DataFire Technologies » Newsgroup Image Collector

Article Date Filter

dftsupport — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 21:11:52 +0000

The article date filter gives you control over what articles to scan for images. When articles are pulled from a newsgroup, the posting date is inspected and compared to the start date in the filter. Articles that are older than the start date will be ignored while others will be scanned for images.

Groups
These are the newsgroups that will be searched in your collection.

Last Date
This is the date of the last article processed in the newsgroup. As each article is scanned for images, the most recent article post date is saved as the ‘last date’. This field is empty if the newsgroup has not been searched.

Start Date
This is the date to start the image search. All articles with a posting date that is older than the start date will be ignored. You can customize the start date for each newsgroup by clicking the date field and selecting a date on the calendar.

Command Line Parameters

dftsupport — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:08:23 +0000

Newsgroup Image Collector supports the following command line parameters:

-start anyCollectionName

The start parameter will begin the collection process for the specified collection. This can help you automate the process of collecting images on a scheduled basis.

Example usage:

c:\Program Files\DataFire Technologies INC\NIC\bin\NIC.exe -start anyCollectionName

Tip:

Newsgroup Image Collector has a date filter dialog box that appears when collections are started. This can be disabled in the global settings area.

When I try to update the program I get a message saying ‘Error installing update files’

dftsupport — Wed, 23 May 2007 18:38:57 +0000

If you have WIC 2.0 or NIC 1.5 you will not be able to upgrade using the update service due to a bug. To upgrade, you must uninstall then install the new version.

This will not erase any of your settings files or your license if you have purchased one. When you install the new version, your settings and license will be found on your computer and the new version will be ready to go.

License Error, Must Activate After Restarting Computer

dftsupport — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 16:14:33 +0000

Error:
The activated license is no longer works after restarting the computer. Releasing and activating the license fixes the problem until you restart the computer.

Products Impacted
Newsgroup Image Collector 2006 version 1.4 and earlier
Web Image Collector 2006 version 1.9 and earlier

Solution
Upgrade to the latest version of Newsgroup Image Collector and Web Image Collector.

Reason
This is due to the way the license system operates when generating a unique code in the license file. Your computer hostname is used during the license generation, and you may have a dynamic hostname from certain DHCP servers.

Can I use a proxy with NIC?

dftsupport — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 18:54:07 +0000

Yes, NIC can be configured to use a proxy.

Please click here to learn how to configure NIC to use a proxy.

How do I find a newsgroup server?

dftsupport — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 03:34:41 +0000

Most common ISP (internet service providers) have their own newsgroup server or they use external servers like Giganews. In these cases, you will need to use your ISP account username and password to sign into the newsgroup server. This should be the same username and password that you use for your email accounts.

Here is a list of newsgroup servers for popular ISPs Usenet newsgroup servers. This list can help you find the address of your newsgroup server or you can check with your ISP directly.

Some providers such as AOL do not have a newsgroup server. In this case, you can search google for free newsgroup servers or you can sign up at pay newsgroup sites such as giganews.

What is Usenet?

dftsupport — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 03:34:05 +0000

Usenet is a world-wide distributed discussion system. It consists of a set of newsgroups with names that are classified hierarchically by subject. Articles or messages are posted to these newsgroups by people on computers with the appropriate software. These articles arethen broadcast to other interconnected computer systems via a wide variety of networks.

For more information about Usenet, check out the Wikipedia definition of Usenet

What is Newsgroup Image Collector?

dftsupport — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 03:33:21 +0000

NIC is an assistant for downloading images from Usenet newsgroups. It can scan every article in a newsgroup and save all found images to your computer.

Using NIC is simple! First you will create a new collection by entering the address of a (NNTP) news server. Next you select from a searchable list the groups you wish to scan. Finally, you must tell NIC where to save images and you are ready to go.

As images are found, they are downloaded to your computer, and they appear on the screen as thumbnails. While the search is running, you can click on the thumbnails to view the images in full size.

How do I release my license more than 5 times?

dftsupport — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 03:31:39 +0000

The license system allows you to release and activate your product license up to five times. If you need to release your license again, please contact our support department and request your license to be reset. This measure was put in place to reduce piracy of our products and we apologize if this causes an inconvenience.

What does the activate feature do?

dftsupport — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 03:26:37 +0000

The activate feature will convert the trial version of your installed product into a full version. The trial version is a full featured product that will operate for 15 days. After 15 days, you can no longer use the product and you must activate it using a product license.

When you purchase a product license, you will receive a license key which is required to activate the product. Once you activate the product, you will no longer see the trial version warning and you will become the licensed owner of the product.

To learn more about product licenses and product activation, please visit the product license category.

To purchase a product license for your product, please visit the purchase license page.

License Was Already Activated (Error Message)

dftsupport — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 02:53:10 +0000

Error Message:
Error from license server: This license was already activated. You can release this license to activate it again.

Products Involved
Newsgroup Image Collector 2006 (all versions)
Web Image Collector 2006 (all versions)

Solution
1) You will need to sign into your account at http://www.datafire.com
2) Click on the product licenses link on the left menu.
3) Select your license in the list. (Image 1)
4) Click on the “Release” link under the list. (Image 1)
5) Click on the “Release” button. (Image 2)
6) Activate your license again.

