If you have a question or concern that is not covered in the FAQ, don't hesitate to contact us.

General

1. How does it work?
2. Which browsers and operating systems does it work on?
3. How is Furl different than a blog?
4. How is Furl different than bookmarks or favorites?
5. What is Furl's backend technology?
6. Why "Furl"?
7. How do I advertise with Furl?

Security

1. What if Furl goes out of business?
2. Isn't Furl a huge copyright violation?
3. What is Furl's business model? How will you make money? Will Furl always be free?
4. Isn't my data safer on my own computer?
5. Is Furl spyware? Are you tracking me and alerting advertisers?

Setup

1. I installed the Furl Toolbar but I can't see it.
2. I keep being asked to log in and nothing is getting saved.
3. How do I add the "Furl It" button to my browser?
4. How do I set up Furl on another computer?

Saving

1. How do I save a page with Furl?
2. Furl doesn't work with my pop-up blocker!
3. I'm saving an article that has multiple pages. If I want a personal copy of the entire article, do I have to Furl each page individually?
4. How can I use Furl to save pages from a computer where I can't install the button or toolbar?
5. What does the "Partial Success" message mean?
6. How do I create, rename or delete my topics?
7. I click the Furl It button but the window that pops up is blank.
8. Furl isn't working correctly with foreign language site.
9. What is the difference between a comment and a clipping?
10. What do the "Email" and "Save & Email" buttons do?

Viewing

1. How do I view my saved documents?
2. What's the difference between the public and private versions of My Archive?
3. What is the "Views" number that shows up next to saved items?
4. How does the recommendation system work?
5. Why do I keep getting all these general-purpose websites on my recommendations page?
6. Why is my recommendation list empty? Why don't I have any Furlmates?
7. Why do I keep getting the same recommendations?
8. I unchecked the "Allow Spiders" box on my preferences page, but my public archive still appears in search engines?

Sharing

1. How do I share my archive?
2. Does Furl provide RSS feeds?
3. Is it possible to remove the "#" links that appear when I add Furl to my Web site?

Searching

1. Will my private items appear in Furl search results?
2. Can I change the default on the search box pull-down menu?
3. How do I search my keywords?
4. What is the query syntax for searching in Furl?

---

Furl Answers

General

1. How does it work?

The key to using Furl is that you need a button in your browser that you can click to save the item you are viewing. Thanks to technology called "bookmarklets" you don't need to install any software to do this. If you haven't yet put the button in your browser, read the button help page for all the details.

Once you have the button, continue to use the Internet as you normally would and whenever you find something of interest, click the "Furl It" button to add the page to your archive. You'll have the option to add comments, categorize and date the item before you click "Save."

2. Which browsers and operating systems does it work on?

Furl is pretty darn platform independent. We have tested it in Internet Explorer (Windows and Mac), Safari (Mac), Netscape, Firefox, Mozilla and Opera. There are known issues with custom versions of Internet Explorer (i.e. MSN, USA Today, etc.) and IE add-ons like Slimbrowser (instructions for NetCaptor are now available). Users of Internet Explorer on Windows and Firefox on all platforms have the most functionality (they can save any page they see), but the vast majority of the functions will work the same in all browsers.
3. How is Furl different than a blog?

This is a good question. Folks who use blogs know that they can accomplish similar things to Furl using blogging tools (especially with some customization). But just because something is possible, that doesn't make it the right solution to the problem. Blogs are an amazing breakthrough for personal, digital publishing. If you have something original/insightful to say, blogs are your voice. On the flip side, Furl is focused on the consumption of digital media (including blogs). Many of us read hundreds of articles and other items online that influence our thinking (or are just amusing). Furl is our memory. Although Furl has some features that overlap with blogging tools, blogs and Furl approach Internet content in a fundamentally different way. Blogs focus on the content you create (which often contains links) while Furl focuses on the content you consume (i.e. what the links point to). This is why Furl offers powerful features such as archiving and full-text search, which apply to the linked page but don't make as much sense in the blog space.

