Frequently Asked Questions
What is Pinpoint?
Pinpoint is a link shortening service which also allows you to pinpoint a specific sentence or paragraph on a webpage and make a comment about it. You can then view how many people clicked on your link.
What is a link shortener and why would I need one?
Many URLs are very long and cumbersome. A link shortener replaces the long URL with a short replacement which you can then use on websites such as Twitter.
What does beta mean?
Beta, means a phase of public testing and this is our early public beta release (version 1.0). So by using the service, you're helping us to improve the service and make it work better across all sites and browsers. So hit us with some feedback.
What about abuse?
As with anytime you click on a hyperlink, you should only click on a link on a page you trust or from someone you trust. Remember, there are some nasty people in the world who want to take your money, data and generally screw you over. We'd also recommend using an up to date savvy browser such as the latest Firefox which has anti-phishing and anti-malware features in built.
Mozilla Firefox anti-phishing and anti-malware info
Got a question we've not covered here? Email us at questions@pinpnt.info
Limitations of the Service
We're young
We're in our infancy and there's still tons to do, so here are some known limitations of the Pinpoint service. We know that, so please help us with that development by giving us feedback if you do run into problems.
Permanent links
Pinpoint can only pinpoint information on permanent webpages. So for example, something which is on the homepage of the BBC News website would not work as the story you were trying to pinpoint would be moved a couple of hours later to make way for a newer story. In this instance, you'd need to click through to the full story which will be a more permanent link.
Images and flash
Pinpoint can only pinpoint 'html' text and not text which is contained in an image or flash file. If you're not sure, test this by selecting the text with your cursor and right click with your mouse and make sure you don't get a message which says 'About Adobe Flash'.
Complex scripting
Some webpages have a whole lot of scripting monkey business going on on them and we find it difficult to pinpoint information on them. Our aim is to get the grips with 100% of webpages, so again, please let us know if you are trying to pinpoint on a webpage and struggling. We'll add it to our to do list.
Mobile browsers
The Pinpoint service has been designed to work with desktop and laptop computer browsers and not with browsers on smart phones and other mobile devices.
Found a problem we've not covered here? Email us at hiccups@pinpnt.info
Known issues
| Issue | Posted by | Date |
| Comment pins do not currently display in Safari (PC & Mac) and Opera (Mac) or Google Chrome (PC) | WS | 05.10.09 |
| Embedded flash can cause comment pins to display strangely | WS | 05.10.09 |
| Internet Explorer 6 is not supported | WS | 06.10.09 |
| Comment pins do not currently display in Facebook | WS | 06.10.09 |
| My Links page statistics not working yet | WS | 07.10.09 |
Upcoming developments
| Development | Date added to list | Expected live date |
| Pinpoint trends on homepage | 01.10.09 | 01.12.09 |
| Personal pinpoint trends on My Trends page | 01.10.09 | 01.12.09 |
| Bookmarks button | 10.10.09 | 01.12.09 |
| Embed code to add Pinpoint to your website | 20.10.09 | 01.02.10 |
| Auto copy pinpoint links to pasteboard | 10.10.09 | 01.02.10 |
| Tweet pinpoints direct from pinpnt.info | 10.10.09 | 01.02.10 |
| User selected permalinks | 20.10.09 | 01.04.10 |
| Multiple pinpoints on a single page | 20.10.09 | 01.04.10 |
| Mobile optimisation | 20.10.09 | 01.06.10 |
| Search for topics | 26.10.09 | 01.08.10 |