
Getting Started
Quick Start
Usage Details
Session Setup
URL or Keywords
Ready, Set, GO
Multitasking
Your New Files
Preview Pane
File Functions
Slideshow
Powerful Preferences
File Types
Plugins
Storage
Slideshow
Network
Other Details
Activity Log
Purchase
Registration
Plugins
Online Support
The answer to the question is, of course, put Pandora to work. Like many of the best things in life, the more you give it, the more you get in return. So let's get started...
Getting Started
Quick Start Guide: It is really easy to start getting great results from Pandora; use the following two steps:
- Type some keywords related to your interest in the rounded "URL or Keywords" field in the upper left of the Pandora window.
- Hit the "return" key. It's that easy.
Immediately, you'll see a new tab appear for your search. Then, you'll see images related to your keywords start to show up in the "Preview" pane on the left side of the window. Click an image to view it full size (you can get back to this page by choosing "Start Page" from the "Help" menu, if you need to).
What to type in? It's a question for the ages; here are a few suggestions straight from Pandora herself:
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What can you add to the list?
By default, Pandora uses the excellent Google Image Search website to find and retrieve the images you are interested in.
Usage Details
Of course, Pandora also comes with deep, powerful features that are as easy as one, two, three to use. Specifically:

- Setup your session by selecting and configuring a plugin.
- Enter your URL or keywords.
- Start your session (and pause/resume as needed).
Session Setup
Pandora uses a plugin architecture to implement its powerful web-scouring abilities. A plugin can be thought of as a small program that fits into a larger program. By using plugins, Pandora can quickly evolve and develop new abilites that can be easily downloaded and added to the program. There are two types of plugins that Pandora supports: Web Spiders and Search Agents.
A web spider takes a URL as input, and then follows links from the entered URL to find and retrieve content. A search agent, on the other hand, takes keywords as input. It then uses the entered keywords in conjunction with a web-based search engine to collect desired files.
The setup button is located in the upper left corner of a Pandora window. This button is multi-purpose: if you click and hold, a pop-up menu will allow you to select a plugin of your choice among the available web spiders and search agents. If you simply click the button, you will be able to configure the currently selected plugin. Pandora plugins often have many configuration options that allow you to zero in on desired files - be sure to configure your plugin to make sure you are getting the results you expect!
URL or Keywords
Once you've setup your session, all that remains is to express your interest. For web spiders, enter a URL (you can skip the "http://" portion, if you like) of the site you wish to spider. For search agents, enter the keywords you wish to have used in the search. Pandora will warn you if it thinks you are entering the wrong type of entry for the selected plugin.
Ready, Set, GO!
Finally, hit the "Start" button. You can also simply hit the "return" key on your keyboard as well. Pandora supports pause/resume of sessions in progress; in fact, if you sleep your computer or lose internet access for some reason, Pandora will pause active sessions for you, and resume them when your internet connection is restored.
In rare cases, you may actually see a greyed-out stop sign in place of the start/pause/resume button. This signifies that Pandora has found and displayed all possible results from the session.
Multitasking
You like to multitask, don't you? Well, so does Pandora... it can run many sessions at the same time, using any combination of plugins to do so. To start another session going, simply choose "New Tab" from the "File" menu, and then follow steps 1, 2, 3 as outlined above.
Each tab represents a separate session. Tabs can be drag/drop reordered, as well as dragged and dropped between mutliple Pandora windows. If you are finished with the files collected by a session, closing that session's tab will release the memory and resources supporting that session, making Pandora more responsive.
Your New Files
The Preview Pane
As new files arrive, thumbnails are displayed in the preview pane on the left side of the Pandora window. This area allows files to be quickly perused for items of interest. It can be resized to accomodate more columns (or fewer), and supports drag and drop reordering of its contents. Clicking on a thumbnail results in a full-sized display in the main pane on the right. Shift- or command-clicking allows multiple selection of collected files.
Once files are selected, you may also drag/drop them to other applications. For example, you can drag files to the Finder to save them in specific locations, drag to iPhoto to add images to a collection, or drag to Microsoft Word to embed an image, movie, or sound in a document.
The preview pane also supports the edit commands, such as cut, copy, and paste.
Cut has an interesting side effect in Pandora: it removes the thumbnail from the preview pane, but leaves the file on disk (hey, you might paste it somewhere after cutting!)
