How-to Use IFTTT to Simplify Your Web Updates

CJAugust 14th, 20120 Comments »

Synch your accounts and store your updates in a variety of ways using IFTTT (pronounced like “Lift” without the “L”) recipes used from popular socal platforms. The 5-letter acronym of a name comes from the statement “if this, then that” (IFTTT), meaning: if this happens, then do this– you’ll fill in the blanks for what “this” and “that” will mean for your recipe below. For example, have you ever wanted to save the tagged photos of you on Facebook to automatically add to your Dropbox account? How about saving your Instagram photos in your Evernote account? Maybe you’re needing something a bit more simple, like, a text of the weather forecast each morning? You can even get a wake-up call every morning to your cell phone!

How it Works

Using IFTTT, you are essentially creating recipes by the use of Triggers and Actions. More information about this can be found here. See what recipes that others are using and use their recipes! You are free to browse and apply others’ recipes (to your networks) by clicking the “Use Recipe” button. Read below to get started on creating your first recipe on IFTTT.

Set-up your first IFTTT recipe

Goal: Set-up an operation to automatically add the tagged photos of you on Facebook and store those in your Dropbox account.

Total Time: 5 minutes

Check out the slideshow Or…. Get started with the exercise below!

Step 1. Set-up a new recipe go clicking here.

If you don’t have an account on IFTTT, sign-up and then click the link above. This is the first part of the operation You are essentially choosing the first service that you want to connect by clicking the blue “this” text. Once you click the link, you will see a drop down of all of the services that you can connect. Go for it, click “this”!

Step 2. Choose the Channel from which you want to trade data.

You can do all kinds of interesting things with IFTTT, but let’s stay focused on this first operation. Choose the Facebook image to connect your first channel.

Step 3. Activate your Facebook Channel (if you haven’t already like the image shown below).

Click the “activate” button to activate the first channel.

Step 4. Authenticate the Facebook Channel

Click the blue button to authenticate with Facebook. You can deactivate this connection in the future if you want, FYI. But for now, authenticate so that IFTTT can pull in the new tagged photos of you on Facebook. (Note this will only apply to tagged photos after you have created the recipe!)

Step 5. Choose the Trigger

On this screen you will choose which action will trigger this operation. Again, many interesting options, but choose the “You are tagged in a photo” box for now.

Step 6. Complete the Trigger

You confirm, click the “Create Trigger” button.

Step 7. Add an action for “That”

Click on the “that” text to advance to creating the action for your recipe.

Step 8. Choose an Action Channel

As you can see, there are many options to choose from, but for now, select the Dropbox icon to complete this exercise.

Step 9. Choose the Action for Dropbox

Choose the Action “Add file from URL” to allow IFTTT to add the tagged photos of you on Facebook.

Step 10. Create the Action

Click the “Create Action” button.

Step 11. Name your recipe.

From this point you will now see that instead of “if this then that”, it will show: “if (Facebook icon), then (Dropbox icon)”– this shows that you have completed this exercise correctly. Now you will name your recipe to whatever you want to name it (e.g. “Send my tagged photos on FB to Dropbox”).

After you have named your recipe, you will be redirected to your IFTTT Dashboard which should look something like the image below.

You have finished creating your first recipe!

As you can see from going through the exercise, there are many options available to you for creating recipes for your accounts. Check out some of my favorite recipes below and feel free to use as you please!

Some of the coolest recipes on IFTTT:

What are your favorite recipes on IFTTT? Have you found any time-savers that you would like to share? Have any questions or difficulties setting up a new recipe? Let me know if the comments below and we’ll figure it out!

About CJ

Computer nerd, artist and digital media guru.

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