'Net Features : ifttt

The Web Professional's Productivity Toolbox

Administrator — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 19:21:00 GMT

More often than not, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to complete all of the tasks on your to-do list. Attempting to allot the appropriate amount of time to accomplishing something, and for the countless distractions that you’ll likely face while you work on it, can sometimes feel daunting and futile. That’s why so many of us turn to productivity tools to help us ease the burden and utilize our time more constructively.

And now, just as the Internet giveth, it also taketh away, as yesterday, Google announced that it was going to be doing away with its Google Reader Web feed aggregator. The company cites a declining user base as the reason for the discontinuation, but many Web workers (and media professionals – go figure) that keep up with their Reader feeds all day, every day were incensed. Naturally, they took their outrage to Twitter, but so far, it hasn’t done much to alter Google’s decision.

The death of Google Reader, and the subsequent outcry, shows just how much Web professionals depend upon their productivity tools to accomplish their various daily tasks. Reader addicts will (and probably already have) find a new RSS aggregator, such as Fever or NewsBlur, but there are plenty of other useful tools that they can utilize to increase productivity. Let’s dig into The Web Professional’s Productivity Toolbox to see if we can find what you may need.

Feedly

Feedly is easily the most popular, and best, alternative to Google Reader. This free RSS feed aggregator runs on both Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browsers and as a mobile application for both iOS and Android devices. Users can save posts, create categories to organize their various feeds and even choose from six different layout options to pick the look that best suits them.

Pomodroido

Even the most successful professionals can get distracted when working on tasks throughout the day, however, Pomodroido aims to change that. This free Android app helps users manage their time better by breaking down work periods into 25-minute intervals, which can be adjusted by the user if desired. Workers take a break after each work period, so that they can start the next interval refreshed and without distractions. Moreover, the app includes a ranking system, which rewards users based on the work that they complete.

Chrome Developer Tools

Web developers that prefer Google’s Chrome browser (and let’s be honest, that’s probably most of them) can use Chrome Developer Tools to gain access to the browser’s internals and their Web applications. The suite is largely based on WebKit Web Inspector from the WebKit open source project, and includes an Elements panel and tools for resources, networks, scripts, timelines, profiles and audits, as well as a fully featured, user-friendly console.

IFTTT

This handy automation tool, which stands for “if this, then that,” allows users to create their own tasks (recipes) by connecting two channels together. Once each channel has been activated, users create recipes by selecting one channel to signal a trigger that results in an action in a different channel. In other words, If This happens in one channel, Then That happens in the connected channel. For example, you can create a recipe to update your Twitter profile picture when your Facebook picture is changed. This recipe helps Web workers maintain consistent branding across platforms with little effort. Users can connect with 59 different channels through the platform, including Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox, HootSuite, Gmail and weather.

LiquidPlanner

This online project management software helps businesses streamline their workflows by providing scheduling, collaboration, time tracking, analytics and reporting features. Since it has a particular focus on adding a social element to project management, the platform also includes comment streams for every task and project and the ability to attach notes, documents or images to a task, as well as email integrations that allow users to receive notifications about project updates in their inboxes. Plus, a partnership with Box adds cloud functionality to the solution to make sharing and collaborating on documents easier; the Box integration even provides some advanced document management features, such as desktop syncing, document versioning and access controls for project collateral.

InboundWriter

Anyone who produces content for the ’Net will want to leverage this platform; because it helps writers optimize their articles for better audience engagement. InboundWriter does this by identifying popular topics for your audience, offering keyword data that helps writers create articles that will be easier to find in the search results and suggesting article structure ideas for better readability. In fact, the platform is sort of like an online writing coach that uses real-time search and social data to help writers produce better content.

Dropbox

Don’t let Dropbox’s popularity among Web professionals and everyone else fool you, this is a serious tool that has earned all of the acclaim it receives. While many of its alternatives require a Web browser interface, Dropbox can run natively on almost any PC (even those using Linux), as well as mobile devices that run on either Android or iOS. It will also automatically sync your files with all of your local devices, so you can access them from pretty much anywhere, even if you don’t have an Internet connection.

Sprout Social

Most businesses have a presence on multiple social sites, which can make posting numerous pieces of content daily on each network very time consuming. This is where social media management platforms like Sprout Social come in handy. Not only can this platform be leveraged to schedule publishing times of status updates throughout the day on a variety of social networks, but it also provides analytics and monitoring tools that provide insights to help users better optimize their posting strategies. Furthermore, Sprout Social offers a mobile app, which allows businesses to manage and monitor their social accounts while on the go.

Coolendar

This planning software helps users combine the important dates on their calendar with everyday tasks that need to be completed, which makes it easier to keep up with commitments. Coolendar is available on the Web and on mobile devices so that no matter where you are, you can keep track of your day. The platform provides a simple list of planning entries, offers alerts that find people regardless of where they are (email, messenger, Web, desktop, mobile, Twitter), allows users to leverage tags to stay organized and makes it simple to create group plans.

Yammer

As one of the most popular internal communication tools on the Web, Yammer is an enterprise social network that allows users with valid company email addresses to participate in private company conversations. The Yammer platform allows users to segment employees by creating specific groups (such as sales, marketing or IT), as well as makes it easy for employees to collaborate, whether they are in or out of the office, via the Yammer mobile application for Android, iOS, Blackberry and Windows Phone devices. Allison Howen is an Associate Editor at Website Magazine, writing primarily about e-commerce and social media.

