|
|
|
|
Frequently Asked Questions |
|
General Questions |
|
|
|
|
|
Using Net Snippets |
|
|
|
|
|
Upgrading to the Standard or
Professional Versions |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
General Questions |
|
Who should
use Net Snippets Free Edition? |
|
Anyone looking for a quick, easy way to collect, organize and
share online information – and these days that means everyone
who doesn’t need the fuller feature set of the Standard or
Professional Editions. |
|
|
|
How is it better than using
my browser’s Favorites or Bookmarks? |
Your browser’s Favorites or Bookmarks only let you save links to
pages or files. You have no control over the content of those
pages, or even whether they’ll be there next time you need them.
Net Snippets saves the actual content you decide you need, to
your local file system. It’s yours for future use, and it’s
always available.
In addition, Net Snippets lets you enhance the value of the
information you’ve found, for instance by adding your own notes
and comments, or highlighting important sections. |
|
|
|
Why is it better than
just copying information to MS Word? |
There are several reasons:
- It’s much faster.
- It’s much more flexible. You can
save information from different sources separately, or add
further relevant information to existing snippets; and you can
combine or re-arrange them hierarchically in folders quickly
and easily, depending on your current information needs.
- You can let Net Snippets handle all
the “housekeeping” that takes so much time in Word, such as
adding source information and links back to the original
document (and unlike people, Net Snippets never forgets to do
that).
- Your comments are automatically kept
separate from the original content: you can easily see what
came from the source, and what you edited or added. Yes, you
can do all that in Word too, but it takes much longer; it
doesn’t happen automatically as-you-type, the way it does with
Net Snippets.
|
|
Is Net Snippets
really that much better than competing products? |
Yes! Again, for several reasons:
- It’s much lighter
and faster than its chief competitors.
- It’s been around
for a few years, so it’s stable. It doesn’t crash your browser
or freeze your PC.
- It’s optimized to
download quickly and run fast.
- Most important of
all, it saves everything in open-source formats in your
regular file system, not in a proprietary format in a
proprietary database. That means you always have access to
your information, even from outside Net Snippets, and you can
access, share and use that information in many different
programs.
|
|
Can I share information
I’ve found with other people? |
|
Yes! The Free version lets you package snippets (you choose
which) in any of several formats - MHT or Net Snippets format –
and e-mail them to anyone you want. Recipients who have Net
Snippets can import them directly into their own snippets
collection. In addition, you can send a collection of snippets
directly by e-mail with one click: Net Snippets will
automatically package them in MHT format, which can be opened in
the recipient’s browser. |
|
|
|
Will Google Desktop
Search and other desktop search products search my snippets? |
|
Yes. Unlike other products, who use a proprietary format, Net
Snippets saves all your information in standards-compliant,
open-source formats in your regular file system. Any of the
desktop-search programs on the market, now or in the future,
will be able to see and index your snippets just like they see
and index your other files. |
|
|
|
Will I have access to
the information I saved if I decide to stop using Net Snippets?
|
|
Again, because everything is saved to your disk through your
standard file system, you always have access to all the
information saved, both inside and outside Net Snippets. Even if
you uninstall the program, the information you’ve saved while
using it is yours to keep. You can access it directly via your
Windows Explorer, or from any program that can read the standard
text, HTML and graphics formats it’s saved in (such as Word and
other Office applications, your browser, or any standard
graphics viewer or editor). |
|
|
|
Using Net Snippets |
|
Can I upload my snippets to my web
site or blog? |
|
Sure you can! Snippets are saved in standard formats viewable by
HTML browsers, so you can upload single or multiple snippets
just as you would any other file. |
|
|
|
Can I edit my snippets
directly from the file system, using other HTML editors? |
|
Yes! You can edit snippets using any program that can read their
format. This means that you can open an html snippet from within
your html editor of choice; similarly, you can open a saved
image or screenshot using your favorite graphics editor. Because
Net Snippets saves your data in standard formats, it’s always
available to you and you don’t have to rely only on Net Snippets
to see or edit it. |
|
|
|
Can I add information to a
previously saved snippet? |
|
Yes, by selecting text and/or images and dragging them to an
existing snippet in the Net Snippets bar. The new data will be
appended to the chosen snippet (you can customize Net Snippets
to separate each addition from the previous data with a
horizontal line, or not, as you prefer). |
|
|
|
How can I share
information I‘ve found with colleagues or friends? |
Net Snippets makes it especially easy to share information with
others, and there are several ways to do it.
To share a single snippet: the easiest way is to right-click on
it and choose “E-mail”. A plain-text snippet will be inserted
into the body of the message; web pages and/or images will be
attached as MHT files.
