Projector provides the ability to connect to third party workflow management systems. We have pre-built connectors to JIRA and Zendesk. This page explains how to configure those connectors. If you wish to learn how to use the connectors, please see our How-To article, Workflow Management System User Guide.
If you have a system that is not currently supported, but are interested in using it with Projector, please contact the support team to discuss your options.
To reach this editor navigate to Administration Tab | Setup subsection | External Connectors.
Permissions and Settings
To update settings on this form you must have the global permission System Settings set to Update.
After configuring an external connector, you must associate it with a time card. This is done from the User Defined Fields Editor | subtab Time.
Once the External Connector and UDF are configured, you can start using it in Time Entry and Time Card Import. Also see our Workflow Management System User Guide which explains how this works for your end users.
Configure JIRA
This section explains how to configure the JIRA connector. Some of the settings can be customized to your particular JIRA instance. For instance, only find JIRA issues of type=bug. You can reference this JIRA help page for a list of all their search APIs.
- Click New to create a new connector
Fill out the form using the settings described in this table.
Field Description Code Use this to uniquely describe your connector. Connector Type Set this to JIRA Issue V2. JIRA's API is currently on v2. This number may change as they release updates to their API. Base URL The root of your JIRA instance URL. Make sure you include the "s" in https.
Example:
Enable Item Search Tick this checkbox so that resources entering a time card in Projector can search for and link JIRA tickets to the time card. Enable Time Import Tick this checkbox so that resources can use Time Card Import to search your JIRA database and create time cards from JIRA tickets Resource Identifier
Choose from the dropdown how you want to match a Projector user with their JIRA user.
Resource Field Name This is an optional field. It allows you to filter the tickets a resource has access to based on their Resource Identifier (the field just discussed in the table row above). For example, in this field you might type:
assignee
This tells to Projector to search for JIRA tickets where assignee = {Resource Identifier}
If you want the resource to see all tickets, not only tickets assigned to them, you wouldn't want to use the "assignee" field.
See Assignee.
Project Identifier
Choose from the dropdown how you want to match a Projector project with a JIRA project.
Project Field Name This is an optional field. It allows you to filter the tickets a resource has access to based on the Project Identifier (the field just discussed in the table row above). For example, in this field you might type:
project
This tells to Projector to search for JIRA tickets where project = {Project Identifier}
See Project.Key Field Name This should be "key". This field retrieves the key on a JIRA ticket. The key is displayed to the user in time entry. For example, JIRA-12345.
See Issue Key.
Search Field Names This should be "text#~".
See Text.
Search Constant Filters Use this field to append additional querystring parameters. For example, if you only want your connector to find JIRA issues created this year:
created>"2016/01/01"
You can also combine search terms. For example, only find JIRA issues with a specific fix version that were also created this year.
fixversion=10001 and created>"2016/01/01"
A full list of search APIs are available here.
Click Set Credentials. Enter the username/password combination for a JIRA user. While any JIRA user's name and password can be used here, only JIRA tickets that the user has access to will be listed or modifiable. In other words, if you logged in as this actual user and you can't view a ticket, you aren't going to be able to do so through Projector either. As such, we suggest you create a JIRA user with sufficient permissions to view all the ticket information you need access to from Projector.
If you enter your credentials incorrectly, JIRA will immediately lock your account. The only way to unlock the account is to log into JIRA using your web browser and pass the CAPTCHA test. If you are currently logged in through a web browser, make sure you log in/out to trigger the CAPTCHA.
Now go to the User Defined Fields Editor and associate your new connector with time card UDFs.
- See our Workflow Management System User Guide
Configure Zendesk
This section explains how to configure the Zendesk connector.
- Click New to create a new connector
Fill out the form using the settings described in this table.
Field Description Code Use this to uniquely describe your connector. Connector Type Set this to Zendesk Ticket V2. Zendesk's API is currently on v2. This number may change as they release updates to their software. Base URL The root of your Zendesk instance URL.
Example:
Enable Item Search When entering a time card in Projector, allow the resource to search for Zendesk tickets. Enable Time Import When using Time Card Import, allow user to pull time cards from Zendesk Resource Identifier
Resource Field Name
???
These two fields are used in conjunction.
For Resource Identifier you must choose User Defined Field and select the Zendesk User ID field. . If you haven't already configured a
You'll need tdo select Choose from the dropdown how you want to match a Projector user with their JIRA user.
This should be "assignee".
In layman's terms, you are asking "please find a JIRA user where assignee=[Resource Display Name] (or email, or JIRA ID, etc)
See Assignee.
Project Identifier
Project Field Name
???
These two fields are used in conjunction. Choose from the dropdown how you want to match a Projector project with a JIRA project.
This should be "project".
In layman's terms, you are asking "please find a JIRA project where project=[Project Code].
See Project.
Key Field Name Leave this blank.
Search Field Names Leave this blank.
Search Constant Filters If you want you can append additional querystring parameters. For example, if you only want your connector to find JIRA issues created this year:
created>2016-01-01
You can also combine search terms. For example, only find Zendesk tickets that are open and were created this year.
status:open and created>2016/01/01
A full list of search APIs are available here.
Click Set Credentials. Enter the username/password combination for a JIRA user.
Now go to the User Defined Fields Editor and associate your new connector with time card UDFs.
- See our Workflow Management System User Guide