Transcription
Software is a really powerful no-code platform, and you can use it to build all kinds of projects such as client portals, inventory management systems, custom CRMs, and much more.
But how can you use your existing databases to power these apps? Did you know you can connect multiple database services into your software application and display data coming from your existing databases? Yes, it's all possible!
In this video, I'm going to show you step by step how to integrate software with Airtable, Google Sheets, Smart Suite, HubSpot, Supabase, and Monday.com—all in this single video.
Hi, I'm Kyo Cder from automationhelpers.com. We help companies like yours get automated by using industry-leading tools to build automations, client portals, apps, and much more. Subscribe if you want to leverage tech to help your business grow.
All right, it's tutorial time! Let's do it.
Now we are going to learn how to integrate software with multiple different types of databases. The first step for this tutorial is to start with an existing software account.
But Kyo, I don't have an account yet! What do I do? Well, it's simple, my friend. Just go to the software website, the website is softer.io, or you can click the link down below in the video description section. Create your free account, start using it, start playing with the tool, and then if you even want to try the premium features, you can do it for 14 days for free.
Okay, you can test any existing plan for free. Since I already have my account set up, all I have to do is come to the website and click the login button, and I'm going to go to my dashboard.
Okay, so I'm inside my existing account inside software. Now I'm going to show you a couple of things. I have this option here to start my free trial, and we are going to have to start our free trial for this tutorial because we are going to use different data sources.
Now, you don't have to necessarily upgrade your plan right now; you can just watch this tutorial. But if you want to connect to a specific data source, you might have to start your free trial. Why? Because on the free plan, we can only connect to Google Sheets, Airtable, Smart Suite, and Zen.
Now, if you want to connect to other database sources, for instance, Monday.com or Supabase, we will have to upgrade to the professional plan. Or even if we want to connect to HubSpot and other services as well, we will need to upgrade to the business plan.
Okay, but don't worry because in the first part of the tutorial, you're not going to have to upgrade because we are going to connect to the data sources that are available on the free plan. Then we are going to upgrade our existing account, and I'm going to show you how to connect to other databases.
Okay, now once I'm inside my account, once we go to the data sources page, we can see that we don't have any data sources connected yet.
Okay, so it's good to know that you can use data sources on your projects, and you can connect data sources while creating projects inside software.
So for instance, if I go back to the apps tab here and I click here to start from scratch, if I click here to create a new application, what it's going to do is ask me if I want to connect my application to a data source.
For instance, I can come here to the settings page, and here under data sources, I can see if I have connected data sources that are connected to this specific application.
Now, if I happen to add a new block that is a dynamic component and I add this dynamic component to my page, it will show that I need to connect to a data source. Once I click this button to connect to data sources, it will show me options that I can connect to.
Now on the free plan, I can connect Airtable, Google Sheets, Smart Suite, Zen, and that's it. The other options are going to require me to upgrade my plan to connect to.
Okay, now we can always integrate software with different database services like we see here from the app itself by completing this step-by-step process.
As an alternative, you can always come here to this place first before you create projects, connect all the data sources you want, and then once you start building projects within software, you already have your databases connected to your account, and they will be ready for you to use in any project you create.
Okay, this process will work exactly the same way regardless of where you are. So if you are here on the data sources tab under your user account, you will be able to connect any data source you want from here, or if you are inside an existing project, it will work the same way.
Okay, there is no difference, so this tutorial will apply to all the possible situations while using software.
Okay, so the first tool we are going to connect to and use as a database is Airtable.
Okay, so let's do it together. There are two ways you can connect to Airtable, and I'm going to show you both.
Okay, so the first step is to just select Airtable as the option we want to connect to. We are going to click continue, and then software will send us to the Airtable login page.
Okay, so if you don't have an Airtable account yet, this is the time to create one. You're going to click here to create an account and then fill out the form, go through the entire process, and make sure you set up your Airtable account.
Okay, since I already have an existing Airtable account, of course, I'm going to use this one.
