Existing users, 
 Blue Crab - 4.9.19Download web sites for offline browsing, and much more. |
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Feedback Summary:
| This Version: | |||||
| Overall Rating: | Not rated (0.0) | Features: | Not rated (0.0) | Support: | Not rated (0.0) |
| Ease of Use: | Not rated (0.0) | Quality / Stability: | Not rated (0.0) | Price: | Not rated (0.0) |
Key to Types of Feedback:
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Troubleshooting 
Usage Tips 
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Commentary 
Featured Reviews
Best by Far 
- Version: 4.9.6, 4/18/2008 03:08PM PST
mac-apples
After trying 3 other programs, only Blue Crab was able to download for off-line viewing of the entire site. It maintained all the links etc Wonderful! It may be a bit unMac-like but that can improve later. It does what it says it will do, that's important!
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- Best by Far
Freakin' AWESOME! - Version: 4.9.0, 6/15/2007 02:05PM PST
jchayes369
Not one, not two, but FIVE different page grabbers in one application. One gives you full control and a detailed progress report as it crawls and grabs as much or as little as you want. One does the same thing but has a simplified display. One grabs only the page or two at the url you give it. One grabs images only, displaying them as they are grabbed. The fifth crawls pages or sites from urls in a text document you import, like a list of downloadable files contained in an email. Easy to use. Even does a thorough job of creating a browser-friendly copy of database-driven websites on your Mac. All that "whatever.php" server-side silliness is no problem. Blue Crab has more useful features than any two other similar apps combined. And to top it all, there's a friendly, responsive, knowledgeable person answering your support emails. Blue Crab is a bargain at twice the price.
poor - Version: 4.7.9, 2/12/2007 10:46AM PST
(0 of 6 users found this comment useful)
lwaa_dotmac
unmaclike interface, confusing, very poor - why pay when deepvacuum does it better and free?
Most Recent Replies: View All 2 Replies
the demo now works - Version: 4.7.6, 12/14/2006 05:56PM PST
(1 of 1 users found this comment useful)
dicklane1_dotmac
Just noticed that this version was available. I downloaded it and the demo now works. I'm looking forward to checking it out.
No demo password button - Version: 4.7.5, 12/14/2006 11:26AM PST
dicklane1_dotmac
I was going to try the demo version but the Password dialog box does not have the "Demo Password" button as described in the instructions.
Most Recent Replies: View All 1 Replies
Thank you! - Version: 4.7.2, 10/18/2006 08:44PM PST
elisa56345
This program is amazing, and the developer was very helpful when I had questions about various features which are available using configuration files. In particular I was shown how to setup the program to download websites "as is" for comparison, backup and the discovery of broken links. (Out of the box Blue Crab will modify page hyperlinks so that you can browse them when you don't have access to the web, which is a great feature, but sometimes you want the pages unaltered.)
I've been using this program for about 1 year now, and appreciate that the developer consistently provides (freqent) software updates enhancing the program on an almost continuous basis. Thank you again for making this product!
I've been using this program for about 1 year now, and appreciate that the developer consistently provides (freqent) software updates enhancing the program on an almost continuous basis. Thank you again for making this product!
Great for Educators - Version: 4.7.0, 9/30/2006 02:18PM PST
(3 of 3 users found this comment useful)
boom2
I signed on as a Version Tracker member specifically to write a review of this wonderful product. It is a gem that I have been using for two years, ever since version 3.
I paid the $25 and since then I have been an extremely satisfied customer. I use the "new software available" feature on a regular basis to download (free) updates to the program. I am amazed by the regularity of the updates, and by the addition of so many new features exhibiting this developer's commitment to supporting and enhancing Blue Crab.
My colleagues and I have tested Blue Crab along with several other products in this category (all listed on Version Tracker.) In a side by side comparison using the program to download the same sites we found that Blue Crab's end results were undeniably more exhaustive. This results in more thorough web site mirror archives which we then use in class (K-12) offline.
The developer, Joe, has been a great asset to us by assisting in using various other features the program provides. We now use Blue Crab to create our own site maps of web sites that do not provide their own. This very handy feature provides a way to see the overall layout of any web site, and to navigate it since it is a hierarchical list of bookmarks to all the pages (and images) Blue Crab encountered.
Another useful feature is the image downloader, which optionally displays a slide show previewing the graphics on a website, and the page previewer, which displays each web page as it is downloaded. These tools are indispensable for assessing the quality and safety of the content of any sites we use in our studies.
What a joy! This program is highly recommended.
