Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What is iCyte?

    iCyte is a web research management tool that lets you save and annotate entire web pages. Much better than bookmarks, it lets you highlight the most useful text directly on the saved web page, issue-tag, search, comment, and securely share your saved content with others.

    You can learn more about iCyte in our video overview.

  2. What operating systems does the iCyte client work with?
    • Microsoft Windows (XP, Vista, Server 2003, 7)
    • Mac OS X
    • Linux
  3. What Web Browsers does iCyte work with?
    • Mozilla Firefox 3.0 and above
    • Internet Explorer 7 and 8

    We recommend using iCyte with Firefox.

  4. Does iCyte work with Safari?

    Safari does not have an open extension framework, which makes it very difficult (if not impossible) for us to currently support it. We are investigating various techniques for bringing iCyte to Safari in the future. In the interim, we recommend using iCyte with Firefox.

  5. What content can you annotate using iCyte?
    Any HTML file that you can access using your web browser can be annotated. Some of the web pages our users have annotated include:
    • Newspaper articles
    • Technical documentation
    • Knowledgebase articles
    • Confirmation screens for ordering products (flights, hotels, books, ...)
    • Product reviews
    • Youtube videos
  6. How can I sign up for an iCyte account?

    You can download iCyte and sign up for an account in our download wizard.

  7. How do I use iCyte?

    Instructions for how to use the basic iCyte functionality have been included in our tutorial.

  8. Does iCyte have an API?

    Yes, a RESTful interface is available programmatically access your data within iCyte. The API is documented here.

  9. What are plugins and Add-ons?

    Plugins (sometimes called add-ons) are programs that add a specific function or tool to a web-browser. The are generally quick to install and take up very little space on your hard drive. Because they function within the web browser, the icons for add-ons are generally located within the browser or the browser menu bar.

    Plugins can be managed through the web browser. In Firefox, choose Tools->Add-ons from the menu. Firefox will automatically check for any updates.

  10. Can I use iCyte on someone else’s computer?

    As long as the iCyte plugin is installed on that computer. You need to make sure you sign in with your own username (email address) and password. Go to www.icyte.com and click on ‘sign in.’

  11. What is the "Home" page?

    The "Home" page is the page you first see when you sign in. It’s our way of saying hello. We show your recent Cytes and a selection of recently added public Cytes. From here you can go to your ‘My View’ page where you can see all your projects, or to the ‘Manage’ page, where you can change your profile and manage your projects.

  12. What is the "My View" page?

    This page shows you all your projects and tags, as well as displaying any other users who belong to a project. On this page you can also see whether a project is a private or a public project, and if you have been invited to join a project.

    The "My View" page also shows the the Cytes for the projects. If you have selected a particular project, you will see all the Cytes for that project displayed below.

    By clicking on the details button, the tags and notes for each individual Cyte will be displayed. You can also navigate to the saved version of the Cyted page (iCyte View) or return to the original webpage (Live View). Each Cyte also displays the name of the person who created the Cyte and the name of the project. You can see if any comments have been made for this Cyte, and if you want to make a comment yourself, click the comment button.

    Click on the small cog icon directly below the title on each Cyte to access the Cyte actions pulldown menu. The Share action allows you to share the Cyte with social network websites, such as Twitter and Facebook. ‘Email’ allows you to send the Cyte in an e-mail. Embed helps you generate an embed code to allow you to embed the Cyte on a blog, wiki or other website. ‘Change’ allows you to edit the tags and notes of the Cyte, and change the project that it's in. The Copy action lets you copy the Cyte to another project. ‘Delete’ removes the Cyte.

    Cytes can be sorted by name, project, owner, tags or date. The cog button at the top of the Cyte display allows you to export the list of Cytes to Word (RTF) or Excel (CSV).

  13. What is the "Manage" page?

    The "Manage" page is where you take care of your profile and manage your projects. The "Manage Project" tab is where you create new projects, edit projects and invite users to join your project. The "Profile and Settings" tab is where you add details about yourself.

  14. What is a User Profile?

    This is a description of you. Details can include your location, professional and personal interests. You can add a link to your webpage, a description about yourself and even a photo. What you add to your profile is entirely up to you, so add as little or as much as you like.

  15. Who can see my User Profile?

    Unless you contribute to a public project, your profile will only be seen by other users in the projects you belong to.

  16. Do I have to log into iCyte to copy pages or mark text?

    When you create a Cyte, you will be prompted to sign in. However the iCyte button will appear in the browser regardless of whether or not you have signed in.

  17. How do I view the Cytes I've made in my projects?

    You can quickly access the Cytes you've made by clicking the iCyte sidebar button in your browser's toolbar.

  18. What is a Cyte?

    Cyte is our word for a web page you have saved and added tags or notes to.

  19. What are Tags?

    Tags are the way we categorize information.

    For example, if you were to create a project for home renovations, there would be a number of tags that would help to sort and organize your research. For instance your list of tags might include; plumbers, electricians, flooring specialists, soft furnishings, designers etc. The idea is to create a list of tags that is going to best support you in classifying your research information.

    Tags are added to Cytes in the create Cyte box. Just type in the word. Remember - tags are case-sensitive, they can consist of more than one word, and are separated by a comma. When adding a tag used previously, a pull down list will appear once you type the first letter. Select the suggested tag to add it.

    For large and more complex projects, getting the tag list right is really important. It is worth taking the time to think about the tags you might want to use. If you are working with a group, it is useful to share your suggested tag list with each other. This will help different users to apply tags in a way that is consistent, and will make later retrieval of information much more effective.

