I decided to start putting together (not for the first time) a wish list of features I really want/need in the software I'm using. This necessitated first doing an inventory I what I'm using and I figured I may as well publish it so others can make use of all the time I spend trying things out in an enternal search for the the perfect solution.
When deciding how to publish it I first tried Google Notebook and a Google Document, and although it's possible to publish these as a page hosted by Google, it didn't seem possible to embed them in a web page. A Google Spreadsheet may have this feature but I decided to use EditGrid which I have been itching to try out since seeing it demo'd at Red Herring Japan earlier this year.
The developers are a bunch of young Korean people. The presenter cheerfully admitted that they don't have a business plan but just want to create absolutely the best online spreadsheet service. I've got to say I think they are super succeeding. Almost everything from the sign-up process to the spreadsheet usability to the range of features is amazingly well done. I couldn't find anyway to add a hyperlink to a cell or text in a cell (excluding URLs). Otherwise the tool is great. It is fast and user friendly and there are very many features that you don't find in Google Spreadsheet. For example, there are numerous publishing options including 3 embedding options. The one below is the most advanced and using it I will be able to edit the spreadsheet directly from this blog entry. You can create graphs and embed them in a web site and they will be updated in real time when you update the data. Everything down to a single cell an numerous formats (e.g. PDF) of the spreadsheet has it's own URL. You can also pull in other sources of online data. It really is quite an amazing service. The free version has all the functionality you need but there are paid versions for organizations who want team and admin features. Just quick note that if you have the Firebug add-on installed you should disable it before trying to edit a sheet or it will freeze Firefox!
Anyway, enough of the EditGrid review. Give it a spin and think how you may be able to make use of it. Here's an intial list of software I'm using and some features I would like to see. I'll continue to update as the thoughts pop in my head.