Boxes is a text filter that can draw any kind of box around its input text. Box design choices range from simple boxes to complex ASCII art. A box can also be removed and repaired, even if it has been badly damaged by editing of the text inside. Since the generated boxes may be open on any side, the program can also be used to create regional comments in any programming language.
Human coders outlined and labelled regions on the screen. There were 4 kinds of boxes: article boxes, brief boxes, navigation boxes, and headlines boxes (lists of hyperlinked headlines without any other text). Article and brief boxes were categorized into 12 content types including national, international, lifestyle, sports, and so on. Headlines boxes were categorized into 24 types based on the heading they received in the paper. Navigation boxes were categorized into three shapes: vertical, horizontal, and other.