Browsing the Offline Browsers

The World Wide Web, with its more than 320 million pages, is an amazing place to find information on just about any topic imaginable. To assist in keeping track of the pages you visit, Web browsers let you bookmark them for easy access later. But what if a page changes or is deleted before you return?

One solution is offline browsing--saving a page on your computer’s hard drive so you can look at it any time you want. One way to do this is to use your Web browser’s “save as” command. Unfortunately, this is the most inefficient way to offline browse. Your Web browser allows you to save the page as either text or HTML, but all you get in either case are the words on the page. If you save the page as HTML, you’ll find empty place holders where the graphics should be. And if you want to download and save several pages from the same site, you could find yourself stuck in save-as hell.

Luckily, there’s a better way. A number of companies have introduced software designed specifically to make your offline browsing faster and more efficient.

For example, WebWhacker (from Blue Squirrel, https://www.bluesquirrel.com) is one of the older entries in this product category. WebWhacker places a toolbar along the top of your screen so you can access its features while using your Web browser.

When you get to a page you want to save, you simply click on the Grab button. From there, you’re taken through a series of steps that includes specifying which folder you want to store the page in, how many levels of the site you want to capture and when you want to “whack” (i.e., download) the page.

Although WebWhacker is very easy to use, I did encounter a couple of problems. First, if you elect to whack an entire site, you may get more than you bargained for. If the site includes links to other sites that are in the same domain, WebWhacker follows the links and downloads them too. For example, if you’re whacking a site at “https://www.yourISP.com/users/papajoe” and that site has a link back to “https://www.yourISP.com,” WebWhacker follows that link and keeps downloading everything else it finds linked to that page. Yikes!

Another potential problem is that when you view a whacked page in your browser, your browser shows the URL to the original page. That means there’s a potential for confusion because you may forget whether you’re browsing the whacked page on your hard drive or the original file on the Web server.

WebWhacker is available for both Windows and Mac and sells for about $50.

CatchtheWeb (from Math Strategies, https://www.catchtheweb.com) works on the premise that not only will you probably want to browse Web pages offline, you may also want to gather groups of pages (and e-mail messages) into a single presentation and pass that presentation along to someone else.

For example, if your boss tells you to research your competition online and the resulting material consists of both Web pages and e-mail correspondence, CatchtheWeb can organize all those documents into a single HTML-based presentation. You can also add your own notes to each page in the presentation. Unfortunately, CatchtheWeb is only for folks running Internet Explorer 4 on a Windows 95 or Windows 98 computer.

*

When you launch CatchtheWeb, the program puts a little pushpin icon in the Windows 95/98 icon tray. When you reach a page you want to “catch,” you simply drag the pushpin over the page. One drawback is that you can catch only one page at a time; you’ll have your work cut out for you if you need the whole site.

One advantage is that pages are saved from within CatchtheWeb instead of your Web browser. This eliminates any confusion as to what version of the page you’re looking at. While CatchtheWeb works only with Internet Explorer, remember that the presentations it creates are HTML-based. That means they can be viewed on any computer with any Web browser. The program sells for about $40.

Web Buddy (from Dataviz, https://www.dataviz.com) is another popular offline browser that’s available for both Mac and Windows and works with any browser. In function, Web Buddy is very similar to WebWhacker. The program creates a floating toolbar from which you access various functions. You can choose to download a single page, certain levels or an entire site.

One advantage is that when you view a saved site in your browser, the browser displays the URL as the true location of the page on your hard drive. This way, you never have to wonder whether you’re looking at a saved page or the real thing.

*

Perhaps the most powerful feature of Web Buddy is its conversion utility. At your command, the program can convert any saved Web page to one of several popular word-processing formats, including Microsoft Word, WordPerfect and Microsoft Works.

Finally, as a journalist and talk radio host, I often find myself tracking down information that I want to save for later use. Sometimes that means much later--days, weeks, months. You get the idea. That’s why I’m especially fond of SurfSaver (from AskSam Systems, https://www.surf- saver.com).

SurfSaver has comprehensive search features. Not only can you store Web pages for later viewing, but you can search your database of saved pages to find what you’re looking for instantly.

Another thing I like about SurfSaver is that it integrates right into your Web browser, instead of adding a whole new toolbar. For example, in Netscape Navigator 4.0, SurfSaver adds a button to your Personal Toolbar from which you can activate the program’s various features. That makes SurfSaver seem more like an extension of your Web browser than an entirely new program.

SurfSaver runs on Windows 95/98, and there are versions for both Netscape and Microsoft browsers. The price is nice too--only $30.

There are other offline browsers available; this is only a small selection. With so many to choose from, the good news is that most companies offer downloadable trial versions on their Web sites.

*

Kim Komando is a TV host, syndicated talk radio host and author. You can visit her on the Internet at https://www.komando.com or e-mail her at komando@komando.com. Her national talk radio program can be heard on Saturdays from 7 to 9 a.m. on 97.1 KLSX-FM.