Web clippings in under ten minutes

Storing and presenting information found on the Web can be done in a variety of ways. Many users of the Web are accustomed to the simple bookmarking process; however, the content located at the saved URL may change on a daily or a monthly basis. In addition, receiving many URLs at once may be overwhelming. Another well-known method of storing content is to save the document in .html format. The pitfall in using this technique is that none of the graphics (.GIF and .JPEG) will appear in the document. As a result, the content will not look too appealing in a presentation to audiences. The identical problems arise when individuals use the old cut-and-paste procedure, which is the quickest and easiest way to archive text off a Web site.

In this month's toolkit, we will take a look at the following five software applications that will overcome the problems discussed above.

All of the products listed above attempt to help individuals do Web clippings in less than 10 minutes with various options to present content professionally to colleagues and clients.

Competia Rating Legend

A	Great
A-	Very Good
B+	Good
B	Not Bad

Webforia

Webforia is one of the most flexible, powerful and efficient Web-clipping tools for business professionals. The tool is comprised of two parts that make it extremely easy for users to gather and present content on Web. I) Organizer and II) Reporter.

I) Webforia Organizer -

Webforia Organizer provides users with the ability to manipulate text, hyperlinks, and images found on the Web in various ways. While in Organizer, users can enter URLs in the address box to access specific Web pages or utilize the search engines provided to find content on a desired topic. Once a page with relevant content is found, users may select the entire page or a paragraph. Selecting an entire page to place in a file is a matter of dragging an icon from the right side of the application's window to the left side. Paragraphs can be filed away by highlighting them and then clicking the "Clip" icon on the Webforia ClipBar. ClipBar gives you quick access to saving or bookmarking pages.

In addition to the ability to select content, Organizer furnishes a library where users can store content based on different sub-topics and monitor sites for updates. As the information is placed in the different files within the library, a summary box is provided to write a short descriptive blurb on the content.

Webforia will take certain keywords from the summaries to use to track any changes in content on the Web. The keywords will also furnish users with a search utility to locate content in the library, which could be comprised of hundreds of pages of Web clippings.

I) Webforia Reporter -

As the name suggests, Webforia Reporter is the part of the software which is responsible for presenting the finding from Internet research in a professional manner. Equipped with a variety of templates for presentations, users can drag content, company logos and graphics into the document to capture the attention of the audience. Reporter gives users the unique option to include Microsoft Word documents, and Microsoft PowerPoint presentations in a report created in Webforia by a series of mouse clicks. As a result, Webforia gives users a tool to package data found on and off-line in a single reporting application.

After utilizing Webforia on a few occasions, we found it to be one of the best Web-clipping applications available on the market for Internet research specialists. Within a matter of minutes, Web searchers can compile a number of pages of content complete with images and URLs, which remains static. We discovered the following features of Organizer and Reporter are what make this product important to have on your desktop.

Organizer:

Competia Online Magazine Review: A

To download a trial version of Webforia Organizer and Reporter for 30 days, please visit the Webforia product download page here.

Octopus

Octopus is an application which allows users to surf the Web, evaluate the content and then drag and drop it into "Views." The application breaks down a Web page based on its elements, such as text, graphics, and hyperlinks. This allows users to pick and choose what they want in a view. As a result, content (text and graphics) can be manipulated to fix the needs of the user's audience. There are two ways in which users may make use of the Octopus tool.

From the Octopus Web site, individuals can search for information or input URLs where content is posted. With all the application tools available, users may create a view with the elements of the document on the Web. Users can see how their views will appear as soon as the elements are dragged into the mini window intended to store the content.

While on the Web, users can locate information and execute Octopus very quickly by utilizing the "Octopus Backpack." The "Octopus Backpack," which sits on the links tool bar, allows users to capture the page with information and store it on the application's edit board waiting to be reworked into a final presentation. It is suggested that users load the "Backpack" from the Web site before venturing out for information.

After going using this tool for 10 minutes, we found organizing content for a report very simple. We were not bogged down with delays which downloads can cause. The features which we liked about Octopus are:

Competia Online Magazine Review: A-

To download a copy of Octopus, please visit their Web site here.

Idrive - Filo

Filo is a safe and simple application to do Web clippings within a matter of minutes. Along with an i-drive, which allows individuals to save files online, Filo gives you the opportunity to surf the Web and save content in .html. After downloading the application, Filo becomes a part of the menu when you right click within the window. The menu will provide you with five of Filo's options to manage the content you have found:

While the content you have chosen is available on your personal I-drive, Filo makes it possible to :

As we tested this tool, we found that it is an ideal application to have in a pinch. Filo provides the business traveler an effective method to assemble a rough report using bits of information from the Web without any concerns about storing clips on their respective computers. After a report is done in Filo, the individual is given the ability to download it and make some cosmetic changes for presentations.

Competia Online Magazine Review : B+

To download Filo, visit the idrive - Filo Web site here

iHarvest

iHarvest is a flexible free, Web-based service which allows searchers of the Web to park content with images that may disappear from a particular Web address. Integrated into Microsoft Internet Explorer, iHarvest sits upon the vertical Explorer Bar for instant access to capture information while surfing the Web. Similar to the other tools discussed in this article, this tool does an efficient job of saving a full page, a frame, or just selected text and graphics however, it goes further to include multimedia content. Users can capture information located in Flash and audio files. This will permit users to archive important speeches by individuals available in video and audio formats. iHarvest includes a master list of keywords, and you can add or remove words at will. When saving a page, iHarvest searches the document for keywords and marks the ones it finds. This automatic tagging is convenient, and will assist in finding pages used in a keyword search on a file full with Web-clippings.

Organizing documents within iHarvest is particularly easy. The program provides a hierarchical folder system called a WebBase. You can save pages directly to the folders and move them around later. Having the WebBase organizer integrated in the left pane of your browser is a considerable convenience.

As we evaluated iHarvest, the features that were extremely beneficial were:

Competia Online Magazine Review : B+

To download a free copy of iHarvest and to become a member, visit their Web site here

Aareus InfoClip

Aareus InfoClip is a rapid information-gathering tool used to extract information from a variety of sources, and compile high quality reports in a fraction of the normal time. Any content that can be viewed on your Windows' display can be utilized as it is or reformatted and modified to suit the report format. The versatility of running on any Windows platform and the ability to produce e-mailable reports as well as high-resolution printed reports makes it invaluable. In addition, Aeries supplies a free InfoClip viewer for individuals who wish to see the presentation as it was designed by the author.

After examining the functionalities of InfoClip, we were impressed with the following features: