How can you effectively manage your entire life? Keeping a list of things to do is one thing, and probably works fine for one person in front of one computer, but what happens when you have a group of people - like a family - to keep track of?

A site called Online Homebase (http://www.onlinehomebase.com/) says it offers the answer. Don't be confused by the name, it's nothing to do with the well-known chain of DIY stores.

It was set up by Marc Fest, a German journalist now living in Miami, who wanted a simple way of storing information he stumbled across online while researching stories.

He set up Our Notebook (http://www.ournotebook.com/), a simple service that allows a group of people to edit simple notepads via a web browser.

That in turn led on to the development of Online Homebase, which added more features and moved from just simple note-storage to a much more useful things-to-do management system.

It's different from other personal information systems because it places less emphasis on filling out forms. Users can just type information into a blank sheet, as though they are writing on paper.

The clever stuff happens in the background. If someone types a reminder for "next Friday", the Online Homebase software knows what that means and will send a reminder on the correct date.

By using a few text shortcuts, people can tell Online Homebase to send them reminders by e-mail or by text message.

But it's more than just an information storage system. Pages (known within Online Homebase as "sheets") can be shared, effectively turning them into easy-to-maintain personal web sites.

Consequently the site has been used by families trying to plan holidays or house moves, or by teachers to set up a simple homework site for pupils, so they always know what the latest assignment is and when it has to be completed by.

The newest feature at Online Homebase, and by far the most interesting so far, is the ability to add new items just by sending an e-mail.

Each sheet can be updated by sending an e-mail to "username.sheetname@onlinehomebase.com", and the contents of the message will be added at the top of the page.

For people on the move or using multiple computers for different tasks, this is the kind of feature than can be extremely helpful.

You can, if you like, use a sheet at Online Homebase as a kind of personal journal or weblog. In this case, the ability to send new items by e-mail suddenly offers more intriguing possibilities; travellers could use it to keep the folks back home updated of progress, or students could maintain a diary of things discovered during a school term.

With e-mail posting enabled, they don't even have to be connected to the net to add something new. It can be composed offline, then added the next time a connection is established.

Unlike lots of other neat web services, Online Homebase isn't free. The basic service costs three dollars per month (about £1.50) or 30 dollars for a year.

If you want to test it before spending money, you can sign up for a free 14-day trial run, which lets you try out all the features without even handing over your credit card details.

Online Homebase is designed to work with Windows computers using either Netscape 7 or Internet Explorer - users of other systems and browsers would be well advised to use the trail period first, to be sure that they will be able to take advantage of all the features.

The enterprising Mr Fest is creator of other interesting web sites too.

His unique Magic Minder service (http://www.magicminder.com/) helps you keep in touch with friends by e-mailing you every so often with a reminder to contact one of them.

All you do is add a list of friends and their contact details, and Magic Minder won't let you forget to stay in touch. Because chooses who you should contact and when at random, it's a more natural, informal way of remembering your loved ones.

Another Marc Fest creation is Trackle (http://www.trackle.com/), which lets you monitor changes on several different web pages and sends you a summary e-mail once a day, with all the changes shown. A useful way to stay on top of sites you visit often.

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