How to Use Octoparse

Getting started with Octoparse

After reading this guide, you'll be able to set up your Octoparse account and create your first web scraping task without writing any code.

Step 1: Sign up and set up

1. Go to Octoparse.
2. Click on the "Sign Up" button in the top right corner.
3. Fill in your email and create a password, or sign up using Google or Facebook.
4. Once registered, log in to your account. You’ll be greeted by the dashboard.

Step 2: Your first web scraping task

1. On the dashboard, click on the "+ New Task" button.
2. Enter the URL of the website you want to scrape in the prompt that appears and click "Start".
3. The Octoparse interface will load the website. Use the point-and-click tool to select the data you want to extract. For example, click on a product title to select it.
4. After selecting, a menu will appear. Choose "Extract text" to capture the title.
5. Repeat the process for other data points you want to scrape (e.g., price, image URL).
6. Once you've selected all your data points, click on the "Save" button.
7. Finally, click on the "Run" button to execute your scraping task. You can choose to run it locally or in the cloud.

Step 3: Get better results

• Use the "Loop Item" feature to scrape multiple items from a list on the webpage. Click on the first item, then choose "Loop" to capture similar entries.
• Adjust the "Pagination" settings if the data spans multiple pages. Click on the "Next Page" button on the site to set this up.
• Regularly check the "Data Preview" section to ensure you're capturing the right information before running the full task.

Pro tip

Use the "Template Library" on the dashboard to find pre-built templates for common websites. This can save you time, as you can modify an existing template instead of starting from scratch.

Common mistake to avoid

Avoid selecting too many elements at once. Focus on one data point at a time to ensure accuracy. If you try to extract multiple elements simultaneously without proper setup, your results may be incorrect or incomplete.