To remove a file from the preview pane AND put it in the Trash, use delete (Edit > Delete, or command-delete, or the Trash button in the toolbar). The Edit menu's "Select All" will conveniently select all of the thumbnails in the preview pane for you.
File Functions
The "Show in Finder" command (File > Show in Finder, or the "Finder" button in the toolbar) will show you the location of the selected file in the Finder.
The "Show Web Page" function will toggle the built-in web browser and display the web page where the selected file was found (either embedded or as a link). This function is in the File menu (File > Show Web Page) or in the toolbar ("Web Page" button).
The "Set Desktop" command (File > Set Desktop, or the "Desktop" button in the toolbar) will set your desktop to the selected image file.
Slideshow
Pandora features a slideshow to fully enjoy any image files collected in your searches. The slideshow is started by clicking the "Slideshow" button in the toolbar, or by selecting "Start Slideshow" from the "View" menu. The slideshow can be run in a window or full-screen, can be randomized, and can feature a variety of transition effects; more info follows in the discussion of preferences.
Powerful Preferences
Pandora's extensive-yet-easy-to-use preferences make it possible to fine tune the way files are retrieved and stored. They are displayed by selecting "Preferences..." from the Pandora menu.
File Types
While Pandora started life tracking down images, its capabilities have expanded since then. Pandora supports the retrieval of a wide variety of file types, which is configured in the "File Types" pane of the preferences window, pictured at right.
You can specify which types of files you are interested in finding in the "Preferred Files" box. Types are organized into four main groups, within which are a variety of subtypes. You may select all, some, or none of any group.
Found files may also be compared to additional conditions to filter your results. File Size conditions can limit the maximum or minimum size (in kilobytes) of files you'd like to see. File Dimensions allows you to specify max/min heights and widths for found bitmap images. File Count will automatically pause the session when a specified number of files have been found.
Note that the File Types preferences work in conjunction with plugins, and it is possible for your preference to conflict with the nature of the plugin. For example, if you specify only Movies for the preferred file types, and then use the Google Image Search plugin (which by nature retrieves only images), the result will be an empty preview pane - nothing will be found matching these conflicting criteria.
Plugins
The Plugins preference allows you to configure all of the installed Pandora plugins independent of selecting them or running a session. To confgure, pick a plugin from the list and then click the "Configure..." button. A sheet will drop down from the title bar of the preferences window, allowing you to set the various parameters that specify the operation of the selected plugin.
Storage
What to do with all the files Pandora finds? The Storage preference gives you a chance to let Pandora know the answer to that question. First, you must specify a default location for Pandora to store the files that it finds. Pandora will create subfolders in the directory you specify (one for each session) to hold the found files. The folders created by Pandora will be named according to the entered keywords or URL for the session.
You may optionally specify separate folders for different media groups, if desired. Options are provided for Pictures, Music, Movies, and Documents; files are grouped in the same groups as seen in the File Types preferences.
Finally, you can specify whether Pandora should provide found files with an attractive custom icon when saved, and if Pandora should delete collected files when finished. If this last option is selected, Pandora "cleans up after itself" by deleting files when a session is closed or Pandora is quit.
Regarding the "clean up" preference: A session is considered closed when the tab representing the session is closed. Pandora will delete the storage subfolder for the session (and all of its contents) whenever you close a tab in a Pandora window (if this preference is selected). Additionally, Pandora will delete all remaining session subfolders when quit.
Slideshow
Pandora features an attractive slideshow interface to present the images it finds. The Slideshow preference pane allows you to configure the slideshow to your liking, and features preferences for transition type, transition speed and direction, display duration, full screen, randomization, image scaling, and repeat behavior. And, as a special bonus, the demo pictures prominently feature the members of my immediate family :-)
Little known fact: you can advance a slide by clicking on it with the mouse pointer. You can also achieve a special "slo-mo" of the transition effect if holding the shift key while clicking on the slide.
Network
This preference is a bit of a catch-all, but covers two important features of Pandora. The first is the Software Update functionality built into Pandora - you can specify when and how Pandora checks to see if there is a new version available. If found, Pandora can download, install, and restart itself with the click of a button.
