Zoho Creator Upcoming Updates — July 2023

Zoho Creator Upcoming Updates — July 2023

Hello all!

We hope you’ve had a chance to check out the newly updated Product Roadmap, which now includes the new features coming up as part of our 2023 Projection 2. Our goal is to continually improve and add new features to our platform on a regular basis. As we continue down this path, we’re thrilled to share with you the latest news and progress. Let’s start with the highlights of this month!
  • Canvas builder
  • Page scripts and Page variables
  • PDF support for OCR AI model
  • Export users/portal users with permission details
  • Formatting options for numeric fields
- - - - - - - - - -
Now let’s take a closer look at each of this month’s updates:
 

Canvas builder

We're excited to announce our all-new canvas builder, which will revolutionize the customization of the detail views of reports, and help you build beautiful and visually pleasing report layouts. With a feature-laden yet effortlessly easy-to-use drag and drop builder, the canvas builder will empower you to come up with fully functional and versatile reports with ease.
 
You can select any predesigned layout templates and customize them according to your requirements, or create your own design template from scratch with the help of design tools. All you need to do is simply drag and drop the required elements onto your canvas, customize them without breaking a sweat, and witness your vision come to life.
 
How to access it
Navigate to the required report, then to Detail View -> Custom Layout and click the Create New Layout option.

 

 
How do I benefit?
Canvas builder will help you come up with professional-looking designs in a fraction of the time, and ensures your users get a consistent and engaging user experience.
 
Applicable for: C5, C6
Availability: All DCs
Released on: 01-Aug-2023

- - - - - - - - - -

Page scripts and page variables

To give you more flexibility while building pages, we're introducing page scripts and page variables.
 
Page scripts: These are essentially Deluge workflows for pages, and are pretty similar to on load form workflows. You can use the familiar Deluge builder to write your own custom scripts and store values as page variables and use them across various page components, such as panels, charts, and gauges.
 
Page variables: These are a step up from the existing page parameters, because their data type definition makes it easier to handle errors and manage references. Plus, you can use custom logic in page scripts to edit and manipulate variables.
 
How to access it
  1. Go to the page builder and click the Page Variables and Scripts  button.
  2. Use the labels at the top of the pane to switch between the Scripts and Variables sections. 
            
How do I benefit?
Page scripts and variables allow you to add computational power to visual elements within pages. This will be a valuable asset in the development of attractive pages that improve user experience.
 
Applicable for: C5, C6
Availability: All DCs
Released on: 18-Aug-23
Reference: Page variables and script
 
- - - - - - - - - -

PDF support for OCR AI model 

Our OCR AI models (both prebuilt and custom) will now support files in PDF format. Going forward, our OCR will be able to quickly scan PDF files (such as invoices, quotes, and estimates), extract text, and save it in the appropriate fields, as specified by you. PDF files are often multi-page documents, and our AI can now do the heavy lifting for you. This intelligent document processing will save you a lot of time and allow you to focus on more important tasks.
 
How to configure it
In the same manner as you currently set up an OCR model (see how), but instead of an image field, a file upload field should be used as the model input to upload your PDF.


How do I benefit?
Extending our optical character recognition (OCR) model to include PDF files introduces a whole new set of document management capabilities for your business.
 
Applicable for: C6
Availability: All DCs
Released on: 21-Aug-23
Reference: Understand OCR model
 
- - - - - - - - - -

Export users/portal users with permission details

We'll be launching significant improvements to the export users and export portal users options. Going forward, you’ll see Application level alongside the existing option, renamed to Account level. After selecting this option, you can select the desired application from the drop-down menu. The exported file using this option will include the user’s email address, along with their roles and permissions for that application.
 
How to access it
Just like you currently export users, Users -> More -> Export Users, but the Export users pane will be revamped as shown below:

 
How do I benefit?
We aim to give you more control over the export users process, allowing you to download the exact data you require for analysis, auditing, compliance, and other purposes, by providing export options with permissions details and application filters for users and portal users.
 
