Find and share Zapier tips and tricks, and learn how other people are using Zapier.
Hey there, Zappers! Nick here, from the Community team. Today, I’ll be taking a look at the Formatter's Text to Line-Item feature.You may think that you don't have a need for line items, and maybe you don't...yet. There's likely a day in the future where it will come up. Maybe you'll remember this article (or at least that it exists).Wait, Nick! What are line items?Oh yeah, sorry. As luck would have it, Tyler Robertson of Zapier recently published a comprehensive guide to line items that can explain it much better than I can in this article. Please refer to that if you need some clarification :) This option can be found at:Formatter by Zapier — Utilities — Text to Line-ItemWhat It Looks LikeThere is only one field to fill out: What It Can (and Can't) DoWays you can create line items from text:1) Map 1 single field that contains comma-separated text2) Map multiple fields, that are separated by commas3) Manually type text into the field, meaning that it's not dynamic4) Map line items in
Hey everyone!I wanted to share a quick tip about an app that I just discovered. I received a notification for this Reddit post in the Zapier subreddit. Vybit enables you to find a sound that will be played in your web browser and/or their mobile app when your Zap is triggered.You can check out the integration here: https://zapier.com/apps/vybit-notifications/integrationsWays I can think of that you could use this:have a specific sound when you receive an email from someone you deem important hear something like a cash register (or an airhorn) when your online store makes a sale trigger a Zap using Shortcuts in iOS to play a sound on demand (on someone else’s device, for example) play a siren sound 5 minutes before meetings, to make absolutely sure you don’t show up lateI’m sure there are countless other ways you could make use of this :)EDIT: I see that the Vybit team added their own post in the Zapier Community as well...probably should have checked for that first, haha.
Last week I was trying to do something using a Webhooks by Zapier step, but was hitting a wall. I was building an app with Adalo and taking advantage of their API to retrieve “author” records from a database.I wanted to look within those records and match it against a Twitter username from my trigger step, then output the record ID that Adalo would need in order for me to connect that person to an “essay” record.OverviewIn other words:Get Twitter username from trigger Retrieve all the authors from Adalo Find the record that has the username Output the record ID Use that ID when I create the “essay” record, to link it to an existing authorWhat I WantedIf I was getting the name “Joe” from my trigger, I wanted to get the ID of “1” so that I could then use it.Using Paths + Code StepI wanted 2 paths:When an author exists, I want the ID so I can use it in my Create ‘Essay’ Record step When an author does not exist, I want to first create it and then use that in my Create ‘Essay’ Record step
Hey Zapier Community,Jared here from Zapier Support.There can often be business processes or workflow needs that require us to turn a Zap OFF and/or ON on a scheduled basis.Below I cover 2 scenarios where this might be useful.Scenario 1: DeduplicationWith Polling and Hybrid Triggers - Zapier uses a process called Deduplication to isolate new records that will trigger the Zap.Here’s a Quick Summary of how Deduplication works. When we turn the Zap ON - Zapier identifies the existing records and keeps track of them on a Deduplication Table. We don’t trigger the Zap for these existing records - only records that are added after the Zap is turned on. Typically the Deduplication ID that’s used to identify existing records is the Record ID from the App record. Once we’ve seen that ID - we add it to the deduplication table - and won’t trigger on it again. Every time we turn the Zap OFF and then ON again - the deduplication table is rebuilt with the existing records at that time. A Real W
🔊Announcing Automatic Apparel by Zapier, a custom merch line dedicated to the very customers who power Zapier. From now on, anyone will be able to purchase Zapier swag to elevate their workflows and up their cozy. This new swag storefront is a thank you to all of you who have taken Zapier and turned it into something magical. This collection includes: 🔮Wizard-themed bucket hats ⚡Cozy “Zap On” sweat seats 🛍Recycled cotton canvas totes so you can carry your Zap passion wherever you go 💡Automation-inspired thinking “caps” And much more. Explore the complete collection at Automatic Apparel by Zapier here!
