A nifty Internet application.
Written: Aug 18 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy to manage Zaplets, simple interfaces.
Cons: Cannot edit posts, not many advanced options.
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| JamesWong's Full Review: Zaplet |
You might have lurked around or posted messages on various message boards. You might even be moderating or running your own.
But what if you want to limit a discussion to a few group of people rather than have it broadcasted over the web? Mass e-mailing your friends is great, but it can also bring unwarranted replies and a lot of confusion...
Some of my friends (ePinions members Alkaiser, Wasabipanda, SixKillz, etc.) and some others started using Zaplets just recently for this purpose. I think of Zaplets as "portable" discussion threads.
After registering through the site, you can create and modify different kinds of Zaplets:
Discussions
Polls
Schedules
Photo Albums
Invitations
Tables
Tasks
Contacts
Create-A-Story
Collectors
I am aware that there are other collaboration Internet applications (like anyday.com), but Zaplets have seemed to gain popularity within my circle of friends. We mainly use Zaplets for polling or discussions.
Once your Zaplet is created, it is e-mailed to you and whoever else you E-mail it too. If additional people want to partake in the discussion, they can look at the Zaplet and sign on as well.
The Zaplets are sent through e-mail, so all you'll ever have is one e-mail message per Zaplet, thus reducing the chance of your Inbox getting filled up. No longer do you have to worry about discussions and redundant forwards and replies from a mass mailing.
If you delete your Zaplet by accident, the Zaplet is of course stored on the Zaplet.com website. So you have both the option of accessing the site itself or just using your E-mail client to check on your messages.
Using a Zaplet requires that your E-mail client be able to read HTML formats, so anyone running Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, Outlook Express or any similar programs will be fine. Those running Telnet sessions in UNIX will probably be out of luck for this feature (sorry, hardcore users!).
One thing I like about the Zaplets site is that there is little overhead, but this can also be a disadvantage for users who want more options. For instance, I am unable to edit posts - I can only undo them :(
The polling Zaplet is useful and convenient. Some of my friends use them for deciding where to go for lunch (most of them have their e-mail running while they work, so all they need to do is "refresh" the Zaplet message and the thread shows the latest additions).
As of this ePinion, Zaplet registration is free, so it's worth checking out if you like the idea of threaded discussions or chatting forum-style. I hope that they add extra features (most importantly the ability to edit previous posts) once the site is out of Beta.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
JamesWong
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Location: California
Reviews written: 60
Trusted by: 40 members
About Me:
Video/PC gamer, video editor.
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