Doc. Number | Article Title | Effective Date | Version |
FHC-XX | Posting to Zapier: Quick Start Guide | October 23, 2024 | 1.2 |
This article was developed to describe the steps to utilize Zapier with the Forth CRM.
Zapier is a third-party platform that takes the request or post from one system and then formats it into another system’s expected format. By connecting your CRM with Zapier you can post information from Forth to various other platforms that Zapier connects to. This guide aims to help you formulate your first post into Zapier so that you can connect your Forth instance to a platform that Forth is not natively integrated with.
This process will require you to have an account with Zapier; you can create a new account directly on their website (https://zapier.com).
Creating a Catch Hook in Zapier
Begin by logging into your Zapier account and clicking the “Create” button on the top left-hand side of the screen.
Upon clicking "Create", the following dropdown option appears. Please choose your option.
On the left side of the following page (entitled 1. Trigger), under "App event", search for "Webhooks by Zapier" in the Search field at the top of this section or click on "Webhooks by Zapier" from the options shown on the page (see both red highlighted sections below).
Upon selecting "Webhooks by Zapier", you will be presented with an “Event” dropdown menu.
Select "Catch Hook" from the dropdown menu (see red highlight below).
Once the Event choice is complete, proceed by clicking the “Continue" button.
Now click on Continue once again, after clicking "Continue" for the second time, you will be brought to a page with a custom webhook URL that has been generated for you (see the red highlighted area in the image below). Click the "Copy" button on the right side of the page to have it available.
NOTE: Consider pasting the webhook URL into a blank note/document in case you need to use it again in the future.
Zapier Connection to the CRM
The Webhook URL needs to be input in the CRM, on the "Create a WebHook" setup page (accessible by clicking on the Contacts tab, selecting "Webhooks" from the Navigation Bar, and then completing the "Create a Webhook" page).
Once the URL is inserted, go to the "Method" dropdown menu and select “post”. Make sure you complete all required fields on this page, such as "WebHook Title". Additionally, you can choose which users or teams have access to this webhook by choosing them in the “Shared With” option just above the "Save WebHook" button. Click the green "Save WebHook" button found at the bottom of the page to continue.
You should receive a confirmation image at the bottom of the page stating that the WebHook creation was successful.
Formulating the post to Zapier
Return to your Zapier.com page. You should have an option to “Test Trigger". If successful, you will see a page like the one shown below. Click the "Continue" button to continue with this process.
You may skip this option if you prefer and then you will see the following page:
Before you can test, you need to return to your webhook in the CRM and first set up some fields to post over into Zapier.
Begin adding some fields in the "Add Fields to Webhook" section, and mapping them to their correct CRM field. For detailed steps on configuring webhook fields please consult our webhooks article: WebHooks.
In this example, we send the contact's first name, last name, email, and contact ID.
Once you have the fields you would like to push to Zapier on the post, navigate to a contact record and execute the webhook you just created.
Back on the webhook setup page in the CRM for your post, in the “results” section you should see an array response that has a success in the result. Below is an example of what that response can look like:
<pre>Array
(
[id] => 48516498
[post_id] => 8442
[contact_id] => 290583037
[stamp] => 2019-10-23 16:11:33
[http_code] =>
[result] => {"status": "success", "attempt": "5db0c205-f4b7-475d-8ecb-e06e3006e2e0", "id": "efb4b5a5-8dfe-4c00-91a2-8152869f34e7", "request_id": "5db0c205-f4b7-475d-8ecb-e06e3006e2e0"}
)
</pre>
This is a response from Zapiers system confirming that the post we just configured and pushed to them was successfully received. Please note, any error messages that you see would need to be resolved through Zapier’s support resources.
Back in Zapier, you can now choose “test and review” to see the information that the CRM passed over. If any information is missing, you can add it to the webhook in the CRM and execute more posts to Zapier and click “get more samples” to see more posts into Zapier. Subsequent tests will be labeled as “Hook B,” “Hook C,” etc.
In the above example “Hook B” is the post that had all the information needed to proceed forward.
For More Information
You have now successfully configured your CRM to post data into Zapier. At this point (from step 2 onward in Zapier) consult Zapier’s support materials to format your Zap to post to the system or service of your choosing. Please visit https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us for more information.
Article Version History:
Version | Effective Date | Description |
Basic | 10/25/2019 | Initial Release |
0.1 | 11/26/2019 | Subject Matter Updates made. |
1.0 | 01/02/2023 | Added header and Version Control footer; Edited or replaced screenshots to reflect current UI and improve legibility; Added new language to better explain steps involved. |
1.1 | 12/11/2023 | Refreshed a screenshot to improve legibility; Updated hyperlink in the final section of the article; Updated formatting to the section headers. |
1.2 | 10/23/2024 | Updated screenshots to reflect updates to the Zapier user interface. |