Okay, so I'm going to log in here with my existing Airtable account, and then once I'm logged in, I will see this page requesting Airtable access.
Okay, so software is requesting Airtable access, and then here is more information about what is going to happen. Software will be able to see the data in your records, comment on your records, and so on. So it will be able to manage existing databases inside your Airtable account.
Okay, now I need to click here to add a base, and I have a couple of options here. This option will allow me to connect to all current and future bases in all workspaces that I have.
But if I want to be a little bit more specific and just give software access to one specific base that I have under my account, I can choose the exact base that I want to give access to.
Okay, so I have this example base under my Airtable account. If you just created your Airtable account and you don't have any base showing up here, all you have to do is go to your Airtable account and create a new base from scratch.
Okay, then once you go through this step-by-step to create this integration between software and Airtable, you will see this base showing up here.
Okay, now I'm going to select this base here. You can add other bases if you want to as well, and I'm going to click here to grant access.
Now it worked well! I can see there is a new connection here; it's from Airtable. I can click here on the three dots icon, and I can see active apps using this integration, which is empty for now.
Of course, I can close this. I can also rename this integration, so if I want to be more specific, I can give it a different name. Once I click out of the input field and hit enter, it will automatically save.
I can also reauthenticate if I, for some reason, need this to be updated or if something is not working well. I can always redo this process, or I could even remove this completely.
Okay, now there's another way to connect to Airtable, which is using the personal access token, which I'm going to teach you how to do in a sec.
But before we do that, I'm going to go to my apps section here, and I'm going to show you now that we have an Airtable integration how you can use it inside an existing app or a new app that you create.
Okay, now if you liked the video, click the like button down below and subscribe to the channel to keep learning more about automation.
Now once you click here to start from scratch, you can click create application here, or you can generate an application from your data. If you select this option to start with your existing data, now you have a data source here, which is this integration we just created.
So you can start building your app from this database. You can select this option here, and then it will show all the existing bases you have access to. You can select your base, your tables, and then click continue, and you just follow the step-by-step here mapping all the fields.
With that, you can create a new app using existing data you have. Since this table is just an example table, I'm not going to map all the fields here. What I'm going to do is go back here and show you the other option, which is to start from scratch.
Then with all these pages, you can select or deselect all the existing pages; it's up to you. Click here to create a new application, and once you are inside this new application you just created, you can add dynamic components.
So for instance, if I add a new block to my page, it's a dynamic block. For instance, this list block, it will show here that I have the Airtable database integration we created before.
Now I just have to click here to use it as my database, then select my existing Airtable bases, select the table that I want to use from this base, and also the view, which in this case is the grid view.
With that, it's already pulling information from my database. For instance, it's showing the title as example data one, example data two, example data three, and so on.
So it's already pulling information from my Airtable base, which is very nice. If I check my settings tab here under data sources, I can also see that this Airtable integration is being used in this app.
Okay, and here I can see more information, and I can click to manage, and it will bring me back to my account data sources page, which is listing this integration we just created. Very nice, right?
Now there is the second method that I want to show you in this video, which is using the personal access token.
Okay, so if we click here, we can switch this integration we just created to a personal access token.
Okay, now once you use your personal access token, you will be able to choose more specific and granular access to your database. So you can choose, for instance, if a person or this connection can record data, can change the base schema, have access to the webhooks, user email, can change all current and future bases as well.
So you can manage the access in a more detailed and more granular way.
Okay, so to do that, you have to click here to go to your Airtable developer hub page. So if you're logged in, you will be directed to this page, and here you can click to create a new token.
Okay, once you create a new token, all you have to do is give it a name. So I'm going to call mine automation helpers Airtable token.
Here you can add different scopes. Once you click here to add a new scope, you can choose various options. For instance, if it will be able to read records, write records, if it will be able to read record comments, write new record comments, if it will be able to read the base schema, write on the base schema, and even more advanced developer features like a webhook, a block manage, and even user metadata, such as the email address.
