How to Scrape a Blog in C#

Let’s use Iron WebScraper to extract Blog content using C# or VB.NET.

This tutorial shows how a WordPress blog (or similar) may be scraped back into content using .NET

FireShotScreenCaptureGizmodo related to How to Scrape a Blog in C#

// Define a class that extends WebScraper from IronWebScraper
public class BlogScraper : WebScraper
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Override this method to initialize your web-scraper.
    /// Set at least one start URL and configure domain or URL patterns.
    /// </summary>
    public override void Init()
    {
        // Set your license key for IronWebScraper
        License.LicenseKey = "YourLicenseKey";

        // Enable logging for all actions
        this.LoggingLevel = WebScraper.LogLevel.All;

        // Set a directory to store output and cache files
        this.WorkingDirectory = AppSetting.GetAppRoot() + @"\BlogSample\Output\";

        // Enable caching with a specific duration
        EnableWebCache(new TimeSpan(1, 30, 30));

        // Request the start URL and specify the response handler
        this.Request("http://blogSite.com/", Parse);
    }
}
// Define a class that extends WebScraper from IronWebScraper
public class BlogScraper : WebScraper
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Override this method to initialize your web-scraper.
    /// Set at least one start URL and configure domain or URL patterns.
    /// </summary>
    public override void Init()
    {
        // Set your license key for IronWebScraper
        License.LicenseKey = "YourLicenseKey";

        // Enable logging for all actions
        this.LoggingLevel = WebScraper.LogLevel.All;

        // Set a directory to store output and cache files
        this.WorkingDirectory = AppSetting.GetAppRoot() + @"\BlogSample\Output\";

        // Enable caching with a specific duration
        EnableWebCache(new TimeSpan(1, 30, 30));

        // Request the start URL and specify the response handler
        this.Request("http://blogSite.com/", Parse);
    }
}
' Define a class that extends WebScraper from IronWebScraper
Public Class BlogScraper
	Inherits WebScraper

	''' <summary>
	''' Override this method to initialize your web-scraper.
	''' Set at least one start URL and configure domain or URL patterns.
	''' </summary>
	Public Overrides Sub Init()
		' Set your license key for IronWebScraper
		License.LicenseKey = "YourLicenseKey"

		' Enable logging for all actions
		Me.LoggingLevel = WebScraper.LogLevel.All

		' Set a directory to store output and cache files
		Me.WorkingDirectory = AppSetting.GetAppRoot() & "\BlogSample\Output\"

		' Enable caching with a specific duration
		EnableWebCache(New TimeSpan(1, 30, 30))

		' Request the start URL and specify the response handler
		Me.Request("http://blogSite.com/", Parse)
	End Sub
End Class
$vbLabelText   $csharpLabel

As usual, we create a Scraper and inherit from the WebScraper class. In this case, it is "BlogScraper".

We set a working directory to “\BlogSample\Output\” where all of our output and cache files can go.

Then we enable the web cache to save requested pages inside the cache folder “WebCache.”

Now let’s write a parse function:

/// <summary>
/// Override this method to handle the Http Response for your web scraper.
/// Add additional methods if you handle multiple page types.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="response">The HTTP Response object to parse.</param>
public override void Parse(Response response)
{
    // Iterate over each link found in the section navigation
    foreach (var link in response.Css("div.section-nav > ul > li > a"))
    {
        switch(link.TextContentClean)
        {
            case "Reviews":
                {
                    // Handle reviews case
                }
                break;
            case "Science":
                {
                    // Handle science case
                }
                break;
            default:
                {
                    // Save the link title to a file
                    Scrape(new ScrapedData() { { "Title", link.TextContentClean } }, "BlogScraper.Jsonl");
                }
                break;
        }
    }
}
/// <summary>
/// Override this method to handle the Http Response for your web scraper.
/// Add additional methods if you handle multiple page types.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="response">The HTTP Response object to parse.</param>
public override void Parse(Response response)
{
    // Iterate over each link found in the section navigation
    foreach (var link in response.Css("div.section-nav > ul > li > a"))
    {
        switch(link.TextContentClean)
        {
            case "Reviews":
                {
                    // Handle reviews case
                }
                break;
            case "Science":
                {
                    // Handle science case
                }
                break;
            default:
                {
                    // Save the link title to a file
                    Scrape(new ScrapedData() { { "Title", link.TextContentClean } }, "BlogScraper.Jsonl");
                }
                break;
        }
    }
}
''' <summary>
''' Override this method to handle the Http Response for your web scraper.
''' Add additional methods if you handle multiple page types.
''' </summary>
''' <param name="response">The HTTP Response object to parse.</param>
Public Overrides Sub Parse(ByVal response As Response)
	' Iterate over each link found in the section navigation
	For Each link In response.Css("div.section-nav > ul > li > a")
		Select Case link.TextContentClean
			Case "Reviews"
					' Handle reviews case
			Case "Science"
					' Handle science case
			Case Else
					' Save the link title to a file
					Scrape(New ScrapedData() From {
						{ "Title", link.TextContentClean }
					},
					"BlogScraper.Jsonl")
		End Select
	Next link
End Sub
$vbLabelText   $csharpLabel