IntroHi folks, Tim here again from the Zapier Team with another workflow idea! Today we’ll look at a small code snippet to help with a common use case that is typically trickier than most users expect: padding currency numbers correctly.For example, have you ever had a number in your Zaps like 300 or 300.1 that you wanted to display as 300.00 or 300.10 respectively?Although this is sometimes possible using multiple Formatter Steps or writing a formula to a Google Sheet to get a result, these ways either use a lot of Steps, are convoluted, or require an external resource like a Google Sheet to be maintained. I wanted to see if we could achieve a more streamlined approach.WorkflowThe workflow in terms of number of Steps is fairly simple: we just want to add a single “Code by Zapier” Step: “Run Javascript”: First let’s add all the field that the Code Step will use. You’ll be able to customize everything with these fields so you don’t need to change anything in the Code itself:amountThis f
Hi there! Deb here, from the Zapier blog. We recently published an article about how to use Google Alerts for SEO. It was written by a small business owner who relies on Google Alerts to do things like find guest post opportunities, get ideas for blog articles, and get more backlinks.But here’s the thing:tThe only two delivery methods for Google Alerts are email and RSS. And if you’re like most humans, you assume RSS is a thing you don’t want to use. But it is! I promise. If you choose the RSS delivery method, you can then use Zapier to get the alerts sent to wherever you want: your team chat app, your to-do list, your notes app, a spreadsheet whatever.That means all your Google Alerts end up in a place you’ll actually read them, and they don’t clog your inbox in the meantime.Here’s how to track Google Alerts in any appDo you have any Google Alerts tips or tricks? Let me know in the comments, and we might feature you on the Zapier blog!
We sat down with one of Zapier’s Recruiters, Julietta, to ask about her best tip for remote work. Here’s what she had to say :) You can check out the post on Instagram as well if you’d like to join the conversation there!
Hi there! Tim here from the Zapier Support Team with a workflow idea.Background InfoHave you ever had a Zap where you’d search for a value from a Trigger in another app, like a Google Sheet, with a Find Step but if the value isn’t found, the whole Zap is ‘Safely halted’ because the next Steps in the Zaps depend on the search? Have you wanted to continue the Zap with default value(s) but found that using a Formatter Text Default Value Step also gets halted due to a dependancy on the Find Step that didn’t return anything?If so, you’re not alone! Read on for a few ways around this. 1) Use Find or Create instead of just FindThis won’t always be an option, but some apps include the ability to create a record if one isn’t found. If your app has the option to Create a Record if one isn’t found by the search, and you don’t mind having entries with default values added to your data, then:Turn on the “Create Record if not found” checkbox Fill out the fields with default values that you’d want to
This week’s Workflow Wednesday article is going to be a little different. Rather than dive into a particular workflow I’m going to highlight some interesting apps I found in our directory. More specifically, these are triggers and actions that enable you to do some pretty nifty things with images/screenshots.NOTE: I haven’t necessarily tried all of these extensively, it’s not an endorsement of these particular apps, and this is by no means an exhaustive list. I just thought these could be handy for some of you.CloudConvertCloudConvert converts files between more than 200 supported formats: documents, image, spreadsheet, presentation, audio, video and more!Capture a WebsiteCreates job to capture a website as PDF or create a website screenshot as JPG or PNG.No advanced features here but when I’ve used this in the past it’s worked well. PikasoPikaso is a tool that lets you screetshot tweets.Screenshot TweetTakes a screenshot of a tweet.Providing a tweet’s URL, you can then produce images
In Zapier - all Polling and Hybrid Triggers use a process called Deduplication to ensure we only trigger for new records added or updated after the Zap is turned on.For Google Sheets New or Updated Row Triggers - this means we will only trigger the first time we see a value in the Trigger Column.Let’s assume in my Sheet below - that the Email Column C is my Trigger Column. In my Zap it would look like this - where Email is configured as my Trigger Column. So what will happen when we turn this Zap ON?First - if we add a new row where Email is Blank - the Zap will trigger - since it triggers for all New Rows.The Zap will trigger for Row 3 below - even though the email column is blank. We can always add a Filter at step 2 if we only want the Zap to continue only for specific values or when the Email value exists.Once the row is on the Sheet - if we change the value to cell C3 to “jaredzapier+2@gmail.com” - the Zap will trigger - since it’s the first time we’ve seen the value of “jaredzapi
Hey Zapier Community folks! Sam from Zapier Support Team here. Have you ever wanted to automatically set a date to be the last day of the month but weren’t quite sure how to do it in Zapier? Yes? Then read on my friend, because Formatter by Zapier is about to become your best friend! Ok, so here’s how it’s done. First, we’ll need to add a Formatter (Date / Time > Add/Subtract Time) step and use the {{zap_meta_human_now}} command to add the current date and time as the input. Next, we add 1 month to that date using the expression +1 month. We’ll want to also set the To Format to be MM/YYYY, like so: This will give us the next month and current year. If the app step that we’re putting this date in is able to accept the date in DD/MM/YYYY format then great! We can handle it with that by taking the value from that Formatter step and manually adding in the first day of the month as 01/ and use -1d to subtract one day from it to get the last day of the previous month. For example