Now you can choose all these options depending on what type of integration you want to build. But as you can see, you can also choose whether you want this token to be able to do all that or just one specific thing.
That's good if you are a more advanced user because then you'll be able to control this token access in a more specific and granular way.
Now the second part is to choose the access. Here it's very similar to the previous step we did. We basically need to choose whether we want to give this token access to all current and future bases inside all workspaces, or only on a specific workspace, or even only on a specific base.
Okay, for this example, I'm going to choose this option here because it's going to allow us to have complete access to all the bases.
Okay, so this is a good option if you are not too worried about security or if you don't have a lot of different bases under the same account. Then if it's just you, it's not an Airtable account that has a lot of users and is being used by the entire company, then I think that option is good for you.
Then if it's a different scenario, you can create individual tokens and access for each individual base you have.
Once you set up the name, scopes, and access, you have to create your token. Click here on this button, and then it will show your token.
Make sure to copy this token and save it somewhere you can get it later on, a secure place, on a password management tool for instance. Because once you copy your token for the first time and you close this page, you will no longer be able to visualize it again.
If you lose it, then you will have to create a new one, and you will have to reconnect software and Airtable once again. Okay, so just have that in mind.
Now inside your Airtable account, you will have this list as well with all your existing personal access tokens. For now, we just have this one.
Now all we have to do is go back to our software account and paste our token inside software.
Now, of course, don't share this with anyone because this is your token, meaning anyone that has access to this token will be able to integrate with your existing Airtable bases.
Okay, once we have our personal token here, we can click continue, and then it will be good to go.
Now you have an integration between software and Airtable using your private access token.
Okay, this is the second method to connect software and Airtable together, and as you can see, these two options provide you with different settings depending on your user level.
So if you're a little bit more advanced, go with the personal access token. If you're not that advanced, then you can go with the simplest method. Both will work and give you access to your database and will allow you to build amazing types of applications using software and the existing database you choose.
Now let's learn how to connect other databases. We're going to click here to connect a new one, and this time we are going to select Google Sheets.
Okay, so I'm going to click here, select Google Sheets, click continue, and then it will ask me to sign in with my Google account.
Of course, you must have your Google account set up, and of course, you know how to do it. Just go to Google and research how to create your Gmail account, get your Gmail account set up, and then once you come to this step here, you have to sign in with your existing Gmail account.
Since I already have one, I'm going to select the one that I want to use, click next, and then continue. Here you have to select all the options here to allow software to access your Google Drive account, meaning it will be able to edit, read, create, or delete specific files—in this case, your Google Sheets spreadsheets.
Once you select all these options here, click continue, and then this way you will have a new data source automatically added to your software account.
You can come here and rename it. I'm going to rename mine to automation helpers Google Sheets, and here I will also rename this other one. I'm going to call it automation helpers Airtable.
Of course, if you have multiple connections, you can connect to multiple different accounts as well. You can start to add different naming conventions to make it easier for you to manage all the data sources you have here.
Okay, now another interesting thing that we can notice here once we click see active apps, since we've created a new application for this tutorial, now we can see under active apps we have this untitled application that we used on the previous step of this tutorial where we integrated software and Airtable.
That's really nice! Now the same thing will happen if we create a new application. For instance, if I start from scratch, I create a new application here, I'll be able to not only select a table as my data source but also Google Sheets, as we can see.
If I add a new block here, let's use a grid this time. If I click here, I can see not only Airtable but Google Sheets as well.
Then once I select Google Sheets as an option, I'll be able to add new files from my Google Drive account. If nothing is showing here, of course, I have to go to my Google Drive account and create the spreadsheet first, then it will be visible here.
I can click select the spreadsheet that I want to use, and then it will populate my component here using the data from my spreadsheet.
Okay, all right, we connected Airtable, we connected Google Sheets as well. Now let's choose another option here. Let's click connect to data source again, and this time we are going to select Smart Suite.
Going to click here, click continue. Now connecting with Smart Suite is very simple because all you have to do is create your Smart Suite account. If you don't have one, if you have one, then you just have to log in.
