This article describes how to connect your Higher Logic community site to your Zapier account to create two types of Triggers:

• Idea-based Triggers
• Discussion-based Triggers

Triggers simplify sending content from your Higher Logic community to a third-party application, such as:

• Ideas to Jira for product initiatives and
• Discussions to Zendesk to improve your knowledge base.

NOTE: If there are other Zapier Triggers that you'd like to have available with the Higher Logic-Zapier app, let us know in our HUG product ideas community.

How it works

The Higher Logic-Zapier app allows you to create an Idea or Discussion Trigger, which takes the form of a button in your Higher Logic community (on Idea or Discussion details pages). For these Triggers, you'll configure an Action that occurs when the button is clicked, such as creating a Feature in Productboard or creating a case in Zendesk.

Let's walk through the steps to create a Trigger and its associated Action.

Step 1 - Create an OIDC client in Higher Logic

1. Access the Admin interface.
2. Navigate to Settings > Integration > OIDC Authentication.

NOTE: If this page isn't available, create a case with Higher Logic Support and request that it be enabled.

3. Click the plus sign icon to the right of the page title to create a new OIDC client.

4. In the dialog, select Zapier from the dropdown and click Continue.

5. Copy the client credentials (client_id and client_secret) to a text editor because you'll need them in the next section when you connect your Zapier account to your Higher Logic community site.

IMPORTANT: You will not be able to retrieve these credentials beyond this point, so it's imperative that you copy them now.

6. Click Finish.

Step 2 - Connect Zapier to Higher Logic

Log in to Zapier and create either an Idea-based Trigger or a Discussion-based Trigger. A triggers is known as a "Zap".

1. Access the Higher Logic Zapier - Beta app at https://zapier.com/apps/higher-logic/integrations.

NOTE: If you have a Zapier account, sign in. If you don't have a Zapier account, you'll be prompted to sign up.

2. Scroll down to the Supported triggers and actions section and click Try It for either an Idea or a Discussion Trigger.

3. Click the Trigger to begin configuring it. Click Sign In to connect to your Higher Logic community site.

4. On the "Allow..." panel:

1. Specify the domain of your Higher Logic site (e.g., hug.higherlogic.com).
2. Paste or type the Client ID that you copied in the previous section.
3. Paste or type the Client Secret that you copied in the previous section.
4. Click Yes, Continue to Higher Logic.

5. You'll be prompted to test the Trigger. Proceed with the test to confirm the connection.

After you receive a successful test message, you're ready to build a workflow in Zapier (you'll be prompted to set up an "Action").

6. Search for and select an application to use in your workflow (e.g., Productboard or Jira).
7. Set your Event (i.e., the Trigger's action).

The Event options that are available are based on the application you've selected for your workflow. For example, you can create a Feature in Productboard or create a case in Zendesk.

8. In the Account section, authenticate to the application you selected.

After authentication is successful, you will see relevant fields to map your Trigger to the selected application's fields.

After completing the required fields, you'll be prompted to test your Zap.

9. Upon a successful test, Publish your Zap (you can turn it off later).

Now you can test your Zap in your Higher Logic community site.

Step 3 - Test your Trigger in Higher Logic

1. In your Higher Logic community site, access the Admin Interface.
2. Navigate to Settings > Integration > Zapier Triggers.

3. The page has two sections: one for Idea-based Triggers and one for Discussion-based Triggers. Applicable to your Trigger type:

1. Set the Button Visibility for the "Submit to Zapier" button that will display on the Idea or Discussion details page. This setting controls who in your community can use this button. Select Show to all authenticated users if you want it available to all users who have logins to your community site. Select Show only to security group(s) if you want more granular control, only showing the button to specific groups of users (e.g., only to Admins or specific types of members). 
2. You can customize the Button Text to something more appropriate for your community.
3. Click Save to apply your changes.

4. On the front end of your community, navigate to your Ideation or Discussion page (depending on the Trigger you created).
5. Create a new Idea/Discussion to test your Zap. The "Submit to Zapier" button will be available only for new ideas or discussions; it cannot be "back-fit" to existing ideas or discussions.
6. The "Submit to Zapier" button should display after you publish your Idea/Discussion, on its Details page. Click the button to submit the Idea/Discussion to Zapier.
7. Navigate to Zapier to confirm your Zap was successful. You can check this via the History menu item to the right.

TIP: You can also navigate to the other application you included in your Zap (e.g., Productboard) to confirm the Action took place. For example, a Zap set up to send a Higher Logic idea to Productboard as a "note" should result in a new note automatically being created in Productboard with the idea's details.

That’s it! If your Zap is published/enabled, you can continue to submit newly published Ideas or Discussions to Zapier to promote enabled workflows you set up in your Zaps.