Distill Monitor: Blink-Fast Change Alerts

Tutorials & Methods
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How to Use Distill Web Monitor Like a Sleep-Deprived Genius

:brain: Tap, Watch, Ping, Profit. Or panic. Your call.

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:warning: lazy? – What Even Is This?

You want to know when a website changes something—like the price drops, stock arrives, or a “Buy” button grows fangs and attacks.

Enter Distill Web Monitor: your over-caffeinated internet butler that keeps watching the page so you don’t have to.

It pokes the site, checks if anything’s different, and if it is—it slaps you with a webhook or ping.

:toolbox: Toolbox (aka “Push Button, Receive Data”)

:world_map: One‑Line Flow:

Open page → Select text → Set trigger → Get alerted → Act smug.

:green_circle: Quick Start (Dumbed Down to Genius Level):

  1. Install: Chrome Extension
  2. Pick a page: Go to a website you care too much about (ticket drop, product page, black hole of your wallet).
  3. Visual Selector: Click the exact thing you want to watch. Yes, that button. No, not the squirrel.
  4. Set interval: Tell it to check every 5 seconds (:warning: Local Only – aka your browser must stay open like a clingy cat).
  5. Trigger: Choose Webhook, Discord, Slack, or all three if you’re really needy.
  6. Save: Hit that save button like your life depends on it (it doesn’t, but act like it does).
  7. Celebrate: You just built a robot that watches pixels. Clap for yourself.

:mage: Selector Sorcery – AKA “Tell the Robot What to Stalk”

  • Want only numbers (like price)? Use: \d+ ← this looks techy but it’s just “grab the digits.”
  • Watching a button change color/class? Track the class attribute.
  • Site too flaky? Use XPath like a wizard (//button[contains(., 'Buy')]).
  • Page too dumb to cooperate? Go full hacker and use the JS Selector to compute your victim.
  • Need inspiration? Just pretend you’re a stalker with morals.

:firecracker: Webhook Magic – Because Ping Me Daddy

You want webhooks? You got ‘em.

Paste this JSON in the webhook body (you’re welcome):

{
  "id": "{{sieve.id}}",
  "name": "{{sieve.name}}",
  "url": "{{sieve.uri}}",
  "text": "{{sieve_data.text}}",
  "ts": "{{sieve_data.ts}}"
}

Use this with webhook.site to test. It’s like shouting into the void and the void politely responds.

:bullseye: Condition Filtering – Stop The Spam, Karen!

Set Conditions so it doesn’t yell at you every time someone sneezes on the page.

Examples:

  • Only when price drops below 69? Use: Added Text → has number less than → 69.
  • Stock flips to “In stock”? Use: Added Text → contains → In stock.
  • Ticket list gets new entry? Use: Net Added → has keyword.

Yes, it’s that simple. No, you don’t need to cry.

:brain: Cheat Codes for Speed Demons

  • Want near-instant alerts? Stick to Local Monitor and 5-second checks.
  • Want even faster? Raise concurrent workers so more checks happen at once.
  • Pages that fart out content slowly? Add a 12s delay and set dynamic:true.
  • Want a nap? Don’t worry, Distill will stay awake and caffeinated.

:test_tube: Advanced Witchcraft (but still easy)

  • Watching a logged-in page? Use Dedicated Cloud Device. It’s like a robot that stays signed in.
  • Site shows different stuff per region? Add a proxy or just move to Iceland, I guess.
  • Need to click around before watching? Record a macro. Click click, boom boom.
  • Want to watch the secret sauce (JSON API)? Track the JSON endpoint directly. It’s like skipping the waiter and stealing from the kitchen.

:package: Ready-to-Copy Recipes (because you’ll ask anyway)

Ping me when a product is in stock

  • Selector: Stock label
  • Condition: Added Text → contains → In stock
  • Action: Webhook with JSON above

Only when the price drops by 7%

  • Condition: Added Text → has number decreased more than % → 7

Ignore reordering nonsense

  • Condition: Net Added → keyword → ‘New show’
  • You: :clap: Distill: :neutral_face:

:face_with_spiral_eyes: When It Breaks (because of course it will)

  • Webhook doesn’t fire? Your plan probably sucks, or the URL is broken, or maybe it’s you. Test with webhook.site.
  • Page says “NOPE”? Add delay, set dynamic, try checking via Tab mode.
  • Too slow? Crank up concurrent workers like you crank up brightness on your sad monitor.

:beverage_box: Bonus Tips for Cheapskates

  • Local monitors = free. Just don’t close Chrome.
  • No SMS? Use Discord webhook, it’s basically free yelling.
  • Pricing page shows how little they let you do for free. Plan your rebellion accordingly.

:repeat_button: Final Thought:
If you’re not using Distill, you’re manually refreshing webpages like it’s 2003.
Upgrade your life. Let the robot suffer.

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