I'm going to log in with my Google account here, and that's all. I don't have to do any extra steps. Smart Suite is very simple to integrate with. Create your account, go to the website, it's free, create your first account, and then create your first base you want to use for your software project, or you can pick any existing one, and that's it.
Once you click connect to a data source, it will identify whether you're logged in or not. If you're logged in, it will bring you back to software, and the connection is done. It's very simple and very easy.
Then you can come here, rename your integration, and it will be ready for you to use inside any application that you want to connect to your Smart Suite account. Amazing, right?
Now under the free plan, we can connect to all these options here and also Zen. Zen is a little bit more complicated to set up, but it's not that hard as well.
We have to click here, select Zen, click continue, and all we have to do is fill out some information here. You have to provide a name, a host, a database user, and password.
This part here you should keep as is, and you have information here on how to connect to Zen. If you click this link, once you click this link, it will bring you to the official documentation.
Here you can see more information on how to connect Zen and software. Basically, you have to create your Zen account, and once you create a new database under instances, you will click this little icon here, and it will show this option, database connector.
Once you click here, it will expose all the information you need to get to add to your software account. Now I've tried using the free plan, but it doesn't show this option, so I believe you will have to upgrade your Zen account to be able to visualize this database connector option.
Once you do that, you will see something like this under database credentials, and you will see all the information you need to copy and paste into software.
Once you get this information, fill out these fields here, and you will be good to go. Just click connect, and your connection will be done.
Now don't worry because I'm going to show you how to connect Supabase as well, and the process looks similar. So let's do it.
By the way, if you need help building your project or if you have any questions, we are here to assist. Visit our website at automationhelpers.com. We are offering free 30-minute consultation calls to help you get it done. Make sure to book your call today. The link's available in the description section down below.
In order to continue this tutorial, we will have to upgrade our software account because as we can see here, these options are not available for us unless we pick a plan.
The good thing about it is that we can try it for free. If we click here, it will show us we have 14 days to test any paid plan, and the plan we want to upgrade to is the business plan.
Why? Because it's going to be 14 days free, and because this one will allow us to connect to any data source we want.
Okay, so my recommendation to you, if you want to follow this tutorial and learn how to do this as I do it, is to come here and click to start your free trial.
Okay, there is a link down below in the video description section if you want to create your account, and then you can come to this page, add your credit card information, add your billing details, and start your free trial.
Okay, now I have another account here that is on a paid plan, and I'm going to show you how it works.
So we are going to go to data sources. I have a lot of different data sources here. Now once I click here on the connect data source button, I can see that I have all the options here available for me to connect to.
So the next one we are going to connect to is HubSpot. So I'm going to click here, select HubSpot, and then click continue. It will send me to this page, which is trying to connect my software account to HubSpot.
Now if you have a HubSpot account, if you're logged in, then it will go straight into your HubSpot account. If you don't have an account yet, then you should create one, or if you have one, you can sign in to your existing HubSpot account.
Since I don't have one, I'm going to create a new one from scratch. I'm going to click this button here to create a new account.
Okay, once I get to this page, I have to select the account that I want to use. If you have more than one, it will show all the existing accounts you have here. Just select the one you want to use and connect to software.
Choose this account, and here you can see all the details about this integration. You can click here to agree with the terms and then click connect app.
Once you've done that, you will see your new integration here available for you to use, and that's how you integrate software with HubSpot. Very easy, right?
Now let's connect to another data source. This time we're going to connect to Supabase.
Okay, so let's click here, select Supabase, click continue, and as we saw before, it's very similar to connecting to Zen, which is also very similar to connecting to any SQL database such as Postgres, MySQL, SQL Server, and MariaDB.
If you click any of these options, you will see that the structure is the same. So once you understand how to connect to Supabase, it will be very similar for Zen and all these options as well.
All right, so I'm going to select Supabase and click continue. Now there is this link here that will send me to the documentation page. Here I can see information about how to find my database host name, my IP address, and much more.
