Wiki App Takes Aim At ExcelWiki App Takes Aim At Excel

Now it's Microsoft Excel's turn to face competition from an online soft- ware-service provider. JotSpot Inc., which specializes in wiki software, last week released a beta version of JotSpot Tracker, a scaled-down online spreadsheet designed for collaborative use.

Wikis are Web sites that let people collaboratively view and edit content. JotSpot offers wiki applications tuned for specific tasks and uses. Wikis for project management, customer-relationship management, human resources, and other business areas have been built atop JotSpot's platform.

The online programs can be customized to some degree, avoiding the inflexibility of packaged applications and the expense of custom-coded software.

While JotSpot Tracker can import Excel spreadsheets, it doesn't match all of Excel's features. But it does offer distinct advantages. Data in spreadsheet cells can be transformed or combined with other data or online services with a single click. For instance, JotSpot Tracker offers a map view that plots addresses in a spreadsheet onto a Google Map. There's also a view that presents dates in cells as calendar entries. And JotSpot offers APIs for extending the software.

This version of JotSpot Tracker doesn't support formulas, but an update next month should address that.

JotSpot Tracker comes in two plans: free and $9.95 per month. The free plan offers two trackers, or spreadsheets, and up to five users sharing access. The paid plan lets users create up to 10 trackers shared with unlimited users.