Help

Frequently Asked Questions - Snap Shots™

1. Where can I send feedback on this product?

   You can either send us a note using this Send Feedback link OR you can join the discussion on the Snap Blog. And yes, we want constructive criticism and suggestions.

2. What if I have a question that is not answered in this FAQ?

   If you were not able to find the answer to your question here, or have a comment, please feel free to contact Snap Customer Service.

For Site Visitors

3. How can I turn Snap Shots on or off?

   Click here to disable Snap Shots. Please note you must reload the page or clear your cache for the change to take effect. Deactivation uses cookies, so if you delete your cookies, Snap Shots will be re-activated for all sites.

4. AdBlock Plus users: How do I allow Snap Shots when using AdBlock Plus?

   If you are using AdBlock Plus and are experiencing issues with Snap Shots, you need to edit the AdBlock Plus list of filters. Here's how to do that (see screenshots below):

   1. Open the AdBlock Plus preferences by clicking the little triangle next to the ABP icon in the upper right corner of your browser's address bar and selecting 'Preferences'.
      
      
   2. Scroll down the list of filters and select '.snap.com/$cript'.
   3. Open the Edit menu and select 'Delete'.
   4. Click 'Apply' and you are done.
      
      

Installing Snap Shots in your Browser

5. How do I get Snap Shots Add-On?

   Snap Shots Add-On is a browser plug-in that lets you take Snap Shots with you - on whatever sites you visit. It's easy to install, lightweight and customizable. Go to http://www.snap.com/about/shotsdownload.php to install the Snap Shots Add-On for Firefox, Internet Explorer or Safari browsers.

6. How do I uninstall the Snap Shots Add-On for Firefox?

   Click on "Tools" at the top of your browser window, then click on "Add-ons". Find "Snap Shots" and click on either "Disable" (to disable Snap Shots) or "Uninstall" (to permanently remove it). Afterwards, restart Firefox. Snap Shots should then be (depending on what you chose) disabled or uninstalled.

7. How do I uninstall the Snap Shots Add-On for Internet Explorer?

   Go to the Tools menu in Internet Explorer, go to "Manage Add-Ons", select "Disable or Enable Add-Ons" (this step only applies to IE7), select "Snap Shots", click "Disable". Close and re-open Internet Explorer for the changes to take effect.

8. How do I uninstall the Snap Shots Add-On for Safari?

   If Safari is running, quit the application first. Remove the "SnapShots" folder in ~/Library/InputManagers, then restart Safari.

For Site Owners

9. How do I add Snap Shots to my site?

   First, you need a Snap Shots account — sign up for free here. If you already have Shots on your site and want to import your settings to a new account, read the next question below. From within your Snap Shots account, you can easily customize Shots to look and act the way you want. At the end of the short customization process, you will be given a short snippet of Javascript code to place on each page of your site where you want Snap Shots to appear.

10. I already have Snap Shots on my site. How do I take advantage of the new Account system and other features?

    If you are already a Snap Shots user and want to take advantage of new features such as Snap Shots control via account or Snap Shares™, you can import your existing Snap Shot settings into a new account, rather than starting from scratch. To import existing settings from a site using Snap Shots, you'll need to know the e-mail address you originally signed up for Snap Shots with, and either the site's URL or the key (the 32-character string of letters and numbers in your current Snap Shots Javascript code). Click here to start the import process.

11. I have multiple sites using Snap Shots. How do I import multiple sites into the Account system?

    Multiple sites with different Snap Shots settings can be imported into an account as well. The best approach is to start by importing any single site you control that has Snap Shots settings. You'll need to know the e-mail address you originally signed up for Snap Shots with, and either the site's URL or the key (the 32-character string of letters and numbers in your current Snap Shots Javascript code). After you have imported the first site, you can easily import other sites' settings from within your account. Simply go to the Account Dashboard, where your other sites should already be listed.

12. How do I know if I have the most recent Javascript code installed on my site?

    In early November 2007 when Snap Shots accounts were launched, the Snap Shots Javascript code structure changed.

    The old code structure, in which all of the Snap Shots display and functionality was controlled by the Javascript code parameters, looks like this example:

    <script defer="defer" type="text/javascript" src="http://shots.snap.com/snap_shots.js?ap=1&key=d86c6b8a6773ff99a9b2417a118cebd8&sb=1&th=green&cl=0...

    The new code structure, in which the Snap Shots display and functionality is controlled from within your Snap Shots account, looks like this example:

    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://shots.snap.com/ss/32-CHARACTER-KEY/snap_shots.js"></script>
13. How long does it take to capture the preview images for the links on my site?