The next step is to log into your Supabase account. Go to supabase.com, and if you don't have an account yet, just create a new one. If you do have one already, just log into your existing account.
Since I don't have one, I'm going to create one from scratch with you. So I'm going to click this button here to start your project.
Then I'm going to click here to sign up now, and here I'm going to add my email information and create a new password. You're going to click sign up.
Then you should go to your email inbox and check the email you just received and confirm your account. Once you are inside your email inbox, click here to confirm your email address, and then you're going to go back into your Supabase account.
Here you have to create a new organization. I'm going to create one here called automation helpers. We can select the type of organization; in this case, it's going to be educational, and then we are going to select the free plan.
You can choose a plan depending on the type of project you are building. Click here to create the organization. Here you have to set up your project. I'm going to call it automation helpers Supabase, and here you should add a strong password.
I'm going to create a strong password here. I'm going to save my password, and here you can select the reason for this project. For now, I'm going to select this option and then click to create a new project.
Make sure to store your password in a secure place because we're going to use this password later on. Now you should wait a couple of minutes until your project is finished and all set up, and after that's done, you will get all the information you need to fill out this form here inside your software account.
Okay, once our project is fully set up, we need to come here under project settings, and then under database, we will see this information here: host, database name, port, user, and password.
Okay, so we're going to copy first the host information. We are going to click here to copy, go back to software, paste it here. You could use the same database name here, or you could call it something else; it's up to you.
You can give it any name you want. In this case, I'm going to call it automation helpers. Under here, we are going to copy the database name, which is this one, the user. I'm going to also copy the user and the password.
Remember the password you created when setting up this Supabase database? Well, that's what we are going to use. So I'm going to paste my database password here and then click connect.
Remember to keep the port number the same that we had before. All right, now we have our Supabase integration, and basically, that's the way you connect to Zen and other SQL options as well.
Just make sure to log into your account and read the documentation files, and I'm sure you'll be able to get it done. And if you need extra help, I'm sure you can reach out to the support team. I'm sure they'll be able to help you in no time.
Now we are going to see how we can connect Monday.com and software. Let's click here to select this option, click continue.
On this page, we're going to see a couple of instructions. The first step is to click this button here and open Monday.com. If you don't have an account yet, just create one. If you have one, just log in. Very easy, simple.
Since I don't have one, I'm going to click here to get started, and I'm going to create my first account. I'm going to choose my Google account, select my Google account, and continue providing access from Google to Monday.com.
Here I can choose any option if I'm going to use it for work or personal; it doesn't really matter. Here, just keep selecting any option you want to choose and click continue. You can also skip this step.
Now you have to create your first working project or personal project. I'm going to call mine automation helpers. Keep selecting the options here.
All right, once you finish setting up your first account inside Monday.com, all you have to do is come here under your user, find this tab here called Administration, click here, then under connections, you will find this option here called API.
Now you have to generate a personal API token. Click generate; it will generate the API token for you. Click copy, go back to software, and then paste your API token here.
Once you do that, click continue, and now you're good to go! You have a new connection between software and Monday.com. How easy was that? Very easy, right?
So now you know how to use powerful database tools and solutions to power your software applications.
Now we're going to learn how to connect software with BigQuery. Let's click here, connect data source, let's select BigQuery, click continue.
It's going to ask me to authenticate with my Google account, my Gmail account, so I'm going to select this one, click continue. Here, I'm going to select all to give access to my data, click continue, and that's it! Very easy, very simple, right?
Now we've learned how to integrate software with Airtable, Google Sheets, HubSpot, Smart Suite, BigQuery, Supabase, Monday.com, Zen, and all the other SQL options.
Now you can use all sorts of database options that software provides for you to create amazing projects with no code. What are you going to create? I'm curious to know, so let me know in the comment section down below.
Now if you want to continue learning more about automation, there is much more content for you. Make sure to watch this next video to dive even further.
Thank you so much for watching, and as always, let's automate your business! [Music]