Applicable for: C5, C6
Availability: All DCs
Released on: 27-Jul-23
 
- - - - - - - - - -

Formatting options for numeric fields

As with the currency field we will be introducing a new section named Display format in number and decimal fields, to allow you to display the data in your desired format. With this new formatting option, we aim to make it easier to read the numbers in your app and meet the needs of different user groups. It's especially useful for number fields that include currency values, so you can show the exact amount of money based on different regions' preferences.
 
Where do I find them?
  1. Navigate to the form builder and drag and drop a number or decimal field.
  2. In the Field properties pane, select the desired format from the drop-down menu under Display Format. 
How do I benefit?
The new formatting option will improve the readability of numeric data in your application and also fulfil regional preferences and industry-specific requirements.
 
Applicable for: C5, C6
Availability: All DCs
Released on: 14-Aug-23
 
- - - - - - - - - -

That's it from us for this month. Thank you for your continued support, and we’ll be back next month with more exciting updates!
 
Regards,
Zoho Creator Team
    • Sticky Posts

    • Introducing Zoho Creator's 2025 Release Projection 2

      Hello Creators! I'm Prakash, from the Creator product management team, and today I'm delighted to unveil our next set of features as part of Release Projection 2 for 2025. With thoughtful analysis and planning, we've curated powerful new capabilities
    • Zoho Creator - 2023 Release Projection 1

      Hello everyone! A very Happy New Year to you and your family. Hope you're all good and having a great time using Zoho Creator to make your lives easier and your businesses prosper. 2022 was an action-packed year for us at Creator, and we hope to continue
    • Zoho Creator User Group meetups in a city near you! - Oct - Nov, 2023

      Greetings from the Zoho Creator team! We're hosting a series of Zoho Creator meetups in various cities across the globe, and we'd love to meet you there! Our meetups are a great opportunity to network with industry peers, exchange ideas and best practices,
    • Zoho Creator - 2023 Release Projection 2

      Hello everyone! Time truly flies when you're having an incredible journey, and today we mark the completion of an eventful and action-packed six months. It feels like just yesterday when we embarked on this adventure together with the launch of our new
    • Upcoming Updates - August 2022

      Hi all, Greetings from the Zoho Creator team! Today we've got news for you on some exciting updates. And rest assured— there’s more to come! In this post, we'll be going over the upcoming features and improvements for this month as mentioned below. A
    • Recent Topics

    • Why Sharing Rules do Not support relative date comparison???

      I am creating a Sharing Rule and simply want to share where "Last Day of Coverage" (Date field) is Greater than TODAY (Starting Tomorrow). However, sharing rules don't have the option to compare a date field to a relative date (like today), only to Static
    • How do I migrate OLM file to Gmail?

      Migrating emails from Outlook for Mac to Gmail can be challenging because Gmail does not support OLM files directly. This limitation often causes confusion and delays, especially when users need quick access to important emails and mailbox data on a web-based
    • CRM x WorkDrive: File storage for new CRM signups is now powered by WorkDrive

      Availability Editions: All DCs: All Release plan: Released for new signups in all DCs. It will be enabled for existing users in a phased manner in the upcoming months. Help documentation: Documents in Zoho CRM Manage folders in Documents tab Manage files
    • Workflow rule only allows 10 workflow per module

      Apparently a Zoho professional edition only allows 10 workflow rules per module. This makes workflow allocation literally impossible while allocating potential to different members of the team. I have 15 licenses. Is there a way in which related alerts can be varied? In other words, is it possible to have different related alerts be triggered with different rule criteria. so if I say, if potential is 'x' then trigger related alert 'x' and if potential is 'y' then trigger related alert 'y' Thanks,
    • IF Statement in Zoho CRM Formula Field

      Hi, I am attempting to write a formula field that will give me one result if one statement AND another statement are true, then a different value if the first statement AND a different statement are true, else 0. Stated differently: if account = destination
    • CRM Percent custom fields: When will it show the % symbol and behave like %?

