Create Certificates from Google Sheets & Send on WhatsApp with Pabbly Connect

Learn how to automate certificate creation from Google Sheets and send them via WhatsApp using Pabbly Connect. Follow this step-by-step tutorial for seamless integration. Learn to create powerful connections between your critical applications without requiring specialized programming knowledge or extensive technical background.

Watch Step By Step Video Tutorial Below

1. Setting Up Pabbly Connect for Automation

To create certificates from Google Sheets and send them on WhatsApp, the first step is to set up Pabbly Connect. Visit the Pabbly Connect website and sign up for a free account. Once registered, you will have access to 100 free tasks each month, allowing you to test your automation workflows.

After logging into your Pabbly Connect dashboard, click on the blue button to create a new workflow. Name your workflow something descriptive, such as ‘Automatically Create Certificates for Students’. This sets the stage for the integration process.

2. Triggering Certificate Creation with Google Sheets

The next step in our automation involves connecting Google Sheets to Pabbly Connect. Select Google Sheets as the trigger application and choose the event as ‘New or Updated Spreadsheet Row’. This will trigger the automation whenever a new student entry is added to your Google Sheet.

To establish this connection, you need to set up a webhook URL provided by Pabbly Connect. Follow these steps to integrate:

• Open your Google Sheet and navigate to Extensions > Add-ons > Get Add-ons.
• Search for ‘Pabbly Connect Webhooks’ and install it.
• Once installed, go back to Extensions > Pabbly Connect Webhooks and click on ‘Initial Setup’.

Paste the webhook URL from Pabbly Connect into the setup window and specify the trigger column, which is typically the last column of your data. After confirming the setup, send a test request to ensure the data is received correctly in Pabbly Connect.

3. Creating Certificates Using Google Slides

After successfully setting up the trigger, the next step is to create the certificates using Google Slides through Pabbly Connect. Choose Google Slides as the action application and select ‘Create Presentation from Template’ as the action event.

Before proceeding, ensure you have a certificate template ready in Google Slides. In your template, use curly braces to denote variables that will change, such as {student_name} and {competition_name}. This allows Pabbly Connect to automatically fill in the details for each student based on the data from Google Sheets.

• Connect your Google Slides account to Pabbly Connect.
• Select the certificate template you created earlier.
• Map the variables from the Google Sheets data to the corresponding fields in your template.

Once everything is set up, click on save and send a test request. You should see a new certificate generated in your designated Google Drive folder.

4. Sending Certificates via WhatsApp Cloud API

The final step is to send the generated certificates to students via WhatsApp using the WhatsApp Cloud API. In Pabbly Connect, select WhatsApp Cloud API as the next action application and choose ‘Send Template Message’ as the action event.

To send WhatsApp messages, you must first create a template in your WhatsApp Cloud API account. Ensure that your template includes variables for student names and competition names, which allows for personalization. After creating your template, connect your WhatsApp Cloud API account to Pabbly Connect.

Enter your WhatsApp Business Account ID, Phone Number ID, and Permanent Token. Map the recipient’s phone number (with country code) and the document URL of the certificate in the message body. Click on send test request to verify that the message is sent successfully.

Once the setup is complete, every time a new entry is added to your Google Sheet, a certificate will be created and sent to the student automatically.

5. Conclusion

By using Pabbly Connect, you can seamlessly automate the process of creating certificates from Google Sheets and sending them via WhatsApp. This integration not only saves time but also ensures that students receive their certificates promptly and efficiently. Follow the steps outlined in this tutorial to set up your automation workflow and experience the power of Pabbly Connect.