Image 1 - The Product License List Page

Image 2 - The Product License Release Page

Reason
After a product license is activated, it cannot be activated again unless you release the license. You can release your product license up to 5 times. Should you need to release your license more than 5 times, please contact our support department for an extension.

This error can happen in several cases:

If you re-install your operating system and re-install the product.
If you change the user profile on your computer.
If you attempt to activate the license key on a different computer.

The product license is valid for one computer and one user profile of the computer. If you attempt to activate the license on a different computer or a different profile, this error will happen.

Add a New Image Collection

dftsupport — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 02:18:15 +0000

Add a New Image Collection

Newgroup server

At the first page of the New Collection Wizard, you have the news server configuration. Here is where you must enter your newsgroup server information.

Server
This is the newsgroup server host name. This can be either an IP address like 192.168.0.1 or a name like newsgroups.bellsouth.net

Login name
This is the news server account user name. If the news server you are connecting to requires a user name, enter it here.

Password
This is the news server account password. If the news server you are connecting to requires a password, enter it here.

How to find a newsgroup server
Most common ISP (internet service providers) have their own newsgroup server or they use external servers like Giganews. In these cases, you can use your ISP account username and password to sign into the newsgroup server. This should be the same username and password that you use for your email accounts.

Here is a list of newsgroup servers for popular ISPs Usenet newsgroup servers. This list can help you find the address of your newsgroup server or you can check with your ISP directly.

Select a Group

The second step is to tell NIC what news groups to search. Click the Add button to view all the newsgroups on the server. After the list has loaded, you can use the find feature to search the group names for keywords. Check the groups you want to search and click Ok. You will now see the selected groups in this screen.

Choose a folder

This is the path on your computer where you would like to store the downloaded images. You can type in the path in the directory field or click the browse button to select a directory.

Name this collection

This is where you name the collection you are about to create. You can create as many collections as you like, so it is useful to give this collection a unique name.

Save and continue editing with advanced features

If you check this box, you will save your new collection and open the site edit options. The site edit options allow you to specify more advanced search criteria.

Software Update Wizard

dftsupport — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:57:43 +0000

Software Update Wizard

The software update service is a built in feature that will notify you of updates to your product. The service will run in the background and will check for new updates to your installed product. When updates are available, the service will notify you and ask you if you would like to install the updates. If you decide to install the available updates, you will arrive at this area.

This area shows you the available updates and optional products that you can install via this service.

Available updates

The listed items are updates to the product installed on your computer. All of the listed items are mandatory updates and will be installed automatically by this service. You can select each listed item to see a description of the update and what new features it contains.

Optional items

These are optional products that are available for you to install. To install one or more optional item, simply click the check box next to each item and click next. The optional item will be downloaded and saved to a folder of your choice for you to install later.

Download and install

The final page will download and install the updates and any optional items you selected. When this process is complete, the application may need to restart.

Software Update Service

dftsupport — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:57:21 +0000

Keep your software up to date

The software update service is a built in feature that will notify you of updates to your product. The service will run in the background and will check for new updates to your installed product. When updates are available, the service will notify you and ask you if you would like to install the updates. The service will never automatically install updates, you control the update process.

You can control how the software update service checks for new updates. You can completely disable the service, and you can manually check for updates yourself. The following options are available to control the software update service. Simply click on the selection and your change is automatically saved.

Do not check for updates - Disables the sofware update service.

Check for updates every day - This will check once per day for a software update.

If you want to force a manual check for software updates, simply click the ‘Check for updates’ button.

Global Settings

dftsupport — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:57:00 +0000

Global Settings

Language Settings

The language settings allow you to change the text within the program to the selected language. Simply choose a language from the list and click ok. Your product will now use the selected language for all display text fields. If you encounter an error where some fields are still in the previous language, simply close and restart the program.

Proxy Settings

This is where you configure proxy settings. If you are using this product at work, and you are having trouble using the product, you may be behind a proxy firewall. You will need to enter your proxy server settings in this area to use this product with a proxy firewall.

Proxy IP
This is the IP address of your proxy server. This field is required.

Proxy port
This is the port number of your proxy server. This field is required.

Proxy user
This is your account login name to your proxy server. This field is optional.

Proxy password
This is your account login password to your proxy server. This field is optional.

SOCKS type proxy
If you are using a SOCKS proxy, you must check this option, otherwise, leave this unchecked.

Enable
This is the enable / disable option. If you enter any information above, you can enable and disable the proxy usage without removing any settings.

E-Mail (SMTP) Settings

This is where you configure your outgoing email settings. If you use product features such as file email or export email, you should configure this setting. Once this setting is configured, it will appear each time you use an email capable feature. To configure this setting, you must know your Internet Service Provider (ISP) mail server name and port. Most mail servers use port 25 so you can leave this as default. To obtain your ISP’s mail server name, either contact your ISP or you can check the mail settings in your email program (such as Outlook) and find the SMTP server name.

Host
This is the mail server host name. You can usually find this in the settings for your email program under SMTP server or outgoing mail settings. This field is required.

