Over the past few months I’ve received a number of reader requests asking for some sort of SMS and/or IM alert service notifying them of new posts. After searching around I have yet to find a suitable service; consequently, I’m going to turn to the one resource that is better than Google: asking readers. Here’s a list of required features needed for a suitable solution…
SMS SOS
Compatible with WordPress and provide an opt-in widget
Must protect subscriber privacy (no spam SMS, or bogus auto-agree to third party SMS, etc.)
Able to send an SMS to all major cell providers
Automatically send an SMS message after every new blog post
Include post link, title, and short excerpt in SMS message
If anyone knows of a service that fits within the above criteria, I would be grateful if you sent me a note or left a comment with details.
I’m en route to Chattanooga today to attend a concert on Thursday, 3/2/2017 of my wife, violinist Holly Mulcahy, performing Jim Stephenson’s Tributes violin…
Keeping in mind that you have international readers, perhaps you could best achieve this by “tweeting” a notification (with link) of each post via Twitter.
I don’t know that this would necessarily be automatic from your perspective, although there are some tools out there (e.g. on facebook) that allow linking of Twitter and blogging activities. But since tweets can be delivered via SMS, those readers who want this sort of notification can simply choose to follow Adaptistration on Twitter. (I realise the disadvantage with this is that readers would need to sign up to Twitter if they don’t already have accounts.)
Thanks Angela, I do have an auto-twitter post option enabled (although I have experienced a great deal of trouble getting it to work even though I’ve tried several different plugins). I do think the SMS update option through twitter is one users might find useful but I would also like to cut out as many middle-men as possible (plus I haven’t read Twitter’s end user agreement for that service yet).
Does anyone out there use the twitter SMS service?
Keeping in mind that you have international readers, perhaps you could best achieve this by “tweeting” a notification (with link) of each post via Twitter.
I don’t know that this would necessarily be automatic from your perspective, although there are some tools out there (e.g. on facebook) that allow linking of Twitter and blogging activities. But since tweets can be delivered via SMS, those readers who want this sort of notification can simply choose to follow Adaptistration on Twitter. (I realise the disadvantage with this is that readers would need to sign up to Twitter if they don’t already have accounts.)
Thanks Angela, I do have an auto-twitter post option enabled (although I have experienced a great deal of trouble getting it to work even though I’ve tried several different plugins). I do think the SMS update option through twitter is one users might find useful but I would also like to cut out as many middle-men as possible (plus I haven’t read Twitter’s end user agreement for that service yet).
Does anyone out there use the twitter SMS service?