    Images of most sites will already be in our system. If not, Snap will automatically generate a preview image. The process for each image begins when someone rolls his or her cursor over the link. Usually the images are created in under 30 seconds, but there can be a delay if there are a lot of pages in the queue.

14. How do I update the preview image for a Web page?

    Type or paste in the URL of a web page that needs an updated preview and click "Send Request." It will be added to the preview queue. We cannot guarantee timing or entry, so please only submit URLs once.

15. I don’t want Snap to take a screenshot of my Web page. What can I do?

    If you don't want Snap Shots to take a screenshot of your Web page, you can instruct your system to block user-agent "SnapPreviewBot" in the robots.txt file.

    More information about robots.txt is available here.

16. How do I trigger Snap Shots other than PreviewShots?

    These will automatically display based on links matching our pattern URLs in the list below:

    Snap Shots™	Content Provider	URL Pattern Example
    WikiShots™	Wikipedia	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picasso http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picasso
    MovieShots™	IMDb	http://imdb.com/name/nm0000173 http://imdb.com/title/tt0099685
    StockShots™		http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=goog http://finance.google.com/finance?q=msft http://moneycentral.msn.com/detail/stock_quote?Symbol=YHOO http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=AAPL http://marketwatch.com/quotes/ORCL http://quote.morningstar.com/Quote/Quote.aspx?ticker=GOOG
    VideoShots™	YouTube	http://youtube.com/watch?v=wxyg3mhY9Q8 http://youtube.com/v/Xr8vUTm64h0
    	Google	http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1811233136844420765
    	Metacafe	http://www.metacafe.com/watch/477964/fast_ko
    	Revver	http://one.revver.com/watch/233084
    	Xanga	http://video.xanga.com/dave/b2ce728634/video.html
    	Veoh	http://veoh.com/videos/v527461An2eSmdr
    	MySpace	http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1194164636
    	ProductShots™	Amazon	http://www.amazon.com/Dude-Wheres-Car-Ashton-Kutcher/dp/B00003CXS7/...
    Amazon		http://www.amazon.com/Led-Zeppelin-IV-aka-ZOSO/dp/B000002J09/...
    PhotoShots™	Flickr	http://flickr.com/photos/kayo_iz-source/428191014 http://flickr.com/photos/kayo_iz-source/sets/72057594100318097 http://flickr.com/photos/kayo_iz-source/tags/glass
    	Picasa Web	http://picasaweb.google.com/p.sumegha/Kids/photo#5061510939589826658
    	AudioShots™		http://wiredset.com/media/colin_macintyre/How-Bout-I-Love-You-More.mp3
    ProfileShots™	MySpace	http://myspace.com/kailey05
    RSS Shots™		http://www.techcrunch.com

17. My site got a lot of automated traffic that seems to have been from Snap. What is going on?

    There are two possibilities:

    1. When someone rolls over a Snap Shot-enabled link for the first time, Snap takes a picture of the linked-to Web page so the image can be displayed in the preview bubble. If someone links to many pages at your site, you may notice a temporary increase in automated traffic. However this is generally quite brief because Snap stores the image so it does not generally need to fetch it again. The user-agent for our snapshot-taking bot is "SnapPreviewBot".
    2. Snap.com, our search engine, uses an indexing bot that may occasionally visit your Web pages. The user-agent for our indexing bot is "SnapBot/1.0".

    Both of our bots operate in the IP range of 38.98.19.66 to 38.98.19.126.

18. What is suitable site content?

    Snap strives to enhance the user experience on quality Internet sites.
    
    Your site may not:

    • - include any malware, adware or malicious code of any type
    • - replace the browser homepage
    • - disable the browser's back button
    • - open more than one partial pop-up/pop-under window or interfere with user navigation.

    
    

    Your site is not eligible to use Snap Shots if your content includes:

    • - Violence, excessive use of vulgar or obscene language
    • - Content related to human suffering or death
    • - Material that infringes on 3rd party copyrights or trademarks
    • - Weaponry, ammunition, fireworks or explosives
    • - Gambling
    • - Illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia
    • - Defamatory, libelous, threatening or other material that advocates against any individual or group
    • - The sale of body parts or bodily fluids
    • - The sale of hazardous substances
    • - The sale of tobacco and tobacco-related products
    • - Hacking, surveillance, interception or descrambling equipment
    • - The sale (or facilitated sale) of prescription drugs
    • - The sale of counterfeit or stolen items
    • - The sale of government IDs or police items
    • - The sale of alcoholic beverages
    • - Pay to Click or Pay to View offers or incentives
    • - Adult-oriented content unless you have indicated the adult nature of your site during the Snap Shots sign up process

    
    

    In addition to the policies above, your Sites must adhere to Snap Shot's™ Terms and Conditions.