      1. Actually Percent custom fields fail to show the % symbol. 2. When in formulas Percent fields work like number: 100 x 5% = 5 ideal world 100 x 5% = 500 what happens actually 3. When importing Percent fields the % symbol has to be removed and the data
    • Free Webinar: Zoho Sign for Zoho Projects: Automate tasks and approvals with e-signatures

      Hi there! Handling multiple projects at once? Zoho Projects is your solution for automated and streamlined project management, and with the Zoho Sign extension, you can sign, send, and manage digital paperwork directly from your project workspace. Join
    • Automatically CC an address using Zoho CRM Email Templates

      Hi all - have searched but can't see a definitive answer. We have built multiple email templates in CRM. Every time we send this we want it to CC a particular address (the same address for every email sent) so that it populates the reply back into our
    • Editing the Ticket Properties column

      This is going to sound like a dumb question, but I cannot figure out how to configure/edit the sections (and their fields) in this column: For example, we have a custom "Resolution" field, which parked itself in the "Ticket Information" section of this
    • "Total Hours" on Employee Attendance Report

      I'm learning that in Zoho jargon, "total hours" does not include paid breaks. Or at least not the way that my setup is working. That seems a little weird to me, since most jurisdictions in the US don't differentiate between time spent on paid break and
    • Fixed assets in Zoho One?

      Hi, We use Zoho Books and have the fixed asset option in it. I started a trial for Zoho One and I do not see that as an option. Is the books that is part of zoho one equivalent to Zoho Books Elite subscription or is it a lesser version? Thanks, Matt
    • Integration with...

      Dear Zoho Commerce team, Please could you consider the integration within Zoho Commerce / Inventory and Qapla'? (https://www.qapla.it/en/) This app is better than Aftership in many ways: - Aftership integration require PRO plan and price start from more
    • Repeat Column merge in ZOHO writer columns doesn't allow to set max columns per row

      I'm using ZOHO writer to merge data from a ZOHO CRM subform and I want it to make a table. We're using Insert Table for Column Repeat, because this is what we need. (Name of column (Teamname) and underneath that a list of names of teammembers). It works
    • Generate leads from instagram

      hello i have question. If connect instagram using zoho social, it is possible to get lead from instagram? example if someone send me direct message or comment on my post and then they generate to lead
    • Adding Markdown text using Zoho Desk API into the Knowledge Base

      Hi Zoho Community members, We currently maintain the documentation of out company in its website. This documentation is written in markdown text format and we would like to add it in Zoho Knowledge Base. Do you know if there is REST API functionality
    • Create case via email

      Good Afternoon, I have just registered and am taking a look around the system. Is it possible to create a case via email.  I.e. an employee/client/supplier emails a certain address and that auto generates the case which then prompts a member of staff
    • Need a Universal Search Option in Zohobooks

      Hello Zoho, Need a Universal Search Option in Zohobooks to search across all transactions in our books of accounts. Please do the needful Thanks
    • Locked Notebook

      Hi, I hadn't used my Notebook in some time and was refamiliarizing myself with it. I clicked a lock icon and now I can't unlock. When I hit the information or unlock icons I'm taken to a page with the notebook icon and a keyboard. When I type, nothing
    • Unable to produce monthly P&L reports for previous years

      My company just migrated to Books this year. We have 5+ years financial data and need to generate a monthly P&L for 2019 and a monthly P&L YTD for 2020. The latter is easy, but I'm VERY surprised to learn that default reports in Zoho Books cannot create
    • Hide fields only for creation

      Hello, I'd like to hide some fields only during the creation of a contact in Zoho CRM. In fact I have some fields that are automatically calculated thanks to an automation, so when my users create a contact I don't want them to fill those fields. I know
    • Issues with Zoho Sheet in Mac

      I have downloaded the Zoho App from App Store but It is failing to Save As, Open & Download Operations. App Store
    • Weekly Sales Summary

      Is it possible to generate a weekly report in Zoho Books to show -$$ amount of estimates generated -# of estimates generated by Salesperson -$$ amount of Sales Orders created -$$ amount of Invoices generated
    • Subject character limit increase

      We have an occasional user case where subject lines exceed 500 characters which is the ZeptoMail imposed limit. While I understand long subject lines are not "best practice", these are particular notification emails with specific information for client
    • Can I write a check in Zoho Books with no associated bill?

