PBworks

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PBworks
Company typePrivate
FoundedMay 30, 2005
HeadquartersSan Mateo, California, U.S.
Key people
David Weekly, Founder
Jim Groff, CEO[1]
ProductsA free/premium hosted workspace service which allows collaborative editing of pages and files
Number of employees
30
WebsitePBworks

PBworks (formerly PBwiki[2]) is a commercial real-time collaborative editing (RTCE) system created by David Weekly, with Ramit Sethi and Nathan Schmidt joining shortly thereafter as co-founders. Based in San Mateo, California,[1] United States, the company operates on a freemium basis, with basic features being offered for free and more advanced features for a fee.[3]

PBworks' investors include Mohr Davidow Ventures[4] and the Seraph Group, as well as angel investors Ron Conway and Chris Yeh.[5]

History

In 2005, David Weekly began developing software to build privately hosted wikis through a website, which he named "PeanutButterWiki"[6] The company's original name stems from the concept that "making a wiki is as easy as making a peanut butter sandwich".[7] The original beta test of PBworks was released for public comment on 31 May 2005.[8]

The site was formally launched in June 2005. In early 2008 the company launched PBworks 2.0, an improved version with a new layout, more granular security, and a more easily customizable color scheme. PBworks also launched a Mobile Edition in early 2009.

In June 2008 the company hired Jim Groff, a former employee of Oracle Corporation and Apple Inc., for its new CEO. David Weekly, the former CEO, remains its Chief Product Officer and Chairman.[1]

Today PBworks contains over 6.91 million pages of user content.[9]

Software

PBworks is hosted on an all-Linux cluster.[9] PBworks uses its own proprietary software. It added WYSIWYG editing in early 2007, and limited HTML source editing in 2008. Since 2009, the wiki is entirely HTML based, and original wiki markup language is no longer supported.[10]

Users can create free basic wiki workspaces, or upgrade to a premium plan to access additional features, such as enhanced security features, customization through CSS, and more storage space. Workspaces can be public or private (only viewable by those who have been invited to join the workspace).

The software is only available in English.

Usage

A number of businesses and corporations use PBworks to create private wikis for employees; one case study described a legal firm which had transitioned to PBworks as a document management system in order to cut their IT costs.[11] Major companies using PBworks as a host for internal documents include CafePress.com, Capgemini, Deloitte, the Financial Times, Kiva, and Wideload Games.[12] Educational groups include the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wayne State University, DePaul University, and University of Toronto.[citation needed]

Name change

On April 28, 2009, PBwiki changed its name to PBworks (at the same time launching a new Legal Edition).[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "PBwiki taps new CEO". San Francisco Business Times. 2008-07-21. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  2. ^ a b "PBwiki Changes Name to PBworks". PRnewswire. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
  3. ^ Messinger, Leah (2007-06-19). "Q&A: On Widgets and Avatars (Interview with David Feinleib of Mohr Davidow Ventures)". Red Herring. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  4. ^ Wong, Nicole C. (2007-07-02). "Young software developers eat, drink beer, talk code". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  5. ^ Kirkpatrick, Marshall (2007-02-21). "PBWiki Raises 2m". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  6. ^ Bye, Adrian (2008-06-19). "Interview with David Weekly from PBwiki". MeetInnovators.com. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  7. ^ Hagopian, Peter (2007-09-10). "Everything You Need To Know To Get Started With Content Management Systems". InformationWeek. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  8. ^ "PBwiki forum post". PBwiki. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  9. ^ a b Weekly, David (2008-05-14). "Wikis: The Crown Jewels Collaboration". ECommerce Times. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  10. ^ "PBwiki Drops The Wiki, Becomes PBworks (comment from PBwiki's VP)". Comment. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
  11. ^ Nussenbaum, Evelyn (2008-02-12). "Boosting teamwork with wikis". CNN Money. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  12. ^ "PBwiki case studies - business". PBwiki. Retrieved 2008-10-09.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=PBworks&oldid=590698620"