Episode II: Begin Your Automation Journey in Zoho Desk with Deluge

Episode II: Begin Your Automation Journey in Zoho Desk with Deluge



To travel to another country, you need a passport. But that's not enough, you also need a visa, flight tickets, and, most importantly, a mode of transportation. Without these, your journey cannot begin.
Similarly, custom functions in Zoho Desk are essential but what are they without an understanding of Deluge?

So, have you met Deluge yet?
Remember Chef Gusteau's famous motto from the movie Ratatouille, "Anyone can cook." Zoho's Deluge is for anyone, from anywhere, who wants to code.

Anyone can code with Deluge   
Deluge is accessible for beginners and advanced coders. With Deluge, you can easily create custom functions to automate ticketing operations, integrate external services, or perform actions on records within Zoho Desk.

What is Deluge?
Deluge is Zoho's native scripting language. If you would like to try Deluge, play here.

How does Deluge simplify Custom Functions?
Deluge aims to make coding approachable for everyone.
The simple Drag-and-Drop Simplicity helps you use prebuilt code snippets, eliminating the need for extensive coding knowledge.
Deluge has broad scalability, allowing you to configure from basic automation to complex workflows, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes.

Zoho Desk's API documentation
To perform different operations, one has to know the different APIs and methods used within Zoho Desk. Zoho Desk offers comprehensive API documentation, like an open book, to guide curious developers and users across modules, customization, functions, and operations.
Even if you’re new to Deluge, Zoho Deluge provides prebuilt commands to help you perform tasks within Zoho Desk.  The prebuilt commands are a step-by-step guide to help you execute integration tasks efficiently.
Deluge is the core component for formulating custom functions in Zoho Desk. It helps turn ideas into reality and enables automation by empowering users without deep programming expertise. The integration capabilities, scalability, and user-friendly design make it an essential tool for users looking to maximize the power of Zoho Desk. From ticketing to complex workflows, Deluge helps in bringing a smooth automation flow.

What’s next?
Similar to a passport, the functions are valuable documents stored in the Customs Functions gallery. To make a custom function work, it must be integrated with Automation.
Just like different flight services manage routes across various locations, the Automation features help in executing these custom functions:
  1. Workflows
  2. Macros
  3. Schedules
  4. Blueprint
  5. Guided Conversation
NotesNOTE: One automation cannot override another, just as two flights cannot share airspace at the same altitude and time.
In the upcoming episodes, we shall explore integrating custom functions with each Automation. We will dive into practical use cases, configurations, and real-time execution to help you understand how Deluge complements each automation type in delivering seamless business processes.

Previous episode : Episode I : Exploring the World of Custom Functions in Zoho Desk

Until the next episode drops, 
Cheers, 
Lydia | Zoho Desk


    • Sticky Posts

    • Register for Zoho Desk Beta Community

      With the start of the year, we have decided to take a small step in making the life of our customers a little easier. We now have easy access to all our upcoming features and a faster way to request for beta access. We open betas for some of our features

    • Share your Zoho Desk story with us!

      Tell us how you use Zoho Desk for your business and inspire others with your story. Be it a simple workflow rule that helps you navigate complex processes or a macro that saves your team a lot of time; share it here and help the community learn and grow with shared knowledge. 

    • Tip #1: Learn to pick the right channels

      Mail, live chat, telephony, social media, web forms—there are so many support channels out there. Trying to pick the right channels to offer your customers can get pretty confusing. Emails are most useful when the customer wants to put things on record. However, escalated or complicated issues should not be resolved over email because it's slow and impersonal.  When you need immediate responses, live chat is more suitable. It's also quick and convenient, so it's the go-to channel for small issues. 

    • Welcome to Zoho Desk Community - Say hello here!

      Hello everyone! Though we have been here for a while, it’s time to formally establish the Zoho Desk Community; we’re really happy to have you all here! This can be the place where you take a moment to introduce yourself to the rest of the community. We’d love to hear all about you, what you do, what company or industry you work for, how you use Zoho Desk and anything else that you will like to share! Here’s a little about me. I am Chinmayee. I have been associated with Zoho since 2014. I joined here

    • Webinar 1: Blueprint for Customer Service

      With the launch of a host of new features in Zoho Desk, we thought it’ll be great to have a few webinars to help our customers make the most of them. We’re starting off with our most talked about feature, Blueprint in Zoho Desk. You can register for the Blueprint webinar here: The webinar will be delivered by our in-house product experts. This is a good opportunity to ask questions to our experts and understand how Blueprint can help you automate your service processes. We look forward to seeing

    • Recent Topics

    • Marketing Tip #1: Optimize item titles for SEO

      Your item title is the first thing both Google and shoppers notice. Instead of a generic “Leather Bag,” go for something detailed like “Handcrafted Leather Laptop Bag – Durable & Stylish.” This helps your items rank better in search results and instantly

    • Customer Parent Account or Sub-Customer Account

      Some of clients as they have 50 to 300 branches, they required separate account statement with outlet name and number; which means we have to open new account for each branch individually. However, the main issue is that, when they make a payment, they

    • Forced Logouts - Daily and More Frequent

      In the last month or so, I've been getting "power logged out" of all of my Zoho apps at least daily, sometimes more frequently. This happens in the same browser session on the same computer, and I need to re-login to each app separately after this happens.

