Save a web page to read later

Launch a web browser and visit Instapaper's website. When the page loads, click the Create Account link at the top right. At the next screen, type in a valid email address, choose and type in a password and click the Create Account button. The grey Read Later legend in the middle of the screen is called a bookmarklet. With most browers, this can be dragged and dropped onto the browser’s bookmarks toolbar at the top of the window. But with Internet Explorer, it’s a little more complicated. To begin, click the View menu, choose Toolbars and then click to tick Favorites Bar.

Now right-click the bookmarklet and choose Add to Favorites from the pop-up menu. If the Security Alert dialogue box appears ignore it by clicking Yes. When the Add a Favorite dialogue box appears, open the dropdown menu and select Favorites Bar. This method also allows you to use a name other than ‘Read Later’ for the Favorite, though we’re leaving ours as it is. Click Add. Open a new tab in the browser, visit www.computeractive.co.uk and click any story link. Now click the new Read Later button on the Favorites bar.

Instapaper opens a new browser tab that displays the name of the chosen article – click the ‘Save to my Instapaper account’ button to continue. Instapaper saves the article and then returns the browser to the page just flagged (the Computeractive website, in our example). To read the article switch back to the Instapaper tab and to see it listed there (if it isn’t, click the browser’s Refresh button to reload the page).

We’ve added three more articles in exactly the same way – by opening the story in our browser and then clicking the Read Later button. Instapaper arranges them in a list in the middle of the screen. It also provides a selection of tools to help organise and find your way around articles. At the moment we’re looking at the Unread articles, but it’s possible to ‘star’ items (and list only starred items) or archive articles for later. For now, choose any story and click the adjacent Text button.

Instapaper opens a new screen with the article displayed. If desired, click the View original link at the top right to open the original web page. There are various visual adjustments that can be made to the reading page. Click the little double ‘A’ icon at the top and Instapaper will display a menu with options to adjust text size, line spacing, font and so on. Have a play with these and then click the ‘defaults’ link to reset the display.

Click the Close link at the top left to turn off the menu and use the browser’s Back button to return to the main article list. As more articles are added, organise them using Instapaper’s folders. Find the FOLDERS heading on the right and click the Add folders link beneath it. Type in a name for the folder and click Create Folder. Back at the main list notice that a new link has been added to each article entry – Move. Click this and then choose the appropriate folder from the pop-up window.

To remove an article from Instapaper, click the Delete link next to its entry. Alternatively, for a more considered approach, click the Archive button instead and then periodically click the Archive heading at the top to see those articles you’re hanging on to. Remove an article by clicking the relevant Delete button or click to expand the DELETE ARTICLES section in the right-hand column and choose one of the options there. Be warned: deleting articles is permanent.

It’s possible to save a copy of the articles stored in your Instapaper account. From the main Instapaper screen, click to expand the EXPORT heading in the right-hand column and then choose the required format. Clicking the Download HTML file button, for example, will produce a single file containing the most recent 2,000 articles: this can be open and viewed in a web browser.

If you’re interested in what other people are reading, Instapaper serves up a selection of interesting articles every day. From the main screen click the Browse heading and you’ll see both Editor’s Picks and Greatest Hits articles. Click a heading to jump straight to the original website or click the Read Later button to store it with your other Instapaper articles. Clicking one of the MORE links will show yet more stories. Here, we’re about to save a suggested piece about the film director Paul Haggis.

Finally, the great strength of Instapaper is that it lets you read flagged articles from any internet-connected computer and a range of mobile devices, including the Kindle ebook reader and Apple’s iPad and iPhone. Here we’re reading the article we picked in the previous step on the free reader program for the iPhone. The paid-for version costs £2.99 and adds support for folders, adjustable text size/font, a light-on-dark setting for reading at night, access to a dictionary and more – but the free version works just fine.