Podio Tutorial – Get Address Info from Google Maps API

While the Podio Location field is pretty slick, it fails to give me all the address information I need to run my business. Mainly what I need is the County and Zip information for a property. I use this info to pull in partners and buyers for my properties.

This tutorial is a 3 step process where I show you how to use the Google Maps Api to get the full address information for all your properties. Google offers this API service for free as long as you don’t abuse it.

Module #1: Setting up your Podio App

In total there are about 13 fields you’ll need to add to (have in) Podio to make this process work.  This first Module will go over 2 of those fields.

Module #2: Creating the GlobiFlow Process

Here I talk you through what Actions you need to call the Google Maps API and then return that information to the Podio App field.

Module #3: Parsing out the Address Parts 

Because the Google Maps API returns the address information in what is called JSON format, we will need to use Podio Calculation fields to Parse out the address parts.

Below Video…

In this video I will show you the end result of what you can expect by following this tutorial.

The first thing we need to do is make sure we have the correct fields in Podio. Usually you’ll want to create this procedure in your main leads app.

What we will be doing is adding 2 fields. One field will be for the lead’s address that we will send to Google. The other field will be to store the information we get back from Google.

Fields to Add (or make sure you have)

Name	Type	Settings	Description
Address	Location	Single Line Address	This is where you would typically type in the address of the property and see the map location
AddressJSON	Text	Multi-Line	This field will hold the result of the Google API Call. I called it AddressJSON because JSON is the format that Google sends the information back in.

The information we get back from google will look like this…

{
"results" : [
{
"address_components" : [
{
"long_name" : "3",
"short_name" : "3",
"types" : [ "street_number" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "Gristmill Road",
"short_name" : "Gristmill Rd",
"types" : [ "route" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "Cedar Knolls",
"short_name" : "Cedar Knolls",
"types" : [ "neighborhood", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "Hanover",
"short_name" : "Hanover",
"types" : [ "locality", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "Morris County",
"short_name" : "Morris County",
"types" : [ "administrative_area_level_2", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "New Jersey",
"short_name" : "NJ",
"types" : [ "administrative_area_level_1", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "United States",
"short_name" : "US",
"types" : [ "country", "political" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "07927",
"short_name" : "07927",
"types" : [ "postal_code" ]
},
{
"long_name" : "1201",
"short_name" : "1201",
"types" : [ "postal_code_suffix" ]
}
],
"formatted_address" : "3 Gristmill Rd, Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927, USA",
"geometry" : {
"location" : {
"lat" : 40.827736,
"lng" : -74.45019099999999
},
"location_type" : "ROOFTOP",
"viewport" : {
"northeast" : {
"lat" : 40.8290849802915,
"lng" : -74.44884201970849
},
"southwest" : {
"lat" : 40.82638701970851,
"lng" : -74.4515399802915
}
}
},
"place_id" : "ChIJw1Aeramnw4kR00dof0NYI_Q",
"types" : [ "street_address" ]
}
],
"status" : "OK"
}

Video

In this video I will setup a brand new Podio app with the above fields. If you already have an Address field then feel free to use that. You don’t have to add another one.

In this module you will go into GlobiFlow and create the process to pull in the address from Podio Leads App. Then you will call up google and send them that information. Finally Google will send back the full address information that we are looking for. We will take that information and place it back into Podio.

Here is a breakdown of what goes into the GlobiFlow Process Flow that you will create in this module. The video will walk you through the steps.

The Trigger

Step	Trigger	Description
1	When a new Lead Item is Created	Every time a new lead gets created this flow will fire off. Doesn’t matter if you create the lead manually or from the import of your leads, this will run.

The Filter

Step	Filter	Description
–	No Filter	we want this process to run everytime we get a new lead.

The Process

1	Capture Result of a Remote POST or GET.	This is a Remote POST or GET Action item. The idea here is that we make a call to the Google API Url and pass it the Lead’s Address. Google will return the information that we will store in the AddressJSON variable.
2	Update the Item	This Action will update the Podio Lead Item with the information we stored in the AddressJSON variable

Video & Screen Shot

• Tutorial Video
• Screen Shot

Cut and Paste Stuff

Google Maps API Address: https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json

This is the fun module! In this step we are going back to Podio to parse out the information we got from GlobiFlow/Google API. I would have liked to do this in GlobiFlow but the php script used in the parameter fields is not capable of reading the JSON file. So we are left with using Podio Calculation fields to do our bidding. It’s not a big deal, but it requires some real javascript code to get it done.

When you watch the video I’m sure you will feel overwhelmed by the code that is needed. Not that it’s LONG or A LOT, but more because Javascript is not very reader friendly to non programmers. Don’t worry though as I will include all the code you’ll need to cut and paste into each field. The only thing you will have to do is re-enter the @AddressJSON field token in each script. Copying and Pasting those doesn’t work.

