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How to automatically take and embed website screenshots in Cyfe dashboards

Learn how you can take scheduled screenshots of web content and automatically display the latest image in your Cyfe dashboard with PagePixels.

Introduction

PagePixels is a screenshot automation tool that you can use to take automatic screenshots and dynamically display the latest image in a website or web app, including Cyfe dashboards.

You can accomplish this by scheduling a screenshot in PagePixels and using an Embed URL in a Cyfe Iframe widget.

A PagePixels Embed URL is a single web address that always displays the most up-to-date image for a scheduled screenshot configuration.

PagePixels is free to start and this tutorial demonstrates how you can take daily screenshots of a random XKCD comic and display the image in your Cyfe dashboard.

Example

Prerequisites

Before you start, you'll need:

  • A PagePixels account
  • A link to a web page you want to screenshot

    • For this example, we're going to use XKCD's random comic page:

      https://c.xkcd.com/random/comic/

  • A Cyfe account

How to capture and embed auto-updating screenshots in a Cyfe dashboard

To take daily screenshots of a web page and display the latest image in a Cyfe dashboard:

1

Create a screenshot

Log in to your PagePixels account, and click the "+Create Screenshot" button.

2

Set your schedule

By default, recurring screenshots are taken every 5 minutes.

For a daily screenshot, use the input and dropdown fields to change the default values to: 1 Days

3

Add URL

Copy and paste the web page URL you want to screenshot into the Website URL to Capture field.

For example: https://c.xkcd.com/random/comic/

4

Configure your screenshot

Use over 20 different setting options in PagePixels to get your screenshot to look just right.

For example, using the CSS Selector field, you can capture just the comic element on the XKCD page with the following selector: #comic

5

Save Screenshot

Click the green Save Screenshot button (top-right).

6

Copy Embed URL

Click the clipboard icon to copy your configuration's Embed URL.

7

Add Iframe widget in Cyfe

In your Cyfe dashboard, click Add Widget in the top-left.

Search for Iframe and click the Add button.

8

Configure Iframe widget

Click the Configure Widget button.

Paste your Embed URL into the IFrame URL field.

Finish configuring your widget and click the Save Widget button.

Your screenshot automation and Iframe widget are officially set and the latest screenshot will automatically display in your Cyfe dashboard.

EXAMPLE RESULT

See the Embed Screenshots Help Guide for more examples and information about Embed URLs in PagePixels.

What else can PagePixels do?

When you use PagePixels for automating screenshots, you can:

  • Take screenshots of your Cyfe dashboards using a Cyfe public share URL in PagePixels.
  • Schedule screenshots by time interval, days of the week, time of day, and time zone using PagePixels' built-in scheduling system.
  • Automate clicking buttons, filling out forms, performing a search and more with Multi-Step Screenshot functionality.
  • Convert data from third-party APIs, HTML emails, and other HTML content into screenshots using the Custom HTML Screenshots feature.
  • Automatically take screenshots and have an AI analyze the resulting images with the AI Analysis Screenshot feature.
  • Have AI compare and contrast multiple screenshots and other images with the Multiple Image AI Analysis feature.
  • Send scheduled screenshots to a public or private Slack channel, a Custom Webhook address, or save your screenshot images to your Dropbox account.
  • Connect PagePixels to no-code integration platforms Zapier and Make (Integromat) to automatically send, save, and email screenshots to thousands of services, such as OneDrive, Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft Excel.
  • Capture screenshots from different locations around the world with PagePixels' Real Locations Screenshots feature.
  • Automate structured data extraction and AI-powered text analysis for your marketing, sales, and lead generation needs with PagePixels' Domain Research feature.
  • Programmatically automate screenshots by leveraging PagePixels' Screenshot API feature.

See even more possibilities of what you can do on our Features page →

Support

Questions? Contact us anytime by email:

support-tickets@pagepixels.com

Or send us a message through our Support page.