When Should I Use Custom Expressions Instead of Keywords?

Keywords work well when you need to detect simple text such as "In Stock", "Available", or "Buy Now". However, there are situations where a single keyword is not enough to accurately monitor a webpage.

In these cases, Auto Refresh Plus provides Custom Expressions, allowing you to combine multiple keywords using AND and OR logic.

When Keywords Are Sufficient

Keyword monitoring is recommended when:

• You only need to detect specific text
• A single phrase determines the result
• The webpage content is straightforward

Examples:

In Stock

Available

Buy Now

When any of these terms appear on the page, Auto Refresh Plus can trigger an alert.

When to Use Custom Expressions

Custom Expressions are useful when you need multiple conditions to be met before an alert is triggered.

All Custom Expressions start with:

##

They use:

• | for OR conditions
• A space between groups for AND conditions
• Parentheses () to group terms

Example:

##(in stock | available) (add to cart | buy now)

This expression matches pages that contain:

(In Stock OR Available)
AND
(Add to Cart OR Buy Now)

Why Use Custom Expressions?

Custom Expressions help reduce false alerts by requiring multiple conditions.

For example:

A page containing:

In Stock

would not match the expression above because it is missing:

Add to Cart

A page containing:

Available
Buy Now

would match because both expression groups are satisfied.

Common Monitoring Scenarios

Product Availability

##(in stock | available | ships today) (add to cart | buy now | order now)

Useful when you want to confirm that a product is available and can actually be purchased.

Sale Monitoring

##(sale | discount) (50% | 30%)

Useful for detecting specific discount offers.

Ticket Availability

##(tickets available | seats available) (vip | section a | section b)

Useful when monitoring specific ticket categories.

Job Listings

##(now hiring | apply now) (remote | work from home)

Useful for tracking specific types of job postings.

Keywords vs Custom Expressions

Use Keywords when:

• One text value is enough
• You want the simplest setup
• Basic monitoring meets your needs

Use Custom Expressions when:

• Multiple conditions must be checked
• You need AND / OR logic
• Simple keywords generate too many false alerts
• More accurate monitoring is required

Important Notes

• Every Custom Expression must begin with ##
• Use | to separate OR conditions
• Use a space between groups for AND conditions
• Parentheses are required around each group
• Custom Expressions work with text-based conditions only

Summary

Keywords are ideal for simple text detection, while Custom Expressions provide greater control by combining multiple keywords into a single monitoring rule. If you need Auto Refresh Plus to verify more than one condition before triggering an alert, Custom Expressions are usually the better choice.