Netvibes Potions allow you to automate actions and alerts from your dashboard by selecting the Trigger(s) and Action(s) you want to take place. For example: If a new article is published about MyCompany, then email me and share the link on Twitter. (To learn more about Potions, please visit our FAQ page).

Potion Triggers: Gmail (new!)

I receive an email

This Trigger fires every time your Gmail account receives a new email

Example Potion #1: When I receive a new Gmail message, then text me. Add this potion to your dashboard!

I star an email

This Trigger fires every time you “star” (mark as important) a message in Gmail

Example Potion #2: When I star a Gmail message, then post it on Tumblr. Add this potion to your dashboard!

As with most Netvibes Potion Ingredients, you can customize the properties of your Potion to do exactly what you want. Using Example Potion #1, let’s say you want to receive a text message only when your boss emails you. To do this, we need to define specific properties of the Potion–in this case, my boss’s email address.

New Potion: If I receive a new Gmail message AND the sender address includes Boss@mycompany.com, then text me.

Here’s a screenshot showing how we define the Gmail Trigger:

You could achieve the same result (limiting the Potion to only emails from my boss) in several different ways. For example, you could define the sender name (My Boss) or the content of the email. With Netvibes Potions, you can define many different properties of your Gmail Triggers, including:

• The email address of the sender (Example: address contains ‘yahoo.com’)
• The name of the sender (Example: name of the sender contains ‘Paul’)
• The email text content (Example: email contains ‘itinerary’)
• The email subject (Example: subject contains ‘urgent’)
• Email attachments (Example: email must contain attachments: Yes/No)

Advanced Mode
Technical users can switch to “Advanced Mode” in the Potion editor, which allows you to write or edit the code for your Potion, using Netvibes Programming Language. In Advanced Mode, you can define even more Gmail properties:

• List of attachments (Example: number of attachments is greater than 2)
• The attachment type (Example: type of the 1st attachment contains ‘image’)
• The attachment filename (Example: filename of the last attachment contains ‘virus’)
• The recipients of the email (Example: number of recipients is greater than 2)
• The name of the recipient (Example: name of the first recipient contains ‘Joe’)
• The email address of the recipient (Example: address of the 2nd recipient ends with ‘gmail.com’)

To learn more about Advanced Mode for Potions, please visit our FAQ page: http://faq.netvibes.com/knowledgebase/articles/595497-advanced-mode-overview

Potion Action: send to Gmail
Now that we’ve covered Gmail as a Trigger for your Potion, let’s see how it works as an Action. For example: If my Nest Protect detects smoke, then send me an email at Gmail. Add this potion to your dashboard!

It’s a trick! Gmail is not actually listed as an Action in Netvibes Potions. However, you can use the Email Ingredient to have your Potion send an email to ANY ADDRESS you choose (including Gmail).

Here are some more examples of the unlimited types of Potions you can create with Gmail:

• Email Auto-Respond – When I receive a Gmail message from my boss AND it’s after 7:00pm, then email my boss: “I got your email and will respond first thing in the morning.”Add this potion to your dashboard!

• Social sharing – When I receive Merriam Webster’s Word of the Day in my Gmail inbox, then share the word on Facebook and Twitter. Add this potion to your dashboard!

The power of Netvibes is that you can customize your own Potions to do anything you like. Click here to get started, and our wizard will walk you through the easy steps of creating your first Potion. Or contact us for a free demo of Netvibes dashboards.