I’m going to show you how to use some lesser known features of iCal and 1Password to AUTOMATICALLY launch your web browser, open a specific web site, and login to the site – at a specific time or recurring date.
Every other morning I post my computer repair ad on Craigslist. The earlier the better on Craigslist, so I like to have it ready and waiting for me when I wake up. You may want to have your bank account, stock portfolio, and myspace page open every morning; or your cable provider, electric company, and car insurance page open when it’s time to pay your bills.
Installation
You need to have iCal and 1Password installed. iCal is included with every Mac. You can download 1Password (Free Trial; $30) here. For basic help on using 1Password, be sure to check out ScreenCastsOnline’s free 1Password tutorials, here and here (you can also find them on Miro).
1Password Setup
We need to create a “1Click bookmark” using 1Password.
First, make sure you’ve already logged into your desired web site and have the correct user name and password saved in 1Password.
Second, make a new folder in Finder to save your 1Click bookmarks.
Third, find the desired “Web Form” in 1Password and drag-n-drop it into the newly created 1Click folder.
Fix 1Click Bookmark Bug (FIXED AS OF VERSION 2.6.BETA-6; BUILD 6407)
There seems to be a bug in 1Password which appears when dragging a 1Click bookmark to a folder. For some reason it adds a “%0D” to the end of the URL, making it invalid.
So, find your 1Click bookmark in Finder. Right (ctrl) click the file and choose “Open With”, “Other”, “TextEdit.” Find the “%0D” characters at the end of the “string” and delete them. Save the file.
Test the file by double-clicking. Make sure it opens your web browser and auto-fills your login and password.
Setup iCal Event
Make a new event in iCal at the time you want the web page to open. Double-click the event and select “edit.” Click the “alarm” drop down menu and select “Open File.” On the next line, select “Other…” and find/select the 1Click bookmark.
Set the “repeat” setting if you want the event to recur. When you’re done it should look something like this:
That’s it! Please let me know if you have problems or questions!
