Short.IO Integration

Created by Mohamad Islam, Modified on Tue, 13 Feb at 4:11 PM by Mohamad Islam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

OVERVIEW
PRE-REQUISITES
SYSTEM SETUP & PARAMETERS
- i) How to Store your API Key in Influence
- ii) How to Set your shortening Domain
Test the Integration is working
Merge Fields
Usually you would want to use a SHORT URL if you were trying to send the link to someone via an SMS (text) template from within Influence. Shortening a URL is very simple.

OVERVIEW

Short.IO Integration

Short.io gives you the ability to shorten URLs, in particular Cognito Form Timesheets, which normally result in a very long link. Small/shortened links are necessary if sending web-links via SMS.

NOTE:
For simple links that always take users to a fixed web page such as your GDPR policy or Data retention policy there is no need to use short.io - you can simply use any online URL shortening service and create a simple short link to the page and simply copy/paste that into your SMS template.

Short.io is only really necessary/useful if you intend to send 'dynamic' links for things such as cognito timesheets, where the URL contains specific information to pre-fill the form with unique details relating to the specific worker/timesheet, week, etc.

CONTENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PRE-REQUISITES

Short.IO Integration
In order to use short weblinks and be able to send links to online items such as Cognito-based Timesheets and Forms within SMS messages, you will need an account with short.io

(Note: When creating an account with short.io the basic service is not sufficient as it doesn't allow Link Expiry).

Go to https://short.io/ and sign up for an account

Once you have signed up for an account, login to your account and choose Integrations & API

Generate an API Key

IMPORTANT : >> Keep a NOTE of this - as they warn you, there is ONE CHANCE ONLY to see/copy this !!!

You will need to copy the API Key into parameter WORKBENCH2, TEXT(2) in your Influence database (See below)

SYSTEM SETUP & PARAMETERS

The following Parameters (Default parameter setting in brackets).

PARAMETER	DETAILS
FORMS Flag 9 URL Shortening service ShortIO or None	Set to S for short.IO
FORMS, INTEGER(2) Shortening Service Days to Expire	Set the number of days after which links will expire. Default value is 30, to last forever set it to 0 (zero) (Useful for things like timesheet links where you might not want the worker to use an 'old' link after a few days.)
WORKBENCH2, PATHS(2) URL Shortening service	Enter the web address for the URL Shortening Service Usually https://api.short.io/links
WORKBENCH2, PATHS(3) URL Shortening domain	Your URL shortening domain (for example: go.influence-it.com)
WORKBENCH2, TEXT(2) URL Shortening API Key	Enter the API key for your Short.IO account here.

i) How to Store your API Key in Influence

Go to Maintenance > Setup > Parameters - Choose File > Open and select the parameter set called WORKBENCH2

Select the [TEXT] tab and copy the API Key that you generated within your Short.IO account into this parameter.

ii) How to Set your shortening Domain

Go to Maintenance > Setup > Parameters - Choose File > Open and select the parameter set called WORKBENCH2

Select the [PATHS] tab and choose item 3, and copy the domain that you have chosen in your short.io account.

Test the Integration is working

Test the Short.IO link:

Click on the [Help] button within Influence, select [Shorten] button and click [OK] to copy the link. Paste the link into the browser to ensure it is working.

Merge Fields

Merge Field	Description/Details
[[HTML_SHORTEN=Type URL path here]]	Use this to shorten any URL (website) that you want to convert to a short link. Short links can be sent via SMS message e.g. [[HTML_SHORTEN=www.influence-it.com]] You can also use fields from other items in the database, e.g. [[HTML_SHORTEN=[[CMS_SITE_WEB$]]]] will shorten whatever has been saved as the "Website" field on the Company in Influence.
[[HTML_DIRECTIONS]]	Interview directions
[[HTML_SITE_DIRECTIONS]]	Site directions
[[HTML_MAP_]]	Map of postcode Example [[HTML_MAP_[[CMS_SITE_POSTCODE$]]]]

Usage

Usually you would want to use a SHORT URL if you were trying to send the link to someone via an SMS (text) template from within Influence. Shortening a URL is very simple.

STEP 1:

Click [EDIT] and open the Template Editor.

Use the catalogue at the left hand side and choose the Special Fields section and expand that section using the ➕

STEP 2:

Scroll down and find the field Shorten URL. Double-click this to insert the field into the template.

Then just type over the text 'Type URL path here' with the actual website address you want to shorten, but leave the * at the end.

Any URL which is usually very long is shortened

e.g. https://go.influence-it.com/irCagW

Merge Field	Description/Details
[[HTML_SHORTEN=Type URL path here]]	Use this to shorten any URL (website) that you want to convert to a short link. Short links can be sent via SMS message e.g. [[HTML_SHORTEN=www.influence-it.com]] You can also use fields from other items in the database, e.g. [[HTML_SHORTEN=[[CMS_SITE_WEB$]]]] will shorten whatever has been saved as the "Website" field on the Company in Influence.
[[HTML_DIRECTIONS]]	Interview directions
[[HTML_SITE_DIRECTIONS]]	Site directions
[[HTML_MAP_]]	Map of postcode Example [[HTML_MAP_[[CMS_SITE_POSTCODE$]]]]