Klips: Creating Zendesk data sources

Visualize, discover, and act on your data with Klips and Klip dashboards.

Ready to get the most from your Zendesk customer support data? Get started by setting up a connection between Klipfolio and your Zendesk data and adding some data sources.

When you're finished adding Zendesk data sources, you'll use them to power your custom Klips.

This article includes:

• Connecting to your Zendesk data
• Adding a Zendesk pre-built data source
• Adding a Zendesk custom data source
  • Custom building: About APIs and queries
• I've added Zendesk data sources - What's next?

Connecting to your Zendesk data

Here are a couple things to note about connecting Klipfolio to your Zendesk data:

Your data is safe with us. The first time you connect your Zendesk data to Klipfolio, you'll be prompted to sign in to Zendesk and give permission to allow Klipfolio to securely access data within your Zendesk account. We are serious about protecting your data privacy.

Managing your connections. By default, your connection name looks like this: yourname@Zendesk<date and time created>. You can modify the default connection name when you create a new connection or from your list of connections, accessed by clicking your Account Name (located at the bottom of the left navigation sidebar) and selecting Account > Connected Accounts or by clicking the button in the left navigation sidebar and selecting Connections.

You can use the same account connection every time you connect to Zendesk. If you have trouble accessing an existing connection, your OAuth token may have expired. If that happens to you, check out these troubleshooting tips.

Adding a Zendesk pre-built data source

Our pre-built data sources focus on the most sought-after Zendesk data. Either use them as complete solutions or as starting points for custom building.

Note: When adding a Zendesk pre-built data source, you may be prompted to select your ticket IDs. You can find your ticket IDs by choosing the List of Tickets pre-built data source.

To add a Zendesk pre-built data source:

1. In the left navigation sidebar, click the 3-dot menu beside Data Sources and select +New data source.

If you don’t see this option, go to the bottom of the left navigation sidebar and click your Account Name > Data Sources > +New data source.

2. On the Where is your data? page, select Zendesk.
3. Select a pre-built data source from the left section of the Choose a pre-built or custom connection page.
4. Enter your Zendesk subdomain and click Continue.
5. If this is your first time connecting to Zendesk:
   • Click Connect an account. If prompted, enter your Zendesk login credentials and click Next. If prompted, click Allow to enable Klipfolio to securely access your Zendesk data. Optionally, enter a new name for the connection and click Apply. Click Continue.
6. If you have connected with Zendesk before:
   • Select an existing connection (token) from the drop-down list and click Continue.
7. On the Configure your data source page, enter your Zendesk subdomain. If prompted, select the appropriate option from the drop-down list.
8. Click Get data or, if you want to modify the pre-built data request, click Switch to Custom settings.
   Note: If you switch back to the Basic settings page after making changes in the Custom settings page, your changes will not be saved.
9. Ensure this is the data you’re looking for and, optionally, select the checkbox to Model your data.  Learn more about modelling your data source. Note: Zendesk returns JSON formatted data. Learn how to model JSON data.
10. Click Continue.
11. Name, choose refresh settings, and, optionally, share your data source.
12. Click Save.

If you clicked Switch to Custom settings:

1. On the Configure your data source page, modify the Query URL to get the data you want. You can use the existing information in the Query URL text box as a base. It was auto-filled based on the pre-built data source you selected on the Choose a pre-built or custom connection page.
2. Click Get data.
3. Ensure this is the data you’re looking for and, optionally, select the checkbox to Model your data.  Learn more about modelling your data source. Note: Zendesk returns JSON formatted data. Learn how to model JSON data.
4. Click Continue.
5. Name, choose refresh settings, and, optionally, share your data source.
6. Click Save.

The data source is added to your account and is ready to use for custom Klips. You can see all your data sources in your Data Source Library, accessed by clicking Data Sources in the left navigation sidebar.

Adding a Zendesk custom data source

Need a unique set of data? When our pre-built data sources don't include exactly what you're looking for, create your own custom data source. You can either use a pre-built data source query as a base or write your own queries from scratch.

To add a Zendesk custom data source:

1. In the left navigation sidebar, click the 3-dot menu beside Data Sources and select +New data source.

If you don’t see this option, go to the bottom of the left navigation sidebar and click your Account Name > Data Sources > +New data source.

2. On the Where is your data? page, select Zendesk.
3. On the Choose a pre-built or custom connection page, click Create a custom Zendesk data source.
4. Enter your Zendesk subdomain and click Continue.
5. If this is your first time connecting to Zendesk:
   • Click Connect an account. If prompted, enter your Zendesk login credentials and click Next. If prompted, click Allow to enable Klipfolio to securely access your Zendesk data. Optionally, enter a new name for the connection and click Apply. Click Continue.
6. If you have connected with Zendesk before:
   • Select an existing connection (token) from the drop-down list and click Continue.
7. On the Configure your data source page, adjust the Query URL information to replace any generic placeholder query information with your own. For example, replace <yourSubdomain> with your own subdomain.
8. Edit the Query URL to return the data you need. Refer to the Zendesk API documentation for details.
9. Click Get data.
10. Ensure this is the data you’re looking for and, optionally, select the checkbox to Model your data. Learn more about modelling your data source. Note: Zendesk returns JSON formatted data. Learn how to model JSON data.
11. Click Continue.
12. Name, choose refresh settings, and, optionally, share your data source.
13. Click Save.

The data source is added to your account and is ready to use for custom Klips. You can see all your data sources in your Data Source Library, accessed by clicking Data Sources in the left navigation sidebar.

Custom building: About APIs and queries

Want to learn more about custom building? This section is for you. Klipfolio connects to hundreds of services in the cloud that have a REST API. If you take the time to learn your service’s API to create queries for the data you want, your possibilities are endless. Here’s a quick overview video on APIs and Klipfolio:

Klipfolio API's 101

If you need help using APIs, ask a data analyst or developer.

Refer to the Zendesk API documentation to discover more data requests.

See the reference table below for API related information and sample queries.

Next steps

Great! You've connected to your Zendesk data and created one (or more) data sources. Now you're ready to use those data sources in custom Klips.

• Up next - Build Klips and dashboards

Want to learn more?

Check out these related articles:

• Klips: Introduction to data sources
• Klips: About JSON and XML data sources
• Klips: Guide to REST API data sources