Automate Video Link Shortening with Pabbly Connect: A Step-by-Step Guide

Learn how to automate video link shortening and notifications using Pabbly Connect with Google Sheets and Google Chat in this detailed tutorial. Follow this definitive guide to creating powerful automated workflows with straightforward, efficiency-focused solutions that save valuable time.

Watch Step By Step Video Tutorial Below

1. Accessing Pabbly Connect for Video Link Shortening

To start automating video link shortening, first access Pabbly Connect by visiting its landing page. If you are a new user, you can sign up for free and receive 100 tasks monthly to explore the features.

Once on the landing page, click on the ‘Sign In’ button if you already have an account. This will take you to the dashboard where you can see various Pabbly applications. Click on ‘Access Now’ for Pabbly Connect to begin creating your workflow.

2. Creating a Workflow in Pabbly Connect

In Pabbly Connect, click on the ‘Create Workflow’ button to initiate your automation process. You will be prompted to name your workflow; for this tutorial, use ‘Automatically Shorten Video Links with Short.io and Share in Google Chat’.

• Select a folder to save your workflow.
• Click on ‘Create’ to proceed.

After creating the workflow, you will enter the workflow window, which is crucial for setting up triggers and actions. The trigger indicates when the automation starts, and actions are the outcomes that follow.

3. Setting Up Google Sheets as the Trigger

In Pabbly Connect, select Google Sheets as your trigger application. This means that whenever a new video is published in your Google Sheets, it will trigger the automation.

Choose the trigger event as ‘New or Updated Spreadsheet Row’. This selection ensures that the workflow activates upon updating the status of a video to ‘Published’. Copy the generated webhook URL provided by Pabbly Connect for the next steps.

• Log into your Google Sheets account.
• Navigate to Extensions > Add-ons > Get Add-ons to install the Pabbly Connect Webhooks extension.
• Refresh the spreadsheet to see the Pabbly Connect options.

After refreshing, go to Pabbly Connect Webhooks and select Initial Setup. Paste the copied webhook URL and set the trigger column, which should be the column that indicates the video status.

4. Shortening Video Links with Short.io

Once the trigger is set up, the next step in Pabbly Connect is to shorten the video URL using Short.io. Add a new action step and select Short.io as your action application.

Choose the action event as ‘Create a Short Link’ and proceed to connect your Short.io account. You will need to provide a secret API key from your Short.io account. This key allows Pabbly Connect to create shortened links securely.

Map the long video URL from the previous Google Sheets response. Click on ‘Save and Send Test Request’ to create the short link.

Once the short link is successfully created, you can copy it for use in the next action step.

5. Sending Notifications via Google Chat

After generating the short URL, the final action in Pabbly Connect is to send a notification to your Google Chat. Add another action step and select Google Chat as your action application.

Choose the action event as ‘Create Message’. You will need to provide the Webhook URL from your Google Chat. This allows Pabbly Connect to send messages directly to your chat space, alerting your team about the new video.

Map the message fields including the video title, creator name, and the short URL. Click on ‘Save and Send Test Request’ to send the message.

After executing this step, check your Google Chat to confirm that the message with the new video alert has been successfully sent.

Conclusion

This tutorial demonstrated how to automate the process of shortening video links and notifying your team using Pabbly Connect. By integrating Google Sheets, Short.io, and Google Chat, you can streamline your workflow and enhance communication about new video content.