Guide: Using Zapier with Databox
Zapier is a tool that allows non-technical users to connect Data Sources that Databox doesn't natively integrate with.
A connection between two apps is called a Zap. A Zap is made up of a trigger and action(s). Whenever the trigger happens in one app, Zapier will automatically perform the action(s) in another app.
When we set up Zaps to sync data with Databox, Databox is set as the app where the action is performed.
How to create a new Zapier token
To create a new Zapier token, go to
Data Sources > + New connection. Type
Zapier in the search bar and click on the green
Create Token button.
Enter a name for your new token and click the
Create button. This will create a unique push token that will allow Zapier to send data to your Databox Account.
How to access pre-built Zaps
When you create a new token, you will have the ability to choose from pre-built Zaps. This can simplify the process of using Zapier to sync your data with.
After the initial connection process, you can access pre-built Zaps directly from the Home page in Zapier. Select Databox from the Popular Zaps drop-down to view pre-built Zaps.
How to create new Zaps in Zapier
Let's say we want to use Zapier's built-in Email service for email tracking. To do this, we'll create a Zap that's triggered every time we forward an email to a custom "@zapiermail.com" address.
We will forward emails from Client 1 to this address to get a better understanding of how often we receive messages from them.
1
Navigate to your
Home page in Zapier. Click the orange
Make a Zap! button
2
Since we're using a built-in Zapier app, we'll select
Email from the
Built-in Apps list
3
We want this Zap to be triggered when an email is forwarded to our
zapiermail.com email address. So, we'll select
New Inbound Email and will click the blue
Save + Continue button
4
Next, we need to customize our @zapiermail.com email address. Enter a string in the text field and click
Copy to Clipboard to copy the custom @zapiermail email address. This is the email address where we will forward messages from Client 1.
Click the blue
Continue button.
5
At this point, it's best practice to test our current setup
6
Next, we'll need to define an Action that follows the trigger. To start, we'll choose
Databox as the
Action App
7
Now we must select a
Databox Action. Databox Actions define how the data is tracked.
- Increase Counter: Every Action that is triggered in a Zap will count as 1 event. This means that Databox will increment the current value by 1 each time the Zap is triggered.
- Push Custom Data: Every Action that is triggered in a zap will sync as custom data with Databox.
For our example, we'll select
Increase Counter so we can easily see the total number of emails we're receiving from Client A. Click
Save + Continue
8
Here we must select a Databox Account. If you don't have Databox connected, click
Create an Account. This will open a window where you can enter the push token that was generated for Zapier
9
Rather than increasing the counter for a Metric that already exists in our Databox Account, we want to create a completely new Zapier Metric that's tracking this data.
To do that, we'll select
Use a custom value (advanced) from the
Metric drop-down list. This will reveal another field called
Custom Value for Metric ID. This is where we'll enter the name for our Metric. This is the Metric name that we'll select in the Designer in Databox.
For our example, we'll enter
Emails Received from Client 1 as the
Custom Value for Metric ID.
10
We can now send a test counter to Databox to confirm everything is working as expected
11
Click
Finish to complete the Zap
12
Enter a name for the Zap. We'll name our Zap
Email Counter: Client 1
13
Click the toggle to turn the Zap on and start syncing data with Databox
How to build a Databoard using Zapier data
1
Navigate to
Databoards >
+ New Databoard >
Start Blank
2
Click on the
Visualization Types icon on the lefthand side of the Designer
3
Drag and drop your selected Visualization onto your Databoard
4
Click on the Datablock on the Databoard to open the corresponding
Datablock Settings on the righthand side of the Designer
5
Select the appropriate Zapier Data Source and Metric in the righthand Datablock Settings. This will update the Datablock and it will populate the Datablock with the corresponding data
6
Complete steps 2-5 until your Databoard is complete