We try to make Zapier as easy to use as possible but there are times when you’ll run into errors with your Zaps. This can be for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to:A misconfigured Zap Missing data in a step of your Zap Zapier-related issues Issues with the app partner/integration Hitting API limits and being throttledHere are some troubleshooting tips to get you on your way as quickly as possible: If you post your error in Community, please be descriptive and include the error message if it is availableInstead of: “My Quickbooks Zap is broken- HELP!”Try providing some context so that you receive better, more timely assistance: “When I test my QuickBooks step in the Zap Editor I get this error message:” If your error is in the Zap editor, use the built-in help guide:If you look at the screenshot above, you’ll notice that there’s a button that says “Troubleshoot Error.” By clicking that button, the Guide will open on the right-hand side of the editor:Check out the “Troubl
Zapier is great platform to use to take data from different lead sources and create follow up tasks or contacts in your company’s CRM. When creating these records, you can often assign the contact or task to a specific staff member so that they are in charge of the lead. But what to do if you have multiple employees working on leads in your company and you want to have a way to evenly distribute the leads as they are entered into your CRM or route them by email? This tutorial will walk you through an easy 1 step round robin set up using Storage by Zapier and Code by Zapier. Step 1: Authenticate a storage by Zapier account. Never used storage by Zapier? No problem! It’s a breeze to get set up. Head over to your Zapier App Connections Page: https://zapier.com/app/connections Click on ‘Add Connection’ then search for ‘Storage by Zapier’. A new window will pop up with a prompt to enter your store secret. You can use a UUID generator for this: https://www.uuidgenerator.net/version4. Make no
I’m a big fan of Automation (surprise).And I really like when an App offers workflow automation directly in-App in addition to Zapier.For example in this post - I cover how to use Pipedrive’s Workflow tool to trigger Zaps.Whenever an App provides a level of automation directly - this opens up new opportunities for what we can do in Zapier.In other words - combining in-App automation with Zapier increases the Workflow Automations we can create!Butler - Trello’s In-App Automation Sending HTTP Requests from Butler A Real Zap Example Step 1: Create a Zap Step 2: Create a Butler “Rule” Configuring Our Butler Trigger Choosing Our Butler Action Testing Our Trigger Step 3: Complete our Zap SummaryButler - Trello’s In-App AutomationI’m also a big fan of Trello - and have previously written about how I use Google Sheets to create recurring Trello Cards.Trello’s in-App automation tool is called Butler.Butler is fantastic - and similar to Zapier - enables you to choose trigger events and th
Hello friends! There can be times when an app integration doesn’t support certain types of fields (usually Custom Fields). Or sometimes fields are missing from the data we receive. While it’s not ideal, it’s not always the end of the world. In some cases you can use a Webhook action to access those fields. Freshdesk is one such integration, its Create Ticket action doesn't support custom fields. But we can get around this using a Webhooks by Zapier step.Obtain an API Key Double-check the custom field names Setting up a GET request Setting up the POST Request Further reading Wrapping up!Obtain an API KeyHow and where you’d find the API Key differs between each app. For this example I’m going to be using Freshdesk. To find your API Key in Freshdesk you’d need to go to the Profile Settings page and it will be listed on the right-hand side: Freshdesk - How to find your API keyDouble-check the custom field namesThe next thing we’ll need is the name of our custom field(s). I’ve set up a cust
Disclaimer: This method may not play nicely with all RSS readers out there, so be sure to do some testing. Doing it this way worked for me when using it with an app called Feedwind, so I figured I’d share how I did it.UPDATE: As I was testing this out, to fix something in my own Zap, I hit a limit in Storage by Zapier (the data stored at any given key can’t be more than 25KB. The method below will work for a while — I’ve added dozens of entries — but I’m exploring alternatives, in order to get around the limit.Not long ago, I wanted to include a feed of our featured articles in the Community sidebar. Our Community platform, however, doesn’t provide a feed for forum categories, so I set out to create my own feed and keep it updated using a Zap.Here’s what I came up with.Apps We’ll Be Using In Google Docs The Zap Wrapping UpApps We’ll Be UsingGoogle Docs (for the RSS feed itself) A trigger app that provides new feed items (in our case: our Community platform, inSided) Google Drive (in th
Whether you’re a Zapier pro or just starting out, it can be overwhelming coming up with ways to make the most out of your automation. Because we support so many apps, and the combinations are nearly limitless, it’s not uncommon for Zapier users to suffer from analysis paralysis. Lucky for you, we’ve spent a lot of time gathering Zapier customer stories to see how people have put Zaps to work for their daily tasks. You can check all 100+ of them on our Customers page, but I thought I’d give you a sampling of what you’ll find there: How a leadership development advisor went from corporate America to successful business owner 4:40 min read“As Michelle was building her business, she knew that she had to put processes in place to be able to scale. She was using dozens of different apps to run her business, spending extra time moving information between them so they'd work well together. But she needed to focus on the tasks that required her expertise and creativity. So she turned to Zap
Hey Everyone! I’m going to start making weekly videos about Zapier and automation. The first is about connect facebook leads to zapier. I often get asked how to do this which allows my clients to send their facebook leads to Google sheets, Mailchimp or any CRM. If you have questions or video requests, let me know below!
