Tracking website changes can be beneficial for further advancements. Additionally, you can try a compatible website change monitoring program to keep track of your competitor’s site. Either way, the Distill Chrome extension can be useful.
Well, Distill Web Monitor or Distill.io is a Google Chrome-featured software to monitor website changes. Installing this particular extension on your Chrome browser will activate Reader Mode, and you can check out the site’s prominent features easily.
If you are a beginner, you might hustle with the overall installation, setup, and usage of the Distill extension.
This guide will help you understand everything regarding the Distill Web Monitor software. Let’s get started.
Easy Steps to Set up the Distill Chrome Extension
Distill Web Monitor is a Chrome-supported extension, but it isn’t readily available on any Chrome webpage. Rather, you need to set the Distill Chrome extension properly to use Reader Mode’s functionality.
Adding the Distill functionality has become a bit complicated as it’s not available any longer under chrome://flags. Instead, you must activate the reader mode by using the Distill page.
Before you move on to activating the reader mode, make sure that you have kept the Chrome application pinned on your desktop. This will help you to easily add the extension regardless of any operating systems you use.
In addition, you can keep 2 copies of the Google Chrome icon. You can keep one Distill Chrome and another without the Distill.io functionality.
Now, let’s start with the Chrome Distill setup steps:
- Right-click on any Chrome shortcut on your desktop.
- After that, right-click the Google Chrome account or the Google Chrome option. Select Properties from the pop-up menu.
- Under the Shortcut tab, locate the Target section. Include the ‘-enable-dom-distiller’ phrase at the end of the Target field. Ensure that the Target field should seem like this: “C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe” ─enable-dom-distiller.
- Click the OK button once you have updated the Target field.
- The setting requires Chrome to restart to take effect. So quit the Chrome tab and reload it to check if the setup works.
To view that you have successfully added the Distill Chrome extension, click the Chrome menu or the three-vertical dotted icon. You should notice the Distill Page option under the chrome menu.
Alternative Method to Add Distill to Chrome
If you find the previous Distill Chrome setup tricky, try this process. You can go to Chrome Web Store to add the required extension to your browser.
Here’s what you need to follow:
- Explore the Chrome browser and make sure that you open a new tab.
- Search for Chrome Web Store under that tab. Afterwards, enter Chrome Web Store by clicking on the right link.
- This is Google’s online apps store, and you can navigate to the Distill Web Monitor extension. Type ‘Distill web monitor’ in the search area, and the result will return what you seek.
- Next, click on the button that says, ‘Add to Chrome’.
This should add the extension to the Chrome browser. Now, you can use the tool to enable reader mode on Chrome and track website changes.
How Can You Enable the Reader Mode on Chrome?
The Distill Web Monitor tool is the built-in Chrome extension that will display any website under reader mode. This will eliminate all unwanted elements and display only text elements to understand the website changes in a better way.
If you are still confused about how to use the Distill Chrome mobile functionality, then go through the guidelines below:
- Open the Chrome shortcut on which you set up the Distill extension.
- Next, navigate to the website you want to inspect using Chrome reader mode.
- Now, click the three-vertical dotted icon or Chrome menu from the top-right corner of the browser window.
- Since you have added the Distill Chrome extension to the web browser, you can notice a Distill Page option under the Chrome menu.
- Click on the Distill Page option.
Now, you can read the website avoiding all unwanted elements. You can click the back button if you wish to go back to the original website.
How Does Distill.io Work?
Distill is a dedicated website monitoring tool that lets users go through any changes ever made to a particular website. A visual selector behind this tool allows users to personalise their selections. Thus, users can get rid of unwanted content.
The Distill Chrome extension offers customisation options for users so that they can distil pages through CSS, XPATH, and other regular expressions. Additionally, it’s possible to automate their workflows with the help of JavaScript.
Distill Web Monitor lets you track websites locally or on the cloud with a tracking frequency ranging from 5 seconds to 30 days. You can set alerts to keep track of the changes and watchlist features. Alerts can be customised on the basis of single or compound conditions.
What Does Distill Web Monitor Cost to Any User?
This website monitor tool is an excellent and affordable option. As a beginner, you can opt for the free version of Distill Web Monitor. The free version is pretty handy, allowing up to 25 websites or URLs to monitor. Whereas its competitors usually offer less in their free version.
However, you can notice less frequent scanning options with the free version of Distill Web Monitor. With the free version, you will get software scans every six hours. On the other hand, the premium plan offers more frequent scanning results.
You can upgrade to a premium plan to unlock more Distill Chrome features. You can add the extension to more devices with the $12 premium plan. Additionally, it elevates the number of URLs to 50. You can also receive up to 2000 new monthly alerts, such as SMS updates or mobile push notifications.
Another premium plan costs $28 per month and offers up to 150 URLs for monitoring purposes. It also provides unlimited notifications. This premium plan of Distill Chrome extension is perfect for enterprise and business uses. As a b business owner, you can keep track of your competitors websites and their changes.
On the other hand, you can select the Flexi plan from Distill Web Monitor for unlimited facilities. This costs a base pay of $80 every month. If you opt for extra usage, then it will be included in your monthly bill separately. However, you can get a lucrative discount if you go for an annual subscription instead of a monthly one.
Paid plan displays histories that compare older and newer versions of any specific URL. Apart from Chrome, you can install the Distill extension on other browsers such as Firefox, Opera, etc. iOS users can opt for this tool with a paid subscription.
What are Alternatives to Distill Chrome?
If you are looking for more user-friendly competitors of Distill.io then you are not alone. ChangeTower, Watchete, PolitePol, FetchRSS, Web Alert, and more choices can be considered. Make sure that they offer features and functionalities that will suit your needs. Otherwise, you can use Distill Chrome extension for a reliable reader mode.
