Zoho Writer, part of the online Zoho office suite, was updated this morning to include some new features that users have been asking for. These new additions, which include support for the DocX file format, a thesaurus, a “sharing with groups” feature, and enhancements to headers/footers and endnotes/footnotes, bring Zoho Writer that much closer to being a viable alternative to desktop software.
To begin with, Zoho Writer now provides support for the Microsoft OOXML format for Word. Previously, ODF import and export was provided in Writer, but now the ability to export to DocX is available, too. Zoho also claims that the ability to import DocX files is coming soon. This option is an addition to the already available export options, which include exporting to DOC, TXT, HTML, PDF, ODF, SXW and RTF.
In what may be one of the more popular of the new features is the addition of a thesaurus, which is now an option on the contextual menu. The new thesaurus offers 10 different languages to choose from and can be used to lookup words. Future versions will provide replace functionality as well.
File sharers will appreciate the new “group sharing feature,” which allows for more collaboration between colleagues. Instead of having to enter in multiple email addresses, this time-saving feature lets you create groups of people. Then you just select “Share” and choose the “Share with Groups” tab. These groups will be visible across all the Zoho applications, too.
The enhancements made to Endnotes/Footnotes and Headers/Footers now allow for the retention of the items when the document is exported to other formats. Manual page breaks are also supported in export/import as well.
This latest update to Writer also includes other enhancements and bug fixes, too.
