Create and Manage Data Stores for ACB templates

The Automated Content Builder (ACB) app enables the creation of documents and presentations tailored to prospects' context and industry-specific needs. Customer data automatically integrates into marketing-approved templates to create impactful, personalized content in seconds. 

Templates contain placeholders that can retrieve data from preconfigured Data Stores. Once the Data Store is created, admins can add text and asset records(data). 

When a user creates a document or presentation from a template, the pertinent data from these Data Stores is retrieved and automatically inserted into the document's placeholders, saving time and effort in creating tailored presentations and enforcing brand standards.

In this article, we’ll learn how to create and manage Data Stores. Once created, they can be used as data nodes to replace placeholders in ACB templates.

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Data nodes collect the data necessary for your templates. This article explains the different data node types and how to configure them.

Data Stores are table-like sources of data that admins create with a name, description, and columns to store text and Showpad assets. This provides the structure for the records that you'll add to the Data Store once it's created.

You need to add Data Stores to the ACB Experience before they can be configured as data nodes and used in templates.  

In this article, we’ll learn how to:

• Create a Data Store
  • Add records
  • Edit records
  • Export records
  • Delete records
• Edit a Data Store
• Delete a Data Store

Create a Data Store

1. In the Web App, navigate to your ACB Experience and select the Data Stores tab in the left menu.
2. Click the + New data store button in the top right corner.

3. Enter the required information:

   • Name - Enter a name for the Data Store.
   • Description - Enter a description of the Data Store
   • Columns - Define the structure of your Data Store by specifying one or more columns and their data types. The supported data types are:
     • Text - This enables you to store text entries in your Data Store records.
     • Showpad Asset - This enables you to store Showpad assets in your Data Store records. When creating new records, you can browse and select your existing Showpad assets. Note: When selecting this type, it's important to consider whether users have access to the assets that will be used in the records. If they don't have access to an asset, placeholders using that record will be empty or use the fallback value.

   You can remove a column by clicking the ⊝ icon next to it.

4. Click Save.

Add records

There are two ways to add records: Manually and Import from CSV.

• Manually

  1. The newly created Data Store automatically opens so you can add records to it. Click Add record.
  2. The required information for the new record is determined by the columns you defined when creating the Data Store. In this example, our Data Store has a Name column with a text data type and an Image column with a Showpad Asset data type. 
  3. Click Save. The record is added to the Data Store. You can create additional records by clicking the Add record button.

• Import from CSV

  1. The newly created Data Store automatically opens so you can add records to it. Click the three dot menu next to the Add record button, then select Import from CSV.

  2. Click  Select file to upload your CSV file.

     Note: The CSV file must have column headers that match the columns you defined when creating the Data Store and use commas as the delimiter.

  3. Once your file has been uploaded, the name of the CSV file is displayed, and you can select how the data should be added:
     • Click Add rows to add new rows to your Data Store.
     • Click Replace existing rows to overwrite the existing rows and replace them with the new ones.

Edit records

1. In the Web App, navigate to your ACB Experience and select the Data Stores tab in the left menu.
2. Select the Data Store containing the record to modify and click its pencil icon to edit it.

3. Select the record to modify and click its pencil icon to edit it.

   Tip: On the Data Store details page, clicking on an asset's name opens it in the Asset Viewer.

4. Modify the record as necessary. When ready, click Save.

Export records

1. In the Web App, navigate to your ACB Experience and select the Data Stores tab in the left menu.
2. Click on the Data Store containing the records to export.
3. Click the three dot menu next to the Add record button, then select Export CSV.
4. The CSV file is automatically downloaded to your device.

Delete records

1. In the Web App, navigate to your ACB Experience and select the Data Stores tab in the left menu.
2. Select the Data Store containing the record to modify and click its pencil icon to edit it.
3. Select the record to delete and click its trash icon to permanently remove it.
4. Confirm the deletion by clicking Delete.

Edit a Data Store

1. In the Web App, navigate to your ACB Experience and select the Data Stores tab in the left menu.
2. Select the Data Store to modify and click its pencil icon to edit it.
3. Click Edit Data Store in the top right.
4. Modify the Data Store as necessary. When ready, click Save.
   You can remove a column by clicking the ⊝ icon next to it.

Delete a Data Store

1. In the Web App, navigate to your ACB Experience and select the Data Stores tab in the left menu.
2. Select the Data Store to delete and click its trash icon to permanently remove it.
3. Confirm the deletion by clicking Delete.