Eligible data feeds
Data must be provided by a REST API, in XML or JSON format.
The possible authentication methods are:
- Basic authentication (via form or headers)
- OAuth tokens
APIs that don't require any authentication may also be called.
In the case of APIs requiring an OAuth connection, we currently offer the following connectors:
- Facebook (graph API)
- Twitter (public API)
- YouTube analytics
- OnCrawl
- Google Analytics
This list is continually growing. To be informed of new available connections, please check the news alerts in your interface.
Add an external data feed
In order to display external data, you must select the "External data" option when creating a new data set.
Connect to an API (step 1)
API authentication mode
In some cases, the APIs to which you connect require authentication from you.
Please consult the user documentation for the API you wish to use in order to know its authentication mode, and create an account or key if needed.
Public APIs
A certain number of APIs don't require authentication (this is the case with Open Data APIs, for example), or allow authentication directly in the call's URL. In this case, please tick the "Other" option in the "Authentication" area.
APIs with "http basic" authentication
Select the "Login/Password" option and enter your credentials.
APIs with OAuth authentication
Tick the "OAuth" option: a drop-down list will appear containing all the OAuth connections that you've already enabled. Select the one that should be used in the case of the API call you wish to make.
Note
In order to use this option, you must have already enabled the appropriate OAuth connector via your user profile.Required fields
Connection to a third-party API requires the following elements:
- The URL of the API call you wish to make
- The output format for data sent by the API: JSON or XML
- The API connection mode: no authentication, basic authentication (login/password), OAuth
Optional fields: date settings
You may "dynamically" refresh your external data based on the analysis period selected in your dashboard. The API you use must allow for this, by authorising start and end date settings in the URL enabling call generation.
To enable this feature, simply copy the names of the URL's variables which correspond to the start and end dates over into the dedicated fields, then specify the format of the date transmitted via the URL (4).
In general, the format suggested by APIs is yyyy-MM-dd. We also offer other formats, or you may enter a custom format.
Example:
https://youtubeanalytics.googleapis.com/v2/reports?dimensions=ageGroup%2Cgender&startDate=2019-01-01&endDate=2019-07-01&ids=channel%3D%3DMINE&metrics=viewerPercentage&sort=gender%2CageGroup
Fill out the "Start date" field with the "startDate" parameter, and the "End date" field with the "endDate" parameter. Maintain the yyyy-MM-dd format.
If you don't enter this information, your dashboard will display data from the dates entered directly in the URL of the API call.
Tip
If you don't know which elements to enter into this setup window, please consult the documentation for the API to which you'd like to connect.Click on the "Next" button to carry out the call and display the data sent by the API.
Setup and association (step 2)
Give your data set a name (not mandatory; if you don't enter anything, a name will automatically be attributed). (1)
Then select the elements to be used as dimensions or metrics in your data set, by hovering over them and then specifying whether each is a dimension or a metric. (2). You may also specify if an element should be used as the "granularity" in order to create a notion of evolution in your graph (a date, for example).
All elements you've selected will appear at the right of the window. Rename these elements if you'd like, in order to make your data display clearer and easier to understand in your dashboard. You may also reorder the elements of your data set by simply dragging and dropping. (3)
Finalise the creation of your data set by clicking the "OK" button.
The rendering could be the following:
Documentation for developers
For details on what types of information can be made available via each of the APIs you wish to use, please refer to the specific developer documentation.
Here are a few examples: