How to Get Email Notifications for TSQLTuesday

Lots of us want to write for TSQL Tuesday, but aren’t always on Twitter at the right time each month to see when the announcement comes out using the #tsql2sday hash tag. And maybe we have an RSS feed set up, but we often get behind on a big pile of posts to read. (Guilty!)

I want an email!

Wouldn’t it be nice to get a notification in your inbox when a new topic is announced, the week before TSQLTuesday itself?

You can set this up in two minutes by configuring a free IFTTT applet to email you when a new post goes into the RSS feed for TSQLTuesday.com.

IFTTT, or “If-This-Then-That” has been around since 2010. I first used it in the early days of the service when I was looking for a place to rent in a competitive market, and wanted to get notified of new postings on Craigslist. It’s very handy for custom notifications of all sorts.

How to set it up

Here’s how to set up your email:

1. Create a free account on https://ifttt.com/. Your account settings are where you tell it your email address.
2. Add the RSS feed to Email applet: https://ifttt.com/applets/147561p-rss-feed-to-email
   1. Click ‘Turn on’
   2. Optionally type a feed name into the top box
   3. Paste the feed URL into the bottom box: http://tsqltuesday.com/feed/
   4. Click save

Note:  I made a mistake in the original run of this post in the setup of the IFTTT applet. This is the corrected version of the instructions, and it worked – the email announcing TSQL Tuesday came through for me.