Preface

• Who this book is for
• What this book covers
• To get the most out of this book
• Conventions used
• Get in touch
• Share Your Thoughts

1. Part 1: Getting Started with Zapier

2. Chapter 1: Introduction to Business Process Automation with Zapier FREE CHAPTER

• Technical requirements
• How process automation helps businesses increase productivity
• The “no-code revolution” and workflow automation 
with Zapier
• Understanding the key terms used by Zapier
• Choosing the right Zapier plan
• Creating a Zapier account
• Familiarizing yourself with navigation on the Zapier platform
• Changing your settings and preferences
• Summary
• Questions

3. Chapter 2: Preparing to Automate Your Processes

• Technical requirements
• Simplifying your processes and assessing what can be automated
• Establishing how your business apps integrate with Zapier
• Getting the most out of the Zapier app ecosystem directory
• Summary
• Questions

4. Chapter 3: Building Your First Automated Workflow (Zap)

• Technical requirements
• Strategizing your first workflow
• Connecting your apps to Zapier
• Creating your first Zap in the Zap editor
• Understanding field data types
• Ensuring your processes and automations stay current
• Summary
• Questions

5. Chapter 4: Managing Your Zaps

• Technical requirements
• Keeping your Zaps organized
• How to manage your Zaps
• Understanding Zap statuses
• Managing your connected apps
• Sharing your Zaps and folders
• Summary
• Questions

6. Chapter 5: Troubleshooting and Handling Zap Errors

• Technical requirements
• Managing Zap error alerts
• Managing app status alerts
• Utilizing Zap history information for troubleshooting
• Finding help – help center, customer support, communities, experts, and workshops
• Summary
• Questions

7. Part 2: Customizing Your Zaps with Built-in Apps by Zapier – Functionality and Practical Uses

8. Chapter 6: Creating Multi-Step Zaps and Using Built-In Apps

• Technical requirements
• Creating Zaps with multiple action and search steps
• Deleting, duplicating, pasting, reordering, and renaming steps in your Zaps
• Introducing apps by Zapier
• Summary
• Questions

9. Chapter 7: Getting Started with Built-In Apps

• Technical requirements
• Filter by Zapier – applying conditional logic to your Zaps
• Paths by Zapier – adding branching logic to your Zaps
• Delay by Zapier – adding delays to your Zaps
• Schedule by Zapier – scheduling your Zaps to run at intervals
• Exercise – creating a multi-step Zap with a scheduled trigger, search action, filter, path, and delay
• Summary
• Questions

10. Chapter 8: Built-In Communication Apps

• Technical requirements
• SMS by Zapier – sending text messages
• Email by Zapier – sending and receiving emails
• SMTP by Zapier – sending emails through mail servers
• IMAP by Zapier – retrieving emails from mail servers
• Summary
• Questions

11. Chapter 9: Exploring Built-In Apps for Extracting and Compiling Data

• Technical requirements
• Email Parser by Zapier – extracting data from emails
• RSS by Zapier – using RSS feed readers
• Digest by Zapier – compiling data in digests
• Exercise – creating a multi-step Zap with an RSS feed digest
• Summary
• Questions

12. Chapter 10: Other Useful Built-In Apps by Zapier

• Technical requirements
• Zapier Chrome extension – triggering one-off automations from any web page
• URL Shortener by Zapier – shortening URLs in your Zaps
• Translate by Zapier – translating text
• Lead Score by Zapier – scoring and retrieving lead information
• Weather by Zapier – using weather conditions in your Zaps
• Retrograde by Zapier – using astrological predictions in your Zaps
• Summary
• Questions

13. Chapter 11: Advanced Built-In Apps by Zapier

• Technical requirements
• Resources for understanding API documentation
• Webhooks by Zapier – using webhooks and HTTP requests in your Zaps
• Using the API Request action event (feature in beta)
• Using App Extensions in multiple Zaps (feature in beta)
• Code by Zapier – using JavaScript or Python code 
in your Zaps
• Storage by Zapier – saving and storing data
• Summary
• Questions

14. Chapter 12: Managing Your Zapier Account with Built-In Apps

• Technical requirements
• App Status by Zapier – getting notifications of integration incidents
• Zapier Manager – managing errors and account changes
• Use cases
• Summary
• Questions

15. Chapter 13: Newly Released Apps and Features

• Technical requirements
• Early access to new features
• Looping by Zapier – using loops to process datasets
• Sub-Zap by Zapier (feature in beta) – building modular processes
• Web Parser by Zapier – scraping data from webpages
• Transfers by Zapier – moving bulk data between apps
• Zapier Interfaces (feature in beta) – building custom forms, chatbots, and visual interfaces
• Zapier Tables (feature in beta) – storing and structuring data in tables
• Summary
• Questions

16. Part 3: Using the Features of the Formatter by Zapier Built-In App

17. Chapter 14: Formatting Date and Time

• Technical requirements
• An introduction to the Formatter by Zapier built-in app
• The basics of adjusting date and time values using Zapier
• Manipulating dates and times with Formatter by Zapier
• Summary
• Questions

