help:search_engine_key

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help:search_engine_key [2011/08/08 12:55] – [Where's my AppId?] eroshelp:search_engine_key [2012/04/19 10:32] – [Why do I need an AppId?] eros
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 ====== Bing AppId ====== ====== Bing AppId ======
 +
 +==== Soon BootCaT will stop working! ====
 +
 +Please read this [[news:important announcement]].
  
 ==== Why do I need an AppId? ==== ==== Why do I need an AppId? ====
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 At the end of June 2011 Yahoo terminated the free search service BootCaT had been using for years, so we were forced to find an alternative solution. At the end of June 2011 Yahoo terminated the free search service BootCaT had been using for years, so we were forced to find an alternative solution.
  
-On August 5, 2011 version 0.6 of the BootCat front-end (which includes version 0.16 of the toolkit) was released. Starting from this version, the [[http://www.bing.com/|Bing]] search engine is used to retrieve URLs. Bing's service is not as generous as the one provided by the now defunct Yahoo Search API, but it's the next best thing: you can use the service for free but an [[help:search_engine_key#what_s_an_appid_and_how_do_i_get_one|AppId]] is required for the system to work. To obtain an AppId you just need to register (for free) on the Bing website. +On August 5, 2011 version 0.6 of the BootCat front-end (which includes version 0.16 of the toolkit) was released. Starting from this version, the [[http://www.bing.com/|Bing]] search engine is used to retrieve URLs. Bing's service is not as generous as the one the now defunct Yahoo Search API used to provide, but it's the next best thing: you can use the service for free but an [[help:search_engine_key#what_s_an_appid_and_how_do_i_get_one|AppId]] is required for the system to work. To obtain an AppId you just need to register (for free) on the Bing website.
- +
-We realise this is not ideal, but there's really no alternative (that we know of): Google and Yahoo now require paid accounts to provide the kind of service BootCaT needs, Bing is free (at least for now).+
  
 +We realise this is not ideal, but there's really no alternative (that we know of, if you know of an alternative, please [[http://bootcat.sslmit.unibo.it/?section=contacts|contact us]]): Google and Yahoo now require paid accounts to provide the kind of service BootCaT needs, Bing is free (at least for a little longer, [[news:important_announcement|see this announcement]]).
 ==== BootCaT and Bing are two very different things ==== ==== BootCaT and Bing are two very different things ====
  
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 An AppId is a sort of password: it's a very long string of letters and numbers. Unlike a password, you don't get to choose what your AppId is, it's assigned to you and you can't change it. An AppId is a sort of password: it's a very long string of letters and numbers. Unlike a password, you don't get to choose what your AppId is, it's assigned to you and you can't change it.
  
-To get your free Bing AppId, visit http://www.bing.com/developers and click on "create an AppID" (you'll need a "Windows Live" account, i.e. a Hotmail e-mail address, which is also free).+To get your free Bing AppId:
  
-See the image below for an example of how you should fill out the registration form. As you can see, only general information are required.+  * make sure you have a **"Windows Live ID"** (i.e. a **Hotmail** e-mail address), if don't have one already, you can sign up (for free) [[https://signup.live.com|here]]
  
-{{:help:bing_register_1.png|}}+  * visit http://www.bing.com/developers and click on "Sign in - Bing Search API": 
 + 
 +{{:bing:developer.jpg|}} 
 + 
 +  * login using you Windows Live ID: 
 + 
 +{{:bing:login.jpg|}} 
 + 
 +  * in the next screen click "Add": 
 + 
 +{{:bing:add.jpg|}} 
 + 
 +  * fill out the registration form and click on "Save" (as you can see, only general information is required): 
 + 
 +{{:bing:form.jpg|}}
  
 ==== Where's my AppId? ==== ==== Where's my AppId? ====
  
-Once you've filled out the form and clicked on "Agree", you should see something like this (your AppId will be in the area marked by the red box in the picture below):+Once you've filled out the form and clicked on "Save", you should see something like this (your AppId will be in the area marked by the red line in the picture below): 
 + 
 +{{:bing:appid.jpg|}} 
 + 
 +Sometimes the key doesn't appear immediately, just refresh the page by pushing the refresh button on your browser. 
 + 
 +Remember that you don't need to create a new AppId every time you install BootCaT, you can use the same key on multiple computers.
  
 +**NB**: it's advisable to use **copy/paste** to insert the key in the relevant box inside BootCaT, you can use the key combination CTRL-C (copy) and CTRL-V (paste) on Windows and Linux or CMD-C (copy) and CMD-V (paste) on Mac.