We believe that serious bloggers will be some of the biggest users of Furl. If you consume a lot of information through the Internet (as most bloggers do), you need a way to "remember" (i.e. save and recall) what you read, especially the most influential items. If you publish content in a blog, you already understand the power of sharing your thoughts with the public. Furl provides a turnkey solution to both of these needs, allowing bloggers to focus on publishing new content while saving and sharing their "latest reading" with their community at large.

4. How is Furl different than bookmarks or favorites?

Bookmarks and favorites are a great way to store and access frequently used locations on the Internet. Furl is designed to archive (as well as share) anything you read online. You may have tens of bookmarks but thousands of Furl entries. If you read your local newspaper online every morning, bookmark it. If you read several fascinating news articles every week, Furl them. You can Furl items from work and home. You can search for them later from any browser, and share them with friends.
5. What is Furl's backend technology?

Since early 2003, a lot of work has gone into Furl but much of our work stands on the shoulders of others. To date, we have attempted to give back to the Open Source community whenever possible and will continue that commitment moving forward. Here are links to a few of the products on which Furl is built.
• Servers powered by Debian Linux
• Web site powered by Apache
• Servlets powered by Tomcat
• Search powered by Lucene
• Search highlighting powered by Mark Harwood
• Database powered by MySQL/InnoDB
• Recommendations powered by CoFE
6. Why "Furl"?

So this service is great, but why the heck did you call it "Furl"? (Hear it pronounced.)

Well, the origin of the name came from the very geeky description of what the system does - File URLs. If you can enter a URL and see it in your browser, we can save it for you. Once the name started being used and it was time to find a replacement, we just couldn't come up with one we liked more. It's short, simple and pretty easy to remember. And as an added bonus, the definition of "furl" is "to roll up and secure," which is exactly what we do with all the interesting Web pages you find online.

7. How do I advertise with Furl?

You can advertise with Furl and the rest of the LookSmart Network through LookListings. LookListings delivers targeted traffic and high-quality sales leads to your site, and connects you with millions of potential customers at the exact moment they're searching for what you sell.

As a Furl user, you get $25 in free clicks when you sign up for a LookListings account. Simply enter FURL0525 on the checkout page when you sign up.

Security

1. What if Furl goes out of business?

We've been creating sources of revenue that will support our service, and believe Furl's business can only expand. Its current functionality attracts new members every day, which in turn attracts new advertisers. This cycle of growth combined with the resources provided by LookSmart, our parent company, will enable us to continue investing in Furl's future potential.

However, we understand that the data we store on our servers is very important to our members. This is why we provide ample storage for your data and commit to our members in the Terms of Service that we will provide reasonable notice if any major changes to the service become necessary.

You can also make your own back-up copy of your Furl archive through our export functionality. If you look at the export page, you will see options for turning your entries into bookmarks, and also for exporting all your entry data in XML and all of your saved copies as a ZIP.

We use this system every day. And we honestly care about making users wildly happy with our service. If you want any data off the server that you can't get through using our site, just let us know and we will happily send it your way.

2. Isn't Furl a huge copyright violation?

A common misperception of Furl is that it allows people to share copyrighted work. Fortunately for everyone, that is not the case. When you save an item with Furl, you save a copy of the document, but that copy is only visible to you. When other users view an item in your public archive, they are directed to the publishers site. If that site requires membership, they must sign up to see the content.

Contrary to these concerns, we believe that Furl is a boon to publishers because it lets people share the interesting and useful information that they find online. This means that any publisher/journalist who produces good work, regardless of their strength in distribution, can be found by thousands of people who otherwise would have never ventured to the site. We know, personally, that we have read many wonderful articles that we never would have seen had it not been for Furl. If you have any concerns with regards to this issue, please contact us.

3. What is Furl's business model? How will you make money? Will Furl always be free?

These are some of the most common questions we get from concerned users. The good news is that we have answers. The bad news is that we can't make any concrete guarantees. But here is what we can tell you: Furl is a business and our goal is to provide a fabulous service to millions of users for many years to come. We are also of the firm belief that if we provide a simple, reliable, enjoyable service that people use and value on a daily basis to store and recall important information, we will be successful over the long run. Advertising is one way we are able to keep the service free, showing you ads that are relevant to you. We could potentially charge a subscription fees based on level of usage or features used, or some combination of the two but we intend to always provide a free option.

