| Q: |
What's the deal? |
| A: |
I didn't enjoy staying up till 1am for a woot.com release that I didnt care for.
So I wrote a little automatic parser that checks woot for new product launches and compares the new item with keywords that
I was looking for, like 'BOC' or 'mystery speakers'. That way, if woot releases something that I'm interested in, I get a
text message on my cellphone at 1 am EST that wakes me up or just alerts me, and then I can go try and wade through the server errors and order that item.
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| Q: |
How does it work? |
| A: |
Just register with your 'normal' email address (that is not the one for your cell phone or pda or whatever), and password.
Then enter however many keywords you want the woot parser to look for when a new item launches.
Then enter one or more email addresses for your cell phone or pda or whatever.
When woot releases a new item, the parser will scan the item for your keywords, and send you an alert to all of the device emails you entered if there is a match.
Less is more where keywords are concerned. It's a simple case-insensitive match on the woot title. If the item is like 'Stainless Coffee Maker', you won't get a match if your keyword is 'stainless steel' but you will on 'stainless'.
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| Q: |
Should I use this? |
| A: |
Well, in the end thats your call. But, WootAlerts.com has been alerting wooters on their woots since April 2005, thats 1985 Days of Woot right there! Having sent happy wooters 3,959,609 Woot Alerts!
So, Should you use my service?
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| Q: |
I'm not looking for a specific item. Can I receive alerts for all new woots?
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| A: |
Sure, just type in an asterisk ( * ) as one of your keywords, and you will get an alert for each new release.
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| Q: |
Do you guarantee this site will work all the time? |
| A: |
Eh, I'll do my best but no. Its a free service after all that I do as a hobby. If you have any suggestions on how to make it better, let me know using the Feedback link when you are logged in. |
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| Q: |
Will you sell or distribute my email addresses?
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| A: |
No way Jose, they will only be used for woot alerts |
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| Q: |
What is the format of the alert?
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| A: |
Its up to you, but the standard email will come from wootalerts.com and will have the subject 'Woot Alert!'.
The woot product title will be in the body followed by the price. Example: 'Hitachi DVD Camcorder:$329.99'.
This is currently sent in Plain Text to maintain simplicity, unless you tweak them out (see next Q&A)
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| Q: |
Can I configure alert options to be sent to both my email and/or phone?
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| A: |
Heck Yes!
- Alerts Configurable by alert address (ie email or text address)
- HTML or Text base alerts now available (by address)
- Alerts sent when the item is sold out
- Get Alerts based on soldout percentage change
- Choose to receive Woot Off Alerts, or Not!
- Select from 5 paramaters to include in your alerts!
Just Login to your WootAlerts! account, and configure each alert address individually.
By clicking on the Pencil Icon ( ) next to each address you can now select the new options per address.
Here you will find the new options for the selected alert address
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| Q: |
How do I find out what my cell phone's email address is?
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| A: |
The best way to address this would be to send yourself (myemail@gmail.com) an email from your Cell Phone.
When you recieve the email, checkout the 'from address'. This should be something like 1234567890@mycarrier.com, that is your cell phones email address.
Enter that puppy into the WootAlert 'Add Alert Email' field.
Remember, depending on your carrier and cell plan, this could become costly as you pointed out! Especially when a Woot Off hits the fan!
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| Q: |
I signed up for WootAlerts! but I still havent received an Alert, is there a problem?
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| A: |
Remember, WootAlerts! are sent to you based on two things:
- The Keywords you entered into WootAlerts! which you want to be alerted on.
- The Actual running Woot Products.
If the daily woots do not match your keywords, guess what...
NO WootAlert! for you!
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