Port
This is the the standard port for SMTP mail. Leave this at 25 unless you know your mail server uses a different port number (rare case). This field is required.

License Error Wizard

dftsupport — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:56:35 +0000

License Error Wizard

The license error wizard will appear if there is a problem loading your product license. If your computer environment changes, such as renaming your computer, this error will occur. This wizard will repair your product license by creating a new license entry.

If you have an activated license, you will need to re active the license again after the repair is complete.

System Change

This display simply notifies you of that a system environment change has cause an error with your license file. Click next to repair your license.

License repair

This display shows the result of the license repair. A license repair will take only a few seconds and your product is ready to use again.

If you have an activated license, you will need to re active the license again when the program is restarted.

Error Report Wizard

dftsupport — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:56:16 +0000

Error Wizard

The error wizard is generally used when a program startup error occurs. If this happens, the program cannot start and the reason is shown in the error wizard. When you click next on the screen, the error is reported to DataFire Technologies INC and the knowledgebase is searched for a possible solution. If a solution is found, the information will display in the final page of the error wizard.

Error description

This display shows the general error message in the text area. In some cases the general error message has enough information for you to resolve the issue. Otherwise you can click next to reach the solutions page.

Error details

This display shows the full detail of the error message and a print out of your system runtime environment. All of this information is sent as an error report when you click on next.

Sending error

This page shows the status of sending the error report and checking for solutions. This step requires an internet connection for communication to the error report server.

Error solutions

The final page will give you information about solving the error. Some errors may not have a solution at the time of reporting to the knowledgebase. If no solution is available, you may see a general message with links to the online forums.

Email Files Wizard

dftsupport — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:25:30 +0000

Files to Send

This area will send selected files as attachments via email. This feature is useful for sharing files with friends in a quick and easy method.
This initial page shows the selected files and the total size of all the listed files. These files will be sent as attachments to an email so that others can have the same files.

Delivery Settings

At this page, you specify how the email is sent through the internet. If you already know your email SMTP server (advanced) we suggest that you enter this information in this page. Otherwise the email will attempt to send directly to your email recipient(s). The direct method will not always work depending on your ISP (internet service provider) which may block sending mail directly.

Attempt to send mail directly without using a mail server.
This is the default option that will attempt to send your email directly to the recipient(s) email addresses.

Send email using a mail server
This option is the fail proof method of sending email messages. To use this option, you must know your Internet Service Provider (ISP) mail server name and port. Most mail servers use port 25 so you can leave this as default. To obtain your ISP’s mail server name, either contact your ISP or you can check the mail settings in your email program (such as Outlook) and find the SMTP server name.

Host
This is the mail server host name. You can usually find this in the settings for your email program under SMTP server or outgoing mail settings.

Port
This is the the standard port for SMTP mail. Leave this at 25 unless you know your mail server uses a different port number (rare case).

Email details

From here, you specify where to send the email message and who it is from. All fields are required on this page.

My name
This is where you type in your name, and it will appear as the sender of the email.

My email address
This is where you type in your email address.

Send email to
This is where you type in one or more email addresses to send the files to. If you enter more than one email address, you must use a comma ‘,’ to separate the addresses.

Subject
This is the subject of your email message.

Optional message

From here, you can set an optional message to be sent with the email.

Optional message
This text field lets you type in an optional message to go along with your email. You can type in any message of any size, or you can skip this page. Click next when you are ready to continue.

Sending email

From here, you will see the status of sending the email message.

Delete Files Wizard

dftsupport — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:25:11 +0000

Delete Files Wizard

The delete files wizard shows all files and folders in the base directory and lets you select which files and folders to delete. You can select individual files, folders or all items in the display.

Select files to delete

The display shows a tree with files and folders, each with a checkbox for selection. When you select a folder, all files in the folder become selected and the parent folders will indicate a selection was made. If a selected folder is the only child of a parent folder, the parent will be deleted as well. Use the Select all or Select none buttons to check or uncheck the entire tree of items.

Review files to delete

This display shows all the selected files and folders to delete. Review this page carefully and make sure that you agree with the list of items to delete.

Deleting files

The final page will delete all selected files and folders. You will see a progress bar which indicates the advancement of the delete process.

Activate License Wizard

dftsupport — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:24:52 +0000

Activate your product

The product activation area is where you enter a product license key and transform your product from a trial version into a full version. When you activate your product, this area will no longer appear and you will become the licensed owner of the full version.

To obtain a product license and activate your product, please visit our product license purchase page.

Yes I would like to activate now
Choose this option if you have purchased a product license and would like to activate the product.

No I will activate later
Choose this option if you do not have a product license.

No I will activate later

If you have selected ‘No I will activate later’ then you will arrive at this page. This page will help you get the license key that you will need when your trial expires. To get a license key, simply click ‘Get a license key’ and your browser will open a web page for purchasing a license.

Yes I would like to activate now

If you have selected ‘Yes I would like to activate now’ then you will arrive at this page. This is where you paste or type in the license key. We recommend using the paste option to ensure a valid key is entered. If you do not have a license key, simply click ‘Get a license key’ and your browser will open a web page for purchasing a license.

