Factivate spreadsheets can be connected to third party sources (or APIs) in order to ensure your data is always up to date. 

Connecting your spreadsheet(s) requires no programming skills or complicated queries. It's as simple as a few clicks. 

Start by Creating a New Tab

In the bottom part of your spreadsheet, click on the + sign to start a new tab. This will bring up a menu of all of your available spreadsheets tabs that can be created. You can add a simple spreadsheet or add a connected spreadsheet. Connected spreadsheets can come from Facebook, Google, and many other more sources. 

#FactivateTips: If you are not sure which columns to add to your tab, check out some of the Factivate spreadsheet templates for some inspiration. These have already been vetted with hundreds of users.

Then, Add Your Columns

Go to the top ruler and start selecting the columns/data you wish to pull continuously. You can either

  1. Browse (left-right) through all of the potential columns, select one, and click on the Add button to include it in your datasheet OR
  2. Search in the "Column Filter" box, select the option you wish, and click on the Add button to include it in your datasheet. 

You can add as many columns as the API will allow. In some cases, certain connectors will only allow a specific combination of columns. 

NOTE: you can only add columns one at a time.

Authorize Your Connection and Select Your Account

On the top of the page, in the ruler,

  1. Click on the AUTHORIZE icon section. You will be asked to log into your third party account and give Factivate permission to pull data from the service.
  2. Once you have authorized your third party connection, click on the SET icon. A pop up will be displayed asking you to select which account you want to pull from. Select one account and click OK. 
  3. Now you are ready to enable your data feed. 

Enable your Data Pull

Once you have added all columns, simply enable your pull by clicking on the cloud icon. The cloud icon will change to read "Enabled" and the column selector area will be darkened to show you that you are now importing data automatically.

Screen Shot 2017-07-02 at 3.23.34 PM

Once you have added all columns, simply enable your pull by clicking on the cloud icon. The cloud icon will change and the column selector area will be darkened to show you that you are now importing data automatically.

If you are pulling data for the first time, it might take up to 20 minutes for the data to be pulled. If you want to add a column once your initial data has been pulled, simply disable the pull, add a column as usual, and re-enable the data pull. This process will blank out all of your information and re-create a new pull. 

#FactivateTips: Your initial data pull will get as much historical data as the API will allow. In some cases it goes back 3 months and in other cases, it goes back up to 6 months. If you wish to obtain more historical data (i.e., since 2 years ago), please contact your concierge representative to help you.