Pandora also features the ability to specify a "user agent". Web servers often read what type of web browser is visiting their site and provide content specific to the visiting browser. Pandora identifies itself as "Pandora" by default, but you can instead tell Pandora to identify itself as one of a variety of popular browsers if desired.
Other Details
Activity Log
Wondering what Pandora is doing? You can get up-to-the-second progress information by looking at the Activity Log (Window > Activity Log, or the "Log" button in the toolbar). The log lists the URL for every resource found, and notes each resource's MIME type, current status, download progress, and various performance statistics. Log listings also include a comment field, which may contain reasons for skipping a file or error conditions.
Purchase
With any luck, you are impressed enough with Pandora that you are willing to purchase it. It is this kind of thinking that keeps food on my table and clothing on my children - thank you very much!
To purchase Pandora and unlock some of its more advanced features, choose "Purchase Online..." from the "Purchase" menu. You will be presented with a sheet (pictured at right) that allows you to specify a payment method (Paypal or Kagi) and which license you wish to purchase.
Two vendors are offered as a convenience; it should be noted that your Paypal purchase is automated and you will receive a registration code immediately (via web and email confirmation). Kagi registration, on the other hand, is performed by hand, and you will receive your registration code within 48 hours of purchase. It is often sooner, but occasionally I go for a long bike ride, vacation, or the like :-)
The USD $29.95 Single license is good for all users on a single machine, whereas the USD $39.95 Multi license can be installed for all users on up to 3 different machines. Additionally, users of Pandora (or NetScrape) 1.x can upgrade to Pandora 2.0 for the discounted price of USD $10.
Note that you need your Pandora 1.x registration code to complete an upgrade purchase. If Pandora 1.x was installed on your machine, Pandora detects it and sends the registration code along with your upgrade request. Note also that Pandora 1.x codes can be used only once to purchase an upgrade - if you shared your code with a buddy, and he used it to upgrade, you will be unable to upgrade automatically.
I'm sympathetic to your purchase and registration troubles (if you have any) - please email me at pandora@positivespinmedia.com should you encounter any problems along the way and I will be happy to help you out!
Registration
Once you receive your registration code, you need to enter it into Pandora to personalize your copy. Choose "Enter Registration Code..." from the "Purchase" menu to do so.
You will be presented with a sheet asking you for your first and last name, your registration code, and the email address the code was sent to. Please fill out all fields properly, and then click the verify button. Pandora communicates with Positive Spin Media servers across the Internet to note and verify the registration information entered. You will be presented with a message confirming the registration, or, in the case of troubles, explaining what information is incorrect or missing.
After a successful registration, the "Cancel" button at the bottom of the registration sheet will change to "Done", and the Purchase menu will be removed from the menu bar.
Unregistered demos of Pandora have the following "crippled" features:
- The storage preferences cannot be set.
- Items can be dragged/dropped from the preview pane only once.
- Only fifty full-size items can be viewed before a purchase reminder is given.
As a result, you cannot save files collected by Pandora until purchasing the product. I hope you'll find it worth having!
Please contact me directly at pandora@positivespinmedia.com if you have any troubles with the purchase and registration process - I'm here to help!
Plugins
A plugin is a small "subprogram" designed to work within the context of a larger program. Pandora supports two types of plugins that provide for its amazing capabilities: Web Spiders and Search Agents. Pandora currently ships with two of each: the "Basic Spider" and "Consecutively Numbered Files" web spiders, and the "Google Image Search" and "Flickr Search" search agents. As mentioned before, web spiders take URLs as input, while search agents take keywords.
Plugins provide the following features for Pandora:
- Custom logic to work with and take advantage of the specific design of a website.
- Support for authentication at a site (see the Flickr plugin for an example)
- Custom user interface to configure options specific to different sites.
Since there are a lot of websites out there, there are a lot of possible plugins that could be written for Pandora. I've elected to ship with plugins that provide great functionality, but it is just the tip of the iceberg of what's possible.
You can request the development of a plugin by selecting the "Request a Plugin..." option from the "Pandora" menu. Over time, an online store of available plugins (free and purchase) will evolve. By way of thanks, the first individual requesting a given plugin will always get the requested plugin for free. Plugins are fairly easy to develop; I wrote the most complex one (Flickr) in less than a day. If you request a plugin for a site with authentication, you may need to provide temporary credentials so that development can take place. As always, please email with any questions you may have: pandora@positivespinmedia.com