Your must-have workflows?

[deanishe]

It can be tricky finding workflows on the forum, so I thought it'd be a good idea to have a list of those true gems you just can't live without to help other users get themselves some great new workflows.

So let's hear about those four or five workflows that make a Mac feel broken when they're missing!

Workflow authors: no pimping your own wares; if they're that good, someone else will mention them   

Here are mine:

• Dash by Bogdan Popescu. Search programming documentation with the Dash app. Couldn't code without it. So, so good.
• ssh by Robin Breathe (isometry). Open ssh connections without grubbing around in Terminal.
• MarkdownBulletin by Vítor. Convert Markdown to BBcode. Markdown rocks, BBcode sucks. Wrote this post (and all the others) with it.
• Chrome Bookmarks by Marat Dreizen. No more clicking around in Chrome's GUI, or trying to tell your bookmarks from your history in the URL bar.
• Application Chooser by Gabe Weatherhead. Search applications by tag. Don't use it often, but it's a true lifesaver when you can't remember the name of that app you rarely use but really, really need right now. As long as you remembered to tag it (which you will after the third time grubbing through /Applications looking for the darn app).

Let's hear yours.

Edited August 13, 2014 by deanishe

[smarg19]

Great idea. Here are 4 that I use almost every day:

• MarkdownBulletin: you've said it already @deanishe, but it's worth repeating. I post on the forums frequently enough, and this workflow (by Vítor) makes that bearable, sometimes even enjoyable.
• PirateBay: say what you want about the PirateBay, but if you use it, you need this workflow. Period. Great workflow from Florian.
• Packal Updater: Packal is swiftly becoming the default way to share Alfred workflows. This is great for this burgeoning community and Shawn did a great job on it. But the functionality was only halfway there until he also put out this workflow to keep up with all of your Packal-downloaded workflows. This is a must have.
• Evernote: I love Evernote. I love Alfred. I love CarlosSz. Simple as that.

PS. I link to all the authors' Packal pages because there is a mechanism to leave a PayPal donation for the author. I use the hell out of the some of the workflows on this forum and (now) on Packal. These are not simple to make or to maintain, and I for one try to give just a little thank you.

[deanishe]

PS. I link to all the authors' Packal pages because there is a mechanism to leave a PayPal donation for the author. I use the hell out of the some of the workflows on this forum and (now) on Packal. These are not simple to make or to maintain, and I for one try to give just a little thank you.

 

Good thinking, Batman. I've changed my links to point to the authors' Packal pages.

Edited August 13, 2014 by deanishe

[smarg19]

No problem Robin

[deanishe]

  Git.

[Florian]

I like this Here's what I use on a very regular basis (except my own, they always start from personal need )

 

• Dash by Bogdan Popescu. Search programming documentation with the Dash app. Couldn't code without it. So, so good. (i'm just repeating deanishe's words because they are so true)
• Audio Switch, by Sampayo. Switch between your inputs and your outputs. A must have for anyone making music with their computer.
• movie lookup, by Simonbs. Gives you ratings, actors, trailer, synopsis... for any movie
• Colors, by Tyler Eich. Smart and fast workflow to get a color in different notations (rgb, hsb, hex...)
• CoffeeCofee, by Vitor. Toggles a caffeinate so that your computer does not go to sleep.
• Units, by designandsuch. Converts any unit to any other. Distances, currencies, weights...

Also I feel like this is the place to say this: I'd love a good amp-what.com workflow as well as a grunt one. Developers? 

[smarg19]

  Git.

Touché.

[deanishe]

Your rapier wit is no match for my entire lack thereof!

[smarg19]

Your rapier wit is no match for my entire lack thereof!

Does this mean to say that you didn't mean "Git" to be a reference to your vast command line, VCS superiority?

[deanishe]

I was calling you a distributed version control system.

[smarg19]

I'm taking that as a compliment

[Elevenses]

1. Layout http://www.alfredforum.com/topic/3154-yet-another-window-layout-workflow/

Changes windows into preset positions and portions of the screen. It's amazing, particularly with hotkeys for frequently used arrangements.

 

2. Volume controls http://www.alfredforum.com/topic/1968-volume-adjust-workflow/

Great for low volumes and fine control, (e.g. when going to my sleep playlist I will set volume to something like 6)

 

3. Wifi toggle http://www.packal.org/workflow/toggle-wifi

I take my laptop places, and I switch wifi on and off. I use wfwf as a quick means to do so.

 

4. Wordswith http://www.alfredforum.com/topic/2771-wordswith-—-find-words-that-contain-a-particular-pattern/

I just found this, and I've yet to really use it, but the idea is fantastic and I'm sure when I want it I will be glad I have it.

 

 

 

 

Mine:

5. I made a simple one that pasts the date into my current window (e.g. Thursday August 14, 2014). I use it twice a class for beginning and ending that day's notes. I do wish there a way to add symbols before the date pops out (ex.  ►►► to indicate start), but they always come out on the next line.

date '+%A %B %d, %Y'

echo -n "{query}"

 

6. I have a one full of website lists which launches a bunch of windows with each site at the same time. It's great for things that update frequently.

open http://asofterworld.com/

open http://girlswithslingshots.com/

open http://questionablecontent.net/

open http://xkcd.com/

open http://www.smbc-comics.com/

 

7. I haven't found a good replacement for an Alfred V1.0 workflow which was a super simple alert notification. You typed in "Alert 50:30 Laundry" or something like that and 50 minutes 30 seconds later it would ding loudly and banner "Laundry"

[RitzMan]

Alex1729, can you repost the link for the Layout workflow?

The one you posted links back to this page. Thanks.