Adjusting the Snap Shots Code

You can adjust the display and functionality of Snap Shots from inside your account. Sign up for an account or log in if you already have an account.

19. How can I prevent specific links from having Snap Shots?

    Add the 'snap_noshots' class to any link and it will not display the Snap Shot. For example:

    <a class="snap_noshots" href="http://www.example.com">www.example.com</a>
20. How do I add a class to a link that already has a class?

    An element can have more than one class. Just separate each class with a space. For example, the following link has two classes, 'snap_noshots' and 'other_class':

    <a class="other_class snap_noshots" href="http://www.example.com">www.example.com</a>
21. I only want a few of the links on my site to trigger a Snap Shot. Is there a way to only include links rather than exclude them?

    Yes. Log In to your Snap Shots account, and from the dashboard, click "Edit" for the site for which you want to change this setting. On the "Look & Feel" page, expand the "Advanced Settings" section and make sure the checkbox next to "Enable Snap Shots for External links" is NOT CHECKED (note that this checkbox is different than the "Enable Snap Shots for Internal links"). Then, click the "Save" button.

    Then, for each link that you DO want Snap Shots to display, add a 'snap_shots' class. For example:

    <a class="snap_shots" href="http://www.example.com">www.example.com</a>
22. How do I turn on Snap Shots for internal links?

    By default, Snap Shots are turned OFF for links to other pages at the same domain. To turn them ON for internal links, log in to your Snap Shots account, and from the dashboard, click "Edit" for the site for which you want to change this setting. On the "Look & Feel" page, expand the "Advanced Settings" section and make sure the checkbox next to "Enable Snap Shots for Internal links" is CHECKED (note that this checkbox is different than the "Enable Snap Shots for External links"). Then, click the "Save" button.

    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://shots.snap.com/snap_shots.js?ap=1&amp;si=1&amp;key=SAMPLE_KEY&amp;sb=0&amp;domain=www.example.com"></script>
23. How can I turn Snap Shots on and off for blocks of links?

    You can selectively turn blocks of links on or off by including them within a <div>, <span> or, actually, within any HTML element.

    To do so, you modify the element (or add an element) to include either:

    • <div class="snap_shots"> (to force the links within the block to have Snap Shots) or
    • <div class="snap_noshots"> (to force the links within the block to not have Snap Shots).

    For example:

    • <div class="snap_shots">
    •     <a href="webpage.html">this link triggers Snap Shots</a>
    •     <a href="webpage2.html">this link also triggers Snap Shots</a>
    • </div>
    • <a href="webpage3.html">this link does not trigger Snap Shots</a>

    By switching the class in the initial <div> element to "snap_noshots" you would turn all the links in the <div> off.

24. How can I let my users know which links are Snap Shots-enabled?

    Some of your users may want to know at a glance which of your links have Snap Shots and which do not. Therefore, we have created a Snap Shots icon you can use to indicate that a link is Snap Shots-enabled. This icon is easy to enable. Simply log in to your Snap Shots account, and from the dashboard, click "Edit" for the site for which you want to change this setting. On the "Look & Feel" page, expand the "Advanced Settings" section and make sure the checkbox next to "Show Snap Shots Link Icon" is CHECKED. Then, click the "Save" button.

    Also, if you are using the icon, you may want the Snap Shots to display when the user:

    1. Rolls the cursor over either the link or the icon: Example Link
    2. Rolls the cursor over only the icon: Example Link

    To adjust this behavior, for option one, make sure the checkbox next to "Trigger Snap Shots on Link Icon only" is UNCHECKED. For option two, make sure this checkbox is CHECKED.

25. How can I turn Snap Shots icons on and off for blocks of links?

    You can selectively turn Snap Shots icons on or off for blocks of links within a <div> or <span> element, or actually, within any html element.

    To do so, modify the element (or add an element) to include:

    <div class="snap_trigger_icon"> (Turns on the link icon. Rolling the cursor over the icon causes the preview image to be displayed.)
    <div class="snap_trigger_both"> (Turns on the link icon. Rolling the cursor over either the icon or the link causes the preview image to be displayed.)
    <div class="snap_no_icon"> (Turns off the link icon.)

