In this section, we will look at how you can integrate RSS with WhatsApp and automatically share the RSS feed of any website via WhatsApp Cloud API.
This automation requires a one-time setup, for which we will use Pabbly Connect.
We will first link the RSS with Pabbly Connect to capture the feeds, then link Pabbly Connect with WhatsApp and share the captured feeds on WhatsApp.
Steps to Automatically Share RSS Feeds on WhatsApp
1. Sign In / Sign Up to Pabbly Connect and Create a Workflow
2. Setup RSS as the Trigger App to Capture New Feeds
3. Setup WhatsApp Cloud API as the Action App to Send Messages
4. Compose a Message Template
5. Map the Necessary Fields
Step 1:- Sign In / Sign Up to Pabbly Connect and Create a Workflow
A. Sign In / Sign Up
To begin this process, visit Pabbly Connect and create your account by clicking on the ‘Sign Up Free’ button. You can also click on Sign In if you already have an account.
Click on the Pabbly Connect ‘Access Now’ button
B. Create Workflow
To create a new workflow, click the ‘Create Workflow’ button.
Name your workflow, and click on ‘Create’.
Step 2:- Setup RSS as the Trigger App to Capture New Feeds
We will now look at the steps to establish a link between RSS and Pabbly Connect. This will help us to fetch the feeds from the website.
A. Trigger App
Trigger allows us to choose the application that will receive the data for Pabbly Connect. In our case, it would be RSS by Pabbly
Choose ‘RSS by Pabbly’ as the Trigger App, select ‘New Item in Feed’ as a Trigger Event, and click on ‘Connect’.
Copy and paste the Feed URL into its give field and click on ‘Save & Send Test Request’.
Expand Response Received, under which the captured feeds must be visible, thus confirming the established connection.
Step 3:- Setup WhatsApp Cloud API as the Action App to Send Messages
Upon capturing the RSS feeds we essentially, want to share those feeds on WhatsApp. Therefore, WhatsApp Cloud API will be our Action App.
Note: Follow steps 1 to 3 of this blog to create a new Whatsapp Business Cloud API account if you don’t already have one.
A. Action App
Choose ‘WhatsApp Cloud API’ as your Action App, select ‘Send Template Message’ as an Action Event, and click on ‘Connect’.
B. Connect WhatsApp Cloud API Account
To connect with your WhatsApp Cloud API account, select ‘Add New Connection’. You will be asked to enter your Permanent Token, Phone Number ID, and WhatsApp Business Account ID.
Go to your Facebook Developer dashboard, and copy the Phone Number ID and WhatsApp Business Account ID.
Paste both in their respective fields.
The Token visible on your dashboard is a temporary one that expires every 24 hours. For our workflow, we need a Permanent Token. You can generate a Permanent Access Token by following the steps given in this post.
Paste the Permanent Token, and click on ‘Save’.
Step 4:- Compose a Message Template
You will be asked to fill up a few fields. You can either select your Template Name directly from the list if you already have one ready or create a new message template by following these steps.
A. Create a Message Template
Switch to your WhatsApp Cloud API dashboard, and click the ‘here’ hyperlink. You will be redirected to a new page.
Click on ‘Create Message Template’.
Select a Category, Name the template and pick a Language. Click on ‘Continue’.
B. Body with Dynamic Data Tags
Type in your message in the Body field. To personalize your message, include Dynamic Data Tags in your template.
Dynamic Data Tags help us to include variables in our template, these variables will be replaced with actual data in your message. The actual data can be a name, an email address, date, time, ID number, etc. To add a dynamic tag to your template, write your variables between double curly braces {{variable}}.
‘Submit’ your message and ‘Confirm’.
As you submit your template, it could be approved right away or go to Facebook for a manual review. This process may take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. Reload your page to see if your template is approved and available, as indicated by the green color.
Step 5:- Map the Necessary Fields
Now that you have connected your WhatsApp Cloud API account, all you need is to map the necessary details from the step above. Mapping ensures our data remains dynamic and changes as per the received responses.
Select your Template Name.
Enter the Recipient Mobile Number along with the country code.
Remember the Dynamic Data Tags we talked about? Those tags will be replaced by the data present in Body Fields.
In Body Field, enter or map the relevant data from above. This could vary as per your choice of variable. Click on ‘Save & Send Test Request’.
As soon as you click on Save & Send Request, the RSS feed will be sent to the recipient’s WhatsApp number.
Our automation is complete. We have successfully integrated RSS with WhatsApp. Each time the website gets updated with a new feed, it will automatically be shared via WhatsApp.
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