Easily Create APA, MLA, Columbia Style Web References

 

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WWW Reference Maker

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Extracting Information from a Browser

3. Reviewing the Details of a Saved Reference

4. Deleting a Reference

5. Changing Reference Order

6. Building References

7. Saving Database Files

8. Opening Database Files

9. Registration

10. Known Issues

11. Support

12. In Closing

© 2003 Quicomm

Introduction:

WWW Reference Maker provides you with a simple way to extract web based information from your browser and automatically create standard citation references from this information. Standard reference styles supported include:

  • APA Style
  • Columbia Humanities Style
  • Columbia Scientific Style
  • MLA Style

References are formatted in the chosen style and then displayed in a window where they can be readily copied and pasted into your document.

WWW Reference Maker also lets you easily save this reference information into individual database files which can be reloaded at any time. From these databases you can easily reopen pages which were referenced and extract additional information.

The application runs under all versions of Windows as well as Mac OS X and Classic Mac OS. It also supports the following browsers:

  • Internet Explorer (both Windows and Macintosh)
  • Opera (both Windows and Macintosh)
  • Mozilla (Windows)
  • Safari (Macintosh)
  • Netscape (Macintosh)
  • iCab (Macintosh)

 

Extracting Information from a Browser:

Extracting URL and Title information from the front most page of your browser is simple: just click the "Get WWW Reference" button.

This will retrieve the browser URL and title information and open up a details window for this reference:

From the Page Source you can readily determine the Author, Publication Title, Publication Date, Version (if any), Volume:Issue (if any) and Pages (if any). You then copy and paste this info into the correct field and then save the changed record. Not all pages will have all this information, so you should only complete the fields where this information is available. WWW Reference Manger will create valid references using all the material provided (or not provided).

Some notes about copying data from the Page Source field to individual edit fields:

  • You just need to select the text you want copied from the Page Source field then click the respective field button to copy the info into the field.
  • You do not have to be precise with the selection. The copy function will automatically strip out all HTML tags and leading and trailing spaces.
  • You can often more easily identify important information on a page by stripping out the HTML tags before displaying the page source. You can do this by checking the "Auto Clean Source" button in the main WWW Reference Maker window.

A special note about the "Author" field. When you go to build your references, WWW Reference Manger attempts to create the proper format for Author(s), based on the style selected. In some cases this may be in a format such as "Last Name, Full First Name". In other cases it may be a format such as "Last Name, First Initial Middle Initial". IF the author field already has the name formatted as it should be used in the reference, then you should check the box to the right of the Author field. This tells WWW Reference Maker NOT to modify the author field, but use it directly as in the database.

Once you have the respective data copied into the appropriate fields, click the "Save" button to save your additions/changes to the database.

Finally, if you need to review the page in your browser at some later time, you can also easily display the page in your browser by clicking the "Show Page" button.

Reviewing the Details of a Saved Reference:

To review the details of a previously recorded reference, just double click the reference line in the main window. This will reopen the details window. IF you double click the column containing the reference URL, this will also load the page source in the details window.

Deleting a Reference:

To delete a reference, just click the reference in the list and click the "Delete" button.

Changing Reference Order:

You can change the order of a reference by simply dragging the reference to a new position in the list. These changes are automatically saved to the current database file.

Building References:

Before building your reference list, you can choose from several formatting options which best match those of your document. Specifically:

  • General Reference Style (APA, Columbia Humanities, Columbia Scientific, or MLA Style)
  • Number of characters per line (10 pt font generally uses 80 chars/line. 12 pt font generally uses 64 chars/line).
  • Font Type and Size (choose to match your document)
  • Alphabetically Sort (lists the references alphabetically)
  • Double Space (check if your references should be double spaced to match your document)
  • Number Listings (check if you want each listing to be numbered, as in 1., 2., 3. etc.)

Once you have selected the desired options, click the "Build References" button. Your references will automatically be formatted and displayed in a new window (APA and MLA styles are shown below from two seperate "builds"):

Click the "Copy All" button to copy the references and then paste into your document.

Saving Database Files

When you first launch WWW Reference Maker a "temp_DB" database is automatically created (or reloaded if it already exists). This temporary database automatically saves new references when you retrieve them with the "Get WWW Reference" button. It also automatically saves the database anytime you manually reorder the reference list. You must manually save reference Details with the "Save" button in the Details window.

You can rename a database file at anytime with the "Save As..." menu item. This action copies the active database to a new database having the designated file name. IF the active database is named "temp_DB", the temp_DB file is deleted.

Opening Database Files

When you launch WWW Reference Maker, the "temp_DB" database is automatically loaded (and created if no "temp_DB" file exists). You can open previously saved database files with the "Open..." menu item.

Registration:

You can easily register WWW Reference Maker online and immediately receive your registration key. Click the "Register Online" button to take your browser to our secure order page.

Once you have registered, you then enter your registration information in the edit boxes and click the "Save Registration" button. Clicking the "Save Registration" button sends your key to our server where it is verified. This key check is ONLY PERFORMED ONCE, during the Save Registration function, and ONLY SENDS THE KEY to our server for verification. No other information is sent.

Registration: $19.95.

Known Issues:

Windows: WWW Reference Maker will only recognize the URLs of pages displayed in the last instance of your browser application. That is, you can open up multiple windows of your browser, BUT each of these windows must be opened through the "File -> New Window" menu item of your browser. New browser windows should NOT be opened by clicking on the browser icon in your application task bar. We are working on a solution to this problem of multiple browser instances.

Windows: WWW Reference Maker does not currently work with Netscape running under Windows. It appears that, for whatever reason, Netscape has decided to disable some critical features of their browser which allow it to communicate with other applications. This is particulary strange since the code under which Netscape is based (Mozilla) does offer this interapplication communication capability. IF you wish to see WWW Reference Maker work with Netscape please contact Netscape requesting that they return DDE functionality to the browser.

Support:

New support cases should be entered at:

http://quicomm.com/support.html

We are immediately notified of new support cases. Please provide us with as much informatioin regarding your question or problem as possible. This will ensure that we can provide you with a quick and concise reply to your question.

In Closing:

We welcome all comments and suggestions regarding WWW Reference Maker. Due to increasing spam in our email, we kindly request that you enter your comments and suggestions through our support page (link given above).