18. Chapter 15: Formatting Numbers

• Technical requirements
• Using Zapier to transform numerical values
• Formatting numbers with Formatter by Zapier
• Formatting currencies with Formatter by Zapier
• Formatting phone numbers with Formatter by Zapier
• Performing mathematical operations with Formatter 
by Zapier
• Generating random numbers with Formatter by Zapier
• Using spreadsheet-style formulas with Formatter 
by Zapier
• Summary
• Questions

19. Chapter 16: Text Formatting Functions in Zapier – Part 1

• Technical requirements
• Using Zapier to transform text values
• Capitalizing the first letter of every word
• Applying title case to a string of words
• Converting all the characters in a string of text into uppercase
• Converting all the characters in a string of text into lowercase
• Pluralizing words
• Finding the first position of specified text
• Replacing characters, words, or phrases
• Counting the number of characters in a string of text
• Counting the number of words in a string of text
• Removing whitespace
• Summary
• Questions

20. Chapter 17: Text Formatting Functions in Zapier – Part 2

• Technical requirements
• Converting a name into the name of a superhero
• Splitting characters or words into segments
• Truncating text to a specified character length
• Removing HTML tags to leave plain text
• Assigning a default value
• Transforming text with a spreadsheet-style formula
• Extracting data from blocks of text
• Advanced text formatting features
• Summary
• Questions

21. Chapter 18: Zapier’s Utilities Functions

• Technical requirements
• Introducing the Formatter by Zapier Utilities action event
• Importing data from CSV files
• Using lookup tables for related data
• Picking data from a list
• Manipulating line items
• Summary
• Questions

22. Part 4: Getting the Most Out of Zapier

23. Chapter 19: AI and Automation

• Technical requirements
• Early access to new AI features
• Create a Zap (beta) – drafting your Zaps using AI
• Running Zap AI Actions (beta) using the Zapier Chrome extension and the ChatGPT plugin (beta)
• Building AI chatbots (beta) using Zapier Interfaces (beta)
• Other AI-powered Zapier built-in apps and features
• The OpenAI and ChatGPT integrations with Zapier
• GPT AI prompting guidelines
• Summary
• Questions
• Answers

24. Chapter 20: Automating Your Marketing Processes

• Technical requirements
• An introduction to automating your marketing processes with Zapier
• Where to start with automating your marketing processes with Zapier
• Automating social media marketing processes, illustrated with the Facebook Pages integration
• Summary
• Questions

25. Chapter 21: Automating Your Sales Processes

• Technical requirements
• An introduction to automating your sales processes with Zapier
• Where to start with automating your sales processes with Zapier
• Automating lead management processes with CRM integrations, illustrated with the Pipedrive integration
• Summary
• Questions

26. Chapter 22: Automating Your Operations Processes

• Technical requirements
• An introduction to automating your operations processes with Zapier
• Where to start with automating your operations processes with Zapier
• Automating online Word document processes with the Google Docs integration
• Summary
• Questions

27. Chapter 23: Automating Your Finance and Reporting Processes

• Technical requirements
• An introduction to automating your finance processes with Zapier
• An introduction to automating your reporting processes with Zapier
• Where to start with automating your finance and reporting processes with Zapier
• Automating accounting processes with the Xero integration
• Summary
• Questions

28. Chapter 24: Tips, Tricks, and Best Practices to Enhance Your Productivity

• Technical requirements
• Best practices for using Zapier effectively
• Tips and tricks to enhance your use of Zapier
• Summary
• Questions

29. Chapter 25: Challenging Your Problem-Solving and Zap-Building Skills

• Technical requirements
• Introduction and guidance
• Three scenarios (novice, intermediate, and advanced)
• Guidance on suggested solutions for each scenario
• Summary

30. Assessments

• Chapter 2 – Preparing to Automate Your Processes
• Chapter 3 – Building Your First Automated Workflow (Zap)
• Chapter 4 – Managing Your Zaps
• Chapter 5 – Troubleshooting and Handling Zap Errors
• Chapter 6 – Creating Multi-Step Zaps and Using Built-In Apps
• Chapter 7 – Getting Started with Built-In Apps
• Chapter 8 – Built-In Communication Apps
• Chapter 9 – Exploring Built-In Apps for Extracting and Compiling Data
• Chapter 10 – Other Useful Built-In Apps by Zapier
• Chapter 11 – Advanced Built-In Apps by Zapier
• Chapter 12 – Managing Your Zapier Account with 
Built-In Apps
• Chapter 13 – Newly Released Apps and Features
• Chapter 14 – Formatting Date and Time
• Chapter 15 – Formatting Numbers
• Chapter 16 – Text Formatting Functions in Zapier – Part 1
• Chapter 17 – Text Formatting Functions in Zapier – Part 2
• Chapter 18 – Zapier’s Utilities Functions
• Chapter 19 – AI and Automation
• Chapter 20 – Automating Your Marketing Processes
• Chapter 21 – Automating Your Sales Processes
• Chapter 22 – Automating Your Operations Processes
• Chapter 23 – Automating Your Finance and Reporting Processes
• Chapter 24 – Tips, Tricks, and Best Practices to Enhance Your Productivity

31. Index

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32. Other Books You May Enjoy

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