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Getting Started with n8n: A Beginner’s Guide

Are you finding it challenging to learn how to use n8n? In this article, you will learn all the essentials to get rolling. We’ll familiarize ourselves with n8n’s interface and get our feet wet with sending customized messages to a list of customers. Let’s get started!

Self-Hosting n8n

In my last video, we discussed three ways to self-host n8n, including the highly performant and production-grade Queue Mode version of n8n, which we installed on a server with a few simple clicks. If you haven’t seen that video yet, check it out!

If you’ve self-hosted n8n by following the steps, you should see a setup owner account signup page. Go ahead and register your admin account there by filling out the questionnaire. Once registered, this should take you to the main n8n interface.

Exploring the n8n Interface

Upon entering the main interface, you’ll notice several options on the left sidebar:

  • Templates: We’ll revisit these shortly.
  • Variables: Available only on the enterprise plan and cloud-hosted services.
  • All Executions: A log of your workflows and their success status.
  • Help Section: This includes the n8n documentation and a forum.
  • Update Message: Indicates if a new version of n8n is available.

You can access the settings by clicking on the three dots at the bottom. While most settings can remain unchanged, you can toggle between light and dark mode on n8n.

Creating Your First Workflow

This area lists all the workflows you’ve created. Click the Start from Scratch button to create a new workflow or the Add Workflow button once you’ve added a workflow.

In n8n, workflows are akin to Zapier’s “Zaps” and Make.com’s “Scenarios.” For this article, we will start by using a pre-built template instead of creating one from scratch.

Using Pre-Built Templates

To begin, click on Templates in the left sidebar. This action will take you to a page of community and n8n-provided pre-built templates. For starters, let’s use a Quick Start template by typing “Quick Start” in the search box. Click on Very Quick Quick Start once it appears.

After it loads, click Use Workflow and choose to Import the Template into Your Self-Hosted Instance. Voila! It’s now imported.

Navigating the Workflow Canvas

Workflows in n8n typically run from left to right. You can navigate the canvas using various buttons at the bottom, which allow you to zoom in and out as needed. You can also select multiple items by dragging a rectangle around them, and move around the canvas by holding the spacebar.

Understanding Nodes

Double-clicking on a node reveals its input, details, and output. For instance, if you have a node for fetching customer data, you will see options like Get One Person or Get All People. You can run this node to see the output of the customer records.

Extracting Relevant Data

In the subsequent node, you will prepare data by extracting relevant fields like customer ID, name, and description. Using the test step button helps verify that the data is being extracted as intended. n8n’s automatic looping through arrays of data eliminates the need for manual iterations within workflows.

If this content has been helpful, please consider hitting the like button for more valuable insights.

Sending Customized Messages

Next, click on the plus button to add a new node. For our example, we will look for Customer Messenger. This node simulates sending customized messages to each customer in your list. Set up the inputs using expressions for dynamic data insertion, ensuring that you confirm variable evaluations using the green confirmation indicator.

Crafting Your Message

Type your customized message using the format: Hi {customer name}, your description is {customer description}. When you test this step, n8n will generate personalized messages for the entire list, iterating through all records in your dataset.

Final Touches

Don’t forget to save your workflow using the save button in the top right corner. You can rename your workflow and add tags to help organize your projects, especially since n8n does not currently support folder grouping.

Conclusion

In summary, this introduction covered the workflow interface, the left-to-right processing of workflows, automatic data iteration, and manipulation using JSON objects and JavaScript expressions. I hope this serves as a solid foundation for you to get started with n8n and begin creating exciting automations!

Make sure to like this video and check out the next one in this tutorial series to dive deeper into intermediate concepts like using webhooks, querying live APIs, and incorporating custom Python or JavaScript code. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to seeing you in the next one!

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  1. I am also hosting on railway and I do not have that home button in the upper left. I can't for the life of me figure out why?! It doesn't show up on n8n cloud either. I'm on Firefox not sure if that matters. Will test more.

  2. Your timing is amazing!

    I freaked out a little bit when i recognized that the data from other nodes are straight up JSON objects. That leaves SO MUCH ROOM for manipulation and formatting. Man, Zapier sucks by comparison.