Who has ever tried to create an org chart using Word? Three days later you throw your hands up in frustration because the chart elements never will line up. Good news my friends, those days are long gone. Try out flowchart.

Simply, it’s a web-based chart creator, you can do them from scratch or use one of the many pre-made templates. The process is drag and drop. There are a variety of advanced options, element color, size, shape, arrangement, background/foreground layering. You can print directly from the editor, or export to PDF or PNG format.

You can also share the chart with friends to collaborate/view it online. The one drawback I see is that you have to know the username of each friend when inviting them to share a chart. Other collaborative services I’ve used will usually allow entry of an e-mail address as well, so if the user does not exist in the database, an invitation will be issued.

My last thing to mention. Flowchart is still in beta test, but if you enter your e-mail address on their website, they should send you a beta test invite code within a day. If not, let me know, I have 7 invites left to give out. Given the great functionality already present in the beta test, I’m excited to see what the public release will look like.