There are heaps of tools out there to help you with your project work. Be it a 3rd-grade science project or the implementation of a lucrative new business idea they mostly offer the same service. Many of these apps are very good indeed, great even, but few offer the simplicity and versatility of Popplet. When it comes to project work, no matter what the level, Popplet can be relied upon to perform well from beginning to end.
What makes Popplet such a useful project tool? Well, over the course of the next few blog posts we’re going to find out by concentrating on the following areas:
- Research
- Information Management
- Creating Quality Visuals
- Presentations
Every good project starts with solid research and hopefully, we’ve done ours. Popplet is such a good research tool because…
Images
At this point of the project, we are gathering information and searching for inspiration. Images in the form of photos and animation can be a source of both. Maybe you see an image that you feel represents your idea, whole or in part, and you want to keep it or maybe you have found something you might use later. Whatever the reason, these images can be stored on a popplet. Additionally, if you are using Popplet on the iPhone/iPod/iPad then open up the Popplet app, take a photo of anything you want to keep, then add it directly to any popplet board.
Text
You’re going to need some text of course. Could be information representing your ideas or something more text-heavy as in explanations. Popplet can cope with both and comes with a respectable suite of text editing features to help with the management and presentation of different texts. Copy and paste, type your own, or press the little microphone on any iOS device and convert speech. It’s worth noting that text and images can be added to the same popple.
Links
One could attempt a project these days without the use of the internet but that would be highly unusual and unthinkable to most. It would also be a little silly! That’s why, when we created Popplet, we made sure that users would be able to add URLs to their work. They are added in a similar way to text but turn blue in color when hovered on and the popple displays a “go to link” message. All the links you discover and want to keep can be stored on Popplet.
Popplet Comments
Even at the early stages of a project, you may want to get into the habit of cutting down on the clutter and keeping your work manageable. We don’t want to be discarding information just yet but if there are things that we feel do not belong with the main body of the work then Popplet can add it as a comment. Popples with comments are distinguishable from other popplets by a little black text bubble which when clicked reveals the information that has been added.
A very useful feature which brings us nicely to the next one – collaboration.
Collaboration
Some projects may be solo. Others may not. Some might begin as a solo effort and need the help of others at a later stage. Popplet knows this and allows a popplet’s creator to add as many collaborators as they like to a project whenever they need to.
Collaborators, when added, are done so with different levels of permissions:
- addition of comments only
- addition of comments and editing
This way, you can start to manage your team and assign tasks in a timely fashion. Individual popplet collaborators are distinguishable from each other by name tags which appear on popples.
Popplet Linker
Popplet linker lets you add popplets to other popplets as popples. If you think about it, this really gives you the facility to create a vast information network of popplets. However, as we’re only just getting started, let’s keep it simple.
When it comes to research you will have strands of information that you want to keep parked, but not so parked that you will forget about them! Popplet linker allows this. Maybe you have Popplet work from a previous project, maybe you have unearthed something interesting on Public Popplets, or a collaborator has contributed something interesting…whatever the reason, large amounts of information can be kept unobtrusively close to hand on the body of the main work.
Watch this space for the remaining phases of Project Popplet.
How’s your research going? Do you have any Popplet projects on the go at the moment? If you do, we would like to hear about them. Share with us, the Popplet community on Twitter or our Facebook page.
Project Popplet 2: Data Management