Key Concepts
🔗 Original page — Source of this material
ProjectMaker (PM)
A development environment for creating projects (templates).
ZennoPoster (ZP)
An environment for running projects. Allows you to run templates in multithreaded mode and set up a ❗→ schedule for launching.
Thread (execution thread)
A separate unit of execution, for which a separate browser and separate set of data ( ❗→ variables, ❗→ lists, ❗→ tables, etc.) are allocated. You can think of a thread as a person performing a specific set of actions in a browser. Running multiple threads is like having several people do the actions at the same time.
Action (block, "cube")
❗→ Action Block in ProjectMaker, used to build templates. Contains a standard instruction for automation:
- get a value
- click
- save the value of an element
- write text to a file, list, table, database
- and more
Action port
Ports are used to connect one action to other actions. Normally, cubes have three ports.
An exception is the Switch action, which can have more than two outgoing ports.
Incoming port
You can connect a logic arrow here from another action. Several other actions can be connected to a single incoming port.
Outgoing ports
Green (for successful exit) and red (unsuccessful exit, exit on error)
Logic branches (arrows)
Actions are connected to each other by logic arrows. There are red and green branches.
Green arrow
Actions exit through this branch when they complete successfully:
- a string was retrieved from a ❗→ list or a ❗→ table
- an element was found and ❗→ clicked on the website
- the expression inside an ❗→ if action returned a true value
- etc.
Red arrow
The action goes down this path if an error occurs during the block's execution:
- element not found on the web page
- file for reading not found
- attempt to retrieve a string that doesn't exist in the list/table
- and so on
Template (project)
A file created in ProjectMaker and run in ZennoPoster. It contains instructions for controlling an instance. You could say it is a program or script executed by an instance. A template consists of actions linked together with logic arrows.
Instance
This is a separate part of the program containing a browser instance with its own cookies, cache, and proxy, which don't overlap with other instances. It looks like a small window with tabs and an address bar. To put it simply, an Instance is a separate browser with its own set of data.
Cookie
A small amount of information that a web service is allowed to save as a file in a strictly designated place on your computer's hard drive. Typically, it's used to recognize you when you visit the service again.
Cache
These are files (images, sounds, videos) that are downloaded and stored on your computer. When you revisit a resource, these files are not downloaded again but loaded from the cache, which speeds up loading and reduces traffic.
Proxy
With a proxy, you can hide your real IP address and, for example, access a blocked resource. Proxies can be paid or free, but the latter are usually slower and less reliable. In ZennoPoster, you can set a proxy using a ❗→ special action. The program also has ❗→ several integrated services for selling proxies.
Variable
This is a section of computer memory where a value is stored. A variable has a name used to access its value. The value of a variable can be changed while the template is running.
Snippet
A piece of code (for ZennoPoster, usually in C#) that performs a specific function.
Bug
An error causing the project not to work as the developer originally intended.
Diagnostics
A special program that collects diagnostic information about the current state of ZennoPoster. It's most often required when contacting support if the program is malfunctioning.
Instructions on how to properly run Diagnostics: ❗→ Diagnostics (report) with detailed log
ProxyChecker
A part of the ZennoPoster software suite designed to gather, store, filter, sort, and sequentially provide proxies for anonymous template execution.
Scheduler
A component of the ZennoPoster application for deferred launching of templates on a schedule, at specified intervals if needed.