Quick start for file connector in HubSpot
In this first quick start, we show how CloudFiles can be used as a file connector for HubSpot. A file connector is something that can provide live access to your files that may be sitting in some other storage. This can be the CloudFiles native storage, HubSpot file storage or even external storage such as Google Drive, SharePoint, OneDrive, Box, Dropbox, AWS S3, Azure etc...
CloudFiles offers a file mirroring feature and some HubSpot native components to connect any type of file to HubSpot records. In the article below, we talk about how access the widget, how to access the content library through the widget, how to associate files and folders to HubSpot records and finally what type of file and folder-related operations can be performed on these.
If you haven't already done so, make sure CloudFiles is installed in your HubSpot. This only takes a couple of minutes and you can follow the simple steps in our article on Installation guide for CloudFiles HubSpot Integration.
The CloudFiles widget is available on the right sidebar of all contact, company, deal and ticket records. We are also exploring possibility of adding this widget onto custom objects in HubSpot. The widget works exactly the same way on all the records.
In case you don't see the widget on any of your records, check out our FAQ on I cannot see the CloudFiles widget in HubSpot.
The widget can be used to associate multiple files and folders with the record, perform operations on them, share & track them and a lot more. We will cover this functionality below.
The CloudFiles content library is your single source of truth for all your files & folders, no matter where they are. The library provides access to CloudFiles storage as well as mirror storage support for Google Drive, OneDrive, SharePoint, Box, Dropbox, AWS S3 etc...
The content library can be accessed through a couple of ways depending on whether you want to use it from a HubSpot record or not. The image and details below summarizes these -
- Using HubSpot Dialog - Click on any record such as contact / deal / company etc.. and locate the CloudFiles widget. Click on the Add File button in the widget to open the library.
- Using CloudFiles Web-app - The CloudFiles web-app is especially useful for marketers who do not want to operate from HubSpot records. You can access the library using the CloudFiles Standalone web application. All the data and analytics show up in HubSpot too.
Using the content library dialog, you can easily connect any existing cloud storage and instantly access those files. This content mirroring currently works with HubSpot File Storage, Google Drive, OneDrive, SharePoint, Box, Dropbox, Amazon AWS S3, Microsoft Azure and a few more options.
To connect you library, follow the simply steps below -
- Locate the library selector dropdown and choose your desired cloud storage
- Click on the Login to Cloud Storage button. This is a one-time process and is NOT required for HubSpot File Storage and CloudFiles Native Storage.
- Standard Cloud Storage login will follow in a new tab. Complete the login.
- The tab should auto close and you should come back to HubSpot.
- Your files should start showing in the content library dialog box.
These steps are also shown in the graphic below -
Now that your files have started showing up in the content library dialog, you can perform a variety of file and folder related operations. The CloudFiles content library provides a number of library and resource related actions such as upload file, create folder, move file, duplicate file etc... These operations have been shown in the graphic below -
One of the most common use-cases for the content library dialog is to manually associate files and folders to the HubSpot widget for quick access. Creating such associations enables a host of actions that have been covered in the section below.
In order to associate a file or folder, simply select the files / folders using the checkbox and then click on the add to record button. Additionally, you can also choose to create a sharing link using the checkbox located at bottom left. This will create a rectangular tile on the CloudFiles widget of the HubSpot record.
This is shown in the graphic below -
The above operation will create a tile on the CloudFiles widget. This tile can be used to perform a variety of file and folder related operations. The tile name is a hyperlink that can take you directly to the associated file / folder. The actions dropdown of the association tile offers resource specific actions such as download, go to (using the tile hyperlink), preview, create sharing links, see analytics etc... These operations have been shown in the graphic below -
Now that you have a basic knowledge of the document connector use-cases that the app enables, you should refer to our Quick start for file sharing & analytics in HubSpot which talks about link creation, security configuration and file analytics. You can then check our Quick start for file automations in HubSpot which talks about various automation capabilities in the context of file connector and sharing use-cases.
With these 3 quick starts, you are already an expert in HubSpot - CloudFiles integration.
