Explode Webpage
The BAM! Button
This button can be used in several ways and is integral to getting accurate and safe links to the images you want to collect. The central functionality of this button is to pull out image references from the current webpage along with relevant destination information if the image is a clickable link. The information is shown in a table on a custom generated webpage.
The primary uses of BAM! can be summarized as:
- Continue surfing in the same browser window
- Obtain a direct link to an image from the current webpage
- Add specific images from the current webpage to your fusker collection
The BAM! Exploded Webpage
The BAM! button extracts the image information from the webpage in the current IE browser window and generates a custom webpage based on that information. The current browser window is then re-directed to this custom webpage.
The custom webpage generated is essentially a table with the following form:
| Images | Links |
|---|---|
| Image #1 |
Sterile Link #1 Clean Link #1 Original Link #1 |
| Image #2 |
Sterile Link #2 Clean Link #2 Original Link #2 |
| Image #N |
Sterile Link #N Clean Link #N Original Link #N |
Each image found on the webpage will be shown in the first column. If the image was "clickable" and provided a link to another webpage or image in the original webpage, then the information in the second column will also be populated.
Continue Surfing In Same Browser Window
Often websites like to open images or other content in a new browser tab or window. This breaks general website design recommendations but is fairly common. This makes it hard to build your fusker collection over multiple pages as each new browser window or tab gets a new instance of the Image Surfer Pro toolbar. The links in the 2nd column of the BAM! table allow you to decide if you want to continue in the same browser window or not. By default they open in the same browser window.
Images on a webpage can link to other images, documents, webpages, or even active scripts. In some cases you may simply want to follow the link as it is provided, but if you are unsure of the website you are surfing at or occasionally get directed to content which is completely different than the image you clicked on, then there is a good chance the website is using one of the following methods to hijack your surfing experience.
- Indirection: When the link accesses a script or other website and passes the desired website as a parameter. This is may be used for many reasons. Some of the reasons are valid (such as passing affiliate information through a 3rd party monitor) but many are not. This type of link may not only be a tracking device but may also be used to pop up other sites behind your browser window, send you to completely unexpected locations, or run various viral attacks.
- Site Parameters: Usually parameters added to a website address are necessary for the correct display of the desired website; however, they may also contain tracking or other information that can be used by the destination site. Knowing what information is being passed is always a good idea if you don't fully trust the site you are surfing.
Sterile Link:
This link has both indirection and site parameters removed. If the site you are surfing is entirely clean
the only links you will see in the right column of the Image Surfer Pro Form will be Sterile links.
Though sanitized, these links may still directly reference scripts which could be harmful. Some sanitized links
may not contain sufficient information to resolve, or which do not reference a file - parameters removed from
a link may cause the link to be invalid.
Clean Link:
Clean links have had any indirection removed but direct website parameters remain. This entry in the right
column will only exist if there were parameters to be removed in the formation of the Sterile Link. Remember,
website parameters may be necessary to access the desired content. In many cases the parameter will designate
the pictorial id or the image id being accessed through a common access webpage and without it the webpage
may not resolve.
Original Link:
This is the exact link which the image on the original webpage referenced. This link will only be present in the
right hand column if there was indirection to be removed in the formation of the Sterile Link. Because indirection
is always used in these links, it is strongly recommended that you understand why the indirection is necessary before
clicking these links. Clicking one of these links is roughly the same as having clicked the image on the original
webpage with a couple minor differences:
- The link will open in the current browser window and not open a new tab or window unless you right click and request a new browser tab or window.
- The referencing page information will be that of the Image Surfer Pro generated page rather than that of the original webpage which may cause the new webpage to encounter authorization errors and not display.
Obtain A Direct Image Link
Internet Explorer does not currently (as of IE9) provide an easy way to extract the URL of an image embedded on a webpage. Each image displayed in the 1st column of the table is also a direct link to the image. Clicking any image will display the image in the current browser window as if you had accessed the image directly by typing the URL in the IE address bar. You can also right click these images and select "Copy shortcut" to copy the image URL.
Adding Images To Your Fusker Collection
The BAM! table is also a form. Next to each image and after each link there is an associated check box which can be used to determine which image information to add to your fusker collection.
To process the form and add the selected information to your fusker collection click the
button on the Image Surfer Pro toolbar after marking each check box of the information you want to add.
Make sure the link information you select references an image (ends in a file extension you recognize as the extension of an image file) or the visualization pages will not be able to display the references as images.
No automatic range fusking is performed on images added to your fusker collection when added this way.
