WOA for end users

As an end user, you can basically perform four tasks with our tool:

• 1. Define concept templates.

  2. Configure a search engine, if the template you identified represent more than one single instance (e.g. articles listen in Ebay).

  3. Associate a template with a decorator, which will wrap your concept with some specialized behaviour.

  4. Interact with the instances of the defined template, either through the WOA viewer or through Web Augmentation decorators under the in-situ modality (the Web site where the template was originally created for).

1. Defining concept templates

Navigate the Web. When you identify some object of your interest in a Web page, you need to collect it. To do so, please define the concept and their properties. 

Collecting a concept

1. Click in the WOA toolbar button, and choose "Enable selection".

2. Point the element you want to collect and right-click on it. Choose "Add concept" and choose between the available alternatives that are presented as menuitems (they will depend on the attributes of the selected element).

3. Fill the required data in the form opened at sidebar. Depending on the collecting alternative you have chosen in the previous step, some fields may be automatically completed. If not, please choose a representative name and tag for the concept, and one of the options in the "Selector" combo. Finally, click save.

Attaching a property to the concept

1. If selection is not enabled, click the WOA toolbar button, and choose "Enable selection".

2. Point the element you want to attach as a property for a concept, and right-click on it. Choose "Add property" and choose between the available alternatives that are presented as menuitems (they will depend on the attributes of the selected element).

3. Fill the required data in the form opened at sidebar. Depending on the collecting alternative you have chosen in the previous step, some fields may be automatically completed. If not, please choose which will be the owner concept of the propery, a representative name and tag for the property, and select one of the options in the "Selector" combo. Finally, click save.

2. Configuring the search engine

Search engines will allow you to retrieve more object instances than the ones you can find in the Web page document you created the template for. 

For example, if you created the "Ebay product" from this concrete Web page, the default document will offer you with a limited set of items and some pagination links at the bottom of the page for retrieving more items. Moreover, if you have defined your search with some keywords, such as "hiking backpack", the results you will obtain from a single document (where you defined the tempate) will always respond to items related to such words. 

So, if the Web where we defined the template has an integrated search engine, you can benefit from it to retrieve more instances than the defined in the original document. But, as you can figure out, as every website has its own specific structure, it is neccesary to provide WOA with some information to identify some elements for performing the search.

1. If selection is not enabled, click the WOA toolbar button, and choose "Enable selection".

2. You need to define the search elements you use in the current Web page for performing a search. For each of them, point it and right click. Choose "Add as search engine element", and then choose among the following options:  

   • Input control. This is where you type some keywords.

   • Search trigger. This is the control you press for searching (usually a button with a magnifier icon).

   • Next page trigger. The control you pres for navigating the results and get the following page (usually the "next" link).

   • Previous page trigger. The control you pres for navigating the results and get the previous page (usually the "previous" link).

   • Filter element. Usually, the checkboxes for filtering results given some category

3. Every time you select an item, the sidebar is opened for configuring and save such options. Collect, at least, the three first elements in the list and finally, click save.

3. Choosing a decorator for the template's instances  

Decorators allow you to improve your defined concepts with specialized behaviour. For exampe, if you defined the "Ebay product" concept, you can wrap it with the "Marketplace Product" decorator. This will allow you to interact with the defined concept by sending it some messages like "Search in Amazon" for comparing proces, or "Look for reviews in CNet". WOA automatically selects a decorator for the concept you created, based on the tag you provided, but if you want to change it because you consider there is not the proper decorator, you can do it by following these steps:  

1. If the sidebar is not open, click the WOA toolbar button, and choose "Open sidebar".

2. Right-click on the template you want to apply a new decorator. Choose "Edit > Functionality".

3. Choose among the available decorators. The available list is presented to you according to the tag you provided for the concept. Click, next.

4. A decorator have defined multiple messages. Select the ones you want to use for the instances of the template you have defined. Click, next.

5. A list of required fields may be shown to you. Every decorator's message needs some data to be called. Some of such data are represented as the properties of your template, and the decorator needs to manage such data under a concrete name. For example, if you defined just the "price" property of an "Ebay product", you forgot to define the "name" property, and you selected the "Search in Amazon" message, you will be asked in this step to match the "name" propery with any of the template's properties. If you don't have such property defined, you will need to define it. If any matching is needed, click in the gear icon of every listed property and choose one of the template's  properties in order to set a link.

6. Finally, click save.    

4. Interacting with the instances

Once you defined a template, you can start interacting with the concepts instances. You basically have two alternatives:

Interacting through the WOA Viewer

The WOA viewer is the default view when you open the sidebar. You should also see a tab with its name on the left-top corner of the sidebar. From this view you can both manage your templates and interact with its instances. The firs action was previously explained. For the second, follow these steps:

1. If the sidebar is not open, click the WOA toolbar button, and choose "Open sidebar".

   1. Right click on the template of the concepts you want to interact with. Choose "View instances".

   2. Right click on the representation od the instance toy want to interact. Choose "Available messages" and click the one you want to emit.

Interacting through specialized decorators

Some decorators have Web Augmentation capabilities; this means they are capable of enhance existing Web content with features that they were not contemplated when were originally created. So, if you are currently navigating the original Web page where you defined such concepts' template, you can interact under the "in-situ" modality. Each matching DOM element you selected for your concept instances will be automatically improved with a floating menu that will offer you with the messages you ave configured for the selected decorator. So, the only thing you need to do in this case is navigate to the original site and interact through the floating menu associated to the instances.