Creating Multi-Step Zaps and Using Built-In Apps

As you become more comfortable with using Zapier to automate your business workflows, you will find that in many situations, you may need more flexibility than what single-step workflows can offer. You will start to build more complex workflows, which will allow you to automate multiple action steps in your processes involving tasks in various apps. You may find that often, the data you need to use in subsequent actions is not available in the trigger and existing action steps. In these cases, you will need to know how to use search action events to retrieve data. To complement using triggers and actions, you may also want to customize your Zaps further by using the myriad of built-in tools that Zapier has created to allow you to transform and manipulate data, all from within the Zapier platform.

In Chapter 3, Building Your First Automated Workflow (Zap), we covered the basics of how to create a single-step Zap. In this chapter, we...

Technical requirements

To work through the content in this chapter, you will need access to a Zapier account. To build multi-step Zaps, you will need to subscribe to the Zapier Starter plan as a minimum. You can get access to the Zap templates used in this chapter here: https://bit.ly/zapier-book. Using these templates will help you visualize how the process works.

Creating Zaps with multiple action and search steps

In Chapter 3, Building Your First Automated Workflow (Zap), we walked through a step-by-step process to create our first single-step Zap. In Chapter 5, Troubleshooting and Handling Zap Errors, we used this knowledge to create alert Zaps using Zapier Manager and App Status by Zapier. Now that you’ve experienced first-hand what Zapier can offer in just a single-step workflow, it’s time to explore the infinite automation possibilities of multi-step workflows to power your productivity.

As we discussed in Chapter 3, Building Your First Automated Workflow (Zap), once you have set up your trigger step, you can add actions, searches, filters, and delays after the trigger and between any action step, and add paths at the end, using the + icon.

Important note

You can add up to 99 action steps to a Zap; however, for control purposes, it is better to have shorter workflows and to break your process down into more manageable...

Deleting, duplicating, pasting, reordering, and renaming steps in your Zaps

As you become more familiar with building multi-step Zaps, there may be times that you want to delete, duplicate, reorder, or rename the steps in your Zaps. To do this, choose a step that you would like to perform the relevant action on, select the three-dots icon to reveal a drop-down menu, and select the option. This is shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 6.11 – Managing a step in a Zap in the Classic Editor

Important note

In the Visual Editor, the Outline section does not exist in the left-side panel, therefore, all actions would be performed by clicking on the three-dots drop-down menu in the step. You will also notice that the Reorder option is also not available in the drop-down menu as you can drag and drop steps within the main editor section.

Steps can also be managed by selecting the three-dots icon next to the step to reveal a dropdown and searching...

Introducing apps by Zapier

The basics of creating multi-step Zaps lie in knowing how to use triggers, actions, and searches adequately. Once you have got to grips with this, you may want to take advantage of the functionality of the many built-in apps that Zapier has created to allow you to perform common tasks without having to use another app and pay additional subscription fees. Zapier has created several built-in apps to help you supercharge your workflows.

We’ve categorized these apps as follows:

• Apps that control run conditions and logic
• Communication apps
• Apps for extracting and compiling data
• Other useful apps
• Advanced apps
• Apps for managing your Zapier account
• Newly released apps in the alpha and beta testing phases
• The powerful Formatter by Zapier app
• Apps with AI functionality

Important note

Zapier releases new features and built-in apps regularly. In this book, we will cover the built-in apps that have been released...

Summary

In this chapter, we boosted your knowledge of how to use Zapier by introducing the benefits of building multi-step Zaps. We covered how to use search functionality in action steps, how to delete, duplicate, reorder, and rename steps in Zaps, and encouraged you to test your knowledge by creating a multi-step workflow for one of your processes. Lastly, we introduced all of the built-in apps that Zapier has created to allow you to store, display, and transform data all from within the Zapier platform.

You now know how to create workflow automations with multiple action and search steps. You also now have a better understanding of all the built-in apps created by Zapier.

In the next chapter, we will introduce you to some of Zapier’s built-in apps. We will cover the specific functions of using conditional logic in your workflows with Filter by Zapier and see how to add pathways with Paths by Zapier. We will also review how to use Delay by Zapier and Schedule by Zapier...

Questions

1. How many action steps can you add to a Zap?
2. When is it useful to be able to reorder steps in your Zaps?
3. Which two built-in apps can be used when you want to add conditional logic to your Zaps?
4. Which built-in app allows you to format text, dates/times, and numbers?