Access files from any computer with Zoho

Broadband has had an unexpected effect on the way we use computers. Documents and programs are no longer restricted to a single computer. Instead the previously humble web browser can be used as a word processor, spreadsheet or presentation editor.

Those applications are not included with the browser though. Instead you use it to access applications stored online. This is ‘cloud computing’, which means you create and edit documents stored on the internet. The advantage is that you can access your work and documents from any computer that has a broadband connection, even on a laptop using a wireless hotspot.

We are going to look at how the applications in a free office suite called Zoho can be used to create and share documents. In our example a family will be using Zoho to organise a surprise 60th birthday party, with relatives from around the country sharing invitation lists, gift lists, food and drink costs, jobs that need doing and an online photo gallery for after the event.

Getting started
Zoho costs nothing to use but you may need to register first. If you have a Google Mail or Yahoo Mail account though, the log-in details for these services can be used to access Zoho. If you sign in with one of these other accounts, you will need to create a Zoho username and click in the box to agree to the Terms of Service. Click on Update and log in.

If you need to create an account for Zoho, click on the Sign up link at the top right. Enter a username, email address and password. The password should be a combination of letters, numbers and other characters so it is hard for other people to guess. Enter the text in the image and click in the box to agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Signing up to the Zoho newsletter is optional. Click on Sign up Now button and a verification email will be sent to you. Click on ‘Continue Signing in’ to go to the main Zoho page. Check your email and follow the instructions to confirm the account.

The default Zoho page shows all of the services available in Zoho, along with an explanation of the limitations of a free account. Click on a title to start that application. Alternatively, click on the link for a view that shows all of your documents and Zoho emails. Zoho lets you use your username@zoho.com as an email address and it can read emails from other accounts.

Making a guest list
Our first task is to create a list of guests with all the information we need to create our invitations. Go to http://sheet.zoho.com. If you are already logged in to another part of Zoho, you will arrive at the spreadsheet view, otherwise enter your username and password and click on the Sign in button.

A blank spreadsheet will appear. Click in the tab at the top that says Untitled, delete this text and enter a name for the document. Press Enter to confirm the name and save the document.

Information can be entered much like you would using Microsoft Excel. Click on cell A1 and enter the first column heading, Name, press Tab to confirm the entry and move to the cell to the right.

Sadly, unlike Excel, Zoho Sheet will not return to the beginning of the table when you press Enter at the end of a row. Instead press Home to return to Column A in that row.

We added columns for the email address of the invitee, postal address, gift, gift price, job, job price and whether their RSVP has been received.

Zoho Sheet can format figures just like Excel, which is useful when expenditure is recorded in the spreadsheet. Select all the cells in Column F which is used to record money spent on jobs, click on the down arrow next to the dollar symbol and select £ ­ – British Pound. A total of the selected cells is shown at the bottom of the window.

Using formulas offers a permanent way of displaying this total. Enter Total jobs cost in cell A2 and press tab to move to cell B2. Start typing =sum( and left-click the mouse pointer carefully in each cell containing the figures. Press Enter to confirm the cells. Cell B2 will now show the total cost of all jobs.

Mail merge in Zoho can only create a maximum of five merged documents, regardless of how many rows are in the spreadsheet. If you want to use mail merge for creating invitations, you will need to use either Microsoft Office or Open Office. Click on the Export button and select the correct format to use the Zoho information in your mail merge. All programs can use a Comma Separated Values file, so select this if you are not sure which format to use.

Once you have a list you can start inviting people. Click on Switch to and then Zoho Writer to start the word processor. There are icons for saving and printing on the left-hand side of the toolbar.

The rest of the toolbar is taken up with other functions, arranged like the Ribbon in Office 2007. Click on the title at the top to see more tools. The font and size can be changed by clicking on the Format tab and choosing different options in the dropdown menus. Images and photos can be added by clicking on the Insert tab.

See the three-step guide below for more information about printing. Alternatively you can email the document. Click on Share and then Email out. Enter an email address and select whether you want the document included in the body text of the email or as an attachment. Then click on Send.

Print documents from Zoho
Printing direct from Zoho Writer is fine for drafts. Click on the Print icon in the Zoho toolbar. Check the correct printer is selected and change any options as required. Click on OK to print.

To print documents for someone else, they should first be saved as a PDF document. Click on the Export icon, the second from right in the top row of the toolbar icons. Click on PDF then Open.

The document will open in the default program for PDFs ­ this will normally be Adobe Reader. Click on the File menu and then Print. Change any options as required and click on OK.