    Tags for Cytes can be changed, deleted or added to after the Cyte has been created. On the My View page, find the Cyte you wish to edit, click the cog icon, and select the ‘change’ option. This will allow you to edit the tag list or make changes to the notes.

  20. What are notes?

    Adding notes to a Cyte is a way of making a comment, either for your own later reference, or for others in your project. It’s really just a way of adding more information.

    Create_cyte_dialog
  21. What is a Project?

    Projects allow you to categorize your research into different areas of interest. For example, you might have a project to manage all the information for your home building project called ‘Home Renovations’, and a separate project for researching holiday destinations called ‘Holidays’.

    You can create as many projects as you like, and you can invite other people to join your projects. Other people can invite you to join their projects.

    You can also ask to join Public Projects. To do this you need to click on the project name, and then click own the project owner’s name. Send them a message to ask if you can join their project.

  22. What is the difference between a private project and a public project?

    Public Projects are projects that can be viewed by anyone and are a great way of sharing your research with the world.

    Although you can view the Cytes for a Public Project, you cannot contribute to the project until you become of member of that project. To do that you will need to send a message to the project owner. If the project owner wants you to contribute to their project, they will add you to the project on their 'Manage Projects' screen.

    Private Projects can only be viewed by members of the project.

  23. What does it mean if the iCyte button is grey/disabled?

    Some web pages take a while to finish loading. The iCyte button remains grey until the page has loaded. Once it returns to a solid color (blue or black) you can begin making Cytes.

  24. What do the Help images mean?

    The question mark indicates there is information or a tip. Place the mouse or cursor over the question mark and a box will pop up with extra information to help you.

  25. I've received a "Cookie configuration problem" error from an iCyte webpage. What should I do?

    Firefox Users

    This problem happens because Firefox doesn't allow us to read and write cookies for the www.icyte.com domain from our plugin dialog unless it's configured to accept third-party cookies. You can rectify this by doing the following:

    1. Open the Firefox preference dialog
      • on windows: select 'options' from the 'tools' menu
      • on mac: select 'preferences' from the 'Firefox' menu
      • on linux: select 'preferences' from the 'edit' menu
    2. On the Firefox preferences dialog, click on the 'Privacy' section
    3. Click on the 'exceptions' button, type in the address icyte.com, and press the 'allow' button.
    Firefox_cookies

    Internet Explorer Users

    1. From the 'Tools' menu, select 'Internet Options'
    2. Click on the 'Privacy' tab
    3. Click on the 'Sites' button
    4. Type in the address icyte.com, then press the 'allow' button
    5. Restart your web browser
    Ie_cookies
  26. What changes are planned for future iCyte releases?

    The features planned for future iCyte releases are driven largely by user demand, so if there's something you'd like to see added to iCyte please let us know.

    A list of planned features and when we expect them to be added is viewable here.

  27. Can I share my Cytes with other websites (twitter, facebook, etc)?

    Any public Cyte or project can be shared with other websites. The list of websites that you can share with includes twitter, facebook, digg, stumbleupon, technorati and more. View our video or help page to see how to do this.

  28. How do I give another user access to my iCyte project?

    You can do this by either selecting the "invite into project" checkbox on the e-mail Cyte dialog, or by adding the user to the project on the manage projects screen. Watch our video for a walk-through of how to do this.

  29. Is it possible to embed a Cyte or project into my website, blog or wiki?

    Any Cyte or project can be embedded into an external website. View our video on how to do this.

  30. The iCyte icon doesn't appear in my browser toolbar. How can I fix this?

    Before you see the iCyte toolbar icon in Firefox you must install our browser add-on. Follow the instructions in our help documentation to install our plugin.

    If you've installed the iCyte browser plugin and don't see an iCyte icon in your toolbar, go to the View menu in Firefox and select Toolbars -> Customize. Then drag the iCyte icon from the customize toolbar dialog up into your firefox toolbar.

    Add_to_toolbar_ff
  31. What is iCyte's business model?

    Our revenue stream will come from enterprises who wish to host their own iCyte server internally. We intend on adding enterprise specific features into this version of iCyte (such as integration with internal authentication schemes), and will be offering enterprise level support to accompany it.

    We are commited to continuing a free version of the software which we will constantly be improving upon.

  32. How do I install iCyte on a second computer?

    If you've already installed iCyte on one computer and want to use your existing account on another machine, navigate to the iCyte download page and click the "free download" link.

    After installing iCyte on your second computer, login to www.icyte.com using your existing iCyte account.

  33. How do I make a private project public?
    • Login to the iCyte website, then click the manage button on the top right hand side of the screen
    • From the "manage projects" tab, select the project that you wish to make public
    • On the right hand side of the screen, change the access level from Private to Public
    • Press the "save changes" button
  34. Is it possible to Cyte Word documents or Excel spreadsheets using iCyte?

    You cannot directly Cyte a Word or Excel document, however you can if you first save the file in HTML format and open it in your web browser. Steps for doing this in Microsoft Word are:

    • From the file menu in Microsoft Word, select Save as HTML (or Save As Web Page)
    • Click Yes or Save on the dialog box that appears
    • Open your web browser
    • From the file menu in your web browser, select open and browser to the file you saved
    • Click ok or open to view the file
    • Create a Cyte
  35. Is it possible to create a Cyte in a pop-up dialog?

    Yes - if you right click your mouse anywhere in the pop-up dialog (except on a link) you can select the 'iCyte' menu item to create a Cyte.