Optimizely Connect for SharePoint

Optimizely Connect for SharePoint provides a transparent connection between Optimizely and Microsoft SharePoint^®. The connector copies documents, blocks, or other items from SharePoint document libraries and lists them automatically. Updates occur on a scheduled or manual basis and are available to the CMS as media or blocks.

Copy assets from a SharePoint repository

Optimizely compares files from a SharePoint view on the SharePoint server with files in the database and, if a difference exists, copies the SharePoint files to the database. The comparison is based on the GUID of the file. So, if you copy a file called Red to the database, then change the file name to Blue on the SharePoint server, Optimizely detects the change and copies the Blue file, overwriting the Red file (because it has the same GUID).

1. Go to Admin > Config > Tool Settings > Connect For SharePoint (Settings > Tools > Connect For SharePoint). The Connect For SharePoint screen appears.

   

2. Fill out the Connect for SharePoint screen with the following information.
   1. Site URL – Specify the URL of the SharePoint repository.
   2. Connection type –
      • On-premises – Select this option if you have a local on-premises SharePoint repository. On-premises has only the Basic authentication type option.
      • Online – Select this option if you have a remote Office 365 SharePoint repository. Select Basic or Modern authentication type option. If you select the Modern option, you must also fill in the following with your credentials: ClientId, ClientSecret, and Realm.
        
        
        You can switch between local on-premises and online cloud repositories and have both repositories copy files to the same media folder or different folders. See SharePoint On-Premises VS. SharePoint Online (2013).
   3. Click Test Connection to verify that your connection to the SharePoint repository is valid. If valid, a list of SharePoint views displays.
   4. Select one or more lists and corresponding views.
      • Documents
      • Form Templates
      • Site Assets
      • Site Pages
      • Style Library
   5. Select folder – Choose an empty Optimizely Content Management System (CMS) or Optimizely Commerce Connect folder into which SharePoint assets are copied. You must select an empty folder. If you do not have an empty folder, enable Create New Sub-Folder and create an empty folder.
      
3. Select the SharePoint views from which you want to copy the files. Most views copy files to the Media assets panel, but a custom list view is copied to the Blocks assets panel.

   

4. Click Save to copy selected files from the SharePoint repository to Optimizely. The Remaining items value decreases to 0 as the file assets are copied.
   Click Refresh to display whether new or changed assets were added to the SharePoint repository.
5. Go to CMS edit view and select the Media folder to see the uploaded SharePoint content items.

   

Update SharePoint assets automatically

You can set Connect for SharePoint to automatically import updated SharePoint documents and files into Optimizely and set the interval between checks of the SharePoint repository for changes.

From the top menu, go to Settings > Scheduled Jobs > SharePoint Update. The SharePoint update screen appears.

• Settings tab:
  • Active – Enable the check box to set a scheduled interval for importing SharePoint files into Optimizely.
  • Scheduled job interval – Set the number and time units between each running of the SharePoint update job. For example, the job can automatically check for changes every 3 hours (or every 5 minutes or every 2 days).
  • Next scheduled date – Specify when you want the automatic intervals to begin.
  • Save – Click to set the automatic schedule.
  • Start Manually – Click to compare media assets on the SharePoint site with those previously imported into Optimizely, and copy them if changes exist.
• History tab displays status messages.

SharePointBlockData

The SharePointBlockData is a default reference data type that is used by the default SharePoint Processor to convert Custom List items into Optimizely Blocks. A developer can use the SharePointProcessor API as an example to create custom Optimizely block types to pull data from their SharePoint Custom List.