Activating license

This is the status page where the license server is contacted. If you entered your license correctly then your product will be activated. Otherwise an error message will appear with the reason for failure.

Activate Your Trial Version to a Full Version

dftsupport — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:22:56 +0000

Trial Version and Product Activation

Newsgroup Image Collector is a fully featured product limited to a 15 day trial. If you decide that you like NIC and want to use it beyond the trial period, you must activate your copy of NIC.

To activate NIC, you must first purchase a product license. After you purchase a license, you will receive a license key. Simply copy and paste this key into the activation area of NIC to complete the activation.

First Step - Purchase A Product License
To purchase a product license for NIC please visit the product license purchase page

At this page you must specify the number of product licenses to purchase. Click on the continue button and you will arrive at a login screen. Enter your username and password or if you are a new user, click the create an account button.
After this, you will arrive at the checkout page where you can pay with a credit card or by PayPal.

Second Step - Get Your License Key
After your purchase is complete, you will arrive at the invoice page. The invoice contains your license key and you will also receive an email with your license key to keep in your records. You will also find your license key in the ‘product licenses’ section. To reach the product licenses section, simply click the product license link on the left menu. You can access the product licenses section at any time to retrieve your license key should you need it again in the future.

Highlight and copy the license key so that you can paste the text of the key into NIC.

Third Step - Activate NIC
Start NIC or select File > Activate from the menu.

You will see the Product Activation Wizard.

Select the option ‘Yes I would like to activate now’ and click next. You will then see a page where you can paste or type in your product license key. Paste in your product license key and click next.

You will now see the final page with a status bar. NIC will connect to our license server and verify your license key. When this is completed, you will have an activated full version of Newsgroup Image Collector.

Skipping Unwanted Article Images

dftsupport — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:22:33 +0000

Skipping Unwanted Article Images

Newsgroup Image Collector can be configured using advanced settings to skip unwanted article images based on a variety of rule filters.

To configure NIC to skip unwanted articles, you need to edit an existing image collection or select the use advanced features checkbox when creating a new image collection. To learn more about how to reach this screen, please read the article on Add Image Collections.

Configure The Article (Subject) Filter

This is where you control the filter of including or excluding articles and their images based on one or more keywords. The keywords can be free text such as the word ‘puppies’ and every time an article is found, the article subject is compared to the keywords in the filter list. If any of the keywords are found within the subject, the article will be skipped or included based on the filter setting. The case of the keywords is ignored, so you can enter ‘PUPPIES’ or ‘Puppies’ and have the same result.

For example, if your keyword list contains the word ‘puppies’, and NIC encounters the article “Images of cute puppies” then the filter will include or exclude the image based on the Filter mode.

Disable filter
This option will disable or turn off the filter. All entries in the filter list will remain, but will not
be used.

Include only listed items
This option will include all articles that contain one or more items in the list. This option results in a very limited set of results.

Exclude all listed items
This option will exclude all articles that contain one or more items in the list. This option results in a clean and more specific set of results.

Configure The File Filter

This is where you control the filter of including or excluding images based on the file types. For example, you can include or exclude images of .JPG, .PNG and more. The case of the keywords is ignored, so you can enter .JPG or .jpg and have the same result.

Disable filter
This option will disable or turn off the filter. All entries in the filter list will remain, but will not be used.

Include only listed items
This option will include all images that contain one or more items in the list. This option results in a very limited set of results.

Exclude all listed items
This option will exclude all images that contain one or more items in the list. This option results in a clean and more specific set of results.

Configure The Image Size Filter

This is where you control the filter of including or excluding images based on the width and height of the image. This page includes a size list for specific image dimensions to filter, and it includes a minimum and maximum dimension filter. As images are downloaded to your computer, they are compared to the options on this page to determine if they should be skipped.

For example, if an image of 460 wide by 180 high is encountered, the dimensions are compared to the filter list and minimum / maximum settings. If you specified a maximum image size of 400×400, the image is skipped. If you specified a minimum image size of 500×100, the image is skipped. If you specified an exclude filter and specified an entry of 460×180, the image is skipped.

Disable filter
This option will disable or turn off the filter. All entries in the filter list will remain, but will not be used.

Include only listed items
This option will include all images that have the exact width and height dimensions specified in the list. This option results in a very limited set of results.

Exclude all listed items
This option will exclude all images that have the exact width and height dimensions specified in the list. This option results in a clean and more specific set of results. You can use this option to filter out common advertisements and more.

Minimum image size
You can specify a minimum width, height, both or none. For example if you set a minimum width of 50 and a minimum height of 50, all images smaller than 50×50 are skipped. You can leave the heigth field empty and just specify a minimum width of 50 so that an image of 60×10 is downloaded. You can also reverse this and leave the width field empty. To disable this option, leave both width and hight fields empty. This option is useful for filtering out thumbnails.

Maximum image size
You can specify a maximum width, height, both or none. For example if you set a maximum width of 500 and a maximum
height of 500, all images larger than 500×500 are skipped. You can leave the heigth field empty and just specify a maximum width of 500 so that an image of 60×600 is downloaded. You can also reverse this and leave the width field empty. To disable this option, leave both width and hight fields empty.

