Or, a Lil Dab’ll DB-Do ya.

WHAT: Online Spreadsheets, made better. DabbleDB.com features a faaaast video demonstration of Dabble’s functionality.

WHO WILL LOVE IT: Anyone who uses spreadsheets to track assignments, special sections, clients or finances will be impressed with DabbleDB’s versatility - especially reporters who crunch data and reps who crunch numbers.

WHY: Excel spreadsheets are clunky and often crash on Macs. Google Spreadsheets are somewhat better, but DabbleDB offers more flexibility.

HOW IT ROCKS: To import your old spreadsheets, you can *cut and paste* your old spreadsheets. You can also cut and paste info you find online, such as public records search results.

Dabble allows you to select which fields you want to see at any given time … which means you can have a giant spreadsheet, but you can easily just compare and sort by two columns — without having to cut and paste your info into a new spreadsheet.

Below is a screenshot of my Dabble account, as I sort by AAN member papers with a MySpace presence.

You can also re-arrange your columns easily and on a whim. Filters allow you to display only the info you need (like “unpaid accounts”).

I asked AAN Awards Contest Administrator Heather Kuldell, who works with massive spreadsheets, for her take on Dabble:

The handiest part of Dabble DB is combining the view feature with the export features. For the AltWeekly Awards, I have large spreadsheets of information on judges — first name, last name, email, mailing addresses, what categories they judge, reading assignments, etc. But I only need to see a few columns for various steps of the awards. One view I have is simply a view that shows a first name, last name, and mailing address that I can export as a .csv file, which I can flow into Word to create mailing labels.

HOW TO USE IT: DabbleDB has a lot of great “help” info with screenshots embedded into the site, so the best way to figure out DabbleDB is to set up a trial account.

COST: Free, if you are OK with your info being public [Free account info]. Free, if you remember to delete your account within the 30 day trial period. Or, for a private account $10/month. [See Dabble DB pricing plans]

NERD NOTE: To create a free account, set up a 30 day trial account. Follow instructions to ‘upgrade your account’ - but choose the Free option, not a paid one.