Learn how to automatically push events from Outlook to the activity feed in ahead
Posting events, such as birthdays, in ahead’s activity feed can be automated with Zapier. To create a so-called zap, first you need to have an Outlook Calendar containing the birthdays you would like to push into ahead.
Let’s go step by step through the process.
- 1. First, create a new zap in Zapier.
- 2. Set up the trigger, which is the birthday event. Choose the app Microsoft Outlook and the trigger event Calendar Event Start. Press ‘Continue’.
- 3. Choose the Outlook account that contains the birthday calendar and connect it.
- 4. In Customize Event choose the calendar. (In this example it’s called ‘Birthdays’). Then press 'Test & Continue'.
- 5. Let’s set up the event now. In ‘Choose App & Event’ search for the app ahead and choose the action Create external activity.
- 6. In ‘Choose Account’ Zapier will ask you to enter the ahead API. You can find it in your ahead app, under your profile → Company Settings. Click ‘Show’, copy the API key and paste it in Zapier.
- 7. Customize the activity by adding the information you want to display in ahead. Add a title, select Birthday as the source, integrate the ‘subject’ Outlook element in the ‘text’ field and optionally add a link to a media file. You are free to customize what the event will look like in ahead. Then press ‘continue’ and ‘test & continue’.
- 8. Check the test event that Zapier created and adapt the zap. Once you are happy with the result, make sure to turn the zap ON. From now on, Zapier will automatically post birthdays in the ahead activity feed.
