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layout wwwizzzard
title WWWiZZZard!
Missed a big sale?
Your favorite band's concert sold out?
Missed a prestigious conference's Call for Papers?
Didn't know the lottery had a huge jackpot?

#### Imagine never missing another website change.
### Introducing . . .
# WWWizzzard: #### It checks the WWW while you zzz!

wizard using a computer while someone sleeps in the background

Give WWWizzzard a URL to check, and tell it how often.  When it detects a change of status or content1, you get an email including the changes.  And you get 31 checks per month (so you can monitor one site daily, or more sites less often), for free, with more for a mere one cent (US) each!  Never miss another important announcement! {:class="big"}

Sound good to you?  Send your email address to T.Rex-{{ "now" | date: "%Y" }} at this domain, to be notified when it's ready!  Also feel free to send feedback on the whole idea!  (Sorry not to put my address together for you, but I get quite enough spam already, thankyouverymuch.) {:class="big"}

I already have the basics working as a command-line app, giving its output on the screen rather than an email.  I just need to add separate user accounts (including letting you buy and use checking credit), make it send email, wrap it all as a web-app, and arrange hosting.  So, it should be ready pretty soon, probably by Q3 of 2024! {:class="big"}

Features already working in the command-line Proof-of-Concept include:

  • Basic change detection and reporting, for most visible elements of HTML files
  • Follow redirects and refreshes
  • Ignore changes in whitespace, including linebreaks
  • Ignore a site until a specified date
  • Ignore parts matching certain criteria
  • Include (and check for changes in) names of linked files, such as image or script sources, and link destinations

Other planned options include:

  • Check contents of the HTML header (scripts, styles, etc.)
  • Report only additions, omitting removals and old versions from changes
  • Case insensitivity
  • Check only a part matching some criterion
  • Check contents of more HTML element attributes
  • Check contents of inline scripts, styles, etc.
  • Check contents of other types of files such as plain text, JSON, XML, scripts, styles, etc.

Other ideas I may implement, if there is demand, include:

  • Option to check more or less often if it detects a change or not, many times in a row
  • Notification by SMS2
  • Notification to an "inbox" on the site2
  • Option to follow links to other pages on site and check them for changes, maybe recursively2
  • Option to report on invalid HTML2

1 Not all changes will be detectable.  In particular, WWWizzzard will not execute JavaScript, which may affect the site's final contents.  (Sites that load major content via JS will therefore be uncheckable.)  Visual comparison of images is extremely unlikely, and if it does happen, will not be cheap. {:class="small"}

2 For an extra cost, TBD but probably just an extra credit each, recursively. {:class="small"}

Image credit: originally from Google Bard, then tweaked by me