OnlineHomeBase - How does it work?

(better known as OnlineHomeBase) This page gives you an overview about OnlineHomeBase's basic functions. You'll need less than three minutes to read it all. But first... Why was this thing also called "1q11" ??? Well, the "q" can be thought of as standing for "quick", but that's just a coincidence. To tell you the truth, the name really came up by checking the availability of fast-to-type domain names. "1q11" is fast to type, since the "1" and the "q" keys are neighbors on your keyboard... top | home

What is OnlineHomeBase for?

• Ever had some notes you jotted down at work that you wanted to access at home, or vice versa?
  
  
• Ever wanted to get to important data while on a trip (for instance the phone numbers for your credit cards -- after losing your wallet)?
  
  
• Ever wanted a quick way of making sure you won't forget about the flowers for mom tomorrow, by setting up a reminder that will be emailed to your inbox or cellphone in the morning?

OnlineHomeBase let's you store and retrieve text information in easily manageable "sheets" within a password-protected Web account. OnlineHomeBase was designed with the "10-Second Rule" in mind: If it takes you longer than 10 seconds to make a note or set up a reminder, you won't have the patience to do it, with all the consequences that forgetting about a spontaneous idea or about an important to-do brings.

OnlineHomeBase beats the 10-Seconds Rule in how easy, fast and straight-forward it makes accessing, organizing and updating your information.

You can access all the information all the time, from all places where you can get online. Think of it as your nest on the Web. Your base. Your shack. Your den.

You can encrypt sensitive information, adding to the username / password protection.

You can turn a note into an automatic email reminder in an instant, simply by adding a single "time command line" like ";;wed 9am" (which the system interprets as "deliver the note above next Wednesday at 9 a.m."). Having OnlineHomeBase email you reminders to your cell phone is especially effective -- since you almost always have your cell phone with you.

OnlineHomeBase offers other unique features, like sharing your sheets with other people, archiving and calendar functions.

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Basic functions

OnlineHomeBase is as easy and fast as it gets.:

• Click the NEW button to create a new sheet for notes, memos, reminders or love letters. You can create as many sheets as you want.
• Click the SAVE button (or CTRL-SHIFT-S) to save any text after you have entered it in your sheet.
• Switch between sheets by selecting from the drop down menu to the right of the save button.
• Click the DELETE link to, you guessed it, delete the currently displayed sheet.
• Click the RENAME link to rename the currently displayed sheet.

Is this easy or WHAT ???

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Searching

Click the SEARCH link to search all your sheets for a phrase (practical if you have many sheets). Search results are displayed the way you know it from search engines. Click on a result, and you'll be taken to the appropriate sheet with the search phrase already highlighted, so you don't have to look for it. Not even Windows XP lets you do THAT. Here's a sample search result page:



Email Reminders

Let's say, into one of your sheets, you enter an item like "send flowers to mom". If you add the line ";;mon 0900", OnlineHomeBase will send you an email saying "send flowers to mom" on the following Monday at 9 a.m.

Really!!! It is THAT easy.

There's more information on email reminders and the use of time code lines in the help section, explaining even fancier things you can do with them (like repeat reminders).

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Sharing your sheets

OnlineHomeBase provides a simple way of sharing your sheets with friends and co-workers by sending them a Web address that will log them into whichever of your sheets you want. For instance, depending on what link you provide, you can give someone read-only access or so-called read/write access, i.e. the ability to make changes as well. This makes OnlineHomeBase an easy-to-use collaboration tool for teams. Simply click on SHARING to share a sheet.

As with all, there's more information on sharing and bookmarking sheets in the help section.

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Different Layout  Options

When you create a new sheet, you can choose from 4 different layouts for your sheet. By clicking on "options" you can set 1 of 3 different display modes for a sheet:

	4 columns: 4 columns, each taking up a quarter of the screen 1 column: just one column, stretching across the entire screen; similar to a Word document 4-week Calendar: a 4 by 7 grid of inputboxes representing four weeks 3 Columns + Calendar: the first three columns are for note style entries, the 4th column is separate into 28 boxes calendar-style
You can change the layout of a sheet even after it is created by clicking "options".

Example for 3 Column / Calendar layout:

Example for Calendar Layout:

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Archiving

Whenever you enter a note or memo or reminder into OnlineHomeBase, that entry is also added to the sheet's archive, together with a time stamp. This is practical for looking up a note you made a long time ago and have since deleted. Of course, you can edit and delete information from a sheet's archive. Below is a sample archive page:

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Protecting your sheets using encryption

Clicking on the ENCRYPT link allows you to encrypt a sheet with a password. If you lose a sheet's password, OnlineHomeBase staff will not be able to retrieve it for you or elsewise give you access to the information stored in your sheet since the password you used is not stored anywhere on the system. Use the ENCRYPT feature to create additional security for sensitive information. Make sure to not forgot the password.

Backup feature

Clicking on the BACKUP link allows you to easily combine the contents from all your work sheets into a single text file that you can then save as a back up on your computer's hard drive.

Keyboard Shortcuts

In the name of speed, OnlineHomeBase offers "CTRL-SHIFT-letter" style keyboard short cuts for all important functions: "S" saves, "N" creates a new work sheet, "X" does a search in all your sheets etc. For more shortcuts, see the HELP file.

Who needs something as strange and quirky as OnlineHomeBase?

Marc Fest does. He created OnlineHomeBase because he wanted it for himself. Marc has a history of creating quirky Web tools. Another example is Quickbrowse.com - a Web service enabling users to combine frequently viewed Web pages into a single page for faster reading. Quickbrowse became the first so-called "metabrowser" on the Web after Marc created it -- originally just to facilitate his daily research as a news correspondent based out of Miami.

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More information

For a detailed description of all OnlineHomeBase features, please consult the HELP page.


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