    For example:

    <div class="snap_trigger_icon">   <a href="webpage.html">The Snap Shots™ icon is displayed and triggers a preview image</a>   <a href="webpage2.html">The Snap Shots™ icon is also displayed here and triggers a preview image</a> </div> <a href="webpage3.html">this Snap Shots™ icon is not necessarily displayed</a>

    By switching the class in the initial <div> element to 'snap_no_icon' you would turn off Snap Shots icons in the <div>. By switching to 'snap_trigger_both' you would cause the Snap Shots icons to be displayed and both the icons and the links to trigger Snap Shots.

26. Can I turn Snap Shots off or on for specific domains?

    Yes, though it's a bit technical.

    Copy the following code and paste it in a text editor so you can modify it. When you are done editing it, paste the resulting code into your HTML page just before the </body> tag.

    <script type="text/javascript">
//<[CDATA[
var links = document.getElementsByTagName('a');
for (var l = 0; l < links.length; l++) {
    if(links[l].href.match(/^http:\/\/www\.example\.com/)){
        links[l].className += " snap_noshots";
    }
}
//]]>
</script>

    The snap_noshots in the code above turns Snap Shots off for links to the domain www.example.com. But perhaps you have Snap Shots on your page turned off by default and you only want to turn them on for certain domains. Then you would use snap_shots.

    • snap_noshots turns Snap Shots off for www.example.com.
    • snap_shots turns Snap Shots on for www.example.com.

    But probably you do not want to link to www.example.com at all, so here's what to do:

    • First, notice that in the code "www.example.com" is written like this:  www\.example\.com
    • So, replace  www\.example\.com  with whatever domain name you please, but it must be written in the same fashion, with a backslash before each dot.

    If you only want to turn Snap Shots on or off for one domain, then you are now done modifying the code. Just paste the modified code into your page just before the </body> tag and republish if necessary.

    But perhaps you want to turn Snap Shots on or off for two or more domain names. Here's how:

    • Replace the line in the code that contains  www\.example\.com  with this line:  if(links[l].href.match(/^http:\/\/(www\.example1\.com|www\.example2\.com)/)){
    • With this line, Snap Shots will look for either www.example1.com or www.example2.com. Notice in this new bit of code that the two domains are separated with a vertical bar ( | ).
    • You can add more domains simply by adding a vertical bar before each new domain, as shown in this replacement line of code. And, of course, remember to put a backslash (\) before any dots.

    Finally, paste the modified code into your HTML page just before the </body> tag, republish if necessary, and you are done.

27. What parameters can I customize on a page-by-page basis in the Javascript code?

    This is rather technical and we recommend you don't adjust the settings of your Snap Shots code unless you understand what you are doing. The values these parameters can take are listed in parenthesis at the end of each entry.

    First, in order for any parameters in the Javascript code to be recognized, you must include the override=1 parameter in the Javascript code snippet. Here is an example of a code snippet with the override parameter included:

    <script type="text/javascript" src=http://shots.snap.com/ss/32-CHARACTER-KEY/snap_shots.js?override=1"></script>

    Now, adding any of the parameters listed below will effect the display or functionality of Snap Shots on the specific page where the parameter is added, as described below.

    • ap - Indicates whether Snap Shots are on or off by default. (0 = off, 1 = on)
    • as - Indicates whether Snap Shots Engage is enabled. (0 = off, 1 = on)
    • aslc - Controls the Snap Shots Engage color scheme. (site = uses colors based on the site's other links, theme = uses colors based on the selected Snap Shot theme)
    • aslt - Controls the Snap Shots Engage link treatment (dashed, dotted, or solid)
    • asf - Indicates the maximum number of links on a page that may be Snap Shots Engage-enabled. (a number from 1 to 10)
    • cl - Indicates whether Snap Shots will display a custom logo as uploaded by the Web site owner during sign-up. (0 = do not display custom logo, 1 = display custom logo)
    • lang - Indicates the language the Snap Shot will be displayed in. Acceptable values can be found at http://wiki.snap.com/index.php/Translations
    • link_icon - Turns Snap Shots link icon on or off. (on, off)
    • oi - Indicates whether Snap Shots should be controlled by the Snap Shots Opt-In Badge on your web sage. (0 = off, 1 = on) [This should be off unless you selected the Opt-In Badge during signup and have included the Badge on your Web page.]
    • po - Indicates whether Snap Shots will display Web page previews only (no stock quotes, product info, movie info, video, etc.) or the full range of Snap Shot previews. (0 = all Snap Shot previews, 1 = Web page previews only)
    • sb - Indicates whether the Snap Shot bubble contains a search box for Snap.com. (0 = no, 1 = yes)
    • shots_trigger - Indicates whether to activate a Snap Shot bubble with the link icon only (see link_icon), or with both the link icon and the link. (icon, both)
    • si - Indicates whether Snap Shots should be on or off for links to other pages on your site. (0 = off for internal links, 1 = on for internal links)
    • size - Indicates the initial size of the Snap Shots bubble. (small, large)
    • th - Indicates background color of the Snap Shot bubble (silver, ice, green, linen, orange, pink, purple, asphalt)
28. I want to add Snap Shots on plain text, not links. How do I do that?

