Craigslist has just about anything you’re looking for. It doesn’t matter if it’s an apartment, a part-time job, or an Xbox. This popular platform does it all. The biggest inconvenience is searching through its endless posts for the latest update.
If you’re tired of searching daily to find that perfect thing, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll discuss how to set up alerts for Craigslist.
How to Setup Email Alerts
Craigslist has a system in place where you can get email alerts for saved searches. This saves you the trouble of scanning the website daily, where you’re bound to scroll through hundreds of posts you’ve already viewed.
The email alert system is a convenient way to stay on top of what you’re looking for without endless site searching. But you’ll need to have a Craigslist account for this to work. To set up an email alert, here’s what you’ll need to do.
- Navigate to Craigslist and log in with your credentials.
- Perform your search using as many of the search criteria options as possible. You get a list of results that match your search criteria.
- To the right of the “Search window,” click on “Save Search.”
- Your browser will navigate to the “Saved Searches” page.
- Tap the box under the “Alert” column to activate this search.
That’s all you need to do. You’ll receive an email from Craigslist when there are new posts that match your search terms. They will be sent to the email that is associated with your Craigslist account. To limit the number of emails you’ll receive, it’s best to be as specific as possible when setting up alerts.
How to Setup Push Notifications
Craigslist doesn’t have a native push notifications option to receive new post alerts. Email alerts work perfectly fine, but if you’d prefer to receive push notifications on your mobile phone, there is a way to do it. It does, however, require going offsite. The IFTTT (If This Then That) app can be programmed to send you Craigslist search alerts. If this is something you’d like to do, follow the instructions below:
- Go to IFTTT and create an account.
- Once you’re signed in, click on “My Applets” and then “New Applet.”
- From the “New Applet” page, tap on “+this.”
- Select “Classifieds” and then “New Post From Search.”
- Open a new browser window and log in to your Craigslist account.
- Do a Craigslist search for the thing you want to be notified about. Copy the search results URL.
- Paste the URL into the box on the IFTTT page and press “Create trigger.”
- Click on “+that.”
- Choose the SMS option and hit “Send Me an SMS.”
- Press “Create Action” and then “Finish.”
You’ll now receive push notifications with clickable links for each new Craigslist post that fits your search criteria. The app will send them to the phone number associated with your IFTTT account. This method of receiving new search result posts is ideal for those who prefer being alerted on their cellphone.
Search Craigslist by Using Alerts
A more efficient and time-saving way to find what you want on Craigslist without daily searching on its website is to set up email alerts. By getting emails that only contain newly uploaded posts, you can stay on top of the newest addition of the things you are searching for. If you prefer the convivence of SMS push notifications, you can use the IFTTT app.
Have you set up Craigslist alerts? Did you use the methods highlighted in this article? Let us know in the comments section below.
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