Over the last few months, Zapier HQ has been hard at work to get some goodies out before the end of the year. We're excited today to share we've beaten Santa's team of elves and have a brand new Zapier and over 250 integration partners to show off before Jolly Old Saint Nick delivers his goodies. Today we're launching a brand new web app and announcing that we now have over 250 integration partners.
The great team at Gigaom has already written a bit about the new Zapier, but enough of us tooting our own horn. Instead, let's jump in and see what's new in Zapier that you should care about.
Unleashing Your Inner Super Hero
The most fun part of the new Zapier isn't a change in functionality as much as it as a change in how we think about the service. Since our inception in 2011, we've struggled to describe exactly what Zapier does because it does a lot of things. In your own words, you say Zapier is…
The common thread in every discussion is that Zapier lets you do something that was either very difficult or impossible before. So for now, we're saying Zapier gives you superpowers.
So put on your cape and continue reading to learn about the Zapier enhancements that will give you those superpowers.
250+ Integration Partners
The most important part of Zapier is the services you can integrate. All the bells and whistles in the world don't mean a thing if you can't connect the tools you use. That's why most of our effort goes into increasing the numbers of services, triggers, and actions you can use on Zapier.
If you check out the redesigned service directory, you'll find over 250 services you can integrate with one another using Zapier. We've added some nice new sorting features to help you find the tools you use. You're now able to sort by popularity, alphabetically or most recent, and you have the ability to hone in on different categories, such as CRM, Accounting, or Developer Tools.
If you want to stay up-to-date on the services, triggers and actions added weekly to Zapier, then you should . And if you don't see a service supported on Zapier, but you'd like to have it, then check out how new services get added to Zapier.
A Redesigned Dashboard
Log in to your Zapier dashboard and you'll be greeted by a pleasant new look. There's a few small changes that make all the difference.
Zaps are now either "On" or "Off," which is much easier to understand than "Live" or "Paused."
It's a lot easier to see how much of Zapier you've used from the sidebar.
Direct access to your task history from the dashboard.
Perhaps most obvious is the consistent design. With a full-time designer working with Zapier you won't have to deal with patch-work design from engineers. Instead you'll get a consistent look-and-feel that's distinctly Zapier.
A Simpler Zap Creator
The core of Zapier is making Zaps. And while not much has changed, there are some nice new tweaks to make things a bit easier. Most notable are the improvements to make mapping fields on Step 5 (above) a little bit more obvious.
Stay tuned for more. We've got a bunch of ideas for making it as easy as possible to create the Zaps you need.
Mobile Optimized
Ever tried using Zapier on your phone or on a tablet? Then you know how painful of an experience it was. Today that changes. Try accessing zapier.com from any device and the pain is gone. Using Zapier on your phone just got a whole lot easier.
A More Detailed Task History
With improvements to the dashboard and Zap creator we couldn't leave the task history out. The new task history allows you to easily see what tasks your Zaps have performed and to quickly sort based on specific Zaps.
There's also two great new features for paying users:
Export Task History
Replay Failed Tasks
Exporting your task history allows you to get a CSV of anything that's happened in your Zapier account. Great faster searching through task history or running analysis on your account.
Replaying failed tasks helps in the case that your action service was broke when the task ran. Instead of losing the task forever and having to manually perform it, you can just click "Replay" and all is well in your Zapier world.
Connect Multiple Accounts
This feature isn't all that new, but it's a favorite feature for a lot of people—you can connect as many accounts to Zapier as you'd like. Manage 5 different Twitter profiles? Connect 'em all. Have a Gmail account for work, home and that side project? Feel free to set up Zaps for all three.
With Zapier, you don't have to choose which account you really want to make Zaps with. Instead you can make Zaps with any that you'd like.
A Simpler Settings Page
Wow, the old Zapier settings page was overrun with settings for this, that and the other. Take a look at other web apps and you can tell Zapier wasn't the only web app the mistake of filling up settings with every leftover feature switch in the world.
We've done our best to clean things up and show only things that are necessary in settings. We you need to make a change to your email, password, notifications or billing then settings is the place to go.
A Buffet Full of Help Resources
With more supported services, comes more questions about those services and how Zapier can work with them.
In the past, you've had to email Zapier for almost any question you have. But we realize not everyone loves chatting with support, so we've taken a ton of time to document as many parts of Zapier as possible in the Zapier help docs. If those don't answer the questions you have, then you can always email us directly for help and we'll respond as quickly and as ably as we always have.
A Revamped Blog With More And Better Content
OK, so the blog isn't exactly new. In fact we've had a blog since the very beginning. But it hasn't always been the most consistent or had the most relevant content.
However, over the last few months we've done a lot of rethinking to ask what can we do to provide the consistently great and relevant information for you.
Now there's an increased focused on productivity, workflow best practices, company and team building, and how to get things done with less work. It turns out it worked. The change in focus has allowed us to increase our blog email list by 1,972% in the last four months. More on this in a later post, but if you're interested in the sum of this content, here are a few examples of recent posts:
How a Hot Ecommerce Startup Scaled Customer Service on Their Way to 1 Million Products Sold
8 Under-Utilized Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Favorite Web Apps
If that sounds interesting and helpful to you, then you should subscribe to the blog and stay up-to-date on the best practices and cutting edge secrets for workplace productivity.
What's Coming Next for Zapier?
The work is never done at Zapier so you can expect even more to be coming in 2014. Here are some items we're working on:
1. More Services, Triggers and Actions
One thing you've pointed out is that Zapier isn't useful if it doesn't support the services you use. So we'll keep adding more tools, making sure the service supports as many as possible so you can connect what you need.
2. Recommendations
With lots of options, it can be tough to find what you need. In 2014, we'll keep building tools to help you find the Zaps that are important and valuable for you personally and professionally.
3. Filling in the Gaps
Sometimes, you'll find a Zap that gets you 80 or 90 percent of the way to completion, which can be frustrating. Thanks to your feedback we've identified some common threads around where this happens and are working on a handful of features that will make sure you get a 100 percent perfect solution.
