This page has a range of things you may not know about that really do make a difference to the way you work…

Please let us know how this page has helped you:

Google – www.google.co.uk

Google is the Internet based search engine with some serious tools that can help you do things you never thought possible. It is simple and easy to use and can help with:

• Safe Browsing: Use Google Chrome instead of Internet Explorer http://www.google.com/chrome/ for a faster, and more durable browsing experience. Chrome offers a much sleeker Browser and installs in a matter of minutes. Far better than Internet Explorer!

• Finding Information: Search Google and find what you need http://www.google.co.uk simply type what you need in the box and press the “enter” key, Google will search millions of pages in seconds.

• Finding Places and planning Community Activity: Google Earth can be used to view your community right down to the street level, you can measure distances and help people to visualise any area you like, right across the world, download here http://www.google.com/earth/index.html

• Getting from A to B and planning routes: Google Maps is the easiest and most up to date way to find your way from A to B, unlike Google Earth it runs straight from your Browser, to get started click http://www.google.co.uk/maps

• Finding contact details for places:Google Places is also part of Google Maps, you can search for businesses or other organisaitons and you can also put your group on the map for others to find! http://www.google.co.uk/maps

• Communication: Google+ is the new Social Network platform developed by the Google experts (this might be a rival to Facebook in the coming months) it is worth checking out Google+, you can add Community Board to your circles of friends https://plus.google.com/102199799467612254348/

• Scheduling: Google Calendars is a wonderful replacement to your paper diary or cumbersome Outlook (albeit you can make it work with Outlook, the diary on your phone etc) get started with your calendar, share it with friends and stay up to date wherever you are – To Sync your data on your phone with Google you will need to download “Google Sync” onto your Mobile Device, get it here http://www.google.com/mobile/

• E Mail: G Mail is Google’s answer to a fully inclusive Email suite, when linked with the Calendar you have all the functionality of expensive exchange servers without the need for subscriptions, everything is free to use! Sign up today! https://mail.google.com/

Youtube: www.youtube.com

Everyone knows that You Tube contains videos but you may not know how easy it can be to upload, catalogue and share your own footage as long as it meets the Terms and Conditions set out by You Tube.

By signing up to You Tube you can be uploading content in minutes, all you need is some footage stored on your computer such as footage copied from a phone, digital camera or webcam… Some ideas for You Tube could include:

• Weekly video updates for your website
• Community productions
• How to guides for residents
• Online archive of your meetings (all available to watch back and share)
• Footage from your events
• Video demonstrations (use http://camstudio.org/ to record video from your computer screen and show people how to use software or systems, prepare video reports and much more…)

Facebook: www.facebook.com

Most people use Facebook at home for keeping in contact with Friends and sharing information but we tend not to use this technology to support our work in communities despite the obvious benefits such as instant communication, global reach and massive user base.

Imagine if your community had it’s own group where you and all the other subscribers from your area could comment on ideas, find out about events, speak to other members of the community and keep informed about forthcoming activity.

Minutes from your meetings, photographs and information about important decisions effecting your area could be posted in one place and viewed immediately by everyone who signs up.

Schools could publish reminders about homework or school trips as well as holiday information, everything just connects easily on Facebook.

You can build groups for any purpose but it is recommended that you prepare some guidelines and ensure you avoid duplication by publishing only official links.

Explore the power of Facebook and see what it can do for you and your community…

You can keep updated with Community Board by visiting our Facebook Page. Simply follow the link below, if you are not already a Facebook Member simply sign up and follow the instructions on screen…

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Community-Board/247887008590285

You will notice at the bottom of all our pages we give our visitors the option to Share and Like our page on Facebook and also on other Social Networking Sites. This is really important given the amount of people who use such sites, it helps people to share your information in a simple and effective way and also provides feedback to you as to how popular your content is…

Doodle: www.doodle.com

Doodle is great for scheduling meetings, for example if you would like to schedule a meeting with Community Board founder Danny Walsh click http://doodle.com/communityboard and choose the time you would like to meet, it all links back to the Google Calendar explained earlier and notifies Danny immediately of the meeting request.

In addition you can set up meetings with multiple users in an instant, click http://www.doodle.com/polls/wizard.html to get started… Simply fill in your event details, suggest some times when you are free and send the generated link, in an email, to everyone who you would like to invite. Everyone then simply chooses one or more times when they are free and Doodle automatically highlights the most popular date and time without having to go back and forth comparing diaries… This saves masses of time and is highly recommended.

Mind Meister: www.mindmeister.com

This software comes in various levels of subscription but includes a Free version, basically it gives you a workspace to “Mind Map” and jot down your ideas, thoughts and subsequent ideas… You can then share and embed your Mind Map” and can collaborate with other colleagues in real time.

Take a look at an example below, this is made using the “Free Version” to get started mapping your mind click http://www.mindmeister.com

In the example above (You may need to zoom in using the zoom controls at the bottom left of the mind map) we have created several branches from the central heading of “Community Plan” Each branch can the have smaller branches showing the associated functions or information as demonstrated on the “Staff and Volunteers” branch. The possibilities are endless.

You can also use an arrow to show things that link, as demonstrated between “Positive Outcomes” and “Funding”

A great way to plan and a great way to present information for meetings etc…

Bitly: http://bitly.com/

Bitly helps you to shorten really long URL links, for example if you click http://bit.ly/oqmatR you will access www.communityboard.org.uk, even the longest links will be as short as shown in our example, this service is great when linking to PDF files that seem miles away, as demonstrated below:

The link http://www.lancashirechildrenstrust.org.uk/enewsviewer/frmDcDnLd.asp?id=11579 could prove to be a nightmare to copy down in a meeting and looks unsightly in an email, the same link looks like this http://bit.ly/pDgrR5 when converted using Bitly, furthermore you can track your links through the Bitly Website… Give it a go… http://bitly.com/ 

Open Office: www.openoffice.org

Open Office is a completely FREE Office Software Suite which is compatible with Windows / Microsoft Office files. Open Office has many benefits over other Software, please read below for more of an insight:

Why OpenOffice.org?

OpenOffice.org is synonymous with quality

• the roots of OpenOffice.org go back twenty years, creating a mature and powerful product
• hundreds of thousands of users participated in the beta testing of version 2
• independent reviewers around the world have recommended the product
• with a fully open development process, OpenOffice.org has nothing to hide – the product stands or falls on its reputation

OpenOffice.org is easy to use

• the software looks and feels familiar and is instantly usable by anyone who has used a competitive product
• it’s easy to change to OpenOffice.org – the software reads all major competitors’ files
• few language barriers - if it’s not yet available in your language, the chances are it will be soon
• OpenOffice.org is supported by a global community of friendly volunteers, only too happy to provide assistance to newcomers and advanced users alike

OpenOffice.org is free software

• you may download OpenOffice.org completely free of any licence fees
• install it on as many PCs as you like
• use it for any purpose – private, educational, government and public administration, commercial…
• pass on copies free of charge to family, friends, students, employees, etc.

OpenOffice.org is standards compliant - certified by OSI as open-standard compliant, and the first software package in the world to use OASIS OpenDocument Format (ISO 26300) as its native file format.

Find out more or try it today!

More to come!