Inside the Parse method, we get all the links to category pages (Movies, Science, Reviews, etc.) from the top menu.

We then switch to a suitable parse method based on the link category.

Let's prepare our object model for the Science Page:

/// <summary>
/// Represents a model for Science Page
/// </summary>
public class ScienceModel
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Gets or sets the title.
    /// </summary>
    public string Title { get; set; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets or sets the author.
    /// </summary>
    public string Author { get; set; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets or sets the date.
    /// </summary>
    public string Date { get; set; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets or sets the image.
    /// </summary>
    public string Image { get; set; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets or sets the text.
    /// </summary>
    public string Text { get; set; }
}
/// <summary>
/// Represents a model for Science Page
/// </summary>
public class ScienceModel
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Gets or sets the title.
    /// </summary>
    public string Title { get; set; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets or sets the author.
    /// </summary>
    public string Author { get; set; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets or sets the date.
    /// </summary>
    public string Date { get; set; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets or sets the image.
    /// </summary>
    public string Image { get; set; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets or sets the text.
    /// </summary>
    public string Text { get; set; }
}
''' <summary>
''' Represents a model for Science Page
''' </summary>
Public Class ScienceModel
	''' <summary>
	''' Gets or sets the title.
	''' </summary>
	Public Property Title() As String

	''' <summary>
	''' Gets or sets the author.
	''' </summary>
	Public Property Author() As String

	''' <summary>
	''' Gets or sets the date.
	''' </summary>
	Public Property [Date]() As String

	''' <summary>
	''' Gets or sets the image.
	''' </summary>
	Public Property Image() As String

	''' <summary>
	''' Gets or sets the text.
	''' </summary>
	Public Property Text() As String
End Class
$vbLabelText   $csharpLabel

Now let’s implement a single page scrape:

/// <summary>
/// Parses the reviews from the response.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="response">The HTTP Response object.</param>
public void ParseReviews(Response response)
{
    // A list to hold Science models
    var scienceList = new List<ScienceModel>();

    foreach (var postBox in response.Css("section.main > div > div.post-list"))
    {
        var item = new ScienceModel
        {
            Title = postBox.Css("h1.headline > a")[0].TextContentClean,
            Author = postBox.Css("div.author > a")[0].TextContentClean,
            Date = postBox.Css("div.time > a")[0].TextContentClean,
            Image = postBox.Css("div.image-wrapper.default-state > img")[0].Attributes["src"],
            Text = postBox.Css("div.summary > p")[0].TextContentClean
        };

        scienceList.Add(item);
    }

    // Save the science list to a JSONL file
    Scrape(scienceList, "BlogScience.Jsonl");
}
/// <summary>
/// Parses the reviews from the response.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="response">The HTTP Response object.</param>
public void ParseReviews(Response response)
{
    // A list to hold Science models
    var scienceList = new List<ScienceModel>();

    foreach (var postBox in response.Css("section.main > div > div.post-list"))
    {
        var item = new ScienceModel
        {
            Title = postBox.Css("h1.headline > a")[0].TextContentClean,
            Author = postBox.Css("div.author > a")[0].TextContentClean,
            Date = postBox.Css("div.time > a")[0].TextContentClean,
            Image = postBox.Css("div.image-wrapper.default-state > img")[0].Attributes["src"],
            Text = postBox.Css("div.summary > p")[0].TextContentClean
        };

        scienceList.Add(item);
    }

    // Save the science list to a JSONL file
    Scrape(scienceList, "BlogScience.Jsonl");
}
''' <summary>
''' Parses the reviews from the response.
''' </summary>
''' <param name="response">The HTTP Response object.</param>
Public Sub ParseReviews(ByVal response As Response)
	' A list to hold Science models
	Dim scienceList = New List(Of ScienceModel)()

