Hey Guys,
We talk quite a bit about streamlining your thought processes, organizing your daily work routines and lists, outsourcing to take the work away from yourself so you can move onto more important aspects, though there is one area we have not yet covered that can be just as, if not even more rewarding if the time is taken to do this correctly.
I’m talking about Windows Automation through recording Macro’s
Now before you even start thinking that Macros are just simple playbacks of actions recorded much like a camtasia screen recording (though you would be partially right) let me start by letting you know that Macro recording has come a very long way and there are entire frameworks now based around easily automating windows tasks.
You can even use Image Recognition to scan the current screen that is displayed on your computer, look for an exact image match and then perform a set out action based on that outcome.
Recording a Macro can be extremely simple (recording your movements on a screen) or become a little more complex (though still simple compared to programming languages). The difference is the flexibility you have in your macro and how error free it is.
A direct recorded Macro has no logic and does not do anything other then repeat the actions you have just recorded. However with a little scripting you can add logic to your macro and actually have it do certain things based on meeting an action criteria.
So what does this mean for us and for you?
Well how far does your imagination go?
What crazy processes do you wish you could automate but dont have full programming skills?
These could be perfect examples where you could create a macro to do your work for you, automatically even if you were sleeping.
How I plan to start with macro recording is the following. Currently we have Robert part of the PLRPro team, compile all PLRPro packs manually, this is the process he goes through currently.
- Processes the conversion into different languages
- Checks the content for similarities between article content using a program we have
- Zips all pack content into zip files
- Uploads Zip Files to correct groups
- Uploads Image snapshots of the graphics to the server
- Manually edits html files to include the zip file and the graphics file
- Checks that the packs are up fine and working
Okay so what does all of this rely upon to make happen then?
First of all Rob has to be available to do this, quite often packs come in on the weekend, or there is a public holiday, or they come in after normal working hours. Not only this but it takes quite a bit of time to do, of which alot of that is time waiting for programs to do their job, files to upload and what not.
The solution, create a Macro that can tie together many programs that normally would not be able to be tied together and will do it automatically regardless of the hour or day.
Ultimately what I would like is to have a set folder where I can load the “raw” ingredients into set folders (you always need good structure when you are creating macro’s so get used to it), then at a set time each night I would have the macro check the folder for new packs.
Start the compiling process and basically handle everything Rob would have normally done.
I could even have it do download checks and report if there was a problem. If there was a problem, then to role back to the version of html files just before it started the update (yes I could have it backup the files also easily).
Now think of this as an added bonus.
What happens if Rob would normally go away?
Or heaven forbid he left us to persue his own things?
Got sick for a few days?
Now think about this, with a macro not only is this covered.
But ANYONE in our company can now take over doing packs, all they need to do is make sure the raw materials are in the correct areas. Then the macro would take care of the rest.
Okay so that is my immediate plan for my new found best friend. Though I also have plans to have it generate SEO reports on my sites at the end of each week and compile them into one easy to read report.
This is just an indication to give you an idea that you really can do quit a bit if you take the time to learn something new.
For example off the top of my head I can think of a macro that would log into your PLRPro account download all the packs in your PLRPro membership, extract the packs, take the image and start up the PLRPro Site Builder, fill out the needed forms automatically, edit the template, build the site and have it ready for you to upload.
Now of course there needs to be human intervention at some point, that may be at the quality control check, or changing your template up.
Whatever it is I am sure you could find something that you are doing on a day to day basis that you could automate.
I am using Macro Scheduler which you can see at
http://www.mjtnet.com/macro-scheduler-automation-software.htm
There is a 30 day Free Trial available with it.
So what do you think you could do with this Macro, how would it help you?
Do you currently have any experience with using Macro’s? If so I would love to hear about it.
Regards
Marc
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Great idea to save time and provide consistency. It beats working from tens of checklists.
You can do the same thing with web browsing by recording macros with iMacros for Firefox.
Think about using it to log on to CPanel of all your websites and generate a full backup of every site, all in one macro. That’s just one example.
Hey Dewald,
I’ve used IMacros before a few years back, made an automated reciprocal link exchanger with it when reciprocals used to be wildly effective.
So I have experience with both, MS also has a web recorder that does the same as IMacros, but also integrates into their MS macro program easily.
So take this a step further Dewald,
Store all your details in a csv sheet or microsoft excel sheet (password protect it if you like)
Open it with MS
log into the site using the web recorder passing details to it from MS
check whatever you like (lets say you are checking the days stats.
Have MS move to the correct screen position using Image recognition
Take A screen shot of just the info you need and save it in a folder (automatically created and named by the name of your site)
then pass control back to the web recorder to log out of your cpanel.
Then have MS start at the second entry and repeat the process again.
You could automatically have a snapshot of all 12 sites from one data sheet and the combination of both MS & Webrecorder
Whew bit longwinded there
But yeah certainly powerfull stuff
Regards
Marc
I’ve been using Macro Scheduler from MJTNet for well over a decade. I have upgraded several times.
I find it quite powerful. It is a desktop programming language that works with any application you have on your computer. It can provide keystrokes, mouse movement and clicks, and under the cover ‘commandline’ instructions.
I have automated several apps which go between EXCEL, EditPad, & Pegasus Mail. One of which is batch processing certain emails I receive, dumping the text into EditPad, parsing the email content, calling the appropriate spreadsheet, placing the appropriate test into the spreadsheet, switching to another worksheet, printing the EXCEL graphic to pdf, sending an email with the pdf as an attachment.
The new image recognition facilities make it much more powerful for web-based tasks.
I found their customer service to be first-rate.
I highly recomment it.
Rodger
Hey Roger,
Yes I will second their support is brilliant. I have just been hounding them in the forums for answers to a few queries and I had lots of help, even private messages from them.
Very nice to see.
Regards
Marc