Happy Users Make Frequent Backups!

Saving your files from the Web

Some of you write essays or articles in HTML or Word and upload them to web forums. If a forum—or the web server it is using—has a technical problem and loses your file, you can just upload it again. And if you want to publish the article somewhere else, you have the source.

But some of you type your text in at the forum site. Do you know how to save a copy to your personal hard drive?

Allright, then take a coffee break and skip this part.

Now that smartie-pants is out of the room, you can practice saving this file to disk. I give you permission.

In the menu along the top of your screen—your computer screen, not your browser window—the first word at the far left is "File". This will be true for whatever browser you are using, on both IBMs and Macs. There really is some standardization in computers. When you click on that word, a list of other options will appear. Depending on your computer's settings, you may have to hold your mouse button down to keep the list visible.

All the options listed have something to do with browser windows or files. The wording might be slightly different according to the brand of your browser, and some browsers have extra options, but all of them will have an option that reads "Save As..." or "Save File As..."

Click on that option, and you get this dialogue window, with some variations according to your browser, PC type, etc.:

Manipulate the selection menu until you are in the disk and directory you want to save the file to. Set the "Format" slection to your choice of "HTML Source" or "Text". IE 5+ will also give you the option of "Web Archive", which stores HTML, images, sound files and movies and anything else on the page in a compressed archive file.

What format do you want?

• If you just want the information on the page, you can save it as "Text".
• If you want to be able to go back and read the page any time, in its original display format with all graphics, whether you are online or not, even if the original gets run over on the Internet Highway and dies, then save it as "Archive".
• If you want to be able to edit the page as an HTML file, you must save it as an HTML file. If you want to be able to use any of the graphics on the page, you must save them separately.

Click the "Save" button.

You have a backup of your web file.

Follow a similar procedure to save images. With a Macintosh mouse, click on the image and hold; with an IBM mouse, click on the image with your right mouse button. A menu will pop up that is similar to the "File" menu, including a "Save As..." option.

Users with Netscape 4 and higher can click the "File" menu, select the "Edit" option, and once everything is loaded in the "Edit" window, click "File" and "Save As..." to save all files on the webpage including images, etc. to one local directory, in non-compressed format.

You can use this same method to copy anything from the Web, including files that aren't yours. Use the power wisely, Grasshopper.

Write On!
Anitra

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Copyright Anitra Freeman
I am a freelance writer and homeless activist in Seattle Washington. I teach writing and computer skills, including online workshops in poetry, public speaking, and webpage design. I am a lifelong bookaholic and like all true addicts, I'm a pusher, especially of mystery, fantasy and science fiction. Some issues: homelessness and poverty, antiracism, anti-heterosexism (how's that for a word? combines feminism and gay rights), creative writing, creating your own life instead of buying one off the rack. I love almost all forms of parody: humor is a survival tool. Much to the consternation of my sweetie, I also love sea chanteys.