I wanted to create a daily check-in reminder for my writing server to keep everyone motivated: just a quick “Hey, how are you doing?” so the server would have daily activity and the writers felt loved. Here was my wish list:
- I wanted to customize the icon and username of whatever posted the message
- I wanted to tag a specific role
- I wanted some control over the time the message was posted to Discord
- I didn’t feel like creating a custom bot
- I didn’t want to pay anything
All five of these are possible with the IFTTT + webhook integration. If you want a slightly simpler method, and you don’t care about the icon and username of the bot, you can use the IFTTT + Discord integration.
This post will walk you through creating a simple daily check-in reminder using IFTTT and Discord. You’ll have yours up and running when you reach the end of the post.
Create an applet
First, head to IFTTT. If you don’t have an IFTTT account, create a new one. It’s a super handy service that connects apps to other apps and can do things like feed a Twitter hashtag into your server (great if you run events). IFTTT recently limited the number of free applets to three per account, but the service is still free.
Select “Create” to make a new applet. Select “If This” (the word “Add” should appear in a button to the right).
On the next page, search for the service “Date & Time” and continue. Choose the frequency. You can pick from every day, every hour, certain days of the week, every month, or every year. My bot runs daily.
Set the time and select “Create Trigger.”
When the page reloads, select “Then That.”
You should be on the Services page now. At this point, you have two options: a webhook or the new Discord integration, which is in beta. I’ve used the first version for a couple of years, so I’ll show you both in case the Discord integration doesn’t work out for you.
For both methods: If you want to tag a role in the message, open Discord and navigate to the server where you’ll use the reminder. In the message field, type a backslash and the name of the role you want to tag, eg. \@writer. Send the message and Discord will display the role ID. It’ll look something like this: <@&731663698739366491>. Make note of it.
Also: Double check that the role is taggable!
Option 1: Webhook
Pros: Customizable icon & name!
Cons: Slightly more complicated setup; may fail due to due Discord rate limiting IFTTT
On IFTTT, search for Webhooks and select it. On the next page, select “Make a web request.” Leave that page open.
In another tab (or in the Discord app), find the channel where you want to post the message. Open the channel settings (the gear icon that pops up when you hover) and go to Integrations → Webhooks. Select “Create Webhook.”
Here’s where you can name and theme your check-in reminder! Upload an icon and give it a name. You can always change yours later. Ours has been a few fictional characters.
Once you’ve created your webhook, select “Copy webhook URL.”
Head back over to IFTTT and paste the webhook URL into the URL field.
For Method, select “Post.”
For Content Type, select “application/json.”
The Body field is where you’ll write the message that will appear on your server, but you can’t stick a regular paragraph there. It needs to be formatted.
Here’s a sample to get you started:
{"content":"This is your daily check-in reminder, <role ID>!"}Edit this message for your server. Make sure to leave the brackets, the opening "content":, and the quotation marks around your message itself.
To include a taggable role, paste the role ID you got from Discord where it says <role ID> in the example (scroll up a bit for instructions if you didn’t do this yet).
Save your applet.
Option 2: Discord (beta)
Pros: Easier message formatting, no need to create a webhook
Cons: Messages will come from the IFTTT bot, no way to change the icon or name 😢
On IFTTT, search for Discord and select it.
Next, connect IFTTT to your Discord account and select the server where you want to use it. Make sure the bot’s permissions will allow it to post messages to your server.
Once you’ve granted IFTTT permission to use your Discord account and have confirmed the verified IFTTT bot has joined your server, head back to IFTTT’s site.
Select your server from the drop-down menu, and then the channel where you want the message to appear.
Type your message right into the Message field. No need for special formatting. To tag a role, insert the <role ID> (including its brackets) that you got from Discord earlier. If you skipped that step, scroll up to the paragraph before I start talking about the Webhook method.
Discord markdown does work if you want to **bold** something.
You can leave “All mentions allowed” selected since this bot is only posting a reminder.
Save your applet.
Make sure it works
IFTTT doesn’t offer a way to immediately test an applet that relies on a specific date or time, so if you want to test the applet, set the Time & Date trigger for the next 15-minute mark. To edit the applet, select it from your IFTTT dash and select the “Settings” menu (mine appears in the top right of the screen).
Once you’ve confirmed the applet does what you want, don’t forget to change the time to the one you really want. Be sure to save the revised step AND the applet to roll out your new change.
The writers love this feature. Many of them use it daily, others when they have something to report. We keep the language light so no one feels bad if they didn’t get something done. I’ve used it on event servers as well when we’re coming up on deadlines, and it’s helpful in coaxing people into a regular writing routine. But you can use it for any instance where you need a regularly repeating message.