Install the Next-Generation Google Drive Connector

When your organization stores its collateral in Google Drive, the material must remain the single source of truth when distributed to your sales team. By syncing content directly from Google Drive, you can rest assured that all content in Showpad is the most current and up-to-date without manually updating assets. This saves time on the administrative side, allowing more time to create the perfect content.

Updates to the content in your Google Drive will be reflected in the Content Library of the Online Platform. However, if you delete a synced folder or asset in Google Drive, it will be archived in Showpad instead of permanently deleted.

Use the monitoring tool in Showpad to verify details about each asset, so you have better insight into the activity related to your collateral, including a log of any changes made to files.

If you import content from Google Drive to your library, the assets will appear in Showpad as Microsoft Office native files. When importing by syncing with Google Drive, the assets will remain .gslide, .gdoc, and .gsheet. 

Note: If you don't want the comments from your Google Drive document to show up in Showpad, make sure to mark all comments as resolved, or remove them.

Key features

• Streamlines your asset management in Showpad
• Ensures there is a single source of truth for your collateral
• Change ownership of the synchronization
• Provides updates and insights into asset activity
• Support for adding shortcuts in Google Drive
• Link multiple Google Drive accounts across Divisions or to a single Division
• Content updates on Google Drive sync automatically with Showpad
• Deleted assets in Google Drive are archived in Showpad
• Native files (Gslides, Gsheets, and Gdocs) are converted to MS Office files upon synchronization to Showpad
• To edit synced assets, you can unlink them in Showpad's library. Read more here 

Note: If you have the Google Slide integration, you will see .gslide files in your My Files, which are powered by PowerPoint, as Google offers this as their export format. Check out this article for more information. 

You need this to succeed

• Showpad Ultimate package
• Content in Google Drive
• As the Integration user, you need read-and-write access to all Google Drive folders that will be synced. We recommend using a dedicated integration account rather than an individual user’s account.
• Upload Supported file types

Note: You cannot rename a file, move it to the trash, or upload a new version in the Online Platform if it was synced from Google Drive. Creation and management of tags related to all assets must be done in the Online Platform. Neither tags nor asset descriptions are transferable from the cloud solution.

The quick way to awesomeness

• Install the Google Drive app and authorize the integration
• Configure the integration
  • Connect to Google Drive
  • Select Folders
  • Confirm Configuration
• Find details in the dashboard

Do this step by step

Install Google Drive app

You can install the Google Drive app from the Online Platform:

1. Click the gear icon and select Admin Settings.
2. In the Showpad Apps section, select Manage Apps.
3. Click Install App.
4. Select the Google Drive app to install. Be sure the Automatically install the new version when the available checkbox is enabled (default).
5. Click Install.
6. Once the app is installed, you'll need to authorize the integration.

Authorize Integration

The first time you open the Google Drive app, you'll be asked to authorize the integration. To do so, click the Authorize button.

Configure Integration

Connect to Google Drive

1. In the Online Platform, click the gear icon and select Admin Settings.
2. In the Showpad Apps section, select Google Drive.
3. Click the Add new connection button.
4. Select the Division to connect with and click the Connect to Google Drive button. This ensures that your connection knows which Division to sync assets to. If you don't have multiple Divisions, the dropdown list is not displayed.
5. This will open an external window, allowing you to select an account to log into Google with.
6. Once you've selected an account, you can enable the Showpad app to be able to read assets. When ready, click the Allow button.
   
7. Click Next.

Select Folders

This step is used to specify which folders need to be synced to Showpad.

1. Select the folders to use.

   Note: Due to privacy reasons, other Showpad administrators can not view the selected folders. They are only visible to you, the owner of the integration.

2. Click the Next button.

Confirm Configuration

The last step lets you review your configuration and specify the sync frequency.

1. From the Sync frequency dropdown list, select the frequency that data is synced between Showpad and Google Drive. The default frequency is 15 minutes, meaning that the systems will sync every 15 minutes. The following frequencies are supported:

   	Frequency	Description
   	15 mins	(default) The data is synced every 15 minutes.
   	30 mins	The data is synced every 30 minutes.
   	1 hour	The data is synced every hour.
   	2 hours	The data is synced every 2 hours.
   	3 hours	The data is synced every 3 hours.
   	4 hours	The data is synced every 4 hours.
   	6 hours	The data is synced every 6 hours.
   	8 hours	The data is synced every 8 hours.
   	12 hours	The data is synced every 12 hours.
   	24 hours	The data is synced every 24 hours.

2. Ensure the Enabled option is selected to immediately enable the sync. If you leave this unselected, the sync will be saved in a disabled state, ready to be enabled at a later point in time.
3. Click the Save connection button.

Once saved, an overview of the configuration is displayed:

Icons are available for you to perform the following actions:

• Enabled - You can enable or disable the sync by toggling the switch.
• Refresh - You can trigger an immediate resync of all assets. This action does not impact the configured frequency schedule.

The three dot menu has the following options:

• Edit - You can modify the configuration settings.
• Duplicate - You can create a new connection for a different Division or reuse the connection with different settings. 
• Transfer ownership -You can transfer the ownership of the connection to yourself. Note that this option is only visible for connections that you don't own.
• Delete - You can delete the connection.

You can access your configuration settings at any time via the dashboard. Please refer to the Dashboard for more information.

Dashboard

The Google Drive dashboard will give you an overview of actions happening with your assets.

At first glance, the Metrics tab shows stats about the total number of files currently synced to Goolge Drive, the last successful sync, and the last failed sync.

The chart below demonstrates how many assets were created, updated, and deleted by the sync in a given timeframe. Change the date ranges to compare data, and group by month, week, day, or hour.

In the Events tab, you’ll find an overview of assets synced to Google Drive with more granular details related to the sync, such as status, operation, timestamps, external ID, and failure reason. You can search for a specific asset, filter by date range, or sort the results as needed. You can also search for failed events with a particular reason for failure. Please check the dropdown menu to see all possible failure scenarios that could occur within your integration.