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With the ever-growing complexity of business processes, it’s no surprise that automation is becoming increasingly important.
If you’re looking to get started with automations, Pabbly Connect is the perfect platform for you!
Check out the Pabbly Connect here.
You may sign up for its free plan. Here is the link to sign up for its Free Plan
In this article, we will explain how Pabbly Connect can help you automate your business processes and make life easier for you and your team.
We’ll show you how to get started with Pabbly Connect, and give you some tips on how to best use its capabilities.
Pabbly Connect makes it easy to connect various apps, systems, and devices so you can automate your workflow. From todos and reminders to sending emails and getting notifications, Pabbly Connect makes it easy to get started with automations and get your work done faster.
Ready to take your business to the next level? Let’s get started!
First of all What is Automation?
Automation is the process of using technology to perform tasks without the need for human intervention. It can be used to streamline business processes, reduce errors, do repititve tasks and improve efficiency.
About Pabbly Connect
Pabbly Connect is an integration app that connects multiple applications together, so that you can send data from one of your applications to another and sync your data across multiple applications.
It has wide range of pre-built 800 + integrations and custom workflow builder making it easy to streamline business processes. Its advanced data manipulation and error handling capabilities make it a reliable choice for automating even the most complex tasks.
Now its time to learn basic terminologies used in Pabbly Connect:
Tasks:
Any action performed within your workflow is considered a task. Triggers are not included in the task count. Only action steps are included. Internal tasks of Pabbly Connect, such as Filter, Router, and Formatter, are not counted as tasks.
For example, sending one lead from Facebook Lead Ad to MailChimp counts as one task. If you have a multi-step automation workflow, the task count will depend on the number of action steps. For example, sending one lead from Facebook Lead Ad to MailChimp and then to Google Sheets would count as two tasks. Learn More.
Operations:
Every check made to an external application to see if there is any new data in a day is counted as an operation. So, if a check is made every 5 minutes, that is 288 operations in a day, whether or not there is any new data. However, Pabbly Connect does not charge for operations. That’s why we say we provide unlimited operations.
For example, if you have a workflow that constantly checks a Google My Business page for new reviews and sends replies, each check of the page to see if there are any new reviews counts as an operation. So, whether or not you send a reply, you will always use 288 operations in a day.
Workflow:
This refers to the sequence of actions performed according to the setup.
In Pabbly Connect, a Workflow is a bundle of triggers, actions, and scheduler, which will perform a complete action to connect your applications.
A workflow can be simply created by adding any text (application name, the purpose for the integration, etc) according to your needs.
Triggers:
These are the events that initiate a Route. For example, a trigger could be a new email being received, a new row being added to a Google Sheet, or a new order being placed on an e-commerce platform.
Connections:
These are the connections to the various apps and services that you want to integrate with Pabbly Connect. You will need to create a connection for each app that you want to use with Pabbly Connect.
App:
Apps are the applications to be used within a workflow. It is the initial action of your workflow. The action in your application starts with the statement “When this happens”
The Choose app drop-down has 2 options: Webhook and Scheduler.
If you select Webhook then your workflow will be “When webhook happens…”.
And if you select Schedule then your workflow will be “When Schedule happens….”
- When webhook happens – This will generate a webhook link, which can be added in the triggering app. The data of all/selected action will be sent on this webhook URL. You can capture the webhook response and use them for your further actions in the workflow.
- When Schedule happens – This has the ability to perform a particular action at regular intervals. You can fire a repeated task in the set time interval.
Note –
– The app which sends data on webhook URL is the Triggering App
– The app which receives data is Pabbly Connect
– The app which performs further action is the Action App
- Triggering apps – Pabbly Connect offers various pre-integrated triggering services. These are listed below –
- Pabbly Subscriptions
- Woo Commerce
- WordPress
- Survey Anyplace
- Aida Form
These services can be directly selected as Triggering apps and you can add further action for it. We are looking to add more services as Triggering apps in a few days.
