Zapier integration

The Zapier app for Desk-Net allows importing data from sources such as Google Sheets, Gmail and thousands of other apps to turn the data into story entries in Desk-Net.

Access is currently not yet fully public, but you can request an invite at support@desk-net.com.

What Does the Integration Do?

The app allows you to send data including event data from thousands of source apps to Desk-Net and to create a new story.

Typical use-cases are:

• Whenever a new row is added in an Excel file send that data to Desk-Net and create a story.
• When a user has filled in a form create a story in Desk-Net.

Pre-requisites

• Admin access to a Desk-Net account. The app can be tested even if you are using a Desk-Net test account (create a test account here).
• A Zapier account that allows you to create so-called Zaps: https://zapier.com
  There are free accounts in Zapier. Once you start using Zapier for lots of data transfers to Desk-Net you will need to pay for the service.
• Access to the source app from which you want to send data to Desk-Net (e.g. Gmail).

Where Do the Entries in Desk-Net Go?

As you cannot enter publication data (i.e. platform, publication date, etc.) via Zapier all entries made via Zapier end up in one or two places on Desk-Net:

• All entries go to the Undated Stories page.
• If you have provided event data the entry will also show up on the Calendar page (e.g. Short-term Calendar) for that event date and time.

It may take a few seconds or even minutes for the entries to be displayed. This is dependent on how often Zapier checks for new data and then updates Desk-Net. Once the data has been transferred to Desk-Net it will be displayed on those pages automatically without the need to refresh the page.

If the entries are not displayed even though the integration with Zapier seems to work fine, please check the filters on the Desk-Net pages as you may have set a filter that hides the entries.

What Data Can I Import?

As we continue to improve the Zapier app please check the entry form when creating a Zap for the list of all possible entries. 

The initial version of the Desk-Net app for Zapier supports all fields of a story or event excluding the following:

• Custom fields
• Publication fields (e.g. platform with categories, publication date, etc.)

You set up the zaps in varying ways. An important aspect is the following:

Zapier can pull data flexibly from the source application (e.g. an Excel sheet) or always set a specific value for an entry.

In the example below all entries' story status is set to Accepted whereas the Slug is pulled from the Excel sheet.