We’re always looking for ways to make your life a little bit easier -- which is one of the reasons we’re so excited about our latest partnership with Zapier. Not only does this latest integration connect some of the greatest web apps out there, but it also gives you more power to automate processes you already have established within Smartsheet.
What’s Zapier?
In a nutshell, Zapier puts the magic of APIs into the hands of non-coders. This app gives you the power to automate tasks between online services using their API. You set up a blueprint for a task that you’d like to automate, and Zapier takes care of the heavy-API-lifting.
In Zapier language, this is a “Zap.” A Zap looks like this: “When I get a new item in app A, do this other thing in app B.” The first part is the trigger in the Zap and the second part is the action.
Zapier boasts an integration with hundreds of web services, including Salesforce, Gmail, WuFoo, Desk, Evernote, Jabber… and now Smartsheet!
Check out the Smartsheet Zapbook for some pre-designed Zap ideas to get started. Zapier is another web app, just like Smartsheet, so before you can really dig in, you need to create an account. Visit http://www.zapier.com and you’ll be set up in no time.
Tricks for Using Zapier Within Smartsheet
Smartsheet is more connected with other web apps thanks to this new integration with Zapier – and you can use it to add new levels of automation within Smartsheet, too!
Here’s an example of Zapier automation in your Smartsheet workflow:
Say you’re a project manager with a master task list and a separate task list sheet for each of your team members. Rather than opening up each individual sheet to assign your team to tasks, you can delegate these tasks by updating your single master task sheet with a little help from Zapier.
Remember, Zaps are built around triggers and action. To automate our scenario, we’ll create a Zap that is triggered when a new row is created in your master sheet. The action to be taken is the addition of a new row in one of your team’s task list sheets, based on the value (name) that you enter in the “Assigned To” column of your master sheet.
Putting it into action – How to build this Zap, step-by-step:
- Sign into your Zapier account and click the orange Create a Zap button from your Dashboard
- The first screen you see will ask you to select a Trigger Service and an Action Service.
- Start with the Trigger Service– type in Smartsheet.
- Next, click on Action Service. Since the workflow that we’re automating is solely in Smartsheet, Smartsheet will be your Action Service, too.
- After your Trigger and Action Services are set, two more options will pop up to further define your trigger and action – this is where you get to dive into the specifics around what you want your Zap to do.
- Trigger: Choose New Row; now you’ve determined that your Zap is triggered each time a new row is created in your sheet.
- Action: Choose Add Row to Sheet; now, when your Zap is triggered, it will create a new row in a sheet.
- Now you’re all set to specify which sheets in your Smartsheet account your Zap will talk to. Click Continue to connect your Smartsheet account – once connected, Zapier knows which sheets belong to you.
- Next, you’ll be asked to filter your Smartsheet rows – work left to right and start with your Zap’s Action:
From the drop-down menu, select the name of your master task list sheet. Then click Add custom filters. This is where you will specify that the trigger should only occur when the Assigned To column from your sheet contains a specified team member’s name.
- With the Trigger details nailed down, click Continue.
- Zapier will next ask where your want your new row inserted, and the type of data that you want to be copied to that new sheet.
In this example, I want the new row to be inserted into the “Sally Smart Tasklist” sheet.
Once I specify the name of the sheet for the new row to be added to, I can get more specific with where I want information to go within the sheet:
As you can see, all of the column information from Sally’s Tasklist pops up in this view, with Smartsheet icons to the right of each field.
When I click on the Smartsheet icon, I’ll see a list of the columns from my master sheet so I can map that information to the appropriate columns in Sally’s sheet.
For example, I’ll have Sally’s “Task Name” column in her Tasklist sheet populated with whatever value was entered into the “Task Name” column of my master sheet.
I can choose to have the new rows populate at the top, or bottom, of Sally’s sheet.
Here’s what this step will look like when I’m done:
In the "Sally's Notes" column, I've manually typed in text rather than mapping this to a column from my master sheet. This means that every time this Zap takes place, the value "Thanks, Sally" will be added to this column.
- Now that you’ve set up your Zap, test it out a few times manually to make sure it works, and then set your Zap to LIVE!
- Once the Zap is live, it will check for new rows from your Master sheet to add to Sally’s task sheet every 5 or 15 minutes (depending on the type of Zapier account you have).
Now, you can follow these same steps with other members of your team.
Spend some time checking out Zapier and make your life easier by connecting your web apps. Got a great Zap, or a connection that you really love? Let us know!
Til next week, dig in and explore!
- Support Team