[raguay.customct]

7. I haven't found a good replacement for an Alfred V1.0 workflow which was a super simple alert notification. You typed in "Alert 50:30 Laundry" or something like that and 50 minutes 30 seconds later it would ding loudly and banner "Laundry"

 

 

Egg Timer 2 fits that bill very well. I use it quite a bit. It's on Packal here: http://www.packal.org/workflow/eggtimer-2

[rice.shawn]

Always and forever:

1. Caffeinate Control: I know. This is mine, but I still use it more than any other workflow I have installed, sans Layout.
2. Layout: As mentioned above, but, I use it more times a day than I can count.
3. Menu Bar Search: So amazing.
4. Convert: Not needed often, but great when it is.

 

If I find myself coding a lot, then these:

1. TerminalFinder: Let me open an open Finder window in iTerm. Without this, script coding sucks.
2. Sublime Text Projects: Unless I'm on an Atom.io kick at the moment.
3. Can I Use: If I'm dealing with any design.

If I find myself writing a lot, then I should be using: Evernote

 

And I think that if I started playing around with Stephen's Pandoc, it might become indispensable.

 

 

Older

DHCP Toggle.

Until I bought a new cable modem (to replace the crappy one that we were given by our ISP) and another WiFi router, I used this one every time I connected to a new WiFi network. Now I don't use it at all.


Other
Well, if these aren't installed on my computer, then I just start wondering why things are happening or not happening when they should:
 

Alfred Cron

Pause Backblaze

Edited August 15, 2014 by Shawn Rice

[rice.shawn]

Also I feel like this is the place to say this: I'd love a good amp-what.com workflow as well as a grunt one. Developers? 

 

What do you use amp-what.com for? I made an html special chars workflow a while ago, which covers some uses for amp-what but probably not all.

Edited August 15, 2014 by Shawn Rice

[Florian]

What do you use amp-what.com for? I made an html special chars workflow a while ago, which covers some uses for amp-what but probably not all.

 

I guess I mainly use it to find characters that aren't on the keyboard (arrows, boxes...) and I appreciate the ability to look by keywords. I do know about your workflow but somehow it never really fitted my purpose. 

[rice.shawn]

Yeah, it totally doesn't fulfill the function of looking for a character. It just fulfills the one where you know what character you want but need to make sure that it shows up correctly. Oh well.

 

If they have an api, it probably wouldn't be too hard to code. Maybe you could open up a thread for each proposed workflow on the workflow help forum, provide the resources (links to documentation), and start a general discussion of how it could work. Then, wait and see if anyone takes up the bait.

[deanishe]

bait challenge

[Elevenses]

Alex1729, can you repost the link for the Layout workflow?

The one you posted links back to this page. Thanks.

 

Hey Ritz, it's here

http://www.alfredforum.com/topic/3154-yet-another-window-layout-workflow/

 

Oddly though, I installed it out of curiosity to see the preset hotkey settings and now I can't get it to work

I'm not sure whats going on now, but it probably shouldn't be a problem for you, it worked for most of a year for me, and was great all that time.

 

 

raguay.customct

Thanks, I'll give it a try!

 

 

 

EDIT:

Oh, I downloaded an out of date version off that forum, make sure you get the newest version available, on the very bright side the new version comes with a multiple display window hotkey!

Edited August 17, 2014 by Alex1729

[rice.shawn]

I'm bumping this because I'm curious as to what other people use.

[raguay.customct]

I noticed that some are having problems with Layout and workflows like that. Try the Mjolnir program and the workflow for it: http://www.alfredforum.com/topic/4889-mjolnir-workflow/?hl=mjolnir

 

It is the fastest window layout program I have seen and works really well. It has just gone through revamping, but is very stable right now. It is configured with Lua, so the possibilities of what you can do is endless. Working on a tutorial for it, but not sure if my editor will take it or not. If not, I will post it on my own web site.

[rice.shawn]

I noticed that some are having problems with Layout and workflows like that. Try the Mjolnir program and the workflow for it: http://www.alfredforum.com/topic/4889-mjolnir-workflow/?hl=mjolnir

 

It is the fastest window layout program I have seen and works really well. It has just gone through revamping, but is very stable right now. It is configured with Lua, so the possibilities of what you can do is endless. Working on a tutorial for it, but not sure if my editor will take it or not. If not, I will post it on my own web site.

 

Mjolnir seems like a really powerful application, but it really is one that is meant for power users. I know you've provided a good default with the workflow, but the config files are pretty intense for many users, so I'm not sure how much uptake it will have.

[raguay.customct]

Mjolnir seems like a really powerful application, but it really is one that is meant for power users. I know you've provided a good default with the workflow, but the config files are pretty intense for many users, so I'm not sure how much uptake it will have.

 

If people just want the same functionality as layout, it is there in the workflow. They do not have to add to the Mjolnir config file just like they do not have to add anything to the layout workflow. Therefore, there is no reason they could not try it. It is just as easy as using other workflows. They only need to get into configuring the lua files if they want something that is not there, or ask for it to be added. Just like the other workflows and programs. They can use it without ever touching the lua configuration files. 

[frankspin]

Fantastical by Daniel Pavey: I love love love Fantastical and the way it handles entries.

Pinboard by jmjeong: Pinboard has replaced any form of bookmarking I use. I find relying on Pinboard to be far better than when I was trying with Evernote.

Password generator: even though I use 1Password it's sometimes easier to just quickly generate a password this way

Kill Process: I hate that I need and rely on this but crap happens. It's been super convienent over relying on activity monitor or parsing through ps -ef.

 

Things: When I was still using Things (is v3 ever going to come?) I enjoyed using this. Pretty easy to get stuff into Things and their proper project place.

Edited August 4, 2015 by Vítor
fixed typo (Pinboard was Pinbaord)