    • ENTER key triggering Submit

      Is it possible to stopped the ENTER key from the mandatory triggering of the Submit button on Creator form? I want forms submitted "ONLY" when the Submit button is pressed. 

    • Is it possible to assign Client user to external task ON PROJECTS' TEMPLATES?

      Is it possible to assign Client user to external task ON TEMPLATES PROJECTS?

    • Draft & Schedule Emails Directly in Bigin

      Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're happy to announce a few recent enhancements we've made to email in Bigin. We'll go over each one in detail, but here's a quick overview: Previously, you couldn't draft or schedule emails in Bigin, but

    • Cliq does not sync messages after Sleep on Mac

      I'm using the mac app of Cliq. When I open my mac after it was in sleep mode, Cliq does not sync the messages that I received. I always have to reload using cmd + R, which is not what I want when using a chat application.

    • Link to images

      I have added images in pages. I would like to link those images with linked in URL so that they open in new window. There is an option of image -> link but I am not able to use the same to open URL in new window. Please check the attached image. Can you

    • Canvas View - Print

      What is the best way to accomplish a print to PDF of the canvas view?

    • Respond faster and smarter with Zia in your IM Inbox

      You’re in the middle of a busy chat queue. New messages keep popping up. One customer sounds upset. Another is asking a long list of questions. You need context. You need speed. You need help. That’s exactly when Zia Insghts jumps into action. It shows

    • Meeting impossible to use when sharing screen

      he Meeting tool in Brazil is practically unusable when sharing anything, whether it’s a presentation or simple navigation. When accessed via Cliq, the situation gets even worse: even basic calls fail to work properly, constantly freezing. And as you are

    • Let's Talk Recruit: Meet Zia, your all-in-one AI assistant (Part-2)

      Welcome back to Let’s Talk Recruit series. In Part 1, we introduced Zia and how AI is reshaping the way recruiters work. This time, we’re taking a closer look at how far Zia has come and how each update continues to simplify your everyday tasks. When

    • WARNING : Smart list automatically unsubscribes your contacts.

      I created a smart list of my team members based on the criterion that their email domain was @_____. The list refreshed as expected — but it ended up unsubscribing almost all members of my team. I contacted support, but it took two months to get a reply,

    • Export Purchase orders as Excel

      Is it possible to export purchase orders as excel rather than PDF? Our suppliers don't want orders made in PDF, they need it to be excel

    • 5名限定 課題解決型ワークショップイベント Zoho ワークアウト開催のお知らせ (10/31)

      ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。Zoho ユーザーコミュニティチームの中野です。 10月開催のZoho ワークアウトについてお知らせします。 今回はZoomにて、オンライン開催します。 参加登録はこちら（無料）：https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/BGYTysOnSqa9LA9eY2IKww ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Zoho ワークアウトとは？ Zoho ユーザー同士で交流しながら、サービスに関する疑問や不明点の解消を目的とした

    • Subforms in Stateless Forms

      Stateless Forms are very useful, but we can't build complex data entry pages without Subforms. Can this be implemented? This would make Stateless Forms truly powerful.

    • Custom Function not getting package details when triggered from Workflow Rules.

      I have a custom function for Packages that submits a form in our Creator app that we use to generate custom shipping labels (internal staff complete deliveries so we cannot generate shipping labels straight from Inventory). When the function is executed

    • Billing Preferences per Account

      Hello, We are trying to setup Billing Preferences in Zoho Desk to set up a different pricing per account. We charge different pricing per hour per customer/account. Account A = 100 per hour Account B = 125 per hour In the Billing Preferences in Time Entry

    • Time entry preview for custom time entry templates.

      Our company needed time entries in a specific format to document our client interactions. Since we are using a custom time entry layout, we have lost the "preview" on the time entry tab. Using the default time entry layout, you get a small preview of

    • Blocked Email

      We are a Zoho One subscriber and use Yahoo as our MX provider. A few times each year, for the past four years, CRM blocks one or more of my Zoho One users from receiving internal email from CRM. This includes "@mentions" in all modules, and emails from

    • Able to change project on timelog entries

      Ability to move the timesheet entry from one project to another. When a user adds a wrong entry a manager can change/update the timesheet entry to the correct project.

