I love Stixy!

Stixy, an online bulletin board, works the way I think. That is a miracle in itself. I have always loved bulletin boards, at least the cork kinds for personal use. Schoolroom bulletin boards are another story. The cork boards are like life collages for me. I don't currently have one hanging in my house because I was trying to go for the less cluttered look. So yesterday, when I rediscovered Stixy, I was happy all over again. I have a nice neat place for a virtual bulletin board.

I first used Stixy two Christmases ago as I was trying to organize for the season and share my thoughts with my sister. The board allows uploads of pictures, documents (Christmas lists) and links. One of the fun parts is the sticky notes. They are available in many colors and have customizable fonts. They can be resized, layered, and moved all over the place. I love to put lists on the sticky notes. The board also has dated to do list widgets. Time and date are customizable. For some reason I like these much better than a calendar on a grid. These notes can be moved, layered, and even deleted. Important dates can be emphasized by making the to do list larger. For when a more linear calendar is necessary, there is a beta version that will actually synch with the to do lists. Hovering over a date will show the list!

Now I know there are many fancy productivity things available online these days. But the reason I like this one is that it is unpretentious and it allows for creativity. It doesn't claim to be fancy or do everything. The only annoying thing that I've found so far is that now and then I have a sticky note "fly" away from the others, and I have to drag it back. I haven't figured out what I'm doing to make that happen yet. The board itself has no boundaries. It can be as wide or long as desired.

Today I read a blog post about a way to make Stixy a desktop application. I don't think it will work in Vista, so that's bad for me, but it would be neat.

Just as a side note, on the 3M website there is a whole section devoted to classroom uses and lesson plans for using real post its. I can only imagine what combining these ideas with Stixy could spark. Have fun!