What does this mean for you? Well, not much in the foreseeable future and a lot in the long run. Furl will continue to be free for a long time as we work to grow our user base and fill out the features and benefits that make Furl great. But in the long run it is in everyone's interest for Furl to generate sustainable revenue (that is how it will continue to be around in 5-10 years). And we'd be lying if we told you exactly what Furl will look like when we get to that point. We believe advertising revenue will be enough to keep the entire service free. Perhaps some users will prefer to pay a minimal fee and avoid the ads. But one thing is guaranteed. We are committed to making this service what YOU want it to be (every last million of you). That is what we love to do, and will continue to do every day. So, if you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to contact us and we will do all that we can to help you out.

4. Isn't my data safer on my own computer?

We think the answer is "No." But when it comes to saving files on your machine versus on our server, people have a range of opinions. We see the following major advantages to saving things with Furl:
a) We back up the data every day and then make separate copies every week). Few people can say as much for their home machines.
b) If you want to access your data from more than one machine (i.e. home and work, phone and PDA), you are either out of luck or need to run your own server and thus deal with security, firewalls, maintenance, etc. Yuck.
c) Every time you upgrade your computer (typically every 2-3 years) you need to move your data around and try to keep it intact.
5. Is Furl spyware? Are you tracking me and alerting advertisers?

Furl is not spyware and is in no way associated with any spyware vendors. We have had reports of spyware warnings from Pest Patrol and SpyBot and are actively working to resolve those issues. It is true that the items you Furl will be stored on our servers, but that is your personal data. We are just here to help you save and access it. We are not tracking your behavior. We are not notifying advertisers, and in fact you don't even need to install any software on your machine to use Furl, if you prefer not to. Instead of the IE toolbar, you can just use a "button link" which is simply a bookmark in your browser.

We do display ads based on the topic of the page you are looking at, but that is no more spyware than ads on search engines or on any newspaper site. We'll say it one more time: Furl is not spyware.

Setup

1. I installed the Furl Toolbar but I can't see it.

If you are using Internet Explorer ...
Close all your browser windows and open a new one. If the toolbar still does not appear, go to the "View" menu, choose "Toolbars" and make sure that "Furl Toolbar" is in that list and has a check mark in front of it. If it is in the list but does not have a check mark, select "Furl Toolbar" to enable it. You can also try going back to the "View" menu, choosing "Toolbars" and hiding your other toolbars (e.g. Google, Links). Sometimes that allows the Furl Toolbar to appear, and you can then add the other toolbars back.

If you still can't see it, look on the far right of the toolbar area of your browser. Sometimes the Furl Toolbar is hidden beyond the edge of your screen. As a final effort, close IE, go to your Control Panel, select "Add or Remove Programs" and remove "Furl Toolbar." Then return to the toolbar page and install it again. If you are still having trouble, let us know.

If you are using Firefox ...
Add www.furl.net to your list of Allowed Sites. You should see a dialog box asking whether to add www.furl.net to your list of Allowed Sites, but in case you don't, look under Tools >> Options >> Web Features (or on the Mac, Firefox >> Preferences >> Web Features). Select the checkbox next to Allow Web Sites to install software and click the box labeled "Allowed Sites." Enter www.furl.net into the field labeled "Address of Web Site" in the dialog box that appears.

Restart Firefox and select View >> Toolbars >> Customize. Scroll to the bottom of the Customize Toolbar window. Drag the orange Furl icon and/or Furl It icons to your Bookmarks Toolbar Items.

Finally, make sure you are not running Firefox in Safe Mode from the Programs >> Mozilla Firefox folder, or that you have a Safe Mode window running.

If you are still having trouble, let us know.

