Every customer is going to need custom integrations but this is a general walkthrough for an integration with Zapier.

The first step is to create a Webhook but first, a little explanation so you can better understand what is happening. Webhooks act as a digital net to catch every request made to the specific endpoint in the software. Think of it as using a fishing net at a specific fishing hole on a specific river. This specific spot has been engineered to produce specific types of fish. Sounds like a dream come true for fishermen, well the same goes for web developers.

Now let's get down to business. We need to create a Webhook. If you haven't already, you will need to create a new Zap. After creating the new Zap, you are able to search for different triggers and will need to look up Webhooks by Zapier.

There are three different types of Webhooks available on Zapier, but we will mostly be using the Catch Hook. As explained above, this will wait for a new request to be made and catch it with all of the data that we will need for the next step. After making your selection, click the blue continue button. You can also skip the next "Trigger" step by pressing the blue continue button.

Now that you have created your Webhook, you need to test it to make sure it works.

You can test it by copying the Webhook URL provided and adding it to your software. The image below shows two green checkmarks and one yellow exclamation. The green checkmarks show a passing step and the yellow exclamation is a failing step. Once you have added it you click the blue Test trigger button. If you added your Webhook correctly there should be a green checkmark next to the "Test" step, if it is still a yellow exclamation you will need to add the Webhook again. Each software and integration is different and it would be impossible to explain in detail where to paste the Webhook for every situation. If you are unsure, reach out to the appropriate department in your organization.

Using fishing as an example, as explained above, we have been fishing at the specific spot for specific fish and have caught everything we need but it's all a jumbled mess sitting in our net. We need to sort through all of the fish to make sure they go exactly where they need to go. Paths by Zapier is the secret to making this happen. Below the finished Webhook box there is another box labeled Action, click on it and search, like above, for Paths by Zapier.

The next step in the process is to create the portal using the PortalCX App in Zapier. Since we are creating a portal we will want to pick "Create Portal From Project Template" from the drop-down, then click the blue continue button. You will be asked to sign into your PortalCX account on the next step.

After signing in and clicking the blue continue button you will need to add the required information on the next step. Up to this point, we haven't had to enter much information into Zapier but need to make sure that this step is entered correctly, so read each step and follow it exactly.

You will need to go to the PortalCX dashboard at https://admin.portalcx.com/ to get the Portal Project ID. Find the Portal Projects Section from the navigation bar. It will be in the format:

a1b2c3d4-e5f6-g7h8-i9j0-k1l2m3n4o5p6

Next, we will need the Name, Email, and Phone Number of the customer. You can click into each box and search for "detail name", "detail email", and "detail phone".

You will also need to select whether the customer gets notified via text and/or email. The next step, If true, is the first stage in the customer portal will be auto-completed when the portal is created. The default value is true. The second to last step is the country code for text updates. The default is US/CA. The last step is to test.

To help with other implementations, we are going to add one more step. This step takes the Account Id and the Portal Id from our Webhook and PortalCX response and appends them to a Google Sheets spreadsheet. In other words, we are going to take the filtered data from the Webhook, Paths, and PortalCX steps that contain the Account Id and the Portal Id and save them to a Google Sheets spreadsheet so they can be referenced later.

Before moving on to the next Zapier step, we have to create a spreadsheet in our Google account. Go to https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/ and create a new spreadsheet. Take a look at the example below to see how to organize your spreadsheet if you aren't certain. 

Now we go back to our Zapier steps. If you haven't yet, navigate back to our Zapier steps. Right below the PortalCX box we created, there will be a black plus sign. Click it to add one more step, and search for "Google Sheets" in the search box. Then select "Create Spreadsheet Row" from the dropdown.