Pass meta information

By adding parameters to the external portal URL, you can automatically gather and pass information to the workflow and external databases. This way you exchange manual data input for automation.

When you create an external portal for users, you can specify that certain parameters are added to the portal URL. The parameters are transformed into data references in the launched workflow instance and can be used within Next Matter or passed to an external database such as Redshift.

This way you don't have to add the references manually but specify which references you want to get and those are automatically gathered, which saves you time and increases reliability of data collection. You can also use this feature to connect any in-house-developed system to Next Matter, or to automatically gather user data.

For example:

  1. You specify that country and time should be appended to the URL. This will configure the portal link to be: https://app.nextmatter.com/portal/2974dc3c-61fd-40b4-a292-38117cef36e9?country=value&time=value
  1. The user starts an instance that gets a dedicated link assigned. For example: https://app.nextmatter.com/portal/2974dc3c-61fd-40b4-a292-38117cef36e9?country=Spain&time=Monday
  2. When the user submits the data they entered in the portal, the country and time become variables that can be re-used throughout the workflow and are stored in the instance.

Notes:

  • The link can be shared with anyone (internal and external users)
  • If the parameters are not defined, a regular portal link will still work
  • The data references created from the parameters are available in integration testing as instance matadata

  • The parameters don't work with the QR code
  • Multiple parameters can be appended to the link

Add parameters to link

  1. Click Workflows > Create new... > Create a new workflow.
  2. Give your workflow a name.
  3. Add your steps to the workflow.
  4. In the left-hand panel, click the start item (under Overview).
  5. In the Trigger step configuration section, select External portal.
  6. In the External portal configuration, select Create portal from first step
  7. In the Configure URL parameters, click + Add.
  8. Enter the Reference name and Parameter name. These can be the same.
  9. Copy the URL from the preview. You can insert the URL to your external apps.
  10. Click Save.