Configure The File Size Filter

This is where you control the option of image file size filtering. This option allows you to set a minimum and or a maximum file size in kilobytes (KB). When images are downloading, they are compared to these options and if the file size does not meet the minimum or maximum settings, the image is not downloaded.

Minimum file size
This is the smallest allowable file size in KB. Images smaller than the number here will not download. If this field is blank, this option is ignored.

Maximum file size
This is the largest allowable size in KB. Images larger than the number here will not download. If this field is blank, this option is ignored.

Sending Images By Email

dftsupport — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:21:48 +0000

How To Send Images By Email

Newsgroup Image Collector 2006 includes a built in email feature to send one or more images to one or more email addresses.
To use this feature, select one or more thumbnails in the display area. You can select an image by clicking in the grey area outside of the image, but within the thumbnail container square.

The following image shows selected images in the display area.

Now click the email button on the toolbar. Note: This button is disabled until you select images in the main thumbnail area.

Files to Send

After clicking the email button, you will arrive at the email files wizard.

This initial page shows the selected files and the total size of all the listed files. These files will be sent as attachments to an email so that others can have the same files.

Delivery Settings

At this page, you specify how the email is sent through the internet. If you already know your email SMTP server (advanced) we suggest that you enter this information in this page. Otherwise the email will attempt to send directly
to your email recipient(s). The direct method will not always work depending on your ISP (internet service provider) which may block sending mail directly.

Attempt to send mail directly without using a mail server.
This is the default option that will attempt to send your email directly to the recipient(s) email addresses. This option works in most cases however your internet service provider may block this channel of communication. If you have troubles using this option, you should use the second option of sending email using a mail server.

Host
This is the mail server host name. You can usually find this in the settings for your email program under SMTP server or outgoing mail settings.

Port
This is the the standard port for SMTP mail. Leave this at 25 unless you know your mail server uses a different port number (rare case).

Email details

From here, you specify where to send the email message and who it is from. All fields are required on this page.

My name
This is where you type in your name, and it will appear as the sender of the email.

My email address
This is where you type in your email address.

Send email to
This is where you type in one or more email addresses to send the files to. If you enter more than one email address, you must use a comma ‘,’ to separate the addresses.

Subject
This is the subject of your email message.

Optional message

From here, you can set an optional message to be sent with the email.

Sending email

From here, you will see the status of sending the email message.

Proxy Settings

dftsupport — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:21:22 +0000

How To Configure Proxy Settings

The proxy server settings allow you to use Newsgroup Image Collector from behind a proxy firewall. If you have trouble reaching the internet using NIC, or if you know that all newsgroup (NNTP) requests must go through a firewall, then you must configure the proxy settings.

To configure the proxy settings, on the menu select Tools and then Global Settings.

Proxy Settings

To use this area, you must obtain the proxy server connection information from your computer. Usually these settings are available in your web browser’s options area under the connection settings. You can simply copy and paste these settings from your browser to this screen.

Proxy IP
This is the IP address of your proxy server. This field is required.

Proxy port
This is the port number of your proxy server. This field is required.

Proxy user
This is your account login name to your proxy server. This field is optional.

Proxy password
This is your account login password to your proxy server. This field is optional.

SOCKS type proxy
If you are using a SOCKS proxy, you must check this option, otherwise, leave this unchecked.

Enable
This is the enable / disable option. If you enter any information above, you can enable and disable the proxy usage without removing any settings.

Language Settings

dftsupport — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:20:56 +0000

How To Select Another Language

The language settings allow you to change the text within the program to the selected language.

To change the language, on the menu select Tools and then Global Settings.

Simply choose a language from the list and click ok. Your product will now use the selected language for all display text fields. If you encounter an error where some fields are still in the previous language, simply close and restart the program.

Getting Started (Tutorial)

dftsupport — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:17:15 +0000

Introduction

Newsgroup Image Collector 2006 (NIC) is the perfect tool for collecting images from Usenet newsgroups. NIC can search one or more newsgroups for images by scanning each posted message. When a message contains image content, the image is downloaded to your computer. You control which newsgroups to search and you can filter out unwanted images by using advanced filter settings.

Usenet is a collection of user-submitted notes or messages on various subjects that are posted to news servers. Each subject collection of posted notes is known as a newsgroup. There are thousands of newsgroups, many of which contain simple text messages, and others contain images posted as attachments.

NIC is a simple program that is packed with optional advanced features. If you are new to the Internet or a long time pro, you enjoy using NIC on your computer.

Getting started

Using Newsgroup Image Collector is quick and easy. When you first start Newsgroup Image Collector (NIC) you will arrive at the startup screen. Simply click the Start button in the center to create your first image collection.

New Image Collection Wizard

The first step in using NIC is to create an image collection. This is how you tell NIC the images you want and where to save them. At the first page of the New Collection Wizard, you have the news server configuration. Here is where you must enter your newsgroup server information.

Server
This is the newsgroup server host name. This can be either an IP address like 192.168.0.1 or a name like newsgroups.bellsouth.net

Login name
This is the news server account user name. If the news server you are connecting to requires a user name, enter it here.

