Text: Change "If Result" to "Capitalize with Title Case" 6. Scripting: If "Item from List" contains "Today was" Scripting: Ask for "Text" with "Finish this sentence": (Default Answer: "Today was") Otherwise: Scripting: If "Item from List" contains "Use today's date:" Text: "Entry for 'Date'" Otherwise: Scripting: If "Item from List" contains "Use today's stardate:" Text: "Stardate 'Current Date'" Tap 'Current Date' Date format: Custom, YYYY.DD) Otherwise: Scripting: Ask for "Text" with "Item from List" End If End If End If End If 5. Scripting: Get "Random Item" from "Split Text" 4. Title your entry: Use one word to describe your day: Use today's date: Use today's stardate: 2. Text: Describe today in three words: Finish this sentence: Today was. The randomly chosen result is saved as a variable.
Feel free to expand the list of choices by adding your own potential tiles, one per line. Using a handful of If actions, this section randomly generates a title from a predefined list of choices. Randomization enables this Shortcut to provide a unique template every time it’s run. Siri Shortcuts provide a powerful way to randomize content. In the next section, I use a custom format to define Stardates. Shortcuts also supports Unicode date patterns by selecting Custom and defining your own option. Apple provides a few basic options, like Short(6/15/21), Medium (Jun 15, 2021), and Long (June 15, 2021). When using the Format "Date" action, select Show More to format the date based on your preference. Variables: Set variable "Date" to "Formatted Date" 4. Calendar: Format "Date" (set to your preferences) 3. The second section determines today’s date and saves it as a variable. Variables: Set variable "Location" to "Current Location" 3. The first section determines your current location and saves it as a variable. For example, this command prevents any information not set in a variable from carrying to the next section. It’s also important to use a Nothing action after every section. Throughout, any callbacks to previous variables are shared in single quotes, such as 'Question 1'. Action Heading: Action "Setting" 'Recalled Variable' While moving through the different sections, I use the following formatting to make things as clear as possible: Step Number. Now, you can build your own Siri Shortcut and customize your randomized daily entry template to fit your own needs. I recommend journaling to every writer I connect with. Daily journaling, or personal blogging as the WordPress team calls it, helps me process the day and grow as a writer.
Today, I’m sharing all of the details about my complex Shortcut with you. I’ve been using this exact process to write every day for more than 3 years! I run the Shortcut on my phone and then write the entry on my iPad. All of this information is combined, written in Markdown, and exported as a new daily entry into Day One. My Shortcut, currently at 157 actions, randomly generates a title, 3 questions, the daily cover for the New York Times, and pulls data from 9 different records from the Health app. Over time, the Shortcut has grown into a highly detailed, randomized template generator. Partially to learn about the capabilities of Shortcuts, I created a Shortcut to support my daily entry habit. Shortly after Siri Shortcuts launched in iOS 12, Day One supported the new protocol to generate entries. I’m currently supporting a 1,264-day streak of daily entries. Since then, I’ve amassed 3,466 entries across 2,729 days. My first Day One entry was saved on August 1, 2012. For this reason, the app and team were acquired by Automattic, the company behind WordPress. It supports end-to-end encryption, media embeds, tagging, templates, and more. It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of the Day One app.