What is a token?
Tokens are a secure method of getting data in and out of the Engaging Networks platform via the web. They are issued and managed by account administrators and are usually used by developers to connect to our API and Data services to extend the functionality of the platform or exchange your data with external services.
Public Token
A public token is a key that can be used for external access to limited information from your Engaging Networks account through our API. This allows developers to create extended functionality (for example custom display widgets)
Private Token
A private token is a key that can be used for external access to your full database records and may be needed for data integration purposes.
How are tokens used?
The public token is required for all widgets and any XML data service call (such as a count of the number of people to take an action, or details of who these supporters are, returned in ‘XML’ data format). The private token is required if you want to transfer supporter data from your Engaging Networks account to your own servers via our data API tools.
For more information on these services:
How to generate and view your tokens
To generate a private or public token you will need to be logged in to your Engaging Networks account as a Super Admin. Once logged in navigate to Hello Menu > Account Settings > Tokens.
You can generate only one public token, however you can create multiple private tokens. Private tokens must be assigned to a particular user for logging purposes.
NOTE: you can delete or reset either token by clicking on the relevant icons but you should not do this if these tokens are currently in use with the XML data service or the data API. Resetting or deleting tokens that are in use will cause services to break as the associated token will have been removed / reset.
Delivering Tokens To An Agency Or Developer
If you are hiring an agency or developer to carry out work on your Engaging Networks account, public and private tokens have to be generated by the account Super Admin and delivered to your agency using a secure file transfer method.
Do not send tokens through plain text email or any other form of unencrypted communication.
You could for example add the token into a text file, zip up the text file with a password and email the zip file to your agency. Then use an alternative method such as SMS or WhatsApp to send your agency the password to unzip the file you sent via email.
Treat your tokens with the utmost security as they allow external external applications access to your Engaging Networks data
If your developer or agency requires access to the Application Programming Interface (API) or Engaging Networks Services (ENS) you may need to set them up as an API user in your account. Click here for more information on how to do this.