Crafting alert statements
Refine your alert statement to get the best results.
Most alerts start with a simple thought: “Tell me when this is true.” The hard part is that the answer is often spread across the web, changes over time, and may not be limited to one page you can watch.
AlertChecker is built for that kind of question. You write the condition in plain English, such as “This item is back in stock: example.com/product” or “The UK bank base rate changed today”. It periodically checks public information on the web and emails you when the condition becomes true.
Start with the desired outcome
A conventional monitoring tool usually asks you to choose a URL and then reports when something on that page changes. That can work when you know the exact page (and perhaps also an exact element on it to watch).
But the element on the page is just implementation detail (and can be brittle to changes). What you need is an outcome: a product is available, a deadline opens, a flight route launches, or a weather warning applies to a place you are visiting. With AlertChecker, the statement is the thing being monitored. You can name the source when it matters, but you don't need to craft a technical rule.
Be specific
Specific statements give the checker a clearer condition to evaluate. Include:
- the exact thing you care about;
- any location, size, model, price, or date that changes the meaning; and
- what must happen for you to get the email.
For example, “This has a bid: ebay.com/itm/206100000000” is more precise than “Watch this listing...”. “A weather warning has been issued for Nice this weekend” is more precise than “Tell me about the weather”.
Evaluate and refine
You will be asked to test the statement before creating the alert. Each test shows the current information AlertChecker found and whether it evaluates the statement as true or false. Use that feedback to refine the wording and test again until the statement accurately describes the outcome you want to monitor.
After creating the alert, its history shows the information found and result from each check, so you can see how things have changed over time. If the statement needs to be more specific or no longer reflects what you need, edit it and test the revised version again before saving it.