2. I keep being asked to log in and nothing is getting saved.

This is typically an issue with cookies (i.e. they aren't getting set in your browser). To use Furl, you must allow cookies to be saved for Furl.net. If you (or your IT department) have software or settings that block cookies, you need to allow the cookies from Furl to come through. If that does not appear to be the issue, please contact us for further help.
3. How do I add the "Furl It" button to my browser?

Go to the Button Help page for step-by-step instructions.
4. How do I set up Furl on another computer?

Furl stores the content you save on a server owned by LookSmart. You can access your content from any computer without any special set-up by following these steps.
1. Log into Furl here: http://www.furl.net/members/login
   Click the "Sign me in automatically" checkbox on the login page to skip this step next time.
2. Go to My Archive: http://www.furl.net/my/archive

If you want to add a Furl It button or toolbar to the browser of another computer, follow these steps: http://www.furl.net/tools/

Saving

1. How do I save a page with Furl?

See the How to Save a Page section for step-by-step instructions.
2. I'm saving an article that has multiple pages. If I want a personal copy of the entire article, do I have to Furl each page individually?
We don't yet have a feature to save multiple pages at one time. However, if the article you're saving offers a "Print This" or "Printer Friendly" link (as many do), it will usually redirect you to a version of the article that puts the full content on one page. You can then use Furl to save the one-page version of the article, rather than having to save multiple pages individually.
3. Furl doesn't work with my pop-up blocker!

This can be frustrating but there are a couple of ways to solve it. If you use Internet Explorer, you can install the Furl toolbar which includes a great pop-up blocker that lets the Furl It window through.

Alternatively, most pop-up blockers have a key (i.e. Ctrl) you can press to disable them for the current click. Holding down the that key while you click the Furl It button should allow the Furl window to appear.

There are also non-popup versions of the various Furl It buttons. You can get the latest button from the Button Help page or the Tools page.

4. How can I use Furl to save pages from a computer where I can't install the button or toolbar?

Follow these steps when you come across a Web page you want to Furl.
1. Open a new browser window.
2. Type http://www.furl.net/save into the address field.
3. You will be prompted to log in. Enter your account username and password.
4. You will then access the "Furl It - Save" page. Enter all the relevant details for the page (Title, URL, Topic, etc.). When entering the URL (Web site address), be sure to include http:// at the beginning of the address, so it will be saved correctly.
5. Press the Save button and you're done.

As a shortcut, you can type the link http://www.furl.net/save into your browser, Furl it, and then access it from your Furl archive to save the effort of typing the address into the browser each time.

5. What does the "Partial Success" message mean?

The partial success message indicates that an entry was created in your archive, with the link and information you provided, but a copy of the actual document could not be saved. This can happen when you attempt to save a page that is either protected by a password, such as an article in the New York Times or Wall Street Journal, or is part of a transaction, such as the receipt page from an online purchase.

The Furl Toolbar and the Furl It complete link both allow you to save a copy of any page you see regardless of passwords and subscriptions. If you use Internet Explorer on Windows, you can use the Furl Toolbar. If you use Internet Explorer, Firefox or Mozilla/Netscape, you can use the Furl It Complete link. (See the Tools page).

6. How do I create, rename, or delete my topics?

You can quickly create a topic by entering its name in the "New Topic" field when you save an item. You can also manage your topics through the My Topics page, under the "View" tab. From this page you can create new topics, choose not to use the default topics and edit your existing custom topics. You can also create private topics which are hidden on the public view of your archive.
7. When I click the Furl It button but window that pops up is blank.

There are a few pages that can occasionally trip up previous versions of the Furl It Complete button. If you use the Furl It Complete button and do not have the most recent version, try installing it.

If you have the latest Furl It Complete button and still have a problem, try using the non-popup version of the button or try the Furl It Basic button. If you use the Furl toolbar, you can access all of these options from the Furl It menu. Otherwise you can install the buttons from the Tools page.

This error also appears if you are using the wrong version of the button for your browser. In most cases, when you are installing a Furl button we will only display the options that will work with your browser. However, in some cases additional options will be displayed. The most common reason is that you are using a custom version of Internet Explorer (i.e. a corporate version such as COX or USA Today). To correct this problem, go to the Tools page and grab the "Furl It (basic)" link. If the "basic" button doesn't work, let us know and we will do our best to help.

