Springnote
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| Springnote | |
|---|---|
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 Screenshot of Springnote |
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| URL | Springnote |
| Type of site | Online notebook |
| Available language(s) | English Korean |
| Owner | NCsoft |
| Created by | Openmaru |
| Launched | March 28, 2007 |
| Current status | Beta |
Springnote is a free WYSIWYG wiki-based online notebook web application developed by Openmaru, a studio of game company NCsoft. Springnote takes the fundamentals of wiki in terms of collaboration, fast and easy editing, wiki markups, keyboard shortcuts, and linking to provide a online notebook web application that is aimed towards everyone. Springnote can be used for a wide variety of purposes - from writing notes, organization, scheduling, and group projects, among many other possible scenarios. Springnote is always in write-mode, enabling users to immediately edit pages that are saved through an autosave feature. Springnote also acts as a work space where you can easily share and access other users' pages through a community of user-generated content.
Springnote was launched first in South Korea in March 2007. The English version of Springnote was launched the following October and is currently released in open beta.
[edit] History
[edit] Company
Springnote was developed by Openmaru, a studio of a South Korean based game company NCsoft, in March of 2007. While NCsoft is popular for producing and publishing MMORPGs like Lineage, Lineage II, and Guild Wars, Openmaru is a studio of NCsoft that is dedicated in developing and offering new Internet services and web applications.
Openmaru was established by NCsoft in August 2006.
[edit] Name
The name Springnote comes from the combination of two words – spring and note. Springnote uses the word spring as a verb where one thing (or idea) springs from another. Note comes from the user’s perspective on note taking in their notebook. A notebook could be used for various tasks, yet it all depends on what user wants. Thus, the words spring and note together imply for notes that continue to spring, or in other words for notes to be link to one another.[1]
[edit] Launch
While initial development of Springnote started the summer of 2006, Springnote was officially launched in South Korea on March 2007. Springnote was released as an open beta service where much of the feedback from beta users was implicated in later releases.[2]
Months later, Springnote attended the Web 2.0 Expo in Tokyo in November 2007 to launch their first release succeeding their original beta version released in March 2007. This was Springnote's first time promoting and exposing Springnote to the public. Springnote had a booth and also presented at a Launch Pad session.[3] Through this conference, Springnote received feedback on Springnote and also insights on how to refine Springnote.[4]
Springnote also attended the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco in April 2008 as a diamond sponsor for further promotion and possible partnership opportunities with other US based companies. Springnote gave a presentation on how Web 2.0 applications (like Springnote) are transforming the entire country.[5] Springnote's large booth attracted many and received excellent feedback and responses from conference attendees.[6]
On May 26, 2008, Springnote launched an official website partnership with Yahoo! Korea. Through this partnership, a link to Springnote is now displayed on Yahoo! Korea's homepage.[7]
Springnote is still in beta and plans to officially release Springnote during the second half of 2008.
[edit] Features
[edit] OpenID
Springnote supports OpenID authentication. OpenID is a decentralized, free and open standard that allows Internet users to log on to many different web sites using a single digital identity, eliminating the need for a different user name and password for each site. Springnote supports both OpenID authentication 1.0 and 2.0. OpenID is gaining popularity from many organiziations like AOL, BBC, Microsoft, Google, IBM, VeriSign, and Yahoo! among many other organizations acting as providers.[8][9][10][11][12] When initially registering for a Springnote account, those that do not have an OpenID will have one automatically created through myid.net, an OpenID provider created by Openmaru.
[edit] Web Hosted
Springnote is completely web hosted which requires no separately installation of any software. All Springnote functionality is utilized from a web browser. Springnote currently supports Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7, and Firefox 2.
[edit] Collaboration
While concurrent, real-time collaboration features are available in web office applications such as Google Docs and Zoho Office Suite, Springnote provides a turn-based collaboration system. While a set collaborator is editing a page, a notification on who is editing the corresponding page appears on the screen. When this is turned off, another person will be given access to edit the page.
[edit] Organization
One feature that has been appraised by many is Springnote’s page organization system.[13] Page organization is made easy through a drag and drop method resembling the method used in Mac OS and Windows. From the user's Springnote account, all pages can be viewed through a panel to the left similar to Windows Explorer. This panel can be resized or hidden depending on the user's preference. All pages created in Springnote have a static address that is not affected by page renaming or page relocation.
[edit] Search
Springnote includes various ways of finding specific pages. Users can search for pages in Springnote's homepage for public pages. Pages searched within a user's account includes an autocompletion feature when searching for page titles.
[edit] Always in Write-Mode
One feature of Springnote that is positively praised is having the WYSIWYG editor always in write-mode.[14] Immediately after signing in, any Springnote page that a user has writing access to will be able to immediately edit the page without having to separately push an edit button to start editing.
[edit] Linking and Creating Pages
Creating pages and links to pages are simplified through a link system that Springnote provides. Through a simple keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+Space on Windows), users can create links to either pre-existing pages or non-existent pages. Links to pages within a user's Springnote account are assisted through an autocompletion system. Clicking a link to a non-existent page in Springnote will automatically ask to create a new page.