Password
This is the news server account password. If the news server you are connecting to requires a password, enter it here.

Select a Group

Choose a Folder

The second step is to tell NIC where to save images. NIC already suggests a folder for you. You can leave the folder or change it to wherever you like. To change the folder, type in a folder path on your computer or click the Browse button and select a folder.
Image Directory
Type in a folder path, or you can leave the suggested path. If the folder does not exist, it will be created.

Name This Collection

The final step is to name your image collection. You can leave the suggested name, or type in your own name.
Save and continue editing with advanced features
If you check this box, you will save your new collection and open the site edit options. These options are covered in the ‘How to use advanced features’ tutorial.

Collecting Images

After you click on Finish, you will be asked if you want to begin the image search. Click yes and you will see activity in the bottom log area. NIC is now searching multiple group articles. As images are downloaded to your computer, they will appear as thumbnails in the main window.
Search completed
Depending on what content is on the news server determines how long NIC downloads images. Sometimes the search will end right away and other times it can run for hours. You can force the search to stop by clicking the stop button on the toolbar.

You now have your first image collection!

Eliminating Thumbnails And Small Images

dftsupport — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:16:39 +0000

Eliminating Thumbnails And Small Images

Newsgroup Image Collector can be configured using advanced settings to skip images that are too small such as thumbnail images. These images are usually the small version of the image that you want to download. In some cases NIC will download both the thumbnail and the full size image to your computer. To adjust this, you can use the minimum width and height restriction to filter out thumbnails and other small images.

When you create a new image collection, there are several rules that are automatically set. One of these rules is to skip all images smaller than 50 x 50 in pixels. This amount may not be enough to filter out some thumbnails, depending on the web site you are collecting images from.

To configure NIC to eliminate thumbnails and small images, you need to edit an existing image collection or select the use advanced features checkbox when creating a new image collection. To learn more about how to reach this screen, please read the tutorial on how to use advanced features.

Configure The Image Size Filter

To eliminate small images and thumbnails, you need to use the minimum image size settings on this screen.
Minimum image size
You can specify a minimum width, height, both or none. For example if you set a minimum width of 50 and a minimum height of 50, all images smaller than 50×50 are skipped. You can leave the heigth field empty and just specify a minimum width of 50 so that an image of 60×10 is downloaded.

Configure The File Size Filter

You can also eliminate small images by setting a minimum file size. Most small images also have a small file size and can be ignored by NIC.

To eliminate small images and thumbnails, you can optionally set a minimum file size.

Minimum file size
This is the smallest allowable file size in KB. Images smaller than the number here will not download. If this field is blank, this option is ignored.

Slideshow

dftsupport — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:15:32 +0000

Image Slideshow

Newsgroup Image Collector 2006 includes a built in slideshow feature to display all the images downloaded
to your computer.

To use the slideshow, you must first have images downloaded to your computer.

To launch the slideshow, simply click on an image in the thumbnail window. You will now see the slideshow window and the image you clicked on. This window contains a toolbar at the top with meda player type buttons. These buttons allow you to view the next and previous images in full size. You can also start and stop the slideshow feature using the play button. This feature will loop through all thumbnail images in the collection.

Image scale

To the right of the toolbar there is a sliding scale. You can use this option to change the zoom level on the images. Once you change the zoom level, it will stay at that amount through the slideshow presentation.

Image delete

If you encounter an image that you want to delete, simply click the delete button to remove the image from your computer.

Edit an Image Collection

dftsupport — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:13:46 +0000

Edit an Image Collection

Newgroup server

This is the newsgroup server information page where you can modify the server address and login information.

Server
This is the newsgroup server host name. This can be either an IP address like 192.168.0.1 or a name like newsgroups.bellsouth.net

Login name
This is the news server account user name. If the news server you are connecting to requires a user name, enter it here.

Password
This is the news server account password. If the news server you are connecting to requires a password, enter it here.

Directory Page

This is the path on your computer where you would like to store the downloaded images. You can type in the path in the directory field or click the browse button to select a directory.

Groups Page

This is where you can specify the news groups to search. Click the Add button to view all the newsgroups on the server. After the list has loaded, you can use the find feature to search the group names for keywords. Check the groups you want to search and click Ok. You will now see the selected groups in this screen.

Duplicates Page

These are the options for processing duplicate images. An image is a duplicate if there is already an image of the same file name downloaded to the target folder.

Skip duplicate images
This option will force NIC to skip (not download) duplicate images

Overwrite duplicate images
This option will force NIC to download and overwrite duplicate images

Save duplicate images with different file name
This option will force NIC to download and save the duplicate image with an index sich as _1 or _2 in the filename.

File Size Page

Minimum file size
This is the smallest allowable file size in KB. Images smaller than the number here will not download. If this field is blank, this option is ignored.

Maximum file size
This is the largest allowable size in KB. Images larger than the number here will not download. If this field is blank, this option is ignored.

Image Filter Page

Disable filter
This option will disable or turn off the filter. All entries in the filter list will remain, but will not be used.