About the Authors

Michael Garrity is an Associate Editor at Website Magazine, focusing primarily on search, design and development and affiliate marketing.

Allison Hown is an Associate Editor at Website Magazine, focusing primarily on Ecommerce and Social Media.

Weekend Warrior: IFTTT Recipes for Total Digital Success

Allison Howen — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 19:30:00 GMT

Both the best and worst thing about the Internet is the mass proliferation of services that Web professionals can (and in some cases, almost have to) use to improve the efficiency and quality of their work on a day-to-day basis. But most of us can agree that it can be overwhelming to manage all of these services daily.

In an effort to simplify their lives, some workers eventually remove services from their daily routines and, in turn, miss out on the benefits of why they signed up for those services in the first place. This could be avoided, however, with IFTTT (according to the website, it’s pronounced “like ‘gift’ without the ‘g’”). This relatively young platform is truly a gift, as it connects a user’s various Web services together to automate the completion of a number of common tasks.

Breaking IFTTT Down

IFTTT (which stands for “if this, then that”) allows users to create their own tasks, or “recipes,” by connecting two of their “channels” so that when one of them signals a trigger it results in an action in the other channel. In other words, if this happens in one channel, that happens in the connected channel.

The platform provides an impressive collection of 52 different Channels that users can connect with, including Facebook, Dropbox, Evernote, Gmail, Blogger, Bitly, Google Drive, Instagram, HootSuite, YouTube, Tumblr and 41 others. There are even Channels for services not tied to existing Web platforms, like the weather, the user’s cellphone or a calendar (for a complete list of the available Channels, click here). Each unique Channel comes with its own specific triggers and actions, and users can combine the various services to automate an array of tasks (e.g. every time you take a photo with Instagram, it will automatically be saved in a Dropbox folder).

Recipes are the final combination of a conditional Trigger and a reciprocating Action across two channels, and the bits of data from a specific Trigger are known as “Ingredients.” Users can either create personal customized recipes based on their needs, or they can look through a slew of shared recipes already created by other users.

Recipes can be turned on or off at the user’s discretion, and IFTTT will check for new Trigger data every 15 minutes, meaning there is occasionally some delay in a resulting Action. However, if you just can’t wait that long, certain Recipes offer “Quick Triggers” that run as soon as the data is received; these are indicated with a lightning bolt icon.

Cooking Up Recipes

Recipes can help you automate regular tasks with ease, such as updating your Twitter profile picture when you change it on Facebook or publishing special tweets on a certain day of the week. This cuts out a lot of the hassle of worrying about remembering to update and check all of these different services regularly, because IFTTT does it for you. Plus, after looking around, users may discover new Recipes based on interesting Triggers that they might not have thought of otherwise (e.g. such as a retailer sending out a tweet about rainboots or umbrellas when it’s raining).

If you want a sample of the best Recipes cooked up with IFTTT, the Website Magazine staff serves up some winning pairings here:

Update Profile Images Simultaneously

Although pretty basic, this recipe is still very useful – especially for businesses. This is because this recipe automatically updates a Twitter profile picture when a Facebook profile picture is changed. By leveraging this recipe, Web workers are not only maintaining a unified branding experience across two of the Web’s most popular social networks, but they are also saving valuable time that can be spent on larger tasks.

Spread Morning Cheer

Simply staying social is the best way to network, which is why this time and tweet recipe is a very valuable tool. The recipe enables users to tweet a message at certain times of the day. For example, everyday at 9 a.m., a pet store owner could set this recipe to tweet “Good Morning Tweeters, enjoy some breakfast and bring your pet into our store to play today!”

Keep up with Keywords

It is impossible for one person to constantly monitor keywords on Twitter, however, with this recipe you don’t have to. This is because users can customize their recipe to send an email when a specific word is used on Twitter. But be careful, because this recipe could flood your inbox quickly.

Share the Friday Love

Everyone is a Friday person, which is why this recipe is a no brainer. Simply customize the Trigger and Action to send a celebratory Friday tweet every week at the same time.

Keep Colleagues Posted

If you’re going to be out of the office today, make sure to let your colleagues know where they can find you. This recipe enables users to automatically share their FourSquare check-ins with their company’s Yammer account. The best part of this recipe is that it may save your colleagues from making unnecessary coffee trips if they notice your check-in at a local Starbucks.

Stay Thankful

When you’re a popular entity on Twitter, it can be difficult to thank all of your new followers. This is why this recipe was cooked up to do all of the thanking for you. Users simply create a filter in Gmail that automatically sends a tweet that tags and thanks new followers.

Help Videos go Viral

Word of mouth advertising is priceless, which is why Web workers should use this recipe to spread the word about new YouTube videos via Twitter. Users simply need to create a Twitter message that will automatically be sent out whenever a new video is uploaded to YouTube.

Send Filtered Photos to Facebook

Brands have started using Instagram for more than just taking sepia-filtered photos, instead, this image-based social network has become a valuable social network for showing off products and connecting with customers. However, Instagram still isn’t as popular as Facebokk, which is why users should leverage this recipe to automatically share their brand’s Instagram images to their Facebook Page.