[edit] Multimedia Insertion
Along with many text formatting Springnote also allows the insertion of various multimedia file formats. Image file formats supported are Portable Network Graphics (PNG), JPEG (JPG), and Graphics Interchange Format (GIF). Video can be added to a Springnote page by inputting the embed code or source code of the video. Currently supported video sources are videos from YouTube and Yahoo! Video.
[edit] File Compatibility
Springnote supports the importing of several file formats including Microsoft Word (DOC), OpenDocument text (ODT), Text files (TXT), HTML, and Hangul Word Processor (HWP) files. These file formats are converted into XHTML as pages in Springnote.
[edit] Templates
Springnote has a wide variety templates that users can choose from when creating pages. Available templates include templates for projects, profiles, monthly calendars, weekly calendars, todo lists, class timetable, reports, meeting notes, etc.
[edit] XHTML Support
Pages created in Springnote are saved in XHTML which has the same depth of expression as HTML while also conforming to XML syntax. Thus, text formatting, along with page editing, allows flexibility and simplified formatting. For example, if the location of a user's page is:
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http://username.springnote.com/pages/1234567
then the actual page in XHTML is as follows:
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http://username.springnote.com/pages/1234567.xhtml
which can be easily modified and implemented.
[edit] Unlimited Text Storage
All accounts in Springnote are allowed to have an infinite amount of pages along with text storage. Springnote also provides each account with 2 gigabytes of separate file storage.
[edit] Blog Posting Support
Pages created in Springnote can be directly posted to an external blog. While TypePad, MovableType, and WordPress blog posting are already integrated in the settings menu, other blogs can also be manually set up for blog posting.
[edit] Customizable Privacy Settings
Each page created in Springnote has its own properties in public/privacy and permission settings. This allows flexibility in terms of the utilization of individual pages. Users can specify each page to be viewed or contributed by a specific person or group.
[edit] Plug-ins
Springnote supports the use of plug-ins. Current plug-ins available include a slideshow, table of contents, paragraph title search, star rating, and calendar plug-in.
[edit] Back Up
Springnote offers features that allow users to back up their pages and data and save it to their local computer. Pages can be downloaded individually through HTML format or can be downloaded all at once in one ZIP file that contains HTML files.
[edit] Bookmarks
From within a user's Springnote account, users can set up bookmarks to go directly to specific pages when clicked. The bookmark panel is set up on the right panel. Users can also set a color to each bookmark.
[edit] Tags
Tags can be assigned to all Springnote pages. Tags can be assigned by keyword or terms associated with the page, thus describing the page and enabling keyword-based classification and easier search of information by folksonomy means.
[edit] Open API
[edit] Open API
Springnote has an open API available for developers provided by Openmaru. API documents are also available for Springnote.
[edit] Mashups
Besides the plug-ins provided in Springnote, through the available the open API, developers can coalesce data from other sources into a single web application to be implemented into Springnote. Currently available mashups include integration with Windows Live Messenger and Flickr.
[edit] Open Source
[edit] Xquared
Xquared is an open source WYSIWYG web editor module that is currently being used by Springnote. Xquared is written entirely in JavaScript and is based on XHTML standards, thus requiring no separate installation. Xquared uses Mercurial as a repository and provides various expansion points while also generating valid HTML documents.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Why is the service name called "Springnote?". Springnote (2007-10-12). Retrieved on 2008-05-28.
- ^ Release Notes - Springnote Help Center. Springnote (2007-10-12). Retrieved on 2008-05-28.
- ^ TechnoKimchi at Web 2.0 Expo Tokyo!. TechnoKimchi (2007-11-15). Retrieved on 2008-05-28.
- ^ Springnote presenting Web 2.0 Launchpad. Openmaru (2007-10-19). Retrieved on 2008-05-28.
- ^ Speaker: Taewoo Danny Kim: Web 2.0 Expo San Francisco 2008. Web 2.0 Expo (2008-04-22). Retrieved on 2008-05-28.
- ^ SpringNote - Wiki-based Online Notes. zedomax.com (2008-04-24). Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ Springnote & Yahoo! Korea. Springnote (2008-05-28). Retrieved on 2008-05-28.
- ^ How do I get an OpenID?. OpenID Foundation. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
- ^ Riley, Duncan (2008-01-18). Google Offers OpenID Logins Via Blogger. TechCrunch. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
- ^ Brian Krebs (2007-02-06). Microsoft to Support OpenID. Retrieved on 2008-03-01.
- ^ Technology Leaders Join OpenID Foundation to Promote Open Identity Management on the Web (008-02-07).
- ^ Bergman, Artur. "OpenID Foundation - Google, IBM, Microsoft, VeriSign and Yahoo", O'Reilly Media, 2008-02-07. Retrieved on 2008-03-19.
- ^ Organize Your Notes and Projects with Springnote. Instructify (2008-05-28). Retrieved on 2008-05-28.
- ^ Become a Springnote Beta Tester. Kaisyu's Notes (2007-03-18). Retrieved on 2008-05-28.
