How to use WFDownloader App

WFDownloader App is a free powerful multipurpose bulk downloader with a lot of features. After downloading it and starting the application, you might be wondering how to get started. Don't worry it's easy. This article will explain how to use WFDownloader App.

WFDownloader App main window overview

WFDownloader App batch area tips

1. Right-click any of the items (batch or category) for various options.
   
2. Select, then drag and drop to move items into categories. 
   *Tip: Hold Ctrl or Shift before clicking to select multiple items.
   

 WFDownloader App Tasks menu

Almost all that you will do with the application can be found in the "Tasks" menu. If you want to fiddle with the app's settings, go to the "Options" menu and click on "General Settings". What follows are a few use cases of the application.

Using WFDownloader App to download files from supported sites

WFDownloader App has been programmed to make bulk downloading from supported sites super easy with little effort on your part. Whether you want to download images, videos, documents, or other kinds of files, the procedure is the same. You copy the link to the specific page from the browser address bar, click the big blue "Add" button, and then you can search for all links. See this example of bulk downloading images from a supported site.

Using WFDownloader App to download files from unsupported sites (images, videos, documents, etc)

With millions of websites on the internet, it's just not feasible for WFDownloader App to support all of them. WFDownloader App supports mostly popular sites or sites that have been requested by users. If you try to download from a site using the "Add" button but get the error message "Failed. Webpage is not supported. Try manual search below if it's not a typo error.", it means the site is not supported. You will have to use the manual link search feature provided by the application. It's also easy, it's just that this time you will have to specify the kind of files you want to download, unlike for a supported site where the app already knows exactly what files to download. See this manual link search tutorial which gives you more details on how to use this feature.

Using WFDownloader App to download images and other media from forum threads

WFDownloader App has special support for downloading various media from forum threads using its forum media downloader. All you need to do is paste the link to the forum thread, and then select what type of media you want to download such as images, videos, documents, audio files, and so on. You can also do other customizations such as filtering the kinds of links based on a specific pattern, size, etc. If the forum requires login for access, you can either import cookies from your browser or use the "User Login" button for that. See how to download images and other media from forum threads.

Using WFDownloader App to crawl a website for specific links

Sometimes you want to download images or specific files from a website. This is what WFDownloader App's crawler is for. You give it a starting URL/link and select what type of files you want to be downloaded. It will then move (i.e. crawl) from page to page while extracting the links you want. You can even fine-tune the links collected using its filters for example you can make it download only links that contain the word "cat" from an animal website. See this wfdownloader app crawler tutorial.

Using WFDownloader App to download from Open Directories

If you have an open directory (HTTP web directory) you want to download from, it possible with the application. You can configure what type of files to download and what folders (directories) to check for the files. See how to download from open directories.

Using WFDownloader App to download a list of links you have collected

The application also allows you to download a list of URL/links whether they are in a file or something you copied onto your clipboard. If you have a list of links that point to images, pdf files, etc, this is the feature you need. See how to batch download a list of URLs.

Using WFDownloader App to generate a list of links/URLs

If you're trying to generate a list of links that follow a pattern or sequence, for example from image001.png to image image100.png, see how to generate a list of URLs with similar patterns.

Using WFDownloader App to queue multiple link searches (Batch link search)

If you have a list of page you want to extract or download links from. For example, you have a list of Twitter profiles or Pinterest profiles and you want to download all the media in each of those listed profiles all at once, then this is the feature to use. See how to queue multiple link searches via batch link search.

Using WFDownloader App to update a batch to download only new contents since the last time

When you download from a supported site, you get all the links download up to that point in time. However, there may be some profiles that upload media regularly, for example an artist on Twitter. In order to download only recent items, simple click the update button! Only new contents that didn't exist since the last time will be downloaded.

Updating or running all batches

If you've accumulated many batches over time, it can become a chore updating each one individually and that is where this feature comes in. Right-click the category or sub-category you want to do this for and you will see the option to update or start all batches under it. There is a difference between updating and starting/running a batch. Updating a batch means getting all new links that that may have been created on the site since the last time you downloaded. Starting/running a batch means running pending downloads that have not completed in the batch. No update is done here.

Dragging and dropping links from other applications onto WFDownloader App

If you have a list of links or texts with links mixed in it, eg. browser text, you can simply drag and drop the links onto the main window of WFDownloader App and it will extract only the links and ask you what to do next. That is, you can drag and drop links (or text with links mixed in) from any application onto WFDownloader App. For example, you can select all the text on a browser page (e.g. in Chrome or Firefox) via Ctrl+A, then drag that text and drop it onto WFDownloader App to extract the links and perform either a batch link download or a batch link search/extraction.

Programming/Scripting in WFDownloader App

WFDownloader App is the first truly programmable downloader that even programmers will love because it will save you time and effort. You can program it to download specific images, videos, hyperlinks, documents, audio/music, etc. It uses a very simple and concise syntax, yet powerful enough to accomplish complex tasks. For example, I don't think you'll need an explanation for what the code "fetch all images matching #dog#" does on any webpage with images. See how to program wfdownloader app if you're interested in this feature or see some real-world examples of this script being used on some popular websites.

Other important information

You should read WFDownloader App's FAQ if you haven't already done so. Also, check out tips and tricks that could enhance your experience with the application. You could also check out this WFDownloader App introductory course.

Conclusion

This article covered the basic usage of the application. Hopefully, it will get you started on what you're trying to do. If you need further help or want to make suggestions, use the contact form. Thanks for reading!