Put what Plexii found onto a desk

A browsing run is only useful if you can keep what it found. When Plexii finishes working on a web page, the results show under the run, and one click puts them on a desk: a list of things becomes a real table, with every row Plexii found and every value exactly as it appeared on the page, and any written conclusion goes in a note beside it.

Before you start

• Pro and Team plans include putting browsing results on a desk.
• You need at least one desk to put the results on. See Create a desk.
• Run Plexii on a page first. See Let Plexii work on a web page.

What Plexii finds

A run can produce two kinds of result, or both:

• Records: a list of things, each with the same details. For example suppliers with a name, location and website, or products with a name and price. Plexii chooses the details from what the pages actually show.
• An answer: a written response, for a task that was a question, such as "what is their refund policy?", or a summary of what a list shows.

When the run ends, the panel shows Found 12 results (the number is how many records it found) with the first five listed and a count of the rest, or Found an answer with the start of the answer.

Put the results on a desk

1. Under the finished run, click Put on a desk….
2. A list headed Put these results on… shows your desks, with the one you were last on at the top.
3. Click a desk.

The line changes to Working out where this belongs…, then says what was placed, for example Put 12 results into a table of 4 columns, with a summary beside it — on Supplier shortlist. Click Open and the desk's name to go there.

A notice, Results placed on and the desk's name, also appears with an Open button, so you can find the results even after you dismiss the run.

What lands on the desk

• A Table widget for the records, named after your task. For "find wholesale plant suppliers in Victoria", the table is called "Wholesale plant suppliers in Victoria".
  • Every record becomes a row. Nothing is cut short to fit.
  • Each detail becomes a column, with a readable heading.
  • Values go in exactly as they appeared on the page. Nothing is rounded, tidied or re-typed.
  • Column types follow the values: numbers become a number column, dates a date column, and long text a tall text column. Links stay as text you can click.
• A Markdown note for the answer. When there is also a table, the note is named after the table followed by — what this shows.

From there they are ordinary widgets: sort and filter the table, add your own columns, or wire it into a desk agent. See Table widget.

If something does not land

If only some rows could be added, the line says how many were placed, such as 10 of 13 placed, and why the first one failed. If the run found nothing usable, it says The run did not find anything to place.

Tips

• Ask for the details you want in the task. "Find florists in Brisbane with name, suburb, phone and website" gives you exactly those columns.
• Use Extract data on a listing page. It scrolls to the bottom so you get every row, not just the first screen.
• Make a desk for the research first. Then choose it from the list, so your results do not land on a desk you were using for something else.

Common questions

The list says No desks yet — make one first. You need a desk to put results on. Create one, then click Put on a desk… again. See Create a desk.

Can I put the results in a document instead? Results go on a desk as a table and a note. From there you can copy them into a document or spreadsheet.

Why are some cells empty? Plexii leaves a detail out when the page did not show it, rather than guessing.

I dismissed the run before saving the results. A dismissed run's results are gone from the panel. Run the task again.

Related tasks

• Let Plexii work on a web page
• Table widget
• Allow, limit or revoke Plexii on websites
• Create a desk
• Markdown widget