I paid the $25 and since then I have been an extremely satisfied customer. I use the "new software available" feature on a regular basis to download (free) updates to the program. I am amazed by the regularity of the updates, and by the addition of so many new features exhibiting this developer's commitment to supporting and enhancing Blue Crab.
My colleagues and I have tested Blue Crab along with several other products in this category (all listed on Version Tracker.) In a side by side comparison using the program to download the same sites we found that Blue Crab's end results were undeniably more exhaustive. This results in more thorough web site mirror archives which we then use in class (K-12) offline.
The developer, Joe, has been a great asset to us by assisting in using various other features the program provides. We now use Blue Crab to create our own site maps of web sites that do not provide their own. This very handy feature provides a way to see the overall layout of any web site, and to navigate it since it is a hierarchical list of bookmarks to all the pages (and images) Blue Crab encountered.
Another useful feature is the image downloader, which optionally displays a slide show previewing the graphics on a website, and the page previewer, which displays each web page as it is downloaded. These tools are indispensable for assessing the quality and safety of the content of any sites we use in our studies.
What a joy! This program is highly recommended.
re: previous "non recommendation" - Version: 4.6.5, 8/22/2006 03:15PM PST
(5 of 6 users found this comment useful)
RickPoet
Please read the below with all due respect.
I've seen the argument before that software such as Mailings or any of the other similar products which help individualize and manage bulk mailings are essentially spam software and therefore, somehow, illegitimate. As a web developer who has helped many clients, mostly non-profit organizations, use such software to send regular (and sometimes vital) information to their members and subscribers I can confidently say that such software is an essential tool for communication with opt-in subscribers.
The fact that some folks use such tools to send spam is not the fault of the software and does not make it's existence illegitimate. It's like saying some people use e-mail to send spam so therefore anyone who supports e-mail is a spammer.
Certainly it isn't fair to judge Blue Crab because they also support a different e-mail tool. Any legitimate tool/software/system can be used by corrupt people for illegitimate purposes.
I just downloaded and used Blue Crab and it did exactly what I needed it to first time out without adjusting any settings whatsoever. This will become an essential tool for me when clients ask me to work on their existing website or help transfer it from one host provider to another. I highly recommend it and will be paying my registration fee immediately.
I've seen the argument before that software such as Mailings or any of the other similar products which help individualize and manage bulk mailings are essentially spam software and therefore, somehow, illegitimate. As a web developer who has helped many clients, mostly non-profit organizations, use such software to send regular (and sometimes vital) information to their members and subscribers I can confidently say that such software is an essential tool for communication with opt-in subscribers.
The fact that some folks use such tools to send spam is not the fault of the software and does not make it's existence illegitimate. It's like saying some people use e-mail to send spam so therefore anyone who supports e-mail is a spammer.
Certainly it isn't fair to judge Blue Crab because they also support a different e-mail tool. Any legitimate tool/software/system can be used by corrupt people for illegitimate purposes.
I just downloaded and used Blue Crab and it did exactly what I needed it to first time out without adjusting any settings whatsoever. This will become an essential tool for me when clients ask me to work on their existing website or help transfer it from one host provider to another. I highly recommend it and will be paying my registration fee immediately.
Most Recent Replies: View All 1 Replies
Can no longer recommend - Version: 4.4.9, 5/30/2006 08:45PM PST
(4 of 9 users found this comment useful)
Central Scrutinizer--2008
Blue Crab used to be my favorite, and only, downloader. It cracked any site I threw at it. Add to it's great functionality a friendly GUI, and you end up with an unbeatable downloading solution.
Now that Blue Crab is officially promoting Mailings, a bulk mailer, otherwise known as "spamware," I will no longer be using the product. I consider spam an expensive waste of time and bandwidth, and regularly go out of my way to report spammers. Nothing that is even casually associated with spam or spamware will ever be installed on my hard drive, and that unfortunately includes Blue Crab. I'm sorry to have to delete this app from my HD, and look forward to reinstalling it if he developer ever renounces his association with spamware.
Now that Blue Crab is officially promoting Mailings, a bulk mailer, otherwise known as "spamware," I will no longer be using the product. I consider spam an expensive waste of time and bandwidth, and regularly go out of my way to report spammers. Nothing that is even casually associated with spam or spamware will ever be installed on my hard drive, and that unfortunately includes Blue Crab. I'm sorry to have to delete this app from my HD, and look forward to reinstalling it if he developer ever renounces his association with spamware.
Most Recent Replies: View All 4 Replies
Blue Crab always gives me trouble.
SiteSucker always gets the website (doesn't get .flv files, but I don't think Blue Crab does either - I'm not likely to find out as Blue Crab usually crashed on me).