Welcome to the very first post in our new article series, Formatter Features! In this article we’re going to cover the basics of the spreadsheet-style formulas transform, in preparation for the next 3 pieces, which will dig into some more use cases and examples.Definition: When we say “transform” we’re referring to the various functions within the Formatter by Zapier app. For example, spreadsheet-style formulas, format phone number, remove HTML tags, etc.So, What Are Spreadsheet-Style Formulas?If you’re familiar with using formulas in popular spreadsheet apps like Excel, Numbers and Google Sheets, you can use spreadsheet-style formulas in Zaps with the same syntax.It can be used with numbers or with text. That means you can find it here… and also here:What Types of Things Can You Do With Them?We have an extensive list here, in our help docs. Take a look at some of the things that are possible: A few of the more popular functionsThis is just a handful of the many functions that are avai
🤖 ZapBots: zapbots.zapier.com ZapBots allow you to make bot apps that use AI. Video: https://www.loom.com/share/97ad1489c9a84e4795a19072db89c9c1?t=9 Examples: Ask AI / Try AIApps to Zaps: Enter your Apps to get Zap suggestions and steps.App Alternatives: Enter an app and get a list of alternative apps.App Associations: Get a list of apps that are associated for use in Zaps.
The trigger is a critical piece of our Zaps - as the trigger tells us when we have a new record to run the Zap for.At the moment there are 3 main types of triggers that start Zaps.Instant TriggersWith Instant triggers - something happens in the Trigger App and they immediately send a notification to Zapier.This notification is what we use to trigger the Zap. (These are webhooks sent by the App to Zapier).With an Instant trigger - your Zap will trigger immediately - regardless of your Zapier Plan. In Zapier we’ll see a Tag identifying the trigger as Instant.Polling TriggersWith Polling triggers - instead of being notified by the App - we go out and look for changes (We ask the App for changes in your account via their API with a GET request).We do this every X minutes based on your plan level. Free and Starter Plans are 15 minutes - all other Plans vary between 5 minutes to 1 minute.With Polling Triggers we also check for records that already exist (or have already triggered the Zap) u
Hey Zappers! I’ve got a fun one today, or at least I think so. Someone recently asked this question on Reddit: I’ve seen similar questions come up before, so I decided to figure out how to do it. Turns out, it’s not that difficult :) Let’s get started!Apps We’ll Be Using In Airtable Table 1: where we add form submissions Table 2: to “convert” form answers to custom text The Zap Trigger Actions Wrapping Up Shared Zap Airtable Base You Can Copy Apps We’ll Be UsingGoogle Forms (this can be any other form app) Airtable (this is where the magic happens) Google Docs (where we’ll create the PDF) Google Drive (only to change file sharing permissions) Gmail (to email the PDF...you can use another app here)In AirtableTable 1: where we add form submissionsEach submission for the form will be created as a separate record in this table.The SetupAssuming you want to send an email, we’ll have a field for email address, one for name and one for each question on our form. For each question, we als
Our CEO, Wade Foster, shares his best tip for working remote for the first time. You can check out the Instagram post as well if you’d like to join the conversation there!
