Frequently Asked Questions

Below you'll find answers to some common questions from users.

• How do I use my txtful shortcuts?

  Right now you can send your shortcuts by text message, in the subject line of an email to do@txtful.com, a Google Talk instant message to the do@txtful.com buddy, a twitter direct message, or through our simple mobile web interface located at http://www.txtful.com/m. For an expanded example of these check out this page.

  We're also working on letting you use your shortcuts from your Facebook page and natively from iPhone and Android applications. Make sure and keep up with our blog to be notified about these in the very near future.

  Of course to use any of these you have to make sure the appropriate identity exists on your account page, so we know who is sending us the shortcut and do the right thing. If you don't know what identities are be sure and check out the next FAQ.

• What are identities and how do I manage them?

  Identities are how we know you are who you say you are. On your account page there is a section where you can add new ones or turn off old ones. For example if you want to start using txtful from Google Talk, that is where you tell us what your Google Talk username is so we can map any future messages we get from that username to the shortcuts you've set up.

  Identities are also an important security feature. Lost your phone somewhere and worried about someone using your shortcuts? Just turn the appropriate ones off on your account page and we'll ignore any we get from then on. Find out you just left the phone at home? Turn the identities back on and continue as before.

• How do I format the shortcuts I send?

  Always start with whatever you've named the shortcut. You can always get a reminder of these by sending the letter H to us from any of your identities. After that it depends on how the shortcut was designed. Often times you may also need to include what we call parameters to make a shortcut useful. For example the movie title in a Netflix shortcut.

  The parameters always come after the shortcut name and a space character. Each parameter is also separated by a space. If the parameter you want to send has spaces in it then begin and end it either with parentheses ( ) or " whichever is easier for you. For example: netflix "Star Wars"

  The one exception to this is the last parameter in a shortcut never needs to wrapped in quotes or parentheses, we'll do it for you. Obviously this means that if there is only one parameter in the shortcut it is by default the last one and you don't need to wrap it either. We know this is a little bit to remember, but you get the hang of it quickly and it makes txtful much easier to use over time.

• Do I have to add my Gmail account in twice if I want to use it from email and Google Talk?

  No since we know that every Gmail account is also a Google Talk you can send it from either method.

  Now if you're using Google Apps for your domain and your username or email address doesn't end in gmail.com, then please add the identity as a Google Talk account so we know it's capable of it, and you'll still be able to use it from email.

• How secure is txtful?

  txtful takes your security and privacy very seriously. We take many steps in order to protect your data, and every bit of information you give us is encrypted using the AES-128 standard, which is the same what the U.S. Government uses to protect its secret documents.

• What is the Update Available link on the My Shortcuts page?

  Like all things as time goes by shortcuts need to change to keep up with the sites they work with or because of the wishes of the developer. These changes can be cosmetic or structural. For example, a developer may change the content of the message you get in response to a shortcut, so that it more clearly conveys what happened. In that case they can mark the update optional, and you can decide to upgrade to it or not whenever you're ready.

  In other cases though the issue might be more serious, like the shortcut doesn't work anymore, and the developer may mark the update that fixes it as mandatory. When that happens when you try to use the shortcut you'll receive a message that directs you to go your shortcuts page and follow the directions before you can continue using it.

• Can I request new shortcuts?

  Sure, just click on requests link at the top of any page. There you'll find a list of shortcuts others have requested that you can add your vote to. And if no one else has submitted the one you had in mind, feel free to use the link from that page to add your own.

• Can I change the name of my shortcuts to something I can remember more easily?
  Absolutely. From the My Shortcuts page, click on the one you'd like to change, and then select the Options at the bottom of the page. Type in the new name and click save.
• What is the advanced view?

  One thing that makes txtful so useful is the ability to combine information you've given us in the past (like a username, or an email address) with information you give us when you want to use. This way you can get things accomplished more quickly and with a minimum amount of typing, since you don't have to keep typing things that rarely (if ever) change. But because we ask shortcut developers to make the shortcut setup process as easy and fast as possible, they sometimes have to make guesses about what you'll use and do most often and define what gets set once and what has to be given every time based on that guess.

  Most of the time this works great, but when it doesn't it's time to switch to advanced view.

  When clicking on the advanced view of any subscription, you'll see more fields appear that are filled with #INPUT1#, #INPUT2# etc. These are the parameters txtful expects from you at the time when you use the shortcut. The number designates whether it's the first, second, third parameter, etc. You can change that order to whatever you like though by deleting the value that's there and dragging the appropriate one from the choices on the right onto the field you want to change. When you do that, the "Send Us This" box contents will change to show what parameters and in which order txtful is now expecting to receive when you use the shortcut.

  For Example, in the Make a restaurant reservation on OpenTable when you click the advanced view you'll notice the field "Party Size" is set to 2 by default. That means you'll always get a reservation for 2 people. But what if you're more likely to make reservations when there is 4 of you going out? You can just change this field to 4 and hit save and from then on that'll be how many people are expected for the reservation. Of course you can also make 2 different shortcuts with 2 different names that has value 2 and 4 in this field respectively and just remember to use the right one when appropriate, or you can delete what's there and drag INPUT 4 from the choices on the right onto it, and from then on just include how many people the reservation should be for whenever you send your shortcut. The great thing about advanced view is it's up to you.

• What if I want to create a shortcut that only certain people can use?

  You can't do this just yet, but it's coming very soon.

  A developer will be able to create private shortcuts that don't appear in the txtful directory and then designate special users who can approve or deny other users access to the private shortcut. We think this feature will be very useful for organizations who need to control access to sensitive internal systems, but still want all the benefits they get from a txtful shortcut.

• Who can become a developer?

  The short answer is anybody. The slightly longer answer is anyone who has a decent understanding of creating web sites. Providing support for anyone with the desire to extend the reach of the web to more devices and environments to easily create shortcuts is at the core of txtful's philosophy. We offer a set of tools that automate the building, testing and distribution of new shortcuts. If you've got a great idea for a shortcut take a look at our developer site and if it seems like something you'd like to tackle, create a developer account and get to work. We'll help you as much as we can.

  Got a great idea, but not interested in building it yourself? Put in a request and maybe someone else will do it for you.

• How much does txtful cost?
  During our current Beta testing phase txtful is free to use, and we're committed to having a free version afterwards as well. There will be some paid version that will be based on either usage thresholds (i.e. using more than X shortcuts a month) or access to certain features, but we promise to be transparent with our users as we work through what that structure looks like.
• How do I use txtful from my mobile email, twitter, IM, etc?
  Login to txtful and click on the account link in the top right corner of the screen. From there choose what kind of identity to add (email, twitter, IM, etc) and follow the instructions. For a more detailed discussion of what identities are, please see the FAQ: What are identities and how do I manage them?
• In what countries is txtful available?
  For now text messaging shortcuts is only available in the US, but if you want to use shortcuts from IM, email, or the mobile web page, then you can use your shortcuts from anywhere in the world.