================================================================
  EZ WEBSITE MONITOR
  Change Detection Engine
  Version 1.1.0
================================================================


WHAT IT DOES
------------
Website Monitor watches web pages and RSS/Atom feeds for you. It
visits each URL on a schedule, saves a snapshot of the content,
and compares it on every later visit. The moment something
changes -- a product back in stock, a new job posting, a
software release, a quietly revised policy page, a concert
going on sale -- it alerts you.

It also tells you when a site goes down or becomes unreachable,
so you find out before your visitors do.

The program runs entirely on your computer. Your URLs and
snapshots never leave your machine.


HOW IT WORKS
------------
1. You add the URLs you want to watch.
2. The program fetches each page and applies your content
   filters (optional -- see FILTERS below).
3. The filtered result is saved as the "baseline" snapshot.
4. On every later check it re-fetches, re-filters, and compares
   to the baseline.
5. Any difference is flagged as a change and triggers your
   chosen alert actions.


GETTING STARTED IN 30 SECONDS
-----------------------------
1. Click "Add URLs" and paste the pages you want to watch,
   one per line. The "https://" prefix is added automatically.

2. Click "Check All" to capture the first baseline snapshot of
   every site.

3. Tick "Auto Check" and set an interval (in minutes) to let
   the program monitor automatically in the background.
   (Auto Check is a registered feature -- unregistered, use
   "Check All" to check whenever you like.)

That's it. When a page changes you'll get an alert.


READING THE TABLE
-----------------
Each row shows one monitored site:

  (drag handle)  Grab this to reorder rows
  URL            The page being watched (feeds show a FEED tag)
  STATUS         Colour-coded monitoring state:
                     NEW       Not checked yet
                     STABLE    Checked, no change (green)
                     CHANGED!  Content changed (amber)
                     ERROR     Site unreachable (red)
                     CHECKING  Check in progress (cyan)
                 CHANGED! is "sticky" -- once a change is found
                 the row stays flagged until you acknowledge it,
                 even through later quiet checks (see below).
  LAST CHECKED   When the site was last visited
  LAST CHANGED   When a change was last detected
  EVERY          This site's check interval
  FILTERS        Which content filters are active. An amber UA
                 chip marks a custom user agent; a green ALERTS
                 chip marks custom per-site alert actions

The header pills (STABLE / CHANGED / ERROR / TOTAL) keep a
running tally.


CLICKING ROWS
-------------
SINGLE-CLICK    Select the row; its content shows in the viewer
DOUBLE-CLICK    Open the URL in your default browser

RIGHT-CLICK     Popup menu with these actions:
                  - Check URL Now
                  - Open URL with Default Browser
                  - Edit Monitor Settings
                  - Reset Baseline Snapshot
                  - Copy URL
                  - Delete from List


CONTENT FILTERS (Edit dialog)
-----------------------------
Filters let you watch only the part of a page that matters, so
unrelated changes don't trigger false alerts. Open a site's
Edit dialog and enable any combination. They apply in order:

  XPath        Target specific HTML/XML elements -- e.g. just a
               price box or a headline. A CSS selector works
               here too (e.g. div.price).

  Strip HTML   Remove all HTML tags and keep only the visible
               text. Ignores markup-only changes.

  Line Range   Watch only lines Start..Stop of the content.

  Keyword      Watch only lines containing a specific word or
               phrase you define.

  RegEx        Apply a pattern and watch only the matches --
               ideal for dates, prices, IDs, tracking numbers.

Changing a site's filters resets its baseline, because the old
snapshot is no longer comparable. Re-check to recapture it.

Use the "TEST FILTERS" button in the Edit dialog to preview
exactly what the filters produce before saving.


PER-URL CHECK INTERVAL
----------------------
Every site can have its own check interval that overrides the
app default. In the Edit dialog set "Check Interval (min)":

  0           Use the app default interval
  any number  Check this site every N minutes instead

The EVERY column shows each site's effective interval -- dim
text means it's using the default, bright cyan means a custom
override. The "Next Check" countdown shows the soonest site
due.


