Suggestions for a way to test deal alerts

Hi all,

I searched for this info and either it does not exist or I did not use correct keywords. Also, hopefully this is the best place to ask this question.

I wanted to test some of my deal alerts. I thought I could either use real keywords I am looking for or create random letter combinations only I would know for which I would create alerts.

But first option might bug the heck out of others with the same keywords and second option, while sufficient for my purposes might get me banned for spamming.

Is there a sandbox or test area for newbies like myself? Or any other suggestions?

TIA!

The deal alerts system works very similar to our search (and in fact you can create deal alerts from your search results).

So try whatever keyword query/combinations you had in mind in our search box.

Quote from maratz : Hi all, I searched for this info and either it does not exist or I did not use correct keywords. Also, hopefully this is the best place to ask this question. I wanted to test some of my deal alerts. I thought I could either use real keywords I am looking for or create random letter combinations only I would know for which I would create alerts. But first option might bug the heck out of others with the same keywords and second option, while sufficient for my purposes might get me banned for spamming. Is there a sandbox or test area for newbies like myself? Or any other suggestions? TIA!

What Bryantq said. Also, you'll be happy to know that our next version of dealalerts (which is currently in testing) allows you to preview your dealalert matches as you're creating it.

Thank you both very much, this will do (for now!) haha

Okay. Here is an example of a search that I am struggling with a little.

I am looking for an i5 laptop of average (14-15.6) size. There are other specs, obviously but these are the most important ones.

The way I see it, I basically must limit the search to title because it's too inundating otherwise.

If I limit it to title with "@title i5", it's better but I get all sizes of laptops and dozens of desktops. I would have preferred to have keywords like "notebook", "laptop" and "ultrabook" in title, since most threads have one of the three.

So, here is what it looks like in English: the thread MUST have "i5" in the title AND it MUST have "notebook" OR "laptop" OR "ultrabook" in the title.

It would make sense if it looked something like this: @title i5 @title (notebook | laptop | ultrabook).

I am using the following currently (without brackets): [@title i5 @title "notebook" | @title "laptop" | @title "ultrabook"] but it's sporadic at best.

Suggestions?

Quote from maratz : Okay. Here is an example of a search that I am struggling with a little. I am looking for an i5 laptop of average (14-15.6) size. There are other specs, obviously but these are the most important ones. The way I see it, I basically must limit the search to title because it's too inundating otherwise. If I limit it to title with "@title i5", it's better but I get all sizes of laptops and dozens of desktops. I would have preferred to have keywords like "notebook", "laptop" and "ultrabook" in title, since most threads have one of the three. So, here is what it looks like in English: the thread MUST have "i5" in the title AND it MUST have "notebook" OR "laptop" OR "ultrabook" in the title. It would make sense if it looked something like this: @title i5 @title (notebook | laptop | ultrabook). I am using the following currently (without brackets): [@title i5 @title "notebook" | @title "laptop" | @title "ultrabook"] but it's sporadic at best. Suggestions?

But if your search is only for "i5" in the title, you might miss the threads that list the generation of i5, and there are a lot of deals like that with "i5-xxxx". Just something to consider.

Thanks, any suggestions?

Quote from maratz : I am using the following currently (without brackets): [@title i5 @title "notebook" | @title "laptop" | @title "ultrabook"] but it's sporadic at best. Suggestions?

You shouldn't be using @title multiple times - [@title i5 (notebook|laptop|ultrabook)] should work better

Quote from cgrady : You shouldn't be using @title multiple times - [@title i5 (notebook|laptop|ultrabook)] should work better

From SlickDeals.com Deal Alerts FAQ
Quote: To combine title only search with multiple keywords, using the flash drive/hard drive example above, you would add the following alert:
@title "flash drive" | @title "hard drive"

And, as Calistyle said, "i5" does not even find "i5XXXX" where X is any character. Ouch.

Quote from maratz : And, as Calistyle said, "i5" does not even find "i5XXXX" where X is any character. Ouch.

Correct, and it's not supposed to

edit: though it should match anything i5-XXXX just fine, as the "-" is not considered part of a single word

We may have to update the FAQ there; if you try what I posted in the search, you'll see it's matching things in the titles

Quote from cgrady : Correct, and it's not supposed to edit: though it should match anything i5-XXXX just fine, as the "-" is not considered part of a single word

I would rather not match the specific processor though, just the family. I assume there is no wildcard, like i5*? How would you suggest I search for anything that has "i5" in the title?

Quote from cgrady : if you try what I posted in the search, you'll see it's matching things in the titles

I believe you, you're the site programmer, for deity's sake. I quoted the FAQ to show where I was coming from and that it is apparently providing an erroneous info. Already made a change and am waiting for results.