Here’s a quick note on how to use the new Scheduler workflow while we are waiting on the screensteps to get done.
There are 4 parameters to the workflow. The input folder is where you batch or stage content you want dripped out over time. The output folder is where the workflow will move items to on the schedule you select and this folder will often be a Venue folder.
You can select how many items you want copied each time the scheduler runs so you can post 1 item, 2, 3, or whatever. A typical use would be to post just one if the output is a Venue.
Finally, there are the times during the day when you want the Scheduler to wake up and move items from input to output. This is a bit tricky so here’s where you need to be a bit careful. The list of times is (1) in “24 hour format” and (2) Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). You can have any number of times, a minimum of 5 minutes apart, separated by commas.
Let’s do an example. I’m in Atlanta so I am GMT-4 and I want to post twice in the business day and once in the evening, say 10 AM, 2 PM and 7 PM. I would configure my Scheduler thusly: 1400,1600,2300
The items from the input folder are selected oldest to newest in order of modification date so the order they will post is the order you put them into the input folder.
Also, the Scheduler is not limited to posting to Venues. Another use would be to time when MTurk HITs are submitted. Here’s how. Connect a Feed folder to a Content folder using a Scheduler and run your MTurk workflow on that Content folder. Configure the Scheduler to copy some number of items, like say 50, from the Feed to the Content folder at the time of day where you expect to get the best response from Turkers. At the appointed time, the Schedule copies a bunch of items, causing the MTurk workflow to activate and post your HITs. You could batch tasks to workers this way as well.