To share a collection of snippets: just collect them all into a
folder (if they aren’t already organized that way), right-click
on the folder and choose “E-mail”. All the snippets in the
folder (and sub-folders, if any) will be attached as a Net
Snippets folder hierarchy that your friend can import directly
into his or her own snippets hierarchy. |
|
|
|
So I can share an
entire folder? |
|
Yes, you can share any amount of snippets you like, from a
single snippet to a complete folder hierarchy containing
sub-folders. |
|
|
|
If I work in a
library or on a computer that is not mine, can I transfer my
information from one computer to another?
|
|
You can use the “E-mail” option to send snippets to your own
e-mail address, or to copy the entire "My Documents\My Snippets"
folder to some media and take it with you. |
|
|
|
I noticed that by default, Net
Snippets stores the information I collect on my file system
under "My Documents\My Snippets". Can I change that location? |
|
Of course you can! Click the “tools” button (hammer icon) at the
top of the Net Snippets Bar, and choose “Options”. In the dialog
box that opens, the first line on the “General” tab is the
location of your snippets. You can change it to anywhere you
want, including a new folder that you make on-the-fly. |
|
|
|
Can the folder Net Snippets saves the
information to be a Network drive, and if so, can several users
share folders this way? |
In theory, yes. In practice it isn’t very advisable: if your
default Net Snippets folder is on a network drive, and there’s a
problem with your local network, you won’t be able to use Net
Snippets unless you change the default, even though the problem
doesn’t affect your Internet access.
If you collaborate with others via a local network, perhaps your
organization should consider acquiring the
Enterprise
version of Net Snippets, which is specifically geared to sharing
and collaboration via a LAN. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Upgrading to the
Standard or Professional Versions |
|
Why should I upgrade to the
Standard Edition? |
You need the Standard Edition if you’d like to do any of the
following:
- To save complete
web pages, Office or multimedia files, not just text extracts
and pictures
- To add keywords for
improved subject searching
- To add an abstract
or customized metadata such as author or title to a snippet
- To edit snippets in
an external HTML editor
- To generate
bibliographies in standard formats
- To generate index
reports
- Integration with MS
Word and easy one-click insertion of snippets into Word
documents
|
|
Why should I
upgrade to the Professional Edition? |
The Professional Edition streamlines and optimizes the process
of conducting serious research; it offers the broadest set of
features in content collection and management, plus professional
report generation, branding, customization and delivery.
You should upgrade to the Professional Edition if you need any
of the following:
- To import Internet
Explorer Favorites into your snippets collection
- Full or partial
screen capture capabilities
- Professional report
generation: to create customized, branded reports in seconds,
complete with your or your organization’s own logo, header and
footer.
- Flexible report
customization and management
- Auto-saving of
snippets order in reports generated
- When sending
reports by email: automatic attachment to the email message of
files that were linked to, or included in, the report.
|
|
Can I use the trial of the
Standard or Professional versions before I decide to purchase? |
|
Of course! You can try out any of the Net Snippets versions for
a month before deciding to purchase them. |
|
|
|
I would like to
install the Professional or Standard version and try it out.
When I install a new version or upgrade to a different version,
what happens to my saved snippets? |
|
They stay right where they were. You won’t notice any change in
your ability to access your snippet collection; only an
improvement in what Net Snippets can now do for you. |
|
|
|
What if
I’ve switched to the Standard or Professional version and want
to switch back to the Free version? Can I do it? |
|
Any version you install overwrites (by default) the version you
currently have. So yes, no problem: you can switch versions as
much as you like during the one-month tryout period. After that
month, you can of course switch back to the Free version, but
you can’t upgrade to the Standard or Professional versions
unless you buy them. |
|
|
|
If I switch back
and forth like that while trying out the different versions,
what will happen to my snippets? |
|
You won’t lose any snippets; but remember that the free version
can’t handle all the file types that the other versions can. So
if you’ve included entire files, or screen captures, in your
snippets collection while trying out the Professional version,
for instance, and then switch back to the Free version, you may
not be able to display those particular snippets. |
|
|
|
How do I upgrade to the Standard
or Professional version? |
|
It’s simple! Just
download and install the version you’ve decided you need,
and purchase it
through the website. |
|
|
|
Are there any discounts for
Net Snippets? How do I obtain a discount if I’m eligible for
one? |
|
Membership in some organizations – for instance,
the AIIP, the American Institute of Independent Professionals --
entitles you to a discount. In addition, a 50% academic discount
is available.
Click
here to apply. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