This is all about the basic terminology related to the apps.
Now let’s learn about the second step (Action app) of your workflow.
Action:
This is the next step of your workflow. When you complete the setup of triggering app (When this happens…..) you need to define further actions (Do this……)
Suppose you have selected webhooks as the trigger and API as action then the workflow will be like –
“When webhooks happens, do API action……”
Thus the initial fields in the action block (Do this…….) are “Choose APP” and “Choose Method”.
Now to define the action you need to select an app from the “Choose App” drop-down and its respective method from the “Choose Method” drop-down.
Note: There are several options in the “Choose App” drop-down, and according to the option you select the option in the “Choose Method” drop-down field will vary.
- Choose App – All the available integrations with different apps are listed here. With that, there is a custom selection between API, Router, Mapping, etc. These will help in designing the workflow according to your needs.
- API – With this option, you can fire the endpoint of any third-party applications.
Almost all the application provide their API to perform the actions from the backend.
In this, you get an endpoint URL and a method.
For example, you can check the API of Pabbly Subscriptions – https://www.pabbly.com/subscriptions/api/
When you select API you will get to see the following fields –
2. Choose Action Event – The request type for the API. It can be POST, GET, PUT, DELETE, PATCH, and any custom request.
3. End Point URL – Simply add the request URL of the application.
4. Authentication – Different applications have their own authentication types. For the API option, we support -Basic Auth – Need to add the API key and Secret key. You will get this in the application account.No Auth – Sometimes there is no authentication required. So here you select this option.
5. Add Headers – It is an optional field. This depends on the API parameter. Some API has a header parameter. If needed you can add the key and the value in the respective field.
6. Set Parameters – These are the general values of the API. You need to fill the key and the value in the respective field.
In the set parameter field, you will add the key parameter of the API, and in the value – you can either hardcode a text or click on the selection box, and choose any attribute which you get from the triggering apps.
When you click on the selection box, you will get to see all the data received from the triggering app, and you can select any one or multiple items.
Use the plus sign “+” to continue adding the parameters.
This is the basic set up for firing an API. Further, there are some more fields which appear after selecting some particulars. They are optional and you can check the details below.
7. Payload type – If you select the action method or URL request type as POST and PUT then you need to select a payload type. This depends on the application how they are accepting the data. We are providing the option for JSON, XML, HTML, FormData, Encoded form, and plain text. So you need to select the payload depending upon the application’s API you are using.
8. Wrap request in array – If you are putting a payload type, then you need to provide if you want to wrap the request in an array or not. If you select “Yes” then the Set Parameters will be concluded in “[] parentheses”
If you select “No” then the Set Parameters will be concluded in “{} curly brackets”.
This completes all the information related to API action.
Now, let’s move forward to learn about the next option in the “Choose App” drop-down.
Filter:
This is a simple option to create the “If/Else” condition in your workflow.
In the filter, you need to define two variables namely Condition and Comparison.
1. Condition – Here in the first drop-down field, you will find all the responses from the triggering apps. You can select anyone.
2. Comparison – Here you will choose how you compare the first field with the other. Like if you choose –
- Equals to – Then condition will be “If data in the first field is equal to the data in next field”.
- Does not equal to – Then condition will be “If data in the first field is not equal to the data in next field”.
- Contains String – Then condition will be “If data in the first field contain a particular string of the next field”.
- Does not contain string – Then condition will be “If data in the first field does not contain a particular string of the next field”.
- Is Exist – Then the condition will be “The data in the first field must exist in the workflow.
- Does not exist – Then the condition will be “The data in the first field must not exist in the workflow.”
- Start with – Then the condition will be “The data in the first field starts with the data in the next field.”
- Does not start with – Then the condition will be “The data in the first field does not start with the data in the next field.”
- End with – Then the condition will be “The data in the first field ends with the data in the next field.”
- Does not end with – Then the condition will be “The data in the first field does not end with the data in the next field.”