Fields to Add (or make sure you have)

Name	Type	Settings	Description
Formatted Address	Calculation	–	Field where we pull out the formatted address from the JSON (Code at bottom of module)
Street Number	Calculation	–	Field where we pull out the Street Number from the JSON (Code at bottom of module)
Street	Calculation	–	Field where we pull out the Street from the JSON (Code at bottom of module)
Neighborhood	Calculation	–	Field where we pull out the Neighborhood from the JSON (Code at bottom of module)
City	Calculation	–	Field where we pull out the city from the JSON (Code at bottom of module)
County	Calculation	–	Field where we pull out the county from the JSON (Code at bottom of module)
State	Calculation	–	Field where we pull out the State from the JSON (Code at bottom of module)
Country	Calculation	–	Field where we pull out the Country from the JSON (Code at bottom of module)
Postal Code	Calculation	–	Field where we pull out the Postal Code (Zip) from the JSON (Code at bottom of module)
Postal Code Suffix	Calculation	–	Field where we pull out the Postal Code Suffix from the JSON (Code at bottom of module)
Longitude	Calculation	–	Field where we pull out the longitude from the JSON (Code at bottom of module)
Latitude	Calculation	–	Field where we pull out the Latitude from the JSON (Code at bottom of module)

Cut and Past Stuff

Formatted Address

try {

var results = JSON.parse(@Address JSON).results;
var ac = results[0].formatted_address;
String(ac)


} catch (e) {
"-"
}

Street Number

try {

var results = JSON.parse(@Address JSON).results;
var ac = results[0].address_components;

for (var i = 0; i < ac.length; i++) {
  if(ac[i].types[0] == "street_number") {
   ac[i].short_name;
   break;
  } else {
   "-";
  }
}

} catch (e) {
"-";
}

Street

try {

var results = JSON.parse(@Address JSON).results;
var ac = results[0].address_components;

for (var i = 0; i < ac.length; i++) {
  if(ac[i].types[0] == "route") {
   ac[i].short_name;
   break;
  } else {
   "-";
  }
}

} catch (e) {
"-";
}

Neighborhood

try {

var results = JSON.parse(@Address JSON).results;
var ac = results[0].address_components;

for (var i = 0; i < ac.length; i++) {
  if(ac[i].types[0] == "neighborhood") {
   ac[i].short_name;
   break;
  } else {
   "-";
  }
}

} catch (e) {
"-";
}

City

try {

var results = JSON.parse(@Address JSON).results;
var ac = results[0].address_components;

for (var i = 0; i < ac.length; i++) {
  if(ac[i].types[0] == "locality") {
   ac[i].short_name;
   break;
  } else {
   "-";
  }
}

} catch (e) {
"-";
}

County

try {

var results = JSON.parse(@Address JSON).results;
var ac = results[0].address_components;

for (var i = 0; i < ac.length; i++) {
  if(ac[i].types[0] == "administrative_area_level_2") {
   ac[i].short_name;
   break;
  } else {
   "-";
  }
}

} catch (e) {
"-";
}

State

try {

var results = JSON.parse(@Address JSON).results;
var ac = results[0].address_components;

for (var i = 0; i < ac.length; i++) {
  if(ac[i].types[0] == "administrative_area_level_1") {
   ac[i].short_name;
   break;
  } else {
   "-";
  }
}

} catch (e) {
"-";
}

Country

try {

var results = JSON.parse(@Address JSON).results;
var ac = results[0].address_components;

for (var i = 0; i < ac.length; i++) {
  if(ac[i].types[0] == "country") {
   ac[i].short_name;
   break;
  } else {
   "-";
  }
}

} catch (e) {
"-";
}

Postal Code

try {

var results = JSON.parse(@Address JSON).results;
var ac = results[0].address_components;

for (var i = 0; i < ac.length; i++) {
  if(ac[i].types[0] == "postal_code") {
   ac[i].short_name;
   break;
  } else {
   "-";
  }
}

} catch (e) {
"-";
}

Postal Code Suffix

try {

var results = JSON.parse(@Address JSON).results;
var ac = results[0].address_components;

for (var i = 0; i < ac.length; i++) {
  if(ac[i].types[0] == "postal_code_suffix") {
   ac[i].short_name;
   break;
  } else {
   "-";
  }
}

} catch (e) {
"-";
}

Longitude

try {

var results = JSON.parse(@AddressJSON).results;
var ac = results[0].geometry.location.lng;
String(ac)


} catch (e) {
"-"
}

Latitude

try {

var results = JSON.parse(@AddressJSON).results;
var ac = results[0].geometry.location.lat;
String(ac)


} catch (e) {
"-"
}