Bubble.io and Pixabay API integration: Step-by-Step Guide 2024

Step 1: Create Pixabay API Key

To integrate Pixabay API with Bubble.io, you first need the Pixabay API key. This is necessary to connect to Pixabay's service.

1. Go to the Pixabay API page: Pixabay API
2. Click on 'Sign Up' if you don't already have an account or 'Login' if you have one.
3. Once you are logged in, click on 'Get Started' button to get your API Key.

Step 2: Setup Bubble.io Account

Bubble.io is a visual programming platform that's going to use this API. Before we continue, please ensure you have an account with Bubble.

1. Visit the Bubble website: Bubble.io
2. Click on 'Sign Up' or 'Log In' if you already have an account.

Step 3: Create New App on Bubble.io

For Pixabay API integration, we need a place to visualize the data. This is where we create an app.

1. Go to your dashboard on Bubble.
2. Click on '+New App'.
3. Give your app a name and choose whether it's a clone or a new one.
4. Click on 'Create' to finalize.

Step 4: Install API Connector Plugin

Bubble supports API connectivity through a plugin, which we need to install.

1. Go to the Bubble editor page of your app.
2. Navigate to the 'Plugins' tab using the left-hand panel.
3. Click the '+Add plugins' button.
4. In the search bar, write 'API Connector' and press enter.
5. Once it shows up, install the API Connector plugin.

Step 5: Configuring the API Connector

Now we have to add and configure the Pixabay API with the connector.

1. After installing, go back to the 'Plugins' tab.
2. Click on 'API Connector'.
3. Hit 'Add another API'.
4. Name it 'Pixabay API'.
5. Choose 'GET' as the Data Type.
6. For 'API Base URL', type "https://pixabay.com/api/"
7. In 'Query Parameters', type the following:
   1. key = [Your Pixabay API Key]
   2. q = [Your query]

Step 6: Configure the Image Data

As Pixabay is an image resource, we have to make sure we set it up to correctly display the images.

1. Go to the 'App Data' section in the Bubble editor.
2. Here, click on 'New Type'.
3. Give your type a name such as 'Image'.
4. Now, create a new field called 'URL' with the field type as 'text'.

Step 7: Create a Repeating Group

This is Bubble's method of displaying items from a list which in this case refers to our image results from the Pixabay API.

1. Go back to the 'Design' tab in Bubble.
2. From the element palette on the left, drag and drop a 'Repeating Group' element to your app page.
3. Change the 'Type of content' to match your image data type.
4. For 'Data source', select 'Get data from an external API'. A new option for 'API Provider' should appear which is where you select 'Pixabay API'.

Step 8: Display Images in the Repeating Group

Now that we're fetching data from the Pixabay API, we need to display it through an image element.

1. Drag and drop an 'Image' element within one of the cells of the repeating group.
2. Click to select your image element, then in the 'Image' input (right panel), select 'Current cell’s Image’s URL' to bind the image data to your element.

Once all these steps are done, preview your app to see the display of images from the Pixabay API. Depending on your query, you will see different results corresponding to it.

Please note the Pixabay API has a limit to the number of requests that can be made. Make sure to handle the API calls properly to avoid exhausting your limit.