Title: Creating custom connections for extensions | Community | Zoho Finance

Title: Creating custom connections for extensions | Community | Zoho Finance

In our previous post, we discussed the significance of connections, identified their types, developed a predefined connection, and demonstrated how it can be integrated with Zoho Books using an example. In this post, we'll walk through the process of creating a custom connection using an example.

Custom connections facilitate the integration of applications with Zoho Books by aiding in configuring the required application's connection manually by providing application-specific details. Let's go over the steps involved in configuring custom connections in detail using a use case scenario.

Use case

Let's say an organization uses Zoho Books to manage its financial operations. To improve sales for the organization, one must contact and communicate with multiple clients, as well as check in with vendors on a regular basis to remain up to date on new products on the market, take demos, and assess whether the products need to be brought into the organization.

In these cases, it is best to schedule appointments with clients and vendors in order to conduct business in an organized manner. This can be easily performed by integrating an appointment scheduling software so appointments can be scheduled with a click.

For our demo purpose, let's consider Zoho Bookings as the appointment scheduling software. Since it is not available under the default list of services in predefined connections, let's create a custom connection to achieve this.

Steps to create a custom connection
  • Go to Sigma and access your workspace.
  • Enter the developer portal of the Zoho Books extension you're creating a connection for.
  • Navigate to the Build section and click Connections.
   
  • Click New Connection to create a new connection.
NotesNote: Alternatively, you can use the View All option under a connection type to see all the services under that particular connection type and begin creating connections.
     
  • Choose Custom Services and click Create Service.
   
  • Provide the details of the service.
➤ Enter a name for the service, and the service link name will be immediately filled in.
➤ Choose the authentication type that corresponds to the authentication mechanism supported by the service for which you are building the connection. These details will be available as part of the service's API documentation. For our example, we'll use OAuth2, because Zoho Bookings supports it as an authentication mechanism.         
  
➤ The remaining fields to be configured for the service differ based on the authentication type used. In our case, the parameter type is Header, and the grant type is Authorization Code.
   
➤ Please refer to the table below for the values that need to be configured in the remaining fields.
Note: Register the service in the Zoho Developer API console to get the client credentials.
  • Finally, click the Create Service button.
  
  • The service is created successfully. Click Create Connection to create a connection for this service.
  • Provide the connection details, select the scope, and click Create and Connect.
 
  • Proceed with the flow to accept the scopes and authorize the connection.
 

The connection is now authorized, and you'll be directed to the connection details page. This page will also contain sample code in both Deluge and JSON formats that can be used to utilize this connection as part of your extension components. Depending on which component you want to invoke the connection in, you can use the appropriate sample code format.

Additionally, a predefined connection for Zoho Books is created to perform operations on Zoho Books data to implement our use case. Get more information on predefined connections in our previous post.

Now, in accordance with our use case, let's create a custom button that includes this connection to schedule appointments (in Zoho Bookings) with clients and vendors using Zoho Bookings with a single click (from Zoho Books).
We require two custom fields for our logic, one for setting the meeting start time with the client or vendor, and the other to display the Bookings appointment calendar link once the meeting is scheduled.
  • Create custom fields for the Customers and Vendors module by selecting Preferences > Customers and Vendors > Field Customization > New Custom Field.
 
  • Next, create a custom button and include the logic to schedule an appointment.
  • Create a custom button for the Customers and Vendors module by selecting Preferences > Customers and Vendors > Custom Buttons > New.
InfoBook meeting custom button function Deluge code - Please find code snippet as an attachment in the post
  • In the above code, the Get Contacts API of Zoho Books is invoked through the InvokeURL method using the predefined connection to get the contact/customer details for whom the appointment has to be scheduled in Zoho Bookings. Refer to this post to get complete details on the parameters required to call the InvokeURL method.
  • From the API response, the required details are fetched from which the start time (custom field data) is formatted to the way required by the Zoho Bookings API.
  • Next, the Zoho Bookings API to get the service ID and staff ID are invoked consecutively through the InvokeURL method using the custom connection created.
  • The Book appointment API is used to schedule the appointment using the service ID, the staff ID obtained from the Zoho Bookings API, and customer details obtained previously via the Zoho Books API.
  • Finally, using the update contact Zoho Books API, the Zoho Bookings calendar URL is updated in the custom field created to display the calendar booking URL.
We've now completed the extension setup for our use case.

After testing and publishing the extension, as per our use case, you can book a meeting for a Zoho Books customer through Zoho Bookings and have your Zoho Bookings calendar reflected inside Zoho Books as well.

z
This is an example demonstration of the benefits of using a custom connection in a Zoho Books extension. This is a versatile use case that may even be used to schedule an internal meeting with your Zoho Books teammates who are working on a project. Similarly, this use case can be enhanced and implemented based on your needs.

We hope you found this information useful. Keep following us for more tips.