PER-URL USER AGENT
------------------
Each site can also use its own user agent, overriding the app
default. In the Edit dialog, under "REQUEST", choose:

  Use App Default   Use the agent set in Settings
  Chrome / Firefox / Edge / Googlebot   A built-in preset
  Custom...         Type any user agent string

This helps when one site must be fetched as a search-engine
crawler, or only responds correctly to a particular browser.
Sites with a custom agent show an amber UA chip in the FILTERS
column -- hover it to see the full string.

Changing a site's user agent resets its baseline, since a
different agent can return different content.


EXCLUSIONS
----------
Exclusions filter out lines that change often but don't matter
-- timestamps, visitor counters, rotating ads, "last updated"
notices.

Open Settings (or the Settings > Exclusions menu) and list any
text that should be ignored, one entry per line. Any line on a
monitored page containing that text is dropped before the
comparison -- so it can never cause a false alert.


ALERT ACTIONS
-------------
When a change is detected, the program can:

  Sound alert          A two-tone chime
  In-app popup         A window listing what changed
  System notification  A Windows toast notification
  Open URL             Opens the changed page in your browser

Toggle these in Settings > Alert Actions. The active actions
are shown in the "On change" area of the toolbar sub-bar.


AUTO CHECK  (registered feature)
--------------------------------
Tick the "Auto Check" box to monitor automatically. Each site
is checked on its own interval (custom or default). The program
keeps running the schedule in the background -- including while
minimized to the system tray -- and the "Next Check" countdown
shows when the next check fires.

Auto Check is available in the registered version. Unregistered,
the box shows a "Register to Enable" lock and checking is manual
only (see UNREGISTERED VS REGISTERED below). Manual "Check All"
and per-site "Check URL Now" always work, registered or not.

Auto Check state, intervals, and all settings are remembered
between sessions.


THE CONTENT VIEWER
------------------
The lower panel previews the selected site. It has three tabs:

  MONITORED   The filtered content actually being compared.
              Changed lines are highlighted in amber.
  RAW HTML    The full unfiltered page source from the last
              check.
  HISTORY     A timeline of this site's recent changes -- each
              entry shows when it changed and how many lines
              differed (the last 30 are kept).

Drag the grip bar at the top of the panel to resize it. Click
the chevron button to collapse or expand it. Both the size and
state are remembered.


STICKY CHANGE FLAGS
-------------------
When a change is detected, the site is flagged CHANGED! and
stays that way until YOU acknowledge it -- it will not be
cleared by later checks that find nothing new. This means a
change that happens while you are away from the PC is still
waiting for you, in plain sight, when you return -- even if
the app or computer restarted in the meantime.

A site is acknowledged (the flag clears) when you:
  - select its row to view it, or
  - click "Acknowledge" in the change popup, or
  - reset its baseline snapshot.

The header CHANGED pill counts unacknowledged changes, so it
is a reliable "what did I miss" tally.


WHEN A CHECK FAILS
------------------
If a site can't be reached it is marked ERROR. Select that row
and the content viewer shows a full connection-error report:

  - The URL, the failure reason, and when it was last checked
  - Which fetch backend produced the error
  - A plain-language hint explaining the most likely cause
    (timeout, DNS failure, server error, dropped connection...)
  - FAILURE HISTORY -- a log of the last 20 failures with
    timestamps and backend, so you can tell a one-off blip
    from a site that is genuinely down

Every check uses a fast direct fetch first; if that fails, the
program automatically retries that URL through a PowerShell
request, which reports a precise error message into the log.


FILE / TOOLBAR ACTIONS
----------------------
Add URLs     Paste one or more URLs to start monitoring
Load List    Import a saved monitor list
Save List    Export your monitor list to a file
Check All    Check every site right now
Stop         Abort a check in progress
Edit         Edit the selected site's URL, interval, user
             agent and content filters
Delete       Remove the selected site
Settings     Open the settings dialog
Help         Show the quick guide
About        Version and license information

Save List writes a JSON file that preserves each URL's check
interval, user agent and content filters. Load List accepts
that JSON, and also plain text lists (one URL per line) for
compatibility.


