IF

For the IF platform, automate daily email notifications about trending "Show HN" posts from Hacker News. This workflow extracts key information, evaluates conditions, and sends curated updates, ensuring you stay informed on the latest tech discussions effortlessly.

7/8/2025
7 nodes
Complex
schedulecomplexemailsendhtmlextractautomationlogicconditionalemailnotificationcodecustomapiintegration
Categories:
Schedule TriggeredComplex Workflow
Integrations:
EmailSendHtmlExtract

Target Audience

This workflow is ideal for:
- Developers looking to automate email notifications based on web data.
- Marketers who want to keep track of trending topics and engage with their audience through timely updates.
- Data Analysts who need to extract and analyze data from websites on a regular basis.
- Business Owners wanting to stay informed about industry trends without manual effort.

Problem Solved

This workflow addresses the challenge of manually tracking and notifying users about trending topics on platforms like Hacker News. By automating the process, it ensures that users receive timely notifications about relevant content, enhancing their engagement and decision-making without the need for constant manual oversight.

Workflow Steps

  • Cron Node: Triggers the workflow daily at 1 PM to start the process.
    2. HTTP Request Node: Fetches the latest data from Hacker News by sending a request to https://news.ycombinator.com/.
    3. HTML Extract Items Node: Parses the returned HTML to extract individual items, specifically the elements that represent posts on Hacker News.
    4. HTML Extract Data Node: Further processes the extracted items to obtain specific details such as:
    - Title of the post
    - URL linking to the post
    - Rank indicating the position of the post
    5. IF Node: Checks if any of the extracted titles contain the phrase 'Show HN:' to filter the relevant posts.
    6. Function Node: Constructs the email content by compiling the titles, ranks, and URLs of the filtered posts into a formatted message.
    7. Send Email Node: Sends out the compiled email to notify users about the trending 'Show HN' posts.

    • Customization Guide

    Users can customize this workflow by:
    - Changing the Cron Node: Adjust the hour parameter to schedule notifications at a different time.
    - Modifying the HTTP Request Node: Update the URL to fetch data from a different source if desired.
    - Altering the CSS Selectors: In the HTML Extract Nodes, users can modify the cssSelector values to extract different data elements based on the structure of the target website.
    - Editing the Email Content: Users can customize the email subject and body in the Send Email Node to better match their branding or communication style.
    - Adding More Conditions: Additional conditions can be added in the IF Node to filter posts based on different criteria.