    Please see our Snap Shots Markup Language whitepaper for instructions.

29. How can I hand code any of the Snap Shots?

    Please see our Snap Shots Markup Language whitepaper.

30. Snap Shots are showing up under the Flash elements on my page. How do I fix that?

    Try adjusting your Flash code to be transparent.

    Here are two things to try, depending on whether you are using the OBJECT or EMBED tag:

    Add the following parameter to the OBJECT tag:

    <param name="wmode" value="transparent">

    Add the following parameter to the EMBED tag:

    wmode="transparent"

Using Snap Shares™

Snap Shares™ gives you a portion of the ads that appear in Snap Shots and lets you do what you wish — serve ads through your regular provider, market yourself or share them with charity.

31. How does Snap Shares™ work?

    Snap Shares™ gives you a portion of the ads that appear in Snap Shots and lets you do what you wish — serve ads through your regular provider, market yourself or share them with charity. Once you enable and configure Snap Shares from within your account, Snap will automatically take a portion of the advertising inventory in the shots on a given site and share them in one of three ways:

    1. A site can market itself using text or graphics. This is an easy way for a site to promote specials, news, etc.
    2. A site can donate the ad inventory to a beloved charity such as Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, etc.
32. What kind of ads or content can I choose to show using Snap Shares™?

    There are several types of ads and content available in Snap Shares™.

    1. My Own Ad. You can either create a text ad or graphical ad in the Snap Shares space. Text ad includes a headline (30 chars max), description (70 chars max), display URL (30 chars max) and click URL (1024 chars max). Graphical ad banners are available in half banner and full banner sizes and can be a .gif or .jpg, with a click URL behind them.
    2. Charity Ads. You select your preferred charity from our list of charities, and ads for the charity and/or other types of ads will be displayed in your Share. Revenue generated by these ads will be donated to the selected charity.
33. Can I include affiliate code in the URL of my own ad?

    You are permitted to use affiliate tracking code, compatible with ad networks such as Linkshare, in the click URL for your text or graphical ads. Simply enter an affiliate link as the click URL behind your text or graphical ad under "My Own Ad" on the Snap Shares™ page.

34. What if I don't want ads in Snap Shots on my site?

    At this time, Snap offers advertising exemption to educational and governmental institutions. If you feel that your web site fits these criteria and would like to apply to be exempted, please send an email to customerservice@snap.com and we will review your application and get back to you shortly.

Installing Snap Shots on Blogging Platforms

How do I install Snap Shots on...

35. TypePad?

    When you complete the Snap Shots signup process, or add a new site to an existing Snap Shots account, the system will recognize that the URL you enter is a Typepad URL. On the "Installation" page, you will see a button to install Snap Shots on Typepad with instructions.

36. WordPress?

    Getting up and running on your Wordpress.org blog is a two-part process.

    1. Our Wordpress plugin is available on the Wordpress plugin directory at http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/snap-shots-for-wordpressorg/. Download it from that page and follow the instructions to install it.
    2. Then, complete the Snap Shots signup process. On the last page of the signup process you'll receive a block of code — the only think you'll need from that block of code is the 32-digit "key". It's the text (letters and numbers) that comes between the s/ and the /snap_shots.js in the code. Copy that key and paste it in the Wordpress plug-in page under Options > Snap Shots where it says "Enter Your Snap Shots Key."

    Note: As of November 5, 2007, Snap Shots functionality for new Snap Shots accounts is completely controlled from within your Snap Shots account. This means that the customization/behavior controls found in the Wordpress plug-in do not do anything. After you enter your key inside your Wordpress admin console, change your Snap Shots settings from with your Snap Shots account. We will be changing the Wordpress plug-in to reflect these changes soon.

37. Blogger/Blogspot?

    Read our Blogger Quick Start Guide.

38. Google Pages?

    Click on the 'edit' link, as shown here, and insert the code above the title text and publish it.

    

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