Every change alert PageCrawl sends to Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord or Telegram names the page and describes the change in text. The Attachment setting adds one more thing to each alert, usually an image, so you can judge the change without opening PageCrawl. Each app has its own setting in Settings > Integrations.
What can each attachment option show?
Each app offers four options. Highlighted changes is an image of just what changed. Before and after shows screenshots of the page from before and after the change, side by side. Page screenshot shows the whole page as it looks now. No attachment sends the alert text alone. Telegram also offers Text file.
| Option | What each alert carries | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Highlighted changes (Recommended) | An image of only the changed lines, with removed words crossed out in red and added words marked in green | Terms, policies, release notes, job listings and prices |
| Before and after | Screenshots of the page before and after the change, side by side, zoomed in on the change when PageCrawl can find it | Pricing tables, product pages, layout changes and visual monitors |
| Page screenshot | A full-page screenshot of the latest capture | Seeing the whole page as it looks now |
| No attachment | The alert text only | The shortest alerts |
| Text file (Telegram only) | The page's captured text as a file | Keeping or searching the full text |
Highlighted changes is drawn from the page's text, so it does not need screenshots:
- Only what changed. Long runs of unchanged lines are collapsed. When a change is too long for the image, it ends with a line such as "12 more lines not shown".
- Prices and numbers. A changed price or number shows the new value in large type, with the old value crossed out and how much it moved.
- Feeds and keywords. Feed items are marked New, Removed or Changed, and words from your notification conditions appear in a Keywords row.
- Where and when. The top of the image shows the site, when the change was found, and the monitor's folder and labels.
The alert keeps its summary as text, so it still shows in notification previews, and the changed lines are not repeated below the image. When a change has no AI summary, the alert describes the change in one line instead.
On Telegram, an alert with an image arrives as a photo with the alert text as its caption. Telegram captions hold at most 1,024 characters, which is why Highlighted changes is marked Works best on Telegram there: the photo carries the changed lines and the caption keeps the summary.
Is Highlighted changes the default?
Yes. Highlighted changes is the default attachment for Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord and Telegram. Every channel that was still on No attachment, the old default, has been switched to it. Channels set to Page screenshot, Before and after or Text file kept their choice, and channels that used the retired Visual diff option also send Highlighted changes now.
To go back to alerts without an image, open Settings > Integrations, choose Manage on the channel, set Attachment to No attachment and choose Save Changes.
How do I choose an attachment or go back to No attachment?
Open Settings > Integrations, choose Manage on the app under Notification Channels, pick an option under Attachment and choose Save Changes. Choose No attachment for text-only alerts. Each app keeps its own choice, so Slack can carry Before and after while Telegram keeps Highlighted changes.
- Open Settings > Integrations. Integrations is also listed under your workspace in the sidebar.
- Under Notification Channels, choose Manage on Slack, Discord, Telegram or Microsoft Teams.
- Open Attachment and choose an option.
- Choose Save Changes. A confirmation such as "Slack settings saved" appears.
An app that is not connected yet shows Setup instead of Manage. The Attachment list is in the same dialog, and the button reads Connect. The guides for Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord and Telegram cover connecting each app.
The choice applies to every change alert the workspace sends to that app, including monitors that post to their own webhook or chat. Scheduled summary reports do not include attachments.
Why do frequently checked monitors send alerts without attachments?
Monitors checked more often than every 15 minutes send their alerts without attachments, so those alerts are not slowed down by preparing an image. This applies to chat apps and email. A monitor checked every 15 minutes or less often carries the attachment you chose.
Alerts go out when a check detects a change. Preparing an attachment takes a moment, so an alert with one can arrive a little later than it would without it.
Why did an alert arrive without an image?
An alert goes out as text when its monitor is checked more often than every 15 minutes, or when there is nothing to draw for the option you chose. An alert is never held back because its image is missing: it still arrives with its text.
- The monitor is checked more often than every 15 minutes. Its alerts never carry attachments.
- Changes to show is set to AI summary only. Chat alerts that have a summary then leave out Highlighted changes, because the summary is the whole alert. Page screenshot and Before and after still arrive. Changes to show is under Notification format in Settings > Notifications, and a monitor can also set its own.
- There is no screenshot to show. Before and after and Page screenshot need screenshots turned on for your team and the monitor, and Before and after also needs an earlier capture to compare with. Files such as PDFs, and monitors that use the Fast engine, take no screenshots.
- The change arrived in a scheduled report. Reports do not include attachments.
How are email attachments different?
Email has its own switches, and one email can carry several attachments instead of one. Open Settings > Notifications (Notifications & Reports in the sidebar), switch on the attachments you want under Email attachments, and choose Update. The section appears while Status is set to On (send for every detected change).
- More options. Email offers Page screenshot, Changes marked in red, Before and after, Highlighted changes and Text file. The first three appear when screenshots are on for your team.
- A fuller Highlighted changes image. In email, the image also shows the page title and, when available, the importance and summary.
- Attachments are left out more often. Email skips attachments when Changes to show is AI summary only, or when the change is too long to include in full. An attachment that would make the email too large is left out, and the email links to the change online.
- The same 15-minute rule. Monitors checked more often than every 15 minutes send emails without attachments.
The email notifications guide describes each email attachment.