Webhooks are a great way to connect your different data points in Open To Close to other software. For example, if you need specific information to go to a Google Sheet every time a property is created in Open To Close, you can use the webhook feature to accomplish this.
To set up a webhook, you will need to use an API connection, Zapier (Premium), or another software similar to Zapier. In the examples below, we will use Zapier since it is the most commonly used option.
Pro Tip!
Since you will be moving back and forth between Open To Close and Zapier for the initial setup, having multiple browser tabs or windows open is helpful.
Selecting Fields in Open To Close To Use With Webhooks
To start, you go to the hammer icon in your Open To Close account and select Field Editor. This will show you all the different field options you can use with the webhook feature.
Each field will have a circle next to the star (or calendar) you can click on to indicate that it's a field you can use with any webhooks you create. Select the ones you want to use with your outbound webhooks.
To select all the fields in a section, click the All option to open your mass actions at the bottom of your screen.
If you select all of the fields and click on Webhook, you will be asked if you want them to be active or not active. Active means they will be usable fields when creating outbound webhooks. Not active indicates you will not be able to use them.
Where Are the Boxes?
You may notice that some fields do not have boxes next to them to check off. This means you will need to select them individually instead of in mass. These fields are Contract Status, Contract Client Type, Address, State, City, Zip, County, Listing Price, Purchase Amount, Contract Date, and Closing Date.
You may have modified some of these field names to work with your state but they should be similar.
Make sure you click the Field Groups button to go through each group and section to ensure all fields that you need to work with are included.
Pro Tip!
When you select a new field for webhooks, make sure you also add it to the header on your Google Spreadsheet. If you do not have it on the spreadsheet, there's no way to connect the data. Don't wait and then forget!
Creating a Webhook Using Zapier
To use the webhook feature in Zapier, you must have a subscription that includes "Connections via Webhooks." Check out the pricing on their website to see which subscription fits you best.
Creating an Endpoint in Zapier
The first part of creating a Zap is establishing an endpoint, which is where the information goes once the action has been triggered.
Example:
When a property is created in Open To Close, the endpoint would be in a Zap. From there, Zapier sends it to another app that you designate when creating the Zap, such as Google Sheets or Airtable.
Go to your Zapier account, click + Create, and select Zaps.
The first part of the zap is selecting an app. Click this and choose Webhooks.
Next is the Event, where you will need to select Catch Hook from the list of choices.
Once the trigger event is selected, the Continue option will show up at the bottom of the step.
Important!
The next part of the zap is Pick off a Child Key. This is not something we use so you can click on Continue to move past this section.
The last step for creating the trigger is to test it. Click on Copy to the right of the webhook URL, and go to your Open To Close account.
Creating the Webhook in Open To Close
Now that you have the URL for your Zap, head over to your Settings (gear icon), and select Webhooks from the list. You should automatically land on the Outbound tab.
Fill in the following information to complete the outbound webhook creation.
Title - Use a title that is specific to what the webhook is. We'll continue using Google Sheets as an example.
Action - For this article, we are focusing on creating an outbound webhook for when a property is created in Open To Close. You can also create outbound webhooks when a property field is updated, or when a contact is created, updated, or deleted.
Endpoint - This is where you will paste the URL for the Zap you just created. If you use another service/software to create the webhook, paste the URL from that source into this section.
Once everything is in place, click on Submit.
Very Important!
Webhooks impact all users creating, updating, and deleting content inside your organization.
Test Your Webhook
To establish the connection between the endpoint and Open To Close, find the webhook you just created, and click on Send Test Data next to JSON.
Head back over to Zapier and find the Zap you were just on. Click on the Test trigger to see if the connection was established. If for some reason the test fails, go back to Open To Close, and click on Send Test Data again.
If the test was successful, you will see a request that you can choose before clicking on Continue to go to the next step.
Creating the Action in Zapier
Now that the trigger (endpoint) has been established between Open To Close and Zapier, it's time to tell the webhook where the data needs to go. We'll continue using the Google Sheets option as our example, but you can search for any other app that works with webhooks.
Similar to the trigger step, you will need to choose an event that happens. For this, we're creating spreadsheet row(s) so that each time the Zap is triggered, it will create a new row on the spreadsheet rather than update and override any existing data.
Select an account to connect to the action. Since we are creating a row in Google Sheets, we will connect our Google account to the Zap. If you have multiple accounts, make sure you are using the correct one.
Now it's time to set up the action. You can select the Google Drive where the spreadsheet resides, or you can leave it blank and it will use your personal Google Drive.
Next, select the spreadsheet you need and the worksheet you want to use.
Once you have the worksheet pulled in, it will list the header for each column from row one on the spreadsheet.
Very Important!
If you didn't add the newly selected field to your Google spreadsheet, the field will not show in this step of the Zap. You must go to your spreadsheet and add the field you selected in Open To Close to the header.
You must match the header with a field from Open To Close. We'll use Address as the example.
Clicking on the text box for Address will open a new section to search your Open To Close fields. Find and select the one that matches the field.
Important!
Make sure you are using the search text box to find the field in question. If you type it into the text directly below Address, it will pull that text in each time rather than the data you need from your transaction.
Continue to go through each section to match it with a field. Once you get to the end, click Continue to finish setting up the action.
The last step in the process is testing the action. You have two options.
Test step - This is what you will use to test and then continue so you can publish the Zap.
Skip test - We don't recommend skipping the test. If you don't test the Zap, you're not going to know if things are pulling in the way that you need them to.
Once the test goes through, you should see a row of text on your spreadsheet showing "Text Value" or a number. This indicates the test was successful and you can now click on Publish to set your Zap live.
If you have any questions along the way or are unable to get your Zap to send the test through, reach out to us at help@opentoclose.com.