Third party integrations can be confusing, but any website that is more than brochure-ware needs to manage multiple platforms by using them.

What is 3rd party integration?

Third party integrations with WordPress websites are when you sync another platform or account with your website, allowing a free and open exchange of data between your website and the third-party platform.

Examples:

You have an ESP (Email Service Provider) that sends out your email newsletter. People can sign up for your newsletter on your website. When they do, a 3rd party integration allows the newsletter form on your website to seamlessly pass the data to your ESP.

How does a 3rd Party Integration work?

Usually, a third-party integration passes data along an API, an Application Programming Interface. This is a set of programming commands that define what kinds of data is communicated between applications, and how that data is formatted.

The most common time that website owners interact with an API is with their API key. This is a random string of characters that verifies one program to pass data onto another – for example, your ESP has an API key, that is unique to your account. When you install their plugin onto your sidebar, so people can signup for your newsletter, it is the API key that tells the signup form how the data is to be formatted, which ESP it is going to, and to which account within that ESP the data needs to be delivered.

Many 3rd party integrations, especially in eCommerce websites, require customizations of arcane settings in order to get them to function smoothly for the user. Spending lots of time trying to figure these myriad options can be frustrating to even computer programmers; if you are not a programmer, and you find yourself spending hours fiddling with the settings of one of your WordPress plugins, it is time to work with someone who knows these plugins inside and out, so you can get back to doing what you do best.

Third Party Integrations With WordPress Plugins We Use Frequently

  • iMember 360
  • WooCommerce
  • Toolset
  • Zapier
  • PayPal
  • Mailchimp
  • Aweber
  • Constant Contact
  • Google Analytics
  • Amazon Web Services
  • ZenDesk
  • IFTTT
  • Buffer
  • Gravity Forms
  • Formidable
  • Contact form 7
  • Yoast
  • Wistia
  • YouTube
  • Vimeo
  • GetResponse
  • App.net

Do you have a complicated 3rd party integration with your website that we can help you with? Contact us today to tell us about what you’re working on.