	For Each postBox In response.Css("section.main > div > div.post-list")
		Dim item = New ScienceModel With {
			.Title = postBox.Css("h1.headline > a")(0).TextContentClean,
			.Author = postBox.Css("div.author > a")(0).TextContentClean,
			.Date = postBox.Css("div.time > a")(0).TextContentClean,
			.Image = postBox.Css("div.image-wrapper.default-state > img")(0).Attributes("src"),
			.Text = postBox.Css("div.summary > p")(0).TextContentClean
		}

		scienceList.Add(item)
	Next postBox

	' Save the science list to a JSONL file
	Scrape(scienceList, "BlogScience.Jsonl")
End Sub
$vbLabelText   $csharpLabel

After we have created our model, we can parse the response object to drill down into its main elements (title, author, date, image, text).

Then, we save our results in a separate file using Scrape(object, fileName).

Click here for the full tutorial on the use of IronWebscraper

Get started with IronWebscraper

Webscraping has never been a simple task, with no dominant frameworks for use in C# or .NET programming environments. Iron Web Scraper was created to change this

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I create a blog web scraper in C#?

To create a blog web scraper in C#, you can use the IronWebScraper library. Start by defining a class that extends the WebScraper class, set a start URL, configure the scraper to handle different page types, and use the Parse method to extract the desired information from HTTP responses.

What is the function of the Parse method in web scraping?

In web scraping with IronWebScraper, the Parse method is essential for processing HTTP responses. It helps extract data by parsing the content of the pages, identifying links, and categorizing page types such as blog posts or other sections.

How can I manage web scraping data efficiently?

IronWebScraper allows efficient data management by configuring caching to store requested pages and setting up a working directory for output files. This organization helps keep track of scraped data and reduces unnecessary re-fetching of pages.

How does IronWebScraper help in scraping WordPress blogs?

IronWebScraper simplifies scraping WordPress blogs by providing tools to navigate blog structures, extract post details, and handle various page types. You can use the library to parse posts for information like title, author, date, image, and text.

Can I use IronWebScraper for both C# and VB.NET?

Yes, IronWebScraper is compatible with both C# and VB.NET, making it a versatile choice for developers who prefer either of these .NET languages.

How do I handle different types of pages within a blog?

You can handle different types of pages within a blog by overriding the Parse method in IronWebScraper. This approach allows you to categorize pages into different sections, such as Reviews and Science, and apply specific parsing logic to each.

Is there a way to save the scraped blog data in a structured format?

Yes, using IronWebScraper, you can save scraped blog data in a structured format like JSONL. This format is useful for storing each piece of data in a line-by-line JSON format, making it easy to manage and process later.

How can I set a working directory for my web scraper?

In IronWebScraper, you can set a working directory by configuring the scraper to specify the location where the output and cache files should be stored. This helps in organizing the scraped data efficiently.

What are some common troubleshooting scenarios in web scraping?

Common troubleshooting scenarios in web scraping include handling changes in website structure, managing rate limits, and dealing with anti-scraping measures. Using IronWebScraper, you can implement error handling and logging to diagnose and resolve these issues.

Where can I find resources to learn more about using IronWebScraper?

You can find resources and tutorials on using IronWebScraper on the Iron Software website, which provides detailed guides and examples under the web scraping tutorials section.

Darrius Serrant
Full Stack Software Engineer (WebOps)

Darrius Serrant holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Miami and works as a Full Stack WebOps Marketing Engineer at Iron Software. Drawn to coding from a young age, he saw computing as both mysterious and accessible, making it the perfect medium for creativity ...Read More