DocShots makes it easier to share documents on your web site

The folks behind online document sharing service DocStoc have released a new product called DocShots. The new tool is designed for web publishers who want to be able to share Word, Excel, PDF, or other documents with their readers without redirecting visitors to a new page or pasting a huge embedded document viewer on a web page.

Here's how it works. You install a bit of code on your site and whenever someone hovers their mouse over a document link you've placed on your site, a preview window will pop up showing the document. You can customize the size of the preview document and you can decide whether the documents you upload will be marked as public or private.

Readers will also be bale to find a list of related documents and other documents uploaded by the same user, all without navigating away from the web page.

Overall, I can definitely see this service adding value to some web sites. On the other hand, I can also see it annoying the bejesus out of some people who accidentally hover over the wrong links, much the way that pop up windows from Snap or Vibrant Media ads do.

Tags: docshots, docstoc, documents