Holy Grail of web-based file management?

June 11, 2008 10:36 AM

Holy Grail of web-based file management needed for girlfriend's non-profit ... so far, no luck.

My girlfriend has been picking my brain for months about ideas for a file management system for her office. I've scoured Metafilter and shown her many sites but nothing has been perfect.

Her criteria:
- Hosts all kinds of files from JPEGs to spreadsheets
- Web-based
- Intuitive, Accessible to non-Geeks
- Searchable / Tags
- Bulletin board for messages, links, web addresses
- Tasks and Calendars would be great
- Budget is limited (Boss hasn't mentioned $ figure though)

Has already looked at:
- Basecamp (I think she likes it but hasn't settled)
- Wikispaces (?)
- Access (I would think this would be intimidating)
- PHPfileNavigator2 ("too clunky" and questioned the search capability)

Personally, I use Basecamp but I think there has been resistance for some reason. If you all want to vote or have other apps in mind, I thank you kindly. Let's put this to bed.

posted by metajc to Computers & Internet (10 answers total)

Response by poster: Sorry, also ... I think she would be fine with network applications as long as they allow remote login.

They're 14 people in a mostly-Vista PC laptop environment.

Also, she says that they thought Basecamp was too expensive.
posted by metajc at 10:41 AM on June 11, 2008

I recognize that it's a nonprofit, but honestly, anything cheaper than Backpack or Basecamp is getting into "roll your own for free" territory, and if you don't have someone who *can* roll it, you have a problem. If $50/month is too much, what *is* the target budget?
posted by Tomorrowful at 10:49 AM on June 11, 2008

Perhaps Backpack is a simpler, cheaper alternative to Basecamp?
posted by crickets at 10:52 AM on June 11, 2008

Might want to see what non-profit pricing she can get for Sharepoint + Windows2003.
posted by damn dirty ape at 10:53 AM on June 11, 2008

Response by poster: Thanks, you all. I wasn't aware backpackit did all that stuff now. Also, Sharepoint is completely new 2 me.

My coworkers saw me typing this up and have recommended:

- Google sites
- PBWiki
- MediaWiki
posted by metajc at 11:09 AM on June 11, 2008

Windows SharePoint Services is a free add-on to Windows Server and does absolutely everything you want. As a bonus, I haven't seen anything easier to use for non-geeks.
posted by cnc at 11:14 AM on June 11, 2008

Google Sites. It's so easy, and if they sign up to Google Apps, it's an integrated component. You can embed your Google Calendar into it and it has a custom list page type that suits tasks perfectly.
posted by idb at 11:27 AM on June 11, 2008

I would add that if they do opt for Sharepoint or similar from The Beast From Redmond, make sure they get it through the charity licensing program.
posted by mrbugsentry at 12:19 PM on June 11, 2008

Windows SharePoint Services (WSS 3.0) is free with Windows Server. Document libraries are what it does absolutely best, but discussion boards, announcements, some really limited calendaring, and wiki's are very nearly one-click installs.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:59 PM on June 11, 2008

WSS is free, but not as cool as SPS, which costs money, but not much for a 401c was my point.
posted by mrbugsentry at 2:32 PM on June 11, 2008