JW.ORG News Updates in Whatsapp

[GWings]

A couple of months ago I created a script that scans JW.ORG for news articles, new videos, changes in the billboards (the headliner on the frontpage) and for breaking news alerts. And with every update it will pretty much immediately send a message to a WhatsApp group (the group is 'read-only' so nobody else can send messages), containing the image of the article and a direct link (check the image for an example).

 

It's only in Dutch now, but if there's enough brothers and sisters here who would like to have this in English, I can pretty much use the same code for an English group. So let me know what you think!

 

 

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

I would be interested in testing an English version!

 

[YACO]

interested in testing an English version! Thanks

 

[Dages]

Same with French, can you make it opensource ?

[Hinata]

That is very interesting, yeah. Having it as an open source would be appreciated. How does it run? RSS feeds?

 

[Qapla]

Interest here also

 

 

[Friends just call me Ross]

2 hours ago, ➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone said:

I would be interested in testing an English version!

 

Me, too!

 

[Sylv]

I'd love to be added to the Dutch group! Great way to sharpen my waning language skills.

[Mzbarb]

I would be interested in English 🤗

[YACO]

 interested in Spanish, too, Thanks

[Tortuga]

8 hours ago, GWings said:

A couple of months ago I created a script that scans JW.ORG for news articles, new videos, changes in the billboards (the headliner on the frontpage) and for breaking news alerts. And with every update it will pretty much immediately send a message to a WhatsApp group (the group is 'read-only' so nobody else can send messages), containing the image of the article and a direct link (check the image for an example).

Who would have access to our personal contact information if we joined the group?

[CHecker]

I'd like to be part of English group

[Qapla]

Would there be a Klingon group?

[GWings]

18 hours ago, Hinata said:

That is very interesting, yeah. Having it as an open source would be appreciated. How does it run? RSS feeds?

 

No it uses web scraping for both checking jw.org and sending the message in Whatsapp. The main reasons are:

1) RSS feeds on jw.org do not include all the info I wanted to gather (like changes in billboards or breaking news banners)

2) The images in the feed are very low res

 

I will make it open source but I'll clean up the code a little bit more first...

[GWings]

15 hours ago, Tortuga said:

Who would have access to our personal contact information if we joined the group?

Everybody in the group would be able to see your phone number. Depending on your privacy settings they might also be able to see your profile picture. Please be sure to check Whatsapp Privacy settings page for more information: https://faq.whatsapp.com/general/security-and-privacy/how-to-change-your-privacy-settings/?lang=en

[GWings]

Great to see everyone is so exciting about this! 🤩 I will look into making the code open source, but I'll first have to tidy up my code. For now, I'll make the English and Dutch group available as most of you are interested in this.

 

Whatsapp Groups

Use the QR-codes below to join the groups. Please note that:

1. It's a read-only group. Participants are not able to send messages.
2. The phone number of the 'admin' in the group is not my personal phone number. It's only in use for this script. If you want to reach out to me, you can do so through jwtalk.net.
3. Other participants can see your phone number and possibly your profile picture. Check the Whatsapp Privacy page for more information on how to change your privacy settings if you want to. 
4. If you feel like you're getting too much notifications, you can always mute the group or leave if you want to. 
5. The Whatsapp groups will cease to exist if and when JW Library will get support for push notifications.

 

English
Scan the QR-code below with your mobile phone to join the English Whatsapp group.

 

{QR  Code removed per Community Membership Policy - Bob}

 

Dutch

Scan the QR-code below with your mobile phone to join the Dutch Whatsapp group.

 

{QR  Code removed per Community Membership Policy - Bob}

 

 

 

[Friends just call me Ross]

I just joined the English group.   It was a breeze.

Thanks for the invite, Brother Glen!  

[Mzbarb]

[Sylv]

I visit this site on my mobile. I will PM you my number.

[Brother_Bliss]

13 hours ago, GWings said:

Everybody in the group would be able to see your phone number

I removed the QR Codes. Per our Community Membership Policy, you agree not to share or exchange personal contact information through forum posts. 

 

This is a public forum, so even unregistered guests could have joined the WhatsApp group in the last 12 hours and now have access to everyone's number.

 

[GWings]

If anyone would like to get access, please DM me and I’ll provide you with a link to join the group, in order to be compliant with the Community Membership Policy. 

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

Might be interesting to list your country code. +61 is Australia

 

 https://www.iban.com/dialing-codes

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

Got my first popup message today.
It's working!
Ty

Old (Downunder) Tone

[pholmes38]

Appreciate it Glen for your having added me

 

Very prompt alert system 👍🏽

 

[GWings]

I really appreciate everyone’s enthusiasm! But I’m also looking for improvements.

One of my ideas is to actually include the video itself when a new video is published. That way you can immediately save it to your phone or forward it to someone. This feature will be possible once Whatsapp increases the maximum attachment size, which according to rumors, is happening any time now. Is this something you would want?
 

What else are features you would like to have?