- Less than – Then the condition will be “If data in the first field is less then the data in the next field.”
- Greater than – Then the condition will be “If data in the first field is greater then the data in the next field.”
3. Condition – Here you add the custom data with which you are comparing the data from the 1st field.
Note – If the added condition is satisfied in the filter then only the workflow will move forward.
4. Or Condition – If you want to put a further condition for the filter then you can use this option.
So this is all the information related to Filter action.
Router:
This option can be used to provide a path to your workflow. You can direct your data to different streams based on the condition you add here.
You add the comparison same as you added the filter, but for multiple paths.
Let us understand this through a sample condition of the router. You can make flow like –
Route 1 – If the customer email contains the “GMAIL(@gmail.com)” domain then send the file A.
Route 2 – If the customer email contains “Custom domain (@abc.com)” then send the file B.
Use add route button to add more conditions according to your needs.
You can also remove or edit the name of the route from the 3 dots action button.
Click on Settings to make the condition accordingly.
This completes all the information related to Router action.
Iterator:
This is used when you need to enumerate elements from the collection of your data.
You will need to choose the array to iterate the values.
If you add an iterator in the workflow then the selected array will be enumerated.
In simple words this function helps you process data into numerous values one by one.
Webhooks:
A webhook is a function that allows event-driven communication between 2 application programming interfaces (APIs). Webhooks are used by a wide variety of web apps to receive small amounts of data from other apps, It is widely used to trigger automation workflows.
Multi-Step calls:
It is a function to automate multiple actions based on a single trigger.
Formatters:
It is an internal task in Pabbly Connect used to format text and numbers automatically.
Folder Management:
It is a feature allowing you to organize workflows appropriately.
2FA:
A feature knowns as Second Fsctor Authenntication helps you for high-level security and protection of your account.
Delay Module:
This function inside Pabbly Connect helps you delay any action step inside the automation workflow.
Schedule Module:
This functions helps you schedule the launch of automated workflows.
Email Parser:
A function in Pabbly Connect to extract the data from the incoming emails and transfer it to other apps.
Path Routers:
Mainly used to execute multiple actions based on the trigger event.
API Module:
Used to connect 1000’s applications that aren’t integrated with Pabbly by default.
Now lets discuss some of the popular automations through Pabbly Connect:
Pabbly Connect can be used to automate a wide range of tasks, depending on your specific needs and the apps and services that you use. Here are a few examples of popular automations that you can set up with Pabbly Connect:
- Sync data between different apps: You can use Pabbly Connect to automatically transfer data between different apps, such as a CRM and an accounting software. This can be useful for keeping data up-to-date and eliminating the need to manually enter data in multiple systems.
- Send automated emails: You can use Pabbly Connect to set up automated email campaigns, such as newsletters, abandoned cart emails, or customer follow-up emails.
- Create leads in CRM: You can use Pabbly Connect to automatically add new leads to your CRM when they sign up for your email list or fill out a form on your website.
- Update accounting software with new orders: You can use Pabbly Connect to automatically update your accounting software with new orders from your e-commerce platform.
- Monitor social media and send notifications: You can use Pabbly Connect to monitor social media for keywords or hashtags and send notifications when certain events occur.
- Automate data backups: You can use Pabbly Connect to automatically back up data from various apps and services to a cloud storage platform.
I hope these examples give you some ideas for automations that you can set up with Pabbly Connect. If you have specific needs or goals in mind, I would recommend exploring the various integrations and workflows available in Pabbly Connect to see what options are available.
In summary, Pabbly Connect can help you automate various tasks/processes in your business. It is a powerful platform that comes with a wide range of integrations and numerous possibilities, so be sure to take the time to explore all of its capabilities.
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] or Contact Us Form, and we would be happy to help!
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References:
- https://www.pabbly.com/
- https://www.pabbly.com/connect/
- https://www.pabbly.com/pabbly-connect-documentation-complete-integration-guide/