user
watcher
<h1>Enhanced Extra-sensory Custom Thread Activity Monitorer</h1>
<table width="100%" border=15 cellpadding=40><tr><td align=center>
<center>
<p><b><i>NB: The watcher service described herebelow has gone to the bitbucket in the sky.
<br/>Don't lament, though! A newer, better thread-watching capability has been [id://11157995|implemented]!</i></b></p>
</center>
</td></tr></table>
<p>
Hi! I watch threads for you.
Specifically, you tell me what thread you want me to watch, and I tell you when anyone posts under that thread!
Isn't that <i>keen?</i>
</p>
<p>
Here's how it works:
<ol>
<li> Tell me to watch a thread by sending [watcher|me] a [/msg|private message] like so:
<blockquote>
<tt>/msg watcher watch <i>987654</i></tt>
</blockquote>
(use the number of the node you're interested in, of course) </li><p></p>
<li> Sit by your [Message Inbox], waiting for me to notify you when someone has posted under that node! </li>
</ol>
</p>
<h2>Commands</h2>
<h3>watch</h3>
<blockquote>
<tt>/msg watcher watch <i>987654</i></tt>
</blockquote>
<p>
Note that the node you choose to watch does <i>not</i> need to be a root node! It can be any node! But it should be a node to which monks can reply, or else you're wasting your time and mine.
</p>
<h3>unwatch</h3>
<p>
When you get tired of all the notifications you're getting from a very popular thread, you can tell me to stop sending them to you with the <tt>unwatch</tt> command:
<blockquote>
<tt>/msg watcher unwatch <i>987654</i></tt>
</blockquote>
This completely removes it from the watchlist (for you); it's as if you had never asked me to watch it in the first place. (That is what you wanted, isn't it?)
</p>
<h3>watches</h3>
<p>
If you ever want to know what watches are currently active for you, send me the command <tt>watches</tt> -
<blockquote>
<tt>/msg watcher watches</tt>
</blockquote>
</p>
<h2>Remember...</h2>
<p>
I act only periodically. I sleep for something like 15 minutes at a time, then I check my inbox for new watch requests, and then I check all the new nodes (since the last time I checked) and send notifications. Then I go back to sleep. So when you send me a <tt>watch</tt> command, don't expect instantaneous feedback.
</p>
<h2>Product Still Under Pressur^WDevelopment</h2>
<p>
This service is quite unstable. If you submit a command and don't get a response in a reasonable amount of time, please don't write me off! Thank you for beta testing me. :-)
</p><p>
During downtimes when the code is under development,
I may send you a status message, lest you think that I'm
simply broken and stuck in limbo.
</p><p>
Also, the service is hosted on perlmonk.org, which means it could go down without notice, and possibly never return. Them's the breaks.
</p>
<h3>Enhancements partially implemented:</h3>
<ul>
<li> expiration: a node watch is automatically removed from the watchlist after a certain period of time, say, 6 months. </li>
</ul>
<h3>Future Enhancements:</h3>
<ul>
<li> Don't notify people about their own posts. </li>
<li> As an option, don't notify people about direct replies to their own posts. </li>
<li> Customizable expiration periods - in case the default (say, 6 months) is not to your liking. </li>
<li> Customizable feedback levels - More verbosity for you lonely types. </li>
<li> Watching more than single discrete nodes: nodes selected by regex on title, or by metadata (such as author, date, etc.), and so on. </li>
</ul>
<h2>Warning</h2>
<p>
Please do not send me any other kind of message!
I'm just a very stupid little bot, and I only understand the few commands documented above.
Any other message you send to me will be most quizzically bounced.
If you have questions about how [watcher|I] work, please direct them to my creator, [jdporter].
</p>
<h2>History</h2>
<p>
I was summoned into existence by the combined incessant supplications (I might say <i>whingings</i>) of the Monks of St. Hubris the Petulant. For example, see the following threads:
<ul>
<li> [id://2799] </li>
<li> [id://57417] </li>
<li> [id://69625] </li>
<li> [id://132218] </li>
<li> [id://167486] </li>
<li> [id://242984] </li>
<li> [id://272905] </li>
<li> [id://293194] </li>
<li> [id://293688] </li>
<li> [id://422995] </li>
<li> [id://453922] </li>
<li> [id://467090] </li>
<li> [id://553377] </li>
</ul>
and lastly, the announcement of my birth:
<ul>
<li> [id://625902] </li>
</ul>
</p>
2011-08-31 13:00:28
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perlmonk.org</td></tr><tr><td>Image:</td><td><a href="http://www.fotosearch.com/BDX234/bxp40503/">Source</a> (used without permission)