    • Knowledge base: The nitty-gritty of SEO tags

      A well-optimized knowledge base with great SEO can benefit your company by allowing customers to find help articles and support resources using search engines. This enables customers to quickly and efficiently find the information they need without direct

    • Full Text Customization & Translation in SalesIQ Chat Widget Settings

      Dear Zoho SalesIQ Team, Greetings, We would like to request an important enhancement to the chat widget customization options in Zoho SalesIQ. Current Limitation: At the moment, only some of the text shown in the chat widget is editable or translatable

    • Introducing swipe actions in the Zoho CRM Android app

      Hello everyone, How much time do you spend each day on your list view? Probably quite a lot. Since it's such an important part of your work, wouldn't it be easier if you could take action directly from your list view instead of opening each record one

    • Content Security Policy

      Is there a place in ZOHO CRM to add a Content Security Policy to allow for a call to a google.com map, from inside our current app? Or, how do I resolve the issue below?? jquery.js:1 Refused to load the script 'https://maps.google.com/maps/api/js?v=3.41&libraries=places&sensor=true&key=AIzaSyAyQzKeKSbLci4LwZhn9oXvtCkbUo1Ae4g&callback=map_loader'

    • Option to select location?

      As a business coach, I meet with clients at various public locations. I have two or three pre-determined locations that I meet at. I would like the client to choose the location when booking an appointment. Is there a way to do that with a single service, or is the best way to accomplish this by creating one service for each location offered?

    • Unified WhatsApp Number Management in Zoho Desk and SalesIQ

      Dear Zoho Desk Support Team, We are currently utilizing both Zoho Desk and Zoho SalesIQ for our customer support operations. While both platforms offer WhatsApp integration, we are facing challenges due to the requirement of separate WhatsApp numbers

    • Provide a standard structure to your content using article templates

      Hello everyone, When multiple writers work on different documents, maintaining a standard structure can be challenging as each of the writer follows a different writing style. However, when the structure, tone, and format of every document is different,

    • How to update custom multi-user field in Zoho Projects?

      I'm trying to update custom multi-user fields in Zoho Projects via a Deluge function in CRM. The code I have so far is below. It works for updating standard project fields and single-line custom fields, but it does not work to update multi-user fields.

    • Accessibility Spotlight Series - 1

      Every user interacts with products differently, what feels intuitive to one may be challenging for another. Addressing this, accessibility is built into Zoho Project's design philosophy. This helps users navigate and perform actions with ease irrespective

    • Projects Tasks Not Showing Dependencies

      I'm clicking on tasks and the popup to add dependencies isn't showing. I can't disconnect the nodes either. For some reason when I slide a task backwards it says it cannot go before a predecessor, even though there is not predecessor. Double clicking

    • Deprecation of C4 endpoint URLs

      Note: This post is only for users who are still using the C4 endpoints. Hello everyone, At Zoho Creator, we're committed to continuously enhancing the security, performance, and capabilities of our platform. As part of this ongoing effort, we'll be deprecating

    • Introducing AWS authentication for connections in Deluge

      Hello everyone, We're incredibly excited to announce the all-new AWS authentication for connections in Deluge! This highly anticipated feature simplifies connecting to Amazon Web Services, opening up a world of possibilities and allowing you to seamlessly

    • Timeline Tracking Support for records updates via module import and bulk write api

      Note: This update is currently available in Early Access and will soon be rolled out across all data centers (DCs) and for all editions of Zoho CRM. The update will be available to all users within your organization, regardless of their profiles or roles.

    • Customize User Invites with Invitation Templates

      Invitation Templates help streamline the invitation process by allowing users to create customized email formats instead of sending a one-size-fits-all email. Different invitation templates can be created for portal users and client users to align with

    • ListObjects is recognized by VBA

      Sub addNewRow() Dim ws As Worksheet ' Set your worksheet name Set ws = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Invoice") ' Set your table name (change "Table1" to your actual table name) ws.ListObjects("InvItems").ListRows.Add End Sub I am getting Unknown function: Li

    • KPI Widget dashboard select periods

      I have a problem with selecting periods as a user filter. In the beste scenario I would like to have to have a period filter like Google Analytics has of Datastudio (see attachment). In the KPI widget I "Group by "inquiry_date" on week&Year". It selects

    • Need a way to secure Prefill URLs in Zoho Forms (hide or encrypt prefilled values)

      Hi everyone, I often use Zoho Forms with prefilled URLs to simplify the user experience — for example: https://forms.zohopublic.com/.../form?Name=David&Amount=300 However, the problem is that all prefilled values are visible and editable in the link.

    • Can’t send emails from Zoho CRM after adding a new user — verification codes not received

      Hi everyone, We recently added a new user to our Zoho CRM account and purchased an additional license. Since then, we haven’t been able to send any emails from Zoho CRM. Our Zoho Mail accounts are working perfectly, we can send and receive emails directly

    • CRM for email in Outlook: how to ignore addresses?

      We’re using the "Zoho CRM for email" add-in for Outlook. When opening an email, the add-in displays all email addresses from the message and allows me to add them to the CRM or shows if they’re already contacts. However, sometimes people listed in To

    • Next Page