Using Zapier to publish content between digital workplaces

Zapier is a third-party integration that provides the ability to publish Microblog posts, Forum topics, Blog articles, and Wiki articles created within a digital workplace to a channel in another digital workplace. This is done by creating a Zap that uses a Trigger to monitor a channel in the source digital workplace for new content. When new content is created, the Trigger's Action will create content in the destination digital workplace's channel. Only the title and body of content will be posted to the destination digital workplace.

Zapier checks for new content every 5-15 minutes. Your Zapier subscription determines this frequency. This method of publishing content is a one-way, one-time action. Edits or comments made to the original content will not be reflected on the reposted content. Similarly, comments or edits made to the reposted content will not be reflected on the original content.

To have content published from one digital workplace to multiple digital workplaces, multiple Zaps would need to be created.

Sections in this article: 

Workflow

A single Zap between two digital workplaces can potentially involve three different accounts:

  1. An administrator whose account is associated with the Zap's Trigger that monitors the channel in the source digital workplace.
  2. A member who author's content on the channel in the source digital workplace. This will typically be any member who has at least Write Level access to this channel.
  3. The member who author's content on the channel in the destination digital workplace. This member will always be the same as it is specified when creating a Zap's Action.

Implementing moderation on the channel in the destination digital workplace would allow for modifying the content before it is posted. For example, a moderator can change the content's author or add a broadcast to it before publishing.

When deciding on who the author is in the destination digital workplace, keep in mind that they will typically receive notifications on the content's comments. However, these can be disabled in the member's subscription settings by removing the subscription to the content or stopping the subscription from being created initially by turning off Follow content that I create.

Using images in content

Images in the source content will only be displayed in reposted content if the URL of the image is absolute. Adding an image using the following steps will result in the image being referenced via an absolute URL.

Members of the destination workplace require Access to the image's location.

  1. Upload the image to a Folder Channel in the source digital workplace.
  2. Right-click the images download link and select Copy URL.
  3. In the source content, insert the copied URL using the editor's insert image by URL option.

Inserting an image into the WYSIWYG editor.

First-time using Zapier with Igloo

  1. Create a trial account with Zapier. Navigate to Zapier's website and select the Sign Up option. This trial account will persist with premium features for 14 days. After this time, the available features will be reduced until a paid subscription with Zapier is created.
  2. Contact Developer Relations (devsupport@igloosoftware.com). Include the following details in your communication:
    • The email address that is associated with your Zapier Account.
    • A request for an API Key and Password.
    • Your phone number and when would be an appropriate time to contact you. The Igloo Developer Relations team will contact you by phone to give you your API password.

    You can use this API Key and Password for additional Zaps that you may want to create for your digital workplace.

Creating a Zap

A single Zap allows one Trigger to be associated with one Action. The Trigger will be related to the creation of content in the source workplace, while the Action will be the creation of the content in the destination workplace.

  1. Collect identifiers from the source digital workplace. Log into the source digital workplace.
    • Community Key: Open your browser’s developer tool’s console and enter Igloo.community.key. The returned number is the Community Key. Alternatively, right-click the anywhere on the page and select View Page Source. Search for "Igloo.community", and copy the key value found below it. When using this Community Key do not include the quotes.Using the browser console to find your community key.
    • Channel Id:
      • For non-Microblog channels, navigate to the channel where source content will be generated. Right-click on the channel's name and select Inspect. The channel Id will be the highlight value appearing in the browser's developer tools and will resemble: id_9ad9a594-7d62-4f68-bbcc-388088dc3ce2. When using the Channel Id, remove "id_."
      • Viewing a page's source code to find Channel Ids.
      • For Microblog channels, you can run the following script in your browser's console to get the hashIds and names of all microblogs in your digital workplace. Copy the Id that corresponds to the channel you are making a Zap for. 
        axios.get('/.api/api.svc/microblogchannels/view_all')
    .then((response) => {
        console.log(response.data.response.items[0].value.items);
    })
    .catch((err) => console.log(err));

  2. Collect identifiers from the destination digital workplace. Log into the destination digital workplace.

    • Channel Id: Navigate to the channel where content will be posted. Right-click on the channel's name and select Inspect. The channel Id will be the highlighted value appearing in the browser's developer tools and will resemble: id_9ad9a594-7d62-4f68-bbcc-388088dc3ce2. When using the channel Id, remove "id_."

  3. Create content on the source Channel. When creating a Zap it is handy to have existing content in the channel associated with the Trigger event. During the setup of a Zap, there is the opportunity to test whether the setup has been successful. This test involves using this existing content. This content can be deleted once the Zap has been created.

  4. Log into Zapier and select Make a Zap.

  5. Create a Trigger. Select the Igloo Software App and follow the steps that Zapier provides. When connecting to an account:

    • Username: Enter your Igloo Authentication username.
    • Password: Enter your Igloo Authentication password.
    • Application ID: Enter the Igloo API Key that the Developer Relations team provided you with.
    • Application Password: Enter the Igloo API Key Password that the Developer Relations team provided you with.
    • Igloo Community URL: Enter your digital workplace's URL. For example: customercare.igloosoftware.com
    • When prompted, use the Channel Id and Community Key from Step 1 of Creating a Zap.

  6. Create an Action. Select the Igloo Software App and follow the steps that Zapier provides.

    When choosing an Action, select the Create option that corresponds with the content type.

    If you are using the same account as Step 4 of Creating a Zap, the same connection info can be used except for the URL. Use the URL of the destination digital workplace. Be sure to select this new connection before moving on to the next step.

    When setting up the Template, use the Channel Id from Step 2 of Creating a Zap. Match the template fields to their corresponding fields from the Trigger. This process is aided by the sample content created in step 3. Disable commenting on the new content by selecting Yes for the template option Disable Comments.

  7. Name your Zap and turn it on.

Zaps in action

Once the Zap has been setup and turned on, there are no additional actions needed to cause content to be sent from the source digital workplace to the destination digital workplace. Zapier will check every 5-15 minutes whether new content has been added to the source Channel.

You can use Zapier's Task History to monitor Zap activity.