SEE ALSO

    • Recent Topics

    • Managing Rental Sales in Zoho Inventory

      I am aware that Zoho Inventory is not yet set up to handle rental sales and invoicing. Is anyone using it for rentals anyway? I'd like to hear about how others have found work arounds to manage inventory of rental equipment, rental payments, etc. Th

    • Megamenu

      Finally! Megamenu's are now available in Zoho-Sites, after waiting for it and requesting it for years! BUT ... why am I asked to upgrade in order to use a megamenu? First: Zoho promised to always provide premium versions and options for all included Zoho-applications

    • Cannot access KB within Help Center

      Im working with my boss to customize our knowledge base, but for some reason I can see the KB tab, and see the KB categories, but I cannot access the articles within the KB. We have been troubleshooting for weeks, and we have all permissions set up, customers

    • Zoho Flow to Creator 3001 Respoonse

      I have updated my Flows with the new V2 connection to Zoho Creator, but now some Flows do not work. They take in data from a Webhook and are supposed to create a record in Creator, however creator returns a 3001 message along with a failure, but I cannot

    • File Upload to Work Drive While Adding Records in Zoho Creator Application

      Hi I am trying to set a file attachment field in zoho creator form, to enable the user to upload a scanned document from their local pc. The file should be uploaded to zoho workdrive and not to the default zoho creator storage. The file link should be

    • Why not possible to generate?

      Using this https://desk.zoho.com/DeskAPIDocument#TicketCount#TicketCount_Getticketcountbyfield on my ZML script url :"https://desk.zoho.com/api/v1/ticketsCountByFieldValues?departmentId=XXXXXXXXXXX&accountId!=XXXXXXXXX&customField1=cf_country_1:XXXXXX&field=overDue"

    • email

      Hi My crm email is not working, can you check, I have zoho one account.

    • Need option to see Mass Emails & Cadences in Gmail Outbox OR a dedicated Zoho Outbox

      Hi everyone, Right now, when we send 1:1 emails from gmail (with gmail API connected to Zoho CRM), those emails appear both in gmail's sent folder and in Zoho CRM. That works well. But when we send Mass Emails or Cadence emails form Zoho CRM, they are

    • I can't found API for Sales Receipts

      Hello May you please help me to find an API document for Sales Receipts to get data and retrive a custom fields like Invoice and credit notes Regards

    • Kaizen #205 - Answering Your Questions | Managing Picklists and Enabling History Tracking via Zoho CRM APIs

      Hello everyone! Welcome back to another post in our Kaizen series. In this post, we will look at how you can manage picklist fields in Zoho CRM using APIs. This topic was raised as feedback to Kaizen #200, so we are taking it up here with more details.

    • Multiple Vendor SKUs

      One of the big concerns we have with ZOHO Inventory is lack of Vendor Skus like many other inventory software packages offer. Being able to have multiple vendor skus for the same product would be HUGE! It would populate the appropriate vendor Sku for

    • Internally created tickets

      Hi there When tickets are created internally on-behalf of customers - there is nothing to show that the ticket was created by an internal agent. This means, that it's easy for our agents to confuse tickets which were created by internal team members and

    • Automatically change website passwords

      Hi everyone, We just switched to a Professional package to also use the "Automatically change website passwords" function. But I cannot find anything about it, how to use it, anywhere. Does anyone know how I can use this function? Best, Caspar

    • Change Invoice Prices for an Effective Date

      Hi, It would be a really good feature to be able to change the prices on invoices/recurring invoices from an effective date in the event of price increases. For instance, I am in the process of increasing prices that will be effective from a specific

    • "Other Current Asset" accounts as "Paid Through" accounts in Expense

      It would be incredibly useful to be able to assign accounts of type Other Current Asset as Paid Through accounts in Expense. Currently, Other Current Liability are permitted as Paid Through Accounts. This makes sense, as Credit Cards are current liabilities.

    • Multi column open text questions that allows respondents to add rows for additional information

      I need to create a question that has 2 columns with open text, but I also need to allow respondents to click a "+" button, or something similar, so that they can add additional information if they choose to. I've tried using the Multiple Textboxes type

    • Bot Filtering & Apple Mail Privacy Protection Compliance in Zoho Campaigns

      Dear Campaigns Users, The wait is over! We’re excited to announce that the enhanced bot filtering feature is now live in Zoho Campaigns. This update brings greater accuracy to your email campaign reports by distinguishing real user engagement from automated

    • Découvrons les détails qui simplifient vos journées de travail avec Trident

      Nous nous installons dans des routines efficaces et rodées avec le temps. Chaque matin, nous ouvrons nos e-mails, passons aux messages, consultons notre agenda, puis attaquons nos tâches. Ce processus nous semble maîtrisé, mais est-il réellement optimisé

    • Issue with Purchase Rate Showing as “0” After Importing Items List

      Dear Zoho Books Support Team, Good day. I’m reaching out regarding an issue I’m facing while importing my items list into Zoho Books. Despite mapping all fields correctly and including the purchase price for each product in my Excel file, the Purchase

    • API for Task Entity in Zoho Books

      I’m working on automating task creation in Zoho Books via a custom button in the Bills Module. The goal is to create a task in the Tasks Module and assign it to the Finance Team, so they can track progress efficiently. While reviewing Zoho Books documentation,

    • create invoice in zoho books from the zoho forms

      Is there a native way to have create invoice in zoho books, when zoho form is completed?

