Using SLAPfiles

SLAPfiles are a new way to quickly and easily share your favorite downloads with your friends. When you save your download list to a SLAPfile, you just send the file to your friend (who also has PimpFish). He then loads the SLAPfile in the PimpFish downloader, and he instantly has all the same downloads!

Opening SLAPfiles with the download manager

If you have a SLAPfile - either one you made yourself, or one someone sent you - you can add the contents to your download list by clicking the Share This! button, then Load a SLAPfile on the menu. PimpFish will show the Windows file open dialog; choose your SLAPfile in this dialog and click Open.

PimpFish will read the SLAPfile and add the files to your download list. If the person who made the file wrote a message in the SLAPfile, PimpFish will show it to you. For example:

Saving SLAPfiles with the download manager

When you want to share your downloads, click the Share This! button, then Save Download List to a SLAPfile on the menu, to open the Share Your Download List dialog. In this dialog, you can enter a message for the person that will be receiving the SLAPfile. This part is optional, so if you don't want a message, you can leave the box blank.

In the SLAPfile name box, enter the location where you want the SLAPfile to be saved. This is pre-filled with a directory and file name - the file will be called Shared Downloads.slap - but you can change it if you wish.

Click OK and PimpFish will create the SLAPfile. You can then keep the file for later, or share it with your friends. A SLAPfile is a small text file, so you can easily send it via email.

You can also have PimpFish save a SLAPfile on the PimpFish web site, which makes sharing SLAPfiles even easier! Click the Share This! button, then Save Your Download List Online on the menu. When saving online, you only need to enter a message for the recipient.

When you click OK, PimpFish will upload the file to the PimpFish site and remember that it came from you. (You need to have cookies enabled in Internet Explorer for this feature to work.) You'll see a progress window while the upload is being done. After the upload is complete, close the progress window and PimpFish will open a web page that shows you the URL to your new SLAPfile, along with instructions on how to share it and post it in web forums.

Sharing SLAPfiles via email with PimpFish

If you want to share a SLAPfile right away, without saving it or posting it online, PimpFish can email it to your friends for you. If your email program supports MAPI (and many programs do, including Eudora, Microsoft Outlook, and Mozilla Thunderbird), PimpFish can send the SLAPfile using your own email account. Otherwise, PimpFish can send the file using Zabersoft's online email service.

To email a SLAPfile using your email program, click the Share This! button, point to E-mail Your Download List to a Friend, then click Using Your E-mail Program. PimpFish will show the following dialog:

Enter the recipient's email address and a message that will appear in the body of the email. As with the other saving options, you can optionally enter a message to be displayed when your friend loads the SLAPfile. Click OK to send the email. Note that your email program may display an alert when it detects that PimpFish is using it to send an email. This is a normal security precaution to guard against malicious programs from sending out spam. If your program asks you if you want to allow PimpFish to send an email, make sure to allow it.

If you don't have an email program that supports MAPI, or don't want to use it, you can save the SLAPfile online and use the PimpFish site to send the emails. Click the Share This! button, point to E-mail Your Download List to a Friend, then click Using Zabersoft's SLAPfile E-mail Service. This works similarly to the Save Your Download List Online feature, but after PimpFish uploads the SLAPfile, it will open a different web page. On this page, you enter your friends' email addresses, and a message for the body of the email, and click Send emails.