This help article is a reference to Novi, an association management software.  For more information, visit www.noviams.com

How the Forj Community & Novi AMS integration Works

In order for members to be synced to Forj Community, a record from Novi must meet two criteria:

1. It must be an individual's record, not a company.

2. The individual must have a Novi login/user account already created.

We receive the following information about individuals from Novi groups to Forj Community: 

• First Name
• Last Name
• Email
• Company Name
• Job Title

As long as an individual is in your synced Novi group and they have a Novi login/user account, they will be in your connected Forj Community group. 

*Note if you would like updated information from Forj Community to update in Novi, a Zap to update community member information in an external database will need to be set up.

Step 1: Create Your Group in Forj Community

Before syncing Novi groups into Forj Community, you'll want to create the Forj Community group to match it to.

To do this, start by selecting the ( + ) next to Groups in the main Forj Community navigation bar.

On Screen 1 (See below):

1. Name your group

2. Select your Parent Group. Any groups that will be synced with Novi MUST be a "top-level" group, therefore having a parent group of None. However, if you're creating a sub-group that will not be connected to Novi, you may select a parent.

3. The group email address will populate based on the group name.

4. Click Next.

On Screen 2 (See below):

1. Set your group permissions. Groups synced with Novi MUST be set to Private. This ensures that the Novi group will control the members of the Forj Community group.

2. For groups synced with Novi, uncheck "Joining the group requires managers approval." Since this is a private group, this is not needed.

3. Update "Who can post on this group?" to Members and group managers. This will allow your members to participate in the group.

4. Click Create Group.

All groups connected to Novi should follow this pattern so the sync does not override additional Forj Community self-added group members. However, keep in mind that you can create groups that aren't synced to Novi that people can join on their own. That's when you'd use the "Closed" visibility setting and select "Joining the group requires manager approval."

It's important to set up your group settings.  Visit our Getting Started Guide to learn more about things like email settings, member posting permissions, and more.

Step 2: Initial Setup & Connection: Generate your API

To begin, you will need to be the Account Owner and have access to the Forj Community API.  For more information about adding the API to your account, contact support-community@forj.ai. 

First, in Forj Community you'll need your API and Secret Key:

1. Navigate to your Community Settings by clicking your community name in the top left.

2. In the navigation bar, select Authentication.

3. In the navigation bar, select Integrations.

4. Click Create API Key.

5. Your API Key and API Secret will now appear.
   ** Important - The secret is only shown once. If lost, new keys will need to be generated

6. Give your API key a description - something like "[Association]-Novi AMS."

7. Click Save

In Novi:

1. Navigate to Association Settings by clicking the gear icon in the top right corner of the backend/admin side.

2. In the Integrations tab, copy/paste your Forj Community API Key and API Secret into the appropriate sections.

3. Before saving, click Test Connection to Forj Community button to ensure you've entered the correct information.

4. Once the connection is verified, save your changes.

At this point, the two systems are now connected! Next, you'll want to create groups in Forj Community that you will then connect to your Novi groups.

Step 3: Single Sign-On Setup (SSO)

Finally, you'll want to complete the settings to enable Single Sign-On between the two systems. You're going to want your members to be able to log in to Forj Community with their Novi login so that the system can recognize they're connected from a Novi group.

First, in Novi:

1. Navigate to SSO Clients by clicking the gear icon in the top right corner of the backend/admin side.

2. Click the Add SSO Client button

3. Name the SSO client (ex. Forj Community)

4. In the Valid Redirect Urls section, enter the following (replacing my_community with your community's name): https://my_community.mobilize.io/users/auth/openidconnect/callback 

5. Save the SSO client. Once it has saved, click on it in the list to re-open the modal.

Then, in Forj Community:

1. Navigate to your Community Settings by clicking your community name in the top left.

2. In the navigation bar, select Authentication.

3. Click the arrow next to OpenID Configuration to open the dropdown.

4. Toggle the On/Off button next to the arrow to ON.

5. Now, you'll want to fill in the following information being asked and then save:

   • Directory Document: The full URL of your Novi website (https://www.websiteurl.com - *remove any characters like '/' after the domain).

     • Note: If this is being set up on your staging site, this will need to be updated to your live website's URL after launch.

   • Forj Community App ID: The "Client Id" in your Novi SSO settings modal

   • Forj Community App Secret: The "Secret Key" in your Novi SSO settings modal

   • OIDC Client Authentication Method: Post Body must be selected

   • Button Label Text: What the login button should be labeled for users who will be logging in to Forj Community.

Step 4: Sync Novi Groups to Your Forj Community Groups

Once you're connected and ready to tell Forj Community which members you'd like in which groups, navigate to your Groups section inside of Novi.

In Novi, you'll want to create a group(s) for each different community that includes the individuals you'd like to be in that community. Each Forj Community community can be connected to one Novi group.

Note: If Forj Community is being set up on your Novi staging website prior to launch, the sync will not run unless a Novi admin updates a setting for you.

Syncing Your Novi Group

Once your Novi group is set up, head to its Details tab and simply find the Forj Community section here:

In the dropdown, select the appropriate Forj Community Group and save your Novi Group. This will automatically begin syncing the group members' information to Forj Community.

How Group Syncs Work

If someone is added or removed to/from the Novi group, the same will happen in the Forj Community group. Keep in mind, any manually added Forj Community group members will be overwritten the next time the Novi group syncs to Forj Community.

You'll be able to see the status of the v sync in Novi in a column on both the main Groups list and within the Members tab of a specific group. As the group is syncing you'll see the spinner that indicates the changes being made within the column. 

Successfully synced members will show an "Up To Date" message (below). If a record was not synced because it did not meet the criteria above, its status will appear as N/A. 

Please Note: Unlinking the Forj Community group from the Novi group will not remove all members of the group in Forj Community, it will simply unlink the two systems from speaking to each other. This means that the members would remain in the Forj Community group unless you manually removed them in Forj Community. If you need to remove members, you'll want to be sure to do so through the Novi group's conditions.