Include only listed items
This option will include all images that have the exact width and height dimensions specified in the list. This option results in a very limited set of results.

Minimum image size
You can specify a minimum width, height, both or none. For example if you set a minimum width of 50 and a minimum eight of 50, all images smaller than 50×50 are skipped. You can leave the heigth field empty and just specify a minimum width of 50 so that an image of 60×10 is downloaded. You can also reverse this and leave the width field empty. To disable this option, leave both width and hight fields empty. This option is useful for filtering out thumbnails.

Maximum image size
You can specify a maximum width, height, both or none. For example if you set a maximum width of 500 and a maximum height of 500, all images larger than 500×500 are skipped. You can leave the heigth field empty and just specify a maximum width of 500 so that an image of 60×600 is downloaded. You can also reverse this and leave the width field empty. To disable this option, leave both width and hight fields empty.

File Filter Page

Disable filter
This option will disable or turn off the filter. All entries in the filter list will remain, but will not be used.

Include only listed items
This option will include all images that contain one or more items in the list. This option results in a very limited set of results.

Exclude all listed items
This option will exclude all images that contain one or more items in the list. This option results in a clean and more specific set of results.

Author Filter Page

This is where you control the filter of including or excluding articles and their images based on keywords matching the author name or email address. The author is the person who posts a newsgroup article and image to the server. Sometimes you may want to skip images posted by certain authors to avoid junk images. Sometimes you may want to download only images posted by certain authors.

Keywords can be free text such as the word ‘junk’ and every time an article is found, the article author is compared to the keywords in the filter list. If any of the keywords are found within the author name, the article will be skipped or included based on the filter setting. The case of the keywords is ignored, so you can enter ‘JUNK’ or ‘jUnk’ and have the same result.

For example, if your keyword list contains the word ‘junk’, and NIC encounters the article author “jake@junk.com” then the filter will include or exclude the image based on the filter mode.

Disable filter
This option will disable or turn off the filter. All entries in the filter list will remain, but will not be used.

Include only listed items
This option will include all articles that contain one or more items in the list. This option results in a very limited set of results.

Exclude all listed items
This option will exclude all articles that contain one or more items in the list. This option results in a clean and more specific set of results.

Subject Filter Page

This is where you control the filter of including or excluding articles and their images based on keywords matching the article subject. The subject is like an email message subject and may describe the image content. Sometimes you may want to skip images with certain subjects to avoid junk images. Sometimes you may want to download only images with specific subjects.

For example, if your keyword list contains the word ‘junk’, and NIC encounters the article subject “junkyard dogs attack burglar” then the filter will include or exclude the image based on the filter mode.

Disable filter
This option will disable or turn off the filter. All entries in the filter list will remain, but will not be used.

Include only listed items
This option will include all articles that contain one or more items in the list. This option results in a very limited set of results.

Exclude all listed items
This option will exclude all articles that contain one or more items in the list. This option results in a clean and more specific set of results.

Installation Guide

dftsupport — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:12:24 +0000

Installation

This section covers installation steps for each supported operating system. Please scroll down and find your operating system, then follow the install steps.

Linux

After downloading NIC for Linux, you must untar the install file.

Move the tar file to your /home/username folder

Extract the contents of the tar file using tar -xzf nic_linux.tar.gz

Change directory into the new /home/username/NIC folder

Execute the startup script ./NIC.sh

To add a desktop icon, use a text editor to modify the file editme.NIC.desktop
Change the following entries to include the new install path.

Exec=”/home/username/NIC/NIC.sh”

Icon=/home/username/NIC/nic.png

Mac OSX

After downloading NIC for MacOSX, you must open the install file. By default, your Safari browser will save the install file to your desktop.

Double click the icon on your desktop titled nic_macosx.tar.gz

A new icon will appear on your desktop titled NIC

Double click the NIC icon on your desktop to start Newsgroup Image Collector

You can also place NIC in your applications folder. By doing this, all users (if you have multiple logins) on your computer can run NIC. To move NIC in your applications folder, open terminal and run this command.

mv ~/Desctop/NIC.app /Applications

Windows XP/NT/2000

After downloading NIC.exe for Windows, you must open or run the file. The install application will start and you will see the license agreement page.

You must select ‘I accept the agreement’ then click the Next button.

You will now see a screen where you can specify where to install the application. The default location will work fine in most cases. If you do not have enough disk space available, you will need to select a different hard drive. To change the install location, click the browse button.

This screen will give you the option of creating an icon on your desktop and in the quick launch icon area. These are helpful for starting the program quickly.

This screen will give you a summary of the install settings you have selected. These tasks will start when you click the install button.

If you do not have the required version of Java installed on your computer, you will arrive at this window. From here you can choose to install Java or select an existing installation of Java already on your computer (advanced). In most cases, you should click the Install Java Now button to continue.

If you are an advanced user, and you already have the required version of Java installed on your computer, you can click the Select an Existing Java JVM button. This will open the file selection browser and allow you to select the java.exe file for the required version.

To select an existing installation of Java, simply browse your computer and locate java.exe. Once selected, the application will check the version of the selected java JVM and make sure it is a compatible version.

