Use WebSlices in Internet Explorer 8 to monitor your favourite sites

POINT AND CLICK Browsing often involves returning to the same web site over and over again, as you wait for an update. But WebSlices could change all that. If you want to monitor an eBay item, for instance, then hover your mouse over the link, and click the purple WebSlice icon.

INSTANT ALERT Agree to subscribe to the WebSlice you’ve just specified, and IE8 adds a button to your Favorites Bar. It polls eBay regularly, looking for changes, and when something happens it will display the caption in bold. You can then just click the button to see the latest item status.

ALTERNATIVES WebSlices won’t work unless a web site is specifically written to support them, so there are only a few available right now. Still, you can already add a StumbleUpon (www.stumbleupon. com) WebSlice with details and reviews of the very latest popular sites.

FACEBOOK STATUS There’s a Facebook WebSlice that will let you monitor your friends’ status updates. And the MSN Headlines WebSlice will inform you about new articles as soon as they appear. If anything looks interesting, click the WebSlice window and it’ll open fully in a new browser tab.

ROLL YOUR OWN WebSlices aren’t just for other people. They’re really not difficult to build, and with a little work you can add them to your own site, too. Microsoft have all the details you need in an in-depth white paper they’ve published on the topic (see it at snipurl.com/23550).

Add to del.icio.us | Digg This Article | Add to StumbleUpon