The Internet cowboy's sidekick

Out there on the wild prairies of the Internet, it gets mighty lonely. Jus' you, the swarms of spam, along with a herd o' forms and Web site logons to fill out. What you need is a buddy, a sidekick to help you remember how to git into those Web sites without gettin' bushwhacked by a tenderfoot "unauthorized" response.

Well, this week pardners, we have a utility that we reckon is mighty fine, yesiree (Yee-hah!). This mighty fine piece o' code is called RoboForm and it is something that your old trailmates at the Gearhead Ranch couldn't live without. RoboForm is a Web form filler and recorder and by far better than any other product that we've looked at in its market.

An add-on for Internet Explorer 5.0, 5.5 and 6.0, RoboForm also works with Internet Explorer-based browsers including Avant Browser, MaxThon, NetCaptor and Slim Browser, as well as the AOL and MSN browsers.

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Out there on the wild prairies of the Internet, it gets mighty lonely. Jus' you, the swarms of spam, along with a herd o' forms and Web site logons to fill out. What you need is a buddy, a sidekick to help you remember how to git into those Web sites without gettin' bushwhacked by a tenderfoot "unauthorized" response.

Well, this week pardners, we have a utility that we reckon is mighty fine, yesiree (Yee-hah!). This mighty fine piece o' code is called RoboForm and it is something that your old trailmates at the Gearhead Ranch couldn't live without. RoboForm is a Web form filler and recorder and by far better than any other product that we've looked at in its market.

An add-on for Internet Explorer 5.0, 5.5 and 6.0, RoboForm also works with Internet Explorer-based browsers including Avant Browser, MaxThon, NetCaptor and Slim Browser, as well as the AOL and MSN browsers.

"What about that there FireFox and its kin?" we hear you cry. Using the RoboForm Adapter or Extension there's support for FireFox 0.9.3, 1.0 to 1.0.4; Mozilla 1.7.2 to 1.7.8; and Netscape 7.2. A complete list of supported browsers can be found here .

When you install RoboForm it gives you the chance to pre-specify all sorts of stuff such as your first and last name, address, gender, age, default user ID and password, password question and answer, and credit card details.

When installation finishes, you'll find a new toolbar in your browser either in the regular toolbar spot or under the currently open window.

With RoboForm installed any time you come across a Web form a RoboForm pop-up window will appear and offer you the chance to automatically fill any fields it can identify for that site and optionally submit the form for you.

Moreover, once RoboForm is installed, any time you load a form asking for a logon name and password, RoboForm will automatically offer to remember the details for you in what the program calls a "passcard." When you subsequently select a passcard, RoboForm will invoke your default browser, load the URL of the logon page, fill the form and optionally submit it.

RoboForm can remember many other types of Web forms, including Bookmarks, Identities, Contacts and Safe Notes.

Bookmarks essentially are the same as Netscape bookmarks or Internet Explorer favorites. They are really another kind of passcard that store long text notes and which are shown along with passcards.

Identities store and fill in the data for long non-password forms such as registration or checkout forms, while Contacts allow RoboForm to be used as an Address Book. These are shown together with Identities.

Safe Note provides storage for frequently used text fragments (whether secret or not) and RoboForm provides a folder system so you can categorize any of the above data types in a hierarchical tree structure.

RoboForm also provides a password generator so you can create random passwords for new Web accounts.

Some Web sites try to thwart hackers by requiring you to fill in a field that tests your intelligence to make sure you aren't a robot. These "Turing" fields can be flagged in RoboForm so they are ignored, allowing you to manually specify the required information on each logon.