Zendesk Channel Integration
FAQ

What the YouTube integration does?

YouTube Channel Integration for Zendesk turns YouTube comments on videos from your channel and channel comments into Zendesk tickets in your Zendesk instance.

What the Stack Exchange integration does?

Stack Exchange Channel Integration for Zendesk turns Stack Exchange questions by tag into Zendesk tickets in your Zendesk instance.

What the Docker Hub integration does?

Docker Hub Repositories Comments Integration for Zendesk turns Docker Hub comments on repositories into Zendesk tickets in your Zendesk instance.

What the Guide integration does?

Guide Comments Integration for Zendesk turns Guide Community or Knowledge Base comments into Zendesk tickets in your Zendesk instance.

How is it implemented?

It's implemented using a brand-new Channel Framework from Zendesk. The Channel framework lets us build integrations — two-way ticket-creation services — that bring customer communications from anywhere else into Zendesk. Examples could include ratings and reviews in Yelp, app stores, Amazon or Ebay; communities like Reddit or Quora; or messaging services like Skype, WeChat, and WhatsApp.

How can I install the YouTube integration?

To use the YouTube Channel Integration, you'll need to install the app from Zendesk's App Marketplace.

To install the YouTube Channel integration:

  • Click the Admin icon, then select Apps > Marketplace. Locate and click the YouTube icon.
  • Read the Overview, then click the Install app button in the upper right.
  • Edit the installation info if needed, and click the link to view the Zendesk Marketplace Terms of Use.
  • Click the Install button.
  • The integration is added to your Channel Integrations page. Click Channels > Channel Integrations to access it.

Connecting your YouTube Channel to the Integration:
  • Make sure you've navigated to Channels > Channel Integrations
  • Click "Add Account"
  • Provide all the necessary data
  • Click "Save"
  • Use "Sign in with Google" if needed, confirm permissions grant
  • Enjoy!

After the integration is installed and configured, you can easily use it in triggers / views / etc.

How can I install the Stack Exchange integration?

To use the Stack Exchange Channel Integration, you'll need to install the app from Zendesk's App Marketplace.

To install the Stack Exchange Channel integration:

  • Click the Admin icon, then select Apps > Marketplace. Locate and click the Stack Exchange icon.
  • Read the Overview, then click the Install app button in the upper right.
  • Edit the installation info if needed, and click the link to view the Zendesk Marketplace Terms of Use.
  • Click the Install button.
  • The integration is added to your Channel Integrations page. Click Channels > Channel Integrations to access it.

Connecting your Stack Exchange tag to the Integration:
  • Make sure you've navigated to Channels > Channel Integrations
  • Click "Add Account"
  • Provide all the necessary data
  • Click "Save"
  • Use "Sign in with Stack Exchange", confirm permissions grant
  • Enjoy!

After the integration is installed and configured, you can easily use it in triggers / views / etc.

How can I install the Docker Hub integration?

To use the Docker Hub Repository Comments Integration, you'll need to install the app from Zendesk's App Marketplace.

To install the Docker Hub Repository Comments channel integration:

  • Click the Admin icon, then select Apps > Marketplace. Locate and click the Docker Hub icon.
  • Read the Overview, then click the Install app button in the upper right.
  • Edit the installation info if needed, and click the link to view the Zendesk Marketplace Terms of Use.
  • Click the Install button.
  • The integration is added to your Channel Integrations page. Click Channels > Channel Integrations to access it.

Connecting your Docker Hub repository to the Integration:
  • Make sure you've navigated to Channels > Channel Integrations
  • Click "Add Account"
  • Provide all the necessary data
  • Click "Save"
  • Enjoy!

After the integration is installed and configured, you can easily use it in triggers / views / etc.

How can I install the Guide integration?

To use the Guide Comments Integration, you'll need to install the app from Zendesk's App Marketplace.

To install the Guide Comments channel integration:

  • Click the Admin icon, then select Apps > Marketplace. Locate and click the Guide icon.
  • Read the Overview, then click the Install app button in the upper right.
  • Edit the installation info if needed, and click the link to view the Zendesk Marketplace Terms of Use.
  • Click the Install button.
  • The integration is added to your Channel Integrations page. Click Channels > Channel Integrations to access it.

Connecting your Guide community or knowledge base to the Integration:
  • Make sure you've navigated to Channels > Channel Integrations
  • Click "Add Account"
  • Provide all the necessary data
  • Click "Save"
  • Enjoy!

After the integration is installed and configured, you can easily use it in triggers / views / etc.

License & Opensource

Most of the integration source code (at least for YouTube, Stack Exchange, Docker Hub) will be released publicly under MIT license and is published on GitHub.

Contributions

Constributions will be more than welcome as soon as we release the current version of the application on GitHub. It's currently written in PHP and can be considered a very simple application (more of a prototype, in fact, so don't expect any fancy development practices there).

Hosting of the integration server

Currently the integration is hosted on single Digital Ocean container in Frankfurt, paid by the author. The design of Zendesk's channel framework implies that there is always some intermediary server between Zendesk and external service (e.g. YouTube) which is used to convert the API of external service (YouTube) to Zendesk-readable endpoints, there is no way to run the integration without intermediary server.

Is it possible to run the integration on our own server?

Yes, it's possible, but you'll need to have your own intermediary server with installed SSL certificate (I'll try to provide as much configuration information as I can).

Reliability & Security

There are no SLAs or any other reliability or security guarantees by developers of this integration, so you're using it on your own risk without any obligations or libility from author's or developers' sides. Still, we try to keep the service as reliable as possible and take care of security issues too (we use this integration ourselves, after all).

Privacy

In theory there is a way for the integration to know everything which you pass to Zendesk from YouTube or other services. Having said that, the application has been designed in a way that it does not keep ANY information about your Zendesk instance or processed tickets/requests/etc. All the configuration information is kept in Zendesk and it's returned back to our integration every time it's needed - that protects us from data leak (no leak if we don't keep data) and secures the integration. The only time when we keep sensible information in application logs is when you explicitly enable "Send advanced debugging data to app developers" option in the configuration, so please don't enable it unless we try to troubleshoot some problems. We keep your name/email/instance address in MailChimp which is used for email communications with you - no sensible or confidential information (such as requests you pass via servers) is saved there.

Affiliation

Despite the fact that the developer of this integration works at JetBrains and initially this integration has been written for JetBrains Zendesk Instance, JetBrains cannot hold any liability for the use of this integration, will not take any responsibility and will not answer requests about it, it's not a product of JetBrains.

Will the integration become paid at some point?

We might consider building a paid version of the integration (on top of the free one) which would then have additional features worth paying for, in addition to SLAs, guaranteed support and other goodies, but we want basic functionality to stay FREE of charge (at least for YouTube, Stack Exchange, Docker Hub) and some of it open sourced for the benefit of community (at least YouTube, Stack Exchange, Docker Hub). Currently there are no defined plans to build a paid version. Donations are welcomed though (see the next item).

Donation

You can donate to support the further development, maintenance and payment for the integration server, or alternatively donate to charity

What's next?

We're going to improve this integration and add new features, and also develop some other channel integrations (for example, Stack Exchange / Stack Overflow Integration is on its way).

Who is an author?

Mikhail Vink, Global Marketing Programs Manager at JetBrains. You can contact me via email support@zendesk.mvink.me.

How to get updates?

You can subscribe to the news from the home page. You're also subscribed to the news if you use the integration - it's the only way we can actually contact you in case of problems or updates.