8. Furl isn't working correctly with foreign language sites.

We believe we have worked out most of the issues with non-English sites. If you experience any difficulties, please let us know.
9. What is the difference between a comment and a clipping?

The comment field is intended for any editorial comments you would like to make on the item you are saving (like attaching notes to the item). The clipping field is designed to hold a small chunk of text from the story itself. If you highlight text and then click the Furl It button, the highlighted text will be automatically pulled into the clipping field.
10. What do the "Email" and "Save & Email" buttons do?

The "Email" button lets you send a URL to a friend or colleague without saving the page in your archive. The "Save & Email" button lets you send a URL to a friend or colleague while also saving the page to your archive. Both options allow you to send URLs and messages to multiple addresses and to pick addresses from your contact list.

Viewing

1. How do I view my saved documents?

You can view your saved documents by clicking on the "My Archive" tab from any page on the Furl site. If you use the Furl toolbar, you can access it by choosing "My Archive" from the menu. Click the arrow to the right of the Furl It button to see the menu.
2. What's the difference between the public and private versions of My Archive?

There are two versions of your archive:

1. A public one that anyone (with or without an account) can see.
2. A private one that can only be seen by logging into your account with your username and password. This version contains the items you save and mark as "private," and the actual copies of pages you saved. The public version only contains links to those pages.
For example, if you save an article from the New York Times, your personal copy will be available in your private archive. If you do not mark the article "private" when you save it, a link to the article will appear in the public view of your archive. Because the New York Times site requires registration to read many of its articles, anyone who clicks on the link in your archive will be taken to a login page for the New York Times, since the public archive only includes the link, and not your actual personal copy.

Visitors can see the public version of your archive @ <%= member_url(:id => 'your_username') %>

Your private archive is available @ <%= link_to private_archive_url, private_archive_url %>

3. What is the "Views" number that shows up next to saved items?

This number shows how many times other people have looked at a given item in your archive. For this reason, it only appears on public items. The number gives you an idea of the relative popularity of each link among the people who have found it via your archive.
4. How does the recommendation system work?

This system is based on two concepts: ratings and neighbors.

Whenever you Furl something and give it a rating of 3 or better, you have given it a positive rating. Give it a 1 or 2, and you've given a negative rating. Clicking on a red "X" on your recommendation page also counts as a negative rating.

Your neighbors, or "Furlmates," are determined this way: Whenever you and another user agree on an item (you both give it a positive rating, or both give it a negative rating), you are that much closer as Furlmates. Whenever you disagree, you move that much farther apart. Items that have only been rated by one of you are not considered.

Whenever you visit the recommendations page, the system looks at your Furlmates and computes the total positive and negative ratings for each item. The ratings are weighted for each Furlmate, so your closest Furlmates have more weight than those that are farther from you. The ratings are tallied, and the "winners" are listed in descending order as new recommendations.

5. Why do I keep getting all these general-purpose websites on my recommendations page?

A lot of people like to Furl these sites. If you are not interested in a given recommendation, simply click on the red "X" next to the link.
6. Why is my recommendation list empty? Why don't I have any Furlmates?

You haven't Furled enough stuff yet. Patience, grasshopper.
7. Why do I keep getting the same recommendations?

The only way to guarantee an item will leave your recommendation page is to either Furl it, or click the red "X."
8. I unchecked the "Allow Spiders" box on my preferences page, but my public archive still appears in search engines?

When you uncheck the "Allow Spiders" box, your public page will be removed from search engine indexes next time the search engine crawls the Web (i.e. for Google, about 6-8 weeks). If it feels urgent, then there are ways to remove it sooner, but that is up to you.

Sharing

1. How do I share my archive?

Once you start Furling items on a regular basis, there are several ways you can share that information with friends and colleagues:

Give them the URL. The simplest way is to give them the URL to your entries: <%= member_url(:id => 'your_username') %>

Sign them up for a daily email. Another great option is for your friends to subscribe to your archive. If they sign up for a free account and then go to the subscription page, they can get a daily email with all of your top entries.