    • Email undelivered

      GOod Day I am always receiving an uncategorized-bounce to my email. I am not sure why this is happening.

    • Add inventory_valuation_method to items endpooints

      To ensure consistent item creation it would be helpful to have the inventory_valuation_method (FIFO vs WAC) be able to be set at item creation or as an update (consistent with current behavior where it is not allowed for items with existing transactions)

    • Use Zoho to send sales receipts for Gocardless transactions

      I've been using gocardless for years and have d/d mandates set up on there. Each week we get bulk payments from customer d/d's. However, we need to send sales receipts to these customers. So I know I can sync mandates into Zoho, and then I can set up

    • Zoho - Gocardless sales receipts

      I've been using gocardless for years and have d/d mandates set up on there. Each week we get bulk payments from customer d/d's. However, we need to send sales receipts to these customers. So I know I can sync mandates into Zoho, and then I can set up

    • Introducing Rollup summary in Zoho CRM

      ------------------------------------------Moderated on 5th July'23---------------------------------------------- Rollup summary is now available for all organizations in all the DCs. Hello All, We hope you're well! We're here with an exciting update that

    • Introducing Connected Workflows in Zoho CRM for Everyone : Free Your Teams to Focus on What Matters

      Hello Everyone, We’re thrilled to introduce the next big evolution in Zoho CRM for Everyone -- Connected Workflows. This new feature builds on our commitment to deliver a CRM that’s truly inclusive, adaptable, and designed for consistent collaboration

    • Introducing Connected Records to bring business context to every aspect of your work in Zoho CRM for Everyone

      Hello Everyone, We are excited to unveil phase one of a powerful enhancement to CRM for Everyone - Connected Records, available only in CRM's Nextgen UI. With CRM for Everyone, businesses can onboard all customer-facing teams onto the CRM platform to

    • Cooling-off Period Just Got Better: More Coverage, More Control

      We’ve enhanced the Cooling-off Period feature in Zoho Recruit to give you more control over repeat applications and referrals. This helps you maintain a cleaner, more efficient recruitment pipeline. With this enhancement, you can: Prevent duplicate candidate

    • Revenue Management: #7 Revenue Recongition in Construction & Real Estate Industry

      If you are in the construction or real estate business, you are used to long project timelines and progressive invoicing to keep up with your billing. But when does revenue get recognized? Will it happen when the contract gets signed? At different milestones

    • TikTok (and other social platform) Messages and comments of the past

      When I link a social channel, Zoho will show in "Inbox", "Messages" and "Contact" sections the interaction done in the past? (comment, messages...)

    • Email Integration - Zoho CRM - OAuth and IMAP

      Hello, We are attempting to integrate our Microsoft 365 email with Zoho CRM. We are using the documentation at Email Configuration for IMAP and POP3 (zoho.com) We use Microsoft 365 and per their recommendations (and requirements) for secure email we have

    • How do I fix this? Unable to send message; Reason:554 5.1.8 Email Outgoing Blocked.

      How do I fix this? Unable to send message; Reason:554 5.1.8 Email Outgoing Blocked.

    • Restrict Employee mail deletion

      Dear Zoho, Is there a way where i can restrict my employees to delete any mails from their account

    • 554 5.1.8 Email Outgoing Blocked.

      Hi guys, I just singed up for mateusz.nowicki@zoho.com mail and I can't send any mails.. Why? Everytime I try to send something I got error like the one in the screenshot. Please, help me.

    • Zoho IP blocked by SpamHaus

      ERROR CODE :550 - 5.7.0 Your server IP address is in the SpamHaus SBL-XBL database, bye

    • File Upload in Creator's Subfrom

      Hello Sir/Madam, Here is a Problem......... Scenario: In CRM One Custom Module (Payments) have one File Upload Field now we have to Upload that File into Creator's Custom Form (Documents) have one Subform (Documents) in Document Upload Field using Deluge

    • Error AS101 when adding new email alias

      Hi, I am trying to add apple@(mydomain).com The error AS101 is shown while I try to add the alias.

    • Trigger workflow base on email clic

      Searching the help and forum, I see that there were workflow trigger rules based on email. But now, I can't find this type of trigger when I create a custom workflow. What I'm looking for would be to automate the sending of an email for a new prospect,

    • Bigin Form Acknowledgement

      How to troubleshoot and find out why form acknowledgement is not sending emails after form submission?

    • Next Page