Switching from Zapier to Make: Is Make the right choice for me to post from Google sheet database?

[Patrick_Oben]

I have a Google Sheet that is repopulated with Bible verses that I post to my social media 4 times a day. I have it already set up in Zapier and I want to move it over to Make.
Here is the task I want to achieve: at 6am, 10am, 4pm, 8pm, I want to randomly search a verse from the Google sheet and post on Facebook page, group, twitter(X) and Instagram.
the Bible verse database will be regularly updated as new verses are added so I want to randomly select from this pool each time.
And when they are posted, they are formatted like this,

Content of verse —Book, KJV eg

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. - Genesis 1:1, KJV.

I had a Zapier expert set it up in Zapier and it is working well.
I read about Make online that is easier to use than Zapier with a better interface so my goal was to test it out and see if Make will be a better choice to automate this task and also other tasks in your business.
Furthermore, I wanted something that I can also manage myself if there are little glitches.
I signed up to test the Core plan.
And truthfully, I like the design in Make and liked everything until the problems below arose.

First, I searched the Templatesa and I found a social media distribution system that looks to be the perfect fit for my case.

Here’s the link and the screenshot is attached below: https://www.make.com/en/template/3195-social-media-distribution-system

I got a freelancer from Upwork who is a “Make Expert” to customize this scenario Template.
First, he did not use the Template but rather attempted to create individual scenarios. Not sure why.
Second, he then later told me he could not get the scenarios to work because of a “glitch” that does not allow random picking and formatting of the Bible verses. He says it requires a complex script to make this happen.

Questions:

1. Is the suggested social media distribution system the best choice for my case?
2. Do I need a special script to pull randomly from the Google sheet? If not, any directives to help my “expert” get this scenario to work?
3. Do we have to create separate scenarios for each posting time like for 6am, 10am etc or can there be a configuration to get it to run at specific times.
4. Any general guidance to help us set this to work? An article, video, other posts, etc?

Thank you,
Patrick

Include screenshots of

• your scenario setup (functions, mappings, variables, etc.)
• module configurations and outputs
• any error messages you are getting

[samliew]

Welcome to the Make community!

You can use a single scenario and schedule it like this:

[samliew]

1. You can get all items from Sheets by setting the number of results

2. Then aggregate all of them to an array

3. Then get a random item this way

Make is easy to use only when you know what you’re doing. I recommend learning more about Make in the Help Center, doing the tutorials in the Make Academy, and learn advanced skills like how to make custom apps to any API in the Make Partner Training Portal - both have certificates for successful completion.

[Patrick_Oben]

Thank you very much, Sam! That is so insightful and shows me the power of Make. I will be working on these instructions to set up the Scenario and also use the Help Center. Will ask any further questions if I run into any trouble.
Patrick

[samliew]

No problem, glad I could help!

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