Guideline:WikiNotifications/IFTTT Slack Integration
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Description
IFTTT is a free web service that helps users automate web-based tasks and improve productivity. IFTTT connects various developers' devices, services and apps to create “applets” that perform automations.
Here's a link to their official website: https://ifttt.com/
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Very easy to get up it and running
- Great integration with Slack, which can be used on any device and operating system
- Very reliable
- Provides a solution to having to use different apps for your different devices
Cons
- Sometimes it may take up to 1 hour for the applets to refresh the Web Feed and send a push notification
Testing
Speed
Various first tests indicate speed of 40min to 1hour. Add more speedtests here. In the first line is an example.
| Timestamp | Speed | Conducted by | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 Feb 21 - 17:59 | 33Min | Moritz | Watchlist |
| 2023 Feb 22 - 13:47 | It seems like I am getting updates once exactly at :42 Min every hour no matter when the change to the article has been made. | Moritz | Watchlist |
| 2023 Feb 23 - 14:54 | I've set up Slack's RSS Feed manager that send push notifications. After 2 minutes I got notified. Same result after a few more tests | David | Recent changes |
Reliability
Report instances of failures here.In the first line is an example.
| Timestamp | Description | Reported by | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 Feb 21 - 17:59 | Did not recive notifcation when observed my Watchlist | Moritz | Watchlist |
It see
What it does and how to use it
Description
IFTTT offers some great integrations with certain apps that can be of use to us, one of them being Slack. Slack is a messaging program available on all platforms.
How we can make use of it is to track RSS Feed updates is by using IFTTTT's integration to send a message to us on Slack when the RSS Feed is updated.
How to use it
- Go to Slack's website - click here - and create a free account
- Download Slack for the operating system that you are using by searching on Google, ( example "Slack for Windows" ) or by clicking the links here according to the operating system that you are using : Windows , MacOS , Linux . In case you are using a smartphone, search for " Slack " on your App Store or Google Play and download it.
- Create a workspace ( mandatory ). Once you are logged in, you will have to answer 3 questions: Company name ( can be anything ), Add teammates ( click on "Skip this step" ) and Workspace name ( example : InvestmentWikiWatchlist). (Or join or Slack Workspace here)
- Go to IFTTT's website: https://ifttt.com/ and click on " Start today ", then create your account. After that they will ask you the operating system that you are using and just click on anything. To do same when asked about a category, by clicking on one and pressing "Continue" . You will get a screen saying "Start your free trial", just press " Not now " . Skip the next step too. You've finished setting up your IFTTT account.
- Go to IFTTT's Slack extension: click here , and after making sure you are logged in ( check top-right corner ), click on "Connect". Click "Allow" on the page that popped up.
- Add the RSS Feed URL for the feed you want to keep up to date with. For our purposes we will go the Watchlist from our InvestmentWiki account by clicking on it in the top-right corner of the page ( you can do that from any article or from the Main Page . When looking at your watchlist, on the left-side you can see the text " Atom " next to an icon ( picture attached ) . Now that you've clicked on Atom you will be faced with a very weird page full of code. All you have to do is copy the URL ( the page's address ).
- Return to step 5 if you closed the IFTTT window. Now add the Feed's URL and scroll down to "Select a channel" and select "Direct messages". Now click "Save"
- Now you're all good to go. You can download Slack on all your devices and start recieving push notifications for your Watchlist's article updates.
In case you want to use it to follow an article, instead of your Watchlist, follow this Guide to see how you can find a Wiki's page/article URL so you can add it and start recieving news from it.
Open Questions
Are there any open questions after reading the article? If yes please add them here
- After i connected IFTTT to Slack there is an option which says "Notify me when this runs". Should this be enabled or disabled?
Answer: That option should be kept disabled as it is used mainly for testing purposes. It will notify you when the IFTTT applet runs, but from what I've found there isn't any noticeable from the time the applet runs to the time it sends a notification to Slack.
- Are there any limitations we could run into when using the free version of IFTTT?
Answer: In short, yes. The free version of IFTTT only allows you to have 2 active applets. So if you're already using the one I've recommended ( Slack Integration) you're left with just one other applet of your choice to use ( you can also create your own applet for free)
Alternatives
Are there any alternatives with the same slack integration? Anything that is even faster? Zapier's Slack integration is hard to set up and after 1000 actions performed by Zapier's bot you have to upgrade to a paid plan to continue using it. Slack's own RSS Feed integration. Testing 14:33