To connect, it is required to submit an application and register a WhatsApp Business API account. Connection is carried out by the official provider - 360dialog. Follow the link and fill in the form on the page to register via this provider - registration link.
Note
Before connecting, please make sure that your company follows WhatApp’s (Facebook’s) compliance policy.
After all fields are filled in and the terms of use are accepted, click on the button at the bottom of the form to go to the built-in registration of WhatsApp Business API.
Built-in registration
Important!
To proceed further, you will need to log into your Facebook account. This account must have admin access to Facebook Business Manager, which will manage the WhatsApp account.
After accepting the terms, you will find yourself on the connection page of the Facebook Business Account. To start connecting, click on the "Continue with Facebook" button.
A window with connection settings will open. Setup includes 3 steps: you need to select an existing or create a new Facebook and WhatsApp Business Account, create a WhatsApp Business Profile and register a phone number.
Step 1. Select an existing or create a new Facebook and WhatsApp Business Account
Please make sure that you have selected Facebook Business Manager, as it cannot be changed once the number is registered.
Step 2. Create a WhatsApp Business Profile
When creating a profile, you must specify a display name, as well as a category and description of the business.
Step 3. Registration of the number
You can use a phone number that is already registered in the Android, iPhone or Business versions of WhatsApp. However, in order to register this phone number with WhatsApp Business API, you need to delete the WhatsApp account connected with this phone number, or use a different phone number that is not connected with the WhatsApp application.
Important!
If you are going to delete your account, do not forget to make a backup copy of the dialogs from the application on your phone. The backup copy of the dialogs is needed just in case. It is impossible to upload these dialogs to the system.
After you have deleted your account, you can start the registration process of your number. You will receive an SMS with a 6-digit code or a voice call to check the number.
Getting the 360 Client Hub API Key
After completing the built-in registration, the WhatsApp Business API Client will immediately open, and you will automatically find yourself in the 360 Client Hub, where you can generate your API key.
Save the generated API key because it will be needed to connect the module. After closing the window, the API key is no longer displayed anywhere, and you cannot find it in your personal account.
If you accidentally closed this window, it is possible to generate a new API key. You just need to go to your account by clicking on the connected phone number on the main page, or to go to the "WhatsApp Accounts" section (the link to this section is located in the window on the left).
Adding information to Business Manager
You need to add information about yourself in the "Business Details" section of the Business Manager settings. It is required to specify the legal name, address, website and phone number of the company that you are going to use for messaging.
Important!
If this information is not added within 30 days, the number may automatically be disconnected from the API.
Connecting the integration module
Before connecting the integration module, it is required to create an API key in the system. Open the "API access keys" subsection located in the "Integration" section and click on the "Add" button. The created key must have access to all stores and to all actions of the two sections: "Orders" and "Integration".
Read more about creating an API key in this article.
Copy the created key and go to the "Marketplace", which is also located in the "Integration" section.
Click on the "WhatsApp Business" module and then on the "Connect" button. You will be redirected to the module connection page, where you must specify the system address and the API key created in the system.
After saving, you will be redirected to the page for adding an account. Click on the "Add account" button and enter the API key that you generated in your 360 Client Hub account - the channel will be created, and the integration will become active.
Working with templates on the 360 Client Hub side
Let's take a look at how to use the template management tool for WhatsApp Business API in the 360 Client Hub.
The template management interface in the 360 Client Hub supports both text and multimedia templates and has the following features:
- Creating and previewing templates
- Tracking the template status
- Copying and deleting templates
- Setting the language for the template
Each connected account (company/number) has its own set of template messages. Select the account (in case if you have several accounts) to which you want to add a template and click the "Manage templates" button.
You will be redirected to the template management page where you can create a new template and see the ones already added.
Creating a template
To add a new template, click on the "Add template" button on the templates page.
Then add the following information:
- Template name - the name can contain only Latin lowercase alphanumeric characters and underscores.
- Template category
- Template language - the language that is used in the template
- Template type - standard (text only) or media (with media files).
Creating a standard template
Standard template messages have only the BODY section. To add a variable, insert {{#}} in the desired place in the text, where # is the index of the variable, which must start with {{1}}.
For example:
Hello {{1}}!
Your order {{2}} has arrived.Where {{1}} is transformed in the system to the customer's name by means of Twig functions.
An illustrative example:
Read more about working with chat templates in this article.
Allowable formatting in text templates:
WhatsApp allows some message formatting. To format a message in whole or in part use the following symbols:
It is also possible to send URLs (links) in a message. The URL can be specified both in Latin and in Cyrillic. Both options will be clickable and available for transition.
Note
In the message the recipient will get the link displayed in the form in which it was originally specified in the template. The value is fixed at the moment the template is sent for verification.
Make sure that the URL starts with http:// or https://.
For example:
{
"body": "You should check out this messaging service - https://www.whatsapp.com/"
}
Creating a template with buttons
To create a template with buttons, it is required to select "Media & Interactive" as the type of the template. Four blocks will appear, but we need only two of them: "BODY" and "BUTTON".
BODY is the main text of your template. This block can contain only text.
BUTTON adds interactivity to your templates. There are two main types:
- Quick reply - used to get a quick reply from the customer. One template can contain no more than 3 quick reply buttons.
- Call to action - used to send the customer a link to a website or a phone number to call. One template can contain only one link or phone number.
Note
The BODY block is required for all templates. All other blocks are optional and can be disabled.
Symbols in the list of templates
Created templates are displayed in the list of templates. Each template has its own verification status and additional buttons for interaction.
Here they are, from left to right:
- Adding an additional language to the template.
- Copy template. It is useful when creating different variations of the same template.
- Delete template.
The selected language is displayed in the center of the line with the template, it is also the verification status, which is determined by colour:
- Gray - the template is in draft mode that hasn’t been sent for verification yet.
- Yellow - the template has been sent for verification to Facebook. It is necessary to wait till Facebook provides more information.
- Green - the template has been verified and can be used for sending.
- Red - the template was rejected.
After the templates have been verified by Facebook and their status is of a green colour, they will be uploaded to your system, where they can be configured according to your business processes. Templates are uploaded automatically every 2 hours.
Additional useful information
If 360dialog support asks to register the Callback URL(the URL to which 360dialog sends its requests) on the system side - keep in mind that the module automatically registers the correct URL when connecting an account. There is no need to perform any additional actions.
The logic of message status processing is as follows. Error status (non-delivery of the message) does not come instantly. The module will save the message that failed to send in order to try to resend it. Resending is performed 9 minutes 30 seconds after receiving information about the unsuccessful first attempt to send a message. If the second attempt to send a message is also unsuccessful, the non-delivery status of the message will be displayed in Chats.