.projectforum.com/pf/download.html" target="_blank">ProjectForum</a> might work well.<br />
</li>
<li>Services like <a href="http://www.glidedigital.com/" target="_blank">Glide</a>, <a href="http://multiply.com/" target="_blank">Multiply</a> or <a href="http://spinxpress.com/" target="_blank">SpinXpress</a> focus on collaborative photo and video sharing. </li>
</ul>
<p>Other hosted services that have eRoom-like capabilities for small groups may be available for free, albeit limited and temporary, evaluation:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.weboffice.com/" target="_blank">WebEx WebOffice</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/serviceproviders/directory/wssv3.mspx" target="_blank">Microsoft SharePoint Services</a> (available from several vendors)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.icohere.com/" target="_blank">iCohere</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.jointcontact.com/" target="_blank">Joint Contact</a></li>
<li>EMC offers a paid hosted version of the eRoom software (mostly the same interface/tools as in <strong>web</strong><em>Café</em>) at:<br />
<a href="http://www.eroom.net/" target="_blank">http://www.eroom.net/</a> </li>
</ul>
</span>
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