14 DAY TRIAL // If you have been surfing the Internet for longer than one hour, I am sure you have found a site that made you want to copy all its content, or at least a lot of files from it. No matter if you have to log into such a website or everyone can access it freely, a software to help you carry on with the download task could be very helpful. If you can also translate all the links to browse that site on your hard drive, that would be great!
These being said, I think I have found a solution for you, and this comes shaped as a new tool that allows you to download sites to a local folder for offline browsing, grab only certain file types, create site mirrors and explore link structure. Even more, if you need, you can use this program as a multi tabbed Web browser with popup controls! The name of this software hero is Website Ripper Copier, and the details are coming right away...
Ripper's last version is 3.1.0, and what I have here is a limited 30 days trial version. While using it, you won't be able to download more than 500 files in a single project, and to unlock the program, you'll have to pay 49.95$. I was really surprised to see that the setup package of this program weighs only 408KB, and the install process was extremely easy.
The program's interface looks great, being very easy to use and a delight to look at. Even better, you have some wizards to help you, and in most situations, you won't need anything else! There aren't any built-in projects to be found here, but I'll help you create a new project and once we get this task to the end, everything will be much easier for you!
The task I have in mind is that of copying a site for offline browsing, and first thing to do is to choose the Copy Web sites for offline browsing option from the 5 steps New Project Creator wizard. After pressing the Next button, you have to enter one or more Internet addresses to use as starting point(s) for the current project, and also enter the user and password for the site, if needed.
Next, you have to choose the exploration depth, enable or not searching on other servers that are linked to the current one and set advanced description, URL and file filters. I strongly advise you to be careful with these options and read the documentation if you are not 100% sure about what you're doing, because you may end up really easy grabbing useless content until your hard drive gets full.
The fourth step of the New Project Creator wizard requires you to set the download filters. To be more precise, you have to choose the file types you prefer to download. While the previous step gave you the chance to filter the Web pages, this time you can define URL, description and file filters for your downloads.
At last, you have to set the project configuration options related to file saving, page parsing and file downloading, mirroring, cookies and privacy, so you ensure your kids won't run your pink sites download projects...
The simultaneous download tasks number can go up to 50 and this program can import Internet Explorer cookies, but it doesn't stop here. The built-in Web browser works just fine, and the Help file can do a lot for you if you get into trouble.
Now that we know all that, the time has come for the conclusions and screenshots, as usual. Are you ready for the final sprint?
The Good
Website Ripper Copier is very easy to use, fast and really powerful. Its interface is well organized, looks great, and you can use this program as a Web browser too, if you want.
The Bad
The only thing I can think about now is that the Help file could be a lot better, and I am talking especially about including some screenshots in it...
The Truth
It seems the world isn't limited to Teleport, Offline Explorer or HTTrack Website Copier, and I really hope that Website Ripper Copier will find its place on your computer, because it's a program that is worth trying and gives you an excellent amount of features for its price!
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
