Automation ( aka Program, Process, Flow )
Can be thought of as a computer program, which starts with a trigger, and proceeds through a series of steps until it completes or errors.
An important distinction here is that some platforms like Zapier have a linear flow to their programs, while others are structured more like flowchart or graph.
Step ( aka Node )
An individual step in the automation, which is either a;
- Trigger
- Action
- Decision
Trigger
A trigger is the starting point of any automation. It's what kicks off the automation process. You can sub-classify triggers as;
- User-initiated event, like submitting a form, enrolling in Membership, or completing an online order.
- Calendar events, which are simply timed triggers, e.g. 3am every day, or the 1st Sunday of each month, or 2 days before the next school-term start.
- System-monitoring-events, like item published, site published, website down, domain renewal due.
Action
Describes a thing that the automation should do. Here we get a huge range of variety on the systems and capabilities that the automation platform can provide.
Decision
Is a logical choice, where the flow of the automation can change.
For example, if the New Member ticked "add me to the mailing list" go down the path of adding them to SendInBlue.
In programming terms, you can think of these as if/then/else, for/each, and switch/case constructions.
Webhook
Describes a certain kind of "non-specific" trigger or action, which can send or receive raw HTTP requests. It's can be used to connect to a lot of systems that do not have a defined integration.
For example, a form on a webflow site could be connected directly to a Zapier Webhook. When the user submits, the browser does an HTTP GET or HTTP POST, and the program is triggered with the data in the form as input.
Deeper Automation Terms
CRUD - Create, read, update and delete
In computer programming, create, read, update, and delete (CRUD) are the four basic operations of persistent storage.[1] CRUD is also sometimes used to describe user interface conventions that facilitate viewing, searching, and changing information using computer-based forms and reports. The term was likely first popularized by James Martin in his 1983 book Managing the Data-base environment.
ACID - Atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability
In computer science, ACID (atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps.[1] In the context of databases, a sequence of database operations that satisfies the ACID properties (which can be perceived as a single logical operation on the data) is called a transaction. For example, a transfer of funds from one bank account to another, even involving multiple changes such as debiting one account and crediting another, is a single transaction.
- Atomicity. In a transaction involving two or more discrete pieces of information, either all of the pieces are committed or none are.
- Consistency. A transaction either creates a new and valid state of data, or, if any failure occurs, returns all data to its state before the transaction was started.
- Isolation. A transaction in process and not yet committed must remain isolated from any other transaction.
- Durability. Committed data is saved by the system such that, even in the event of a failure and system restart, the data is available in its correct state.
