Watching Pages for Changes

Introduction

People often want to be able to monitor this web site for changes, so one can easily keep abreast of happenings. You can have TWiki (the web site software) send you e-mail notifications when changes occur. TWiki currently has two mechanisms for this:

• Watchlist Plugin (recommended)
• WebNotify pages

Click either link above for detailed instructions.

The two methods are independent of each other. You can use ether or both, as best suits your needs.

Detailed comparison

The WatchlistPlugin system:

• Easy user interface: One or a few clicks
• Options for notification
  • Immediately (as soon as the change is saved)
  • Daily
  • On-demand (watchlist only): A web page with recent changes in only your watched pages
• Sends a single email message for the entire site (for daily notifications)
• You can select individual topics, or the entire web
• Cannot specify wildcards or other advanced options
• Newer in TWiki, but now standard and recommended

The WebNotify system:

• Requires editing special wiki pages, using precise syntax
• Daily notification only
  • No options for immediate or on-demand
  • Does not send email if no changes that day
• Sends one email message per Web
• Allows flexibility in what you monitor:
  • You can monitor one or more topics by name
  • You can use wildcards to match multiple topics
  • You can exclude topics by name or wildcard
• The original notifier in TWiki
• Uses the MailerContrib mechanism behind the scenes