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Upload New RSS Feed Items to Dropbox


Userlevel 1

I am having difficulty getting new items in an RSS Feed to upload to an existing folder in my Dropbox account. I have setup the “New Item in Feed in RSS by Zapier” and that trigger has tested successfully. I believe the trouble I am having lies in the action portion. For app, I have selected Dropbox. for Event, I have selected Upload File. I have then logged in successfully to my Dropbox account. I have pointed the action to a specific, existing folder in my Dropbox account. Under file, I am not sure what to put here. I have tried a few variations, but none have worked successfully. A file actually gets uploaded to Dropbox in the proper folder, but it will not open and I don’t believe it is the proper file. When I attempt to open the file in Dropbox, it says something about the file extension not being recognized.

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Best answer by jesse 22 August 2022, 19:57

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7 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +9

Hey there, @dougf! Thanks for reaching out - sorry to hear you’re running into this. 

Do you mind sharing a few screenshots of your trigger and action setup? And the error you’re seeing in Dropbox when you try to open the file. That might help the Community troubleshoot a bit with ya. 

Thanks so much and looking forward to digging into this with you! 🙂

Userlevel 1

This post has been edited by a moderator to remove personal information. Please remember that this is a public forum and to remove any sensitive information prior to posting.

I have attached a few screenshots as requested. Another audio file has been added to the RSS Feed and this time it was not uploaded to Dropbox at all so I cannot provide a screenshot of that error.

Userlevel 2
Badge +3

Hi @dougf ,

Thank you for sending the screenshots! I see you have added a file extension in the Zap setup, but could you make sure the link you mapped is downloadable and publicly accessible? 
 

You can find the requirements for working with files in Zapier here: https://zapier.com/help/create/basics/send-files-in-zaps

I’d also take a look at this help doc for working with Dropbox: https://zapier.com/help/doc/common-problems-dropbox

Keep us posted 🙂

Userlevel 1

The link is both downloadable and publicly accessible. I have some other questions about the links that were sent, but maybe it would be best to make sure Zapier will do what I am wanting first.

We have many podcasters who post new content to their podcast periodically (daily, weekly or monthly). We have access to the RSS feed URL for each of these podcasts. What our digital media team has asked me to do is that every time the podcasters posts new content to the podcasts, they would like it (the audio file) to upload to a pre-defined folder in our Dropbox account. Is this possible. If so, I will post back with additional. If not, please let me know and I will look elsewhere.

I ask this question because if I go through the Zapier Zap creation and test the action that I created, a file (although currently unusable) is created in the proper folder in Dropbox. If I drop content into the podcast that I am testing on, nothing happens in Dropbox at all.

I am brand new to Zapier, so I apologize for my lack of clarity as to what it can and cannot do, but I am eager to learn, create a paid account and use it a lot if it will do what we need.

Userlevel 2
Badge +3

Thank you for sharing that @dougf 

I get where you’re coming from!

As long as the file in the trigger meets the requirements for using files in Zapier, it should work. But if it’s not doing that, I’d recommend reaching out to our support team through the contact form: https://zapier.com/app/get-help

They should be able to figure out why this is not happening 🙂

Userlevel 7
Badge +9

Hey folks! Just closing the loop on this thread as it sounds like our support team was able to identify the issue. I am pasting here for anyone following along:

 
I took a look at the type of URL you were hoping to upload to Dropbox. While this does take you to a podcast that can be played, it is not a download link to the audio file itself
 
When you see a field that expects a file, this guide on file fields types will help decide what to pass in to successfully set up the step: https://zapier.com/help/create/basics/different-field-types-in-zaps#step-4

Userlevel 1

I have read the link you sent multiple times prior to even setting  up the app and believe to understand it fully. There seems to be a disconnect in understanding what I am asking. 

I am trying to download audio files (.mp3, .wav, etc) from an RSS feed to Dropbox. When the podcaster “drops” another audio file, I would like Zapier to “know” this has happened and automate the download of the file to Dropbox. This would happen each time a new audio file was added (daily, weekly, monthly, etc).

I do not have access to the files as they are stored elsewhere and therefore cannot point the Zap to a “file object”.

If I am misunderstanding something, or, more importantly, if this is not possible, please let me know and I will look for a solution elsewhere. If I can make this work, I have potentially hundreds of Zaps that would then need to be created. Also, I am brand new to Zapier and am not sure of it’s full functionality, so I may be “missing the boat” altogether.  

Thanks for the continued assistance.