SETTINGS
--------
  MONITORING
    Auto-Check Interval   Default minutes between checks
    Request Timeout       How long to wait for a response
    Check on startup      Check all sites when the app opens

  ALERT ACTIONS
    Choose which actions fire when a change is detected.

  EXCLUSIONS
    Text to ignore during comparison (see EXCLUSIONS above).

  USER AGENT
    The default user agent for every site. Choose a browser
    preset or enter a custom string. Individual sites can
    override this in their Edit dialog -- see PER-URL USER
    AGENT above.


KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
------------------
F5  /  Ctrl + R     Check all sites now
Delete              Remove the selected site
Esc                 Close any open dialog / menu


THE STATUS BAR (BOTTOM)
-----------------------
Left      Current state -- Ready, Checking, change/error counts
Middle    The URL currently being checked
Right     Site count, and your license status
            (green LICENSED, or amber UNREGISTERED)
          Click the license indicator to open the About dialog.


UNREGISTERED VS REGISTERED
--------------------------
The unregistered version is fully functional with no site
limit -- monitor as many URLs as you like. Every feature is
available EXCEPT one: Auto Check.

  Unregistered   Unlimited sites. Manual checking only --
                 "Check All" and per-site "Check URL Now".
                 All filters, alerts, history and exports work.

  Registered     Everything above, PLUS Auto Check -- automatic
                 background monitoring on a schedule.

While unregistered, the Auto Check box shows a "Register to
Enable" lock; clicking it (or trying to tick the box) opens
the registration dialog.

To register:
  1. Click the UNREGISTERED indicator at the bottom right,
     the Auto Check lock, or open About from the toolbar.
  2. Click "Register".
  3. Enter your registration details.
  4. The app updates immediately -- Auto Check unlocks with
     no restart needed.


TIPS AND TRICKS
---------------
* For a price or stock watch, use an XPath or CSS selector to
  target just that element -- you'll get an alert only when
  that specific value changes.

* For a noisy page, turn on Strip HTML and add Exclusions for
  any line that updates on every visit.

* Give fast-moving pages a short custom interval and slow ones
  a long one -- no need to check everything at the same rate.

* Right-click a site and choose "Reset Baseline Snapshot" to
  start fresh -- e.g. after you've reviewed a change and want
  the current state to become the new baseline.

* Use "TEST FILTERS" in the Edit dialog to see exactly what
  will be compared before you commit.

* If a site behaves differently for crawlers, give it the
  Googlebot user agent in its Edit dialog -- or a specific
  browser agent if it only serves content to one browser.

* When a site keeps erroring, select it and read the FAILURE
  HISTORY -- repeated identical errors mean a real problem,
  scattered one-offs mean transient network glitches.

* Save List regularly to back up your monitor configuration,
  or to move it to another computer.


TROUBLESHOOTING
---------------
"A site always shows CHANGED after every check"
  Something on the page updates constantly. Add the changing
  text to Exclusions, or use a tighter filter (XPath / Keyword)
  to watch only the part you care about.

"A site shows ERROR but it works in my browser"
  Select the row to read the connection-error report and its
  hint. Give that site a different User Agent in its Edit
  dialog -- some servers block or vary by agent. Check the
  FAILURE HISTORY to see whether it's a one-off or persistent.

"A site shows 'Failed to fetch'"
  A deliberately vague browser error -- it is NOT a CORS issue.
  It means a genuine network or server fault: a transient
  connection drop, the server resetting the connection, rate-
  limiting after repeated checks, or a DNS hiccup. The program
  auto-retries the URL via PowerShell, which records the precise
  reason in the FAILURE HISTORY log. If a URL that worked before
  starts failing, a temporary network or server glitch is the
  most likely cause.

"Auto Check isn't firing"
  Make sure the Auto Check box is ticked and the interval is
  set. The "Next Check" countdown shows the next scheduled run.


SUPPORT AND FEEDBACK
--------------------
Brad Larned
ezWareLab
https://ezwarelab.com/contact

================================================================
  Happy monitoring.
================================================================