Give them an RSS feed. If your friends prefer to get their news through RSS and a news aggregator, you can give them the URL to your RSS feed: <%= user_rss_url(:id => 'your_username') %>. You can customize this feed by adding the "topic" and "count" parameters. The topic parameter is used to specify a topic name, and the count specifies how many items appear in the feed (10 by default). For example: <%= user_rss_url(:id => 'your_username', :topic => 'General', :count => 5) %> (this feed will be empty if you don't have any items in the "General" topic).

Display your entries on your Web site. If you have a Web site or blog, you can display your top entries by adding a single line of code to your page. It can be easily customized in many ways. The Add Furl to My Site section includes all the options and details.

2. Does Furl provide RSS feeds?

You bet! Each user has their own RSS feed (see above). There is also a general RSS feed for all users at http://www.furl.net/members/rss.xml. Both feeds can be filtered by topic by adding "?topic=topicName" at the end of the URL. For example the RSS URL for the Science topic for all members would be http://www.furl.net/members/rss.xml?topic=Science.
3. Is it possible to remove the "#" links that appear when I add Furl to my Web site?

Yes. These links allow users to visit your item page in Furl and see any comments you have left, as well as links to related items. You can choose to hide them using CSS. Add .furlLinkArchive {display:none;} to the other CSS items associated with the Furl feed and the "#"s should disappear.

Searching

1. Will my private items appear in Furl search results?

No, your private items only appear when you search your own archive. Furl Search (search all archives) returns only public items. When you mark an item "private," you are the only person who can see its contents. See <%= link_to 'our commitment to our members', :action => :commitment %> for more about privacy and Furl.
2. Can I change the default on the search box pull-down menu?

Sure. The search box automatically defaults to search all sources (your archive, Furl and the Web), but you can set a new default under Preferences.
3. How do I search my keywords?

Any time you search your archive, you are searching your keywords as well as the full text of your articles, your comments and your clippings. Because the keywords field typically consists of only a few words), results with keyword matches are weighted more heavilly and will usually appear first.

If you want to search only on keywords, use this format to search: keywords:(<your terms>). For instance, if you search Mike Giles's archive for SETI you will get a bunch of results (and in fact the one with SETI in the keywords is first). But if you then search for keywords:(SETI) (or just keywords:SETI since it is a single term) you will only get the result(s) with SETI in the keywords. You can also do similar searches with the other fields (see FieldName below).

4. What is the query syntax for searching in Furl?

The syntax of the query strings is as follows:

          
           Query       ::=  Clause  ( [ Conjunction ] Clause ) *
          
           Conjunction ::= 'AND' | 'OR' | '||'
          
           Clause      ::=  [ Modifier ] [ FieldName ':' ] BasicClause  [ Boost ]
          
           Modifier    ::= '-' | '+' | '!' | 'NOT'
          
           BasicClause ::= ( Term | Phrase | | PrefixQuery '(' Query ')'
          
           PrefixQuery ::= Term '*'
          
           Phrase      ::= '"' Term * '"'
          
           Boost       ::= '^' DecimalDigit+ '.' DecimalDigit+
          
           Term        ::= <a-word-or-token-to-match>
          
           FieldName   ::= ( keywords | title | description | clip | contents |
                              rating | url )
          
          

Notes:

• 'AND', 'OR', 'NOT', and Field Names are case sensitive.
• If a FieldName is specified, the BasicClause that follows it will be matches against that field. If the field name is not specified, the default field name for that query will be used instead.
• Terms are the words or tokens to match.
• The "NOT" and '-' qualifiers indicates that the simple clause that follows it is prohibited.
• A '+' qualifier indicates that the following simple clause is required.

Examples:

            +happy +(dog OR cat) 
            "happy dog"
            keywords:(dog OR cat)
            (foo OR bar) AND (baz OR boo)
            ((a OR b) AND NOT c) OR d
            +(apple "steve jobs") -(banana orange pear)
            +(luc*) -(ball)