Is it possible to get results in Alfred from certain website pages?

[JMarkyBB]

Hiya all

 

Is it possible to get results in Alfred from certain website pages?

 

For example, Amazon's "Today's Deals", eBay's "Daily Deals", Sky News "UK" or The Guardian "UK"?

 

 

 

Mark

Edited November 24, 2016 by JMarkyBB

[vitor]

Yes, but you have to build the programming logic of contacting the API or scraping the page yourself. Then you use a Script Filter to present the results. BugNot is an example of such a workflow.

 

No way to do it without writing code, though.

Edited November 24, 2016 by vitor

[JMarkyBB]

Hiya Vitor,

 

Thanks for the reply, its appreciated.

 

I have never written code before, is there a way to start with default code and edit it?

 

Is this site/page speaking in laymans terms, is he making it as easy as possible or do you know of another source so that I can be taught, I appreciate that learning from scratch at the age of 45 is not going to be easy, I want to get my teeth into something new, but if its just to complicated........

https://computers.tutsplus.com/tutorials/alfred-workflows-for-beginners--mac-55446 

 

Could/would someone write it for me, as a request, is it rude or lazy to ask?

 

Mark

Edited November 24, 2016 by JMarkyBB

[vitor]

23 minutes ago, JMarkyBB said:

I have never written code before, is there a way to start with default code and edit it?

Not really, because the approach will vary greatly depending on the website. Scraping a website (or RSS feed) or talking to an API is not exactly a beginner’s task.

 

25 minutes ago, JMarkyBB said:

Is this site/page speaking in laymans terms, is he making it as easy as possible or do you know of another source so that I can be taught

That page is just teaching you about Alfred workflows in general. Those aren’t going to get you much further to what you want. Alfred workflows are easy to build and you can do many things without coding. It’s just the specific task you’re asking about that will require code.

 

28 minutes ago, JMarkyBB said:

Could/would someone write it for me, as a request, is it rude or lazy to ask?

When you ask for someone to help you build something, you’ll get more help than when asking them to outright build it for you. For your request, asking someone to build all of those all at once won’t sit well with the majority of people, I’d say. Especially if you’re asking them to work for free.

 

Some of those sites might be easy to get results from, while others might be hard. Your best bet is to make a workflow request for each of those sites (a post for each). Don’t just ask for it, though. Be specific about what it should do and how it should work. When you are too generic and just say “a workflow for this site” we don’t know what you mean. You don’t need to know all the details, but you must have an idea of how you want it to work. When you don’t, it shows a carelessness that makes us think “I’ll have to waste a lot of time just to get this person to explain what they want exactly”, and that’s a thankless job. Most of us are fine helping others for free, but we realise that comes at a cost for us: our time and patience. Reasonably, the harder you make it for us to help you, the less likely it is we’ll do it.

 

Respect the time of the people you’re asking help from and you’ll be fine.

[JMarkyBB]

Vitor,

 

That is a great and very helpful response, thanks, I'm taking the scary plunge of having a go at creating a workflow to Amazon's "Today's Deals".

 

Thanks for your very long reply, it is appreciated. I'm glad I didn't come across as rude or lazy, and I wouldn't have expected a fulfilled request as free, I will donate/contribute.

 

I will let you know how I get on, if thats ok?

 

Mark

[JMarkyBB]

Vitor,

 

I've got this far.

 

I don't know if I'm using the correct terminology here but how do I get a search query as a result?

 

 

Edited November 24, 2016 by JMarkyBB

[vitor]

Like I said, you cannot accomplish this without coding. Open a post with a workflow request and share your progress there. It’s the best bet to get it the attention it needs and open the discussion.

[JMarkyBB]

Ok, I'm getting confused, sorry.

 

I thought there may have been code in those boxes,

 

Thanks for your trouble

 

 

Mark