Publish untappd check-ins to micro.blog

Carl Rustung wrote his original post, Zapping Instagram pics to micro.blog on Wed. January 30th, 2019. I wanted my Untappd check-ins automatically posted to my micro.blog. With some trial and error, I could tweak his Zap to do it for me. This is a form of IndieWeb Publish Elsewhere, Syndicate (to your) Own Site (PESOS).

Here’s how:

  • Set up a new access token for Zapier in your micro.blog account settings.
micro.blog screen shot
Set up a new [access token](https://micro.blog/account/apps) for Zapier in your micro.blog account settings.
  • Make a new Zap. Choose Untappd for your Trigger App and trigger the zap on “New Check-In”.
  • Connect your Untappd account.
  • Select a sample post.
  • Add “Webhooks” for your Action step, and select the POST request.
Zapier screen shot
Add “Webhooks” for your Action step, and select the POST request.
  • Use micro.blog/micropub as the URL and “Form” as the Payload Type
  • Under Data, you’re going to need 4 key-value pairs:
    • h: entry (literally, write “entry”)
    • access_token: [your access token from step 1]
    • content: Use the Zapier tokens to create the content you want. I used the following.
screen shot from Zapier
Use the Zapier tokens to create the content you want


<p><a href="https://untappd.com/user/khurtwilliams/checkin/{{110699014__checkin_id}}">{{110699014__beer__beer_name}}</a> ({{110699014__beer__beer_abv}}% ABV {{110699014__beer__beer_style}}) by <a href="https://untappd.com/{{110699014__brewery__brewery_page_url}}" />{{110699014__brewery__brewery_name}}</a> ({{110699014__brewery__location__brewery_city}}, {{110699014__brewery__location__brewery_state}}). Rating:{{110699014__rating_score}}/5</p> <p>{{110699014__checkin_comment}}</p> <p><figure><img src="{{110699014__media__items[]photo__photo_img_og}}" alt="{{110699014__beer__beer_name}}" /><figcaption>{{110699014__beer__beer_name}}</figcaption></figure></p>
  • Leave the rest of the inputs alone, and click Continue.
  • Click the “Send Test...”-button, and your sample Untappd post should appear on your micro.blog timeline.

You can see examples of this in my beer category. page on micro.blog.

Using Zapier to pull Instagram updates to micro.blog

Zapping Instagram pics to Micro.blog by Carl Rustung (Carl Rustung)

I recently did a little site update. The biggest change was connecting it to my Micro.blog and syndicating the posts here. Micro.blog, in turn, picked up my Instagram posts, routing them over here as well. This was done using a cool, little service called OwnYourGram.

Though a brilliant (and free!) initiative, it didn’t work very well. It was hard to keep track of just when it would reroute my pics, and the other day it stopped working completely. The error message was kinda vague, so I have no idea who’s to blame – might be OwnYourGram, might be micro.blog… might be me.

Anyway, I’d recently set up Zapier to tell Netlify to update my site whenever I’d posted something new to micro.blog, so I thought I’d check if it could also do my Instagram sharing for me. Turns out it could!

I don't post to Instagram as often as I used to. I prefer to post images to my website first. But I thought it would be useful to pull in my Instagram updates to micro.blog. My Instagram is set to point to my WordPress.org website for "backfeed" responses. OwnYourGram is not a solution for me.

The instructions provided by @CarlRustung were easy for me to follow. It works!

Update: I used the same method to pull in posts from Untappd.

Madewest Brewing Company's Wake the Sun

I am drinking a Wake the Sun by Madewest Brewing Company. October
And the trees are stripped bare
Of all they wear
What do I care?

I am in Skillman, NJ, drinking Wake the Sun by Madewest Brewing Company. Madewest Brewing Company is a Micro Brewery in Ventura, CA. Wake the Sun beer style is IPA - New England, with an ABV of 7.2% and IBU of 0. I gave Wake the Sun a 3.75 on Untappd's 5 point rating system.

October
And the trees are stripped bare
Of all they wear
What do I care?

Brewer's notes

Hazy IPA packed with a copious amount of Mosaic, Galaxy & Simcoe hops. This beer is bursting with a ripe juicy character you can smell from a mile away. Notes of fresh peaches, mango and papaya. This beer delivers with a smooth silky mouthfeel and a refreshing finish.

Entry created on Zapier time: 2018-10-12T16:42:50-04:00