This is the final screen of the Windows installer. At this page, you can choose to launch the program when you click Finish.

Import Wizard

dftsupport — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:11:55 +0000

Import wizard

The import wizard allows you to share your image collection settings with friends. This allows other people who have Newsgroup Image Collector to send you their image collections so that you can download the same images they have. This feature will not send the images that were downloaded, rather it sends the instructions to have your Newsgroup Image Collector download the same images.

The import wizard reads XML data containing all the settings needed for an image collection. This XML data is created by using the export wizard in Nesgroup Image Collector. You can use the XML to bring in the image collection settings and begin collecting images.

What is XML?

XML is a format to structure, store and send information. An XML file is always text based and can be opened with notepad, textepad, emacs, or other text editors (and most web browsers can open and display XML files). Newsgroup Image Collector uses XML as an easy way to send data that is specific to itself as a method of data transfer. XML makes data transfer easy because files using XML can be sent as an attachment to an email or copied and pasted into the email directly.

Start an image collection import

To import an image collection, first click on the import button on the toolbar.

Import image collection

This page lets you import an image collection shared by friends or the NIC user community.

Import XML from a text field
This option will load XML that you can copy and paste into Newsgroup Image Collector directly. For example, if a friend emails you the XML data from an image collection it can arrive as a file attachment or directly in the email message. Because XML is simple text, you can select the XML and copy, then paste it into Newsgroup Image Collector.

Import XML from a file
This option will load XML from a file on your computer. For example if a friend emails you the XML of an image collection as a email attachment, you can save the email attachment file to your computer, then load the file into Newsgroup Image Collector using this option.

Import XML from a text field

If you select the option ‘Import XML from a text field’ then you will arrive at this page.

On this page, you can paste the XML of the image collection into the text field and the image collection. will appear in NIC. Afterward, you can click the collect button and the images will download to your computer.
To paste the XML in the text field, simply highlight and copy image collection XML and click the paste button.

Import XML from a file

If you select the option ‘Import XML from a file’ then you will arrive at this page.

At this page, you can type in the name of a file to import or click the Browse button and choose a source filename. When you have specified your file name, click next to import the XML to a file.

Export Wizard

dftsupport — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:11:29 +0000

Export wizard

The export wizard allows you to share your image collection settings with friends. This allows other people who have Newsgroup Image Collector to download the same images that you have. This feature will not send the images that you have downloaded, rather it sends the instructions for them to have their Newsgroup Image Collector download the same images. If you want to send the images that you downloaded, you should use the email images feature instead.

The export wizard creates an XML file containing all the settings needed for an image collection. It can save the XML to a file or email the XML to one or more email addresses. The recipient of the XML can use the import wizard to bring in the image collection settings and begin collecting images.

What is XML?

Start an image collection export

To export an image collection, first click on the export button on the toolbar. Note: This button is disabled until you select an image collection in the left tree.

Export image collection

The following options are available on the first page. These options determine how the image collection will be shared.

Export XML to a text field for copy and paste
This option will create XML and display it in a text field. You can copy the XML from the text field and then paste it directly into an email message, forum post, or wherever you like.

Export XML to a file
This option will create XML and save it to a file on your computer. You can then transfer the file to another computer or send it as an email attachment.

Email XML to a friend
This option will create XML and email it to one or more email addresses.

Include login name and password
This is an optional feature that will include the login user and password information if you have specified this. It allows your friends to log into membership based sites using your account. You may not want to use this feature, but it is available if needed.

Include image save directory
This is an optional feature that will include the image save directory that you have specified. This will only work on the same operating system and directory configuration. You may not want to use this feature, but it is available if needed.

Export XML to a text field for copy and paste

If you select the option ‘Export XML to a text field for copy and paste’ then you will arrive at this page.

On this page, you can copy the XML of the image collection and paste it wherever needed. For example, you can share your image collection with the NIC user community by pasting the XML at our online forum To copy the XML in the text field, simply click the copy button and the XML will be ready for you to paste.

Export XML to a file

If you select the option ‘Export XML to a file’ then you will arrive at this page.

On this page, you can type in the name of a file to save or click the Browse button and choose a target filename. When you have specified your target file name, click next to save the XML to a file.

Email XML to a friend

If you select the option ‘Email XML to a friend’ then you will arrive at this page.

Host
This is the mail server host name. You can usually find this in the settings for your email program under SMTP server or outgoing mail settings.

Port
This is the the standard port for SMTP mail. Leave this at 25 unless you know your mail server uses a different port number (rare case).

Email XML to a friend

On this page, you specify where to send the email message and who it is from. You can send this email to more than one email address by using a comma between email addresses. All fields are required on this page.

My name
This is where you type in your name, and it will appear as the sender of the email.

My email address
This is where you type in your email address.

Send email to
This is where you type in one or more email addresses to send the XML to. If you enter more than one email address, you must use a comma ‘,’ to separate the addresses.

Subject
This is the subject of your email message.

Email XML to a friend - Optional message

At this page, you can set an optional message to be sent with the email.

Email XML to a friend - Sending message

This page will show you the status of sending the email message. Once the email is sent, the Finish button will be enabled and you can close this window.