Kaizen #136 - Zoho CRM Widgets using ReactJS

Kaizen #136 - Zoho CRM Widgets using ReactJS

Hey there! Welcome back to yet another insightful post in our Kaizen series! 

In this post, let's explore how to use ReactJS for Zoho CRM widgets. We will utilize the sample widget from one of our previous posts - Geocoding Leads' Addresses in ZOHO CRM for the demo. 

Prerequisites 

  1. Ensure that you have installed all the necessary components required to use Zoho's CLI. 
  2.  You can use any IDE to code your widget. A few popular suggestions include Visual Studio Code, WebStorm and Atom. Download and install an IDE of your choice to get started. 

Working with ReactJS 

Step 1: Run the following Zoho CLI command to start a new project. 

zet init 

This will display a list of services for creating a project template. Choose Zoho CRM from the list and provide your project name. 

All the files that are necessary for the widget will then be available in the project directory. 

Step 2: To configure this project for ReactJS, install the required dependencies by copying and pasting the following command into your terminal. 

npm install react react-dom react-scripts

These dependencies will be installed only for this project. If you want to develop another ReactJS widget, you should run this command again for that project. 

Step 3: Navigate to the package.json file in the directory and add the following scripts to it. 

"scripts": {
    "start": "react-scripts start",
    "build": "GENERATE_SOURCEMAP=false react-scripts build && rm -rf app && mv build app"
  }

The start script mentioned here is useful during the development stage. On executing the "npm run start" command, it enables you to start the development server for ReactJS and make real-time changes to it. 

Once you have completed the development, all the files that are required for rendering the widget should reside within the /app folder in the project directory. However, in any ReactJS project, when you execute the build command after development, the build files are created under a new folder named build. The build script in package.json file helps in replacing the existing /app folder contents with the files from the /build folder.

Now, add the below key-value pair as we have multiple build static files under the /app folder.  

"homepage": "./"

During production, this property will dictate the system to search for the other static files within the same (/app) folder rather than looking for them in parallel directories. 



Step 4: Establish the /src folder with the required JavaScript and CSS files of your React components.  

To keep this demo simple, we have used the widget code from our previous post "Geocoding Leads' Addresses in ZOHO CRM", which has been modified to React components in the App.js, index.css and index.js files. 

Step 5: Create a /public folder containing static files like homepage (index.html), images and JavaScript library files that are required for the ReactJS project. 
For our use case, we have created only the index.html file.  

Step 6: After completing development, execute the following command to create the production build of your application: 

npm run build

Since we modified the scripts in the package.json during our earlier steps, the production build will be available in the /app folder instead of the /build folder. 



Step 7: To run the project locally, use the following command: 

zet run

Step 8: Validate your ReactJS widget project with the following command: 

zet validate 

This command checks if the project adheres to file and size limitations.

Use the following command to pack your project for uploading it to Zoho CRM.

zet pack 

The ZIP file can be found under the /dist folder of your project. 



Step 9: When uploading the ZIP file to Zoho CRM, remember that for a typical widget, the index page is usually named /widget.html. However, for ReactJS projects, it must be named /index.html. 



Now, let us go check this widget from the Leads detail page for the results. 



Zoho CRM widgets can be built using any of the client-side frameworks and this sample configuration is almost common to most of them.
We hope you found this post useful and engaging! 

If you have any queries, feel free to drop them in the comments section below or reach out to us directly at support@zohocrm.com. We eagerly await your thoughts and feedback on this!

Keep an eye out for future posts packed with similar content!

Cheers!

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