      This currently does not seem possible, and I have a client that desperately needs this function if I am able to convert them with Quickbooks. Thank you in advance for your reply. 
    • OpenAPI Specs are just plain wrong

      The provided yml files for generating the OpenAPI specs are absolutely riddled with errors and inconsistencies. From missing fields on the objects, to just incorrectly named resource objects. I'm having to go through and manually changing the spec to
    • About Meetings (Events module)

      I was working on an automation to cancel appointments in zoho flow , and in our case, we're using the Meetings module (which is called Events in API terms). But while working with it, I'm wondering what information I can display in the image where the
    • Custom Footer – Zoho Writer Document

      Hello everyone, I’m having an issue adding a custom footer in a Zoho Writer document. I would like to insert my company information (including a logo + address) in the footer. The problem is that when I add these elements, the main content of my pages
    • Report grouping

      I have added a grouping in a report but it is not working how i had expected. I wanted to group a summary on a field named Size but when i add the grouping the report is still showing me each record and making a summary at the bottom of the report. What
    • Social Media Simplified with Zoho Social: Preview your Instagram grid before posting

      For a platform like Instagram that relies on visual appeal, it's important that you plan your image and video content in a way that holds your audience's attention. Planning your grid ahead of time gives you the benefit of understanding how your posts
    • Spreadsheet View click & focus issue in Arabic (RTL) localization

      Hello Zoho Support Team, I am facing an issue in Zoho Creator Spreadsheet View when using Arabic localization (RTL). Scenario: My app supports English (LTR) and Arabic (RTL). I created a Spreadsheet View for a form. In English, everything works correctly.
    • VAT rates - exempt and out of scope

      Good Evening, UK based company here. I am a bit confused in respect of setting up VAT rates for exempt goods and services; at present I am simply leaving the VAT rate blank in the transactions in order to prevent any VAT appearing in the VAT return. When
    • How to loop through Multiple Upload and Display Actual File Name

      I have been reading the help on the File Upload Control and reviewed the Deluge help on files and I can not figure out how to loop through the uploaded files and do anything but get the automatically created file names. The code below will run but each
    • abou arattai

      I want to use the Arattai app for business purposes, so please convert my account to a business account.I have my own invoice app, and I want to link it with the Arattai app for direct messaging.
    • Overlapping Reports in Dashboards

      It's rare, but occasionally it would be a good feature if I were able to overlap reports, either fully or partially in the Dashboards. Also, then having the ability to move objects to the front or rear, or make them transparent/translucent would be good
    • Looking back at Zoho Calendar in 2025

      Hello Zoho Calendar Community, As we step into a brand-new year, we’d like to take a moment to thank you for being an active and valued part of the Zoho Calendar community. Your trust, feedback, and continued engagement motivate us to keep evolving and
    • There was an error while connecting to GSTN

      I am trying to file GSTR1. Everything flows smoothly until I reach the final step of filing the return. After I enter the PAN and OTP for filing it raises the error "There was an error while connecting to GSTN"
    • Zoho Books Extension: What Happens If Custom Fields Already Exist?

      When developing Zoho Books extensions, what happens if the target Zoho Books organization already has a custom field with the same API name as one defined in the extension? I’m asking because we originally created an on-Books version of this functionality,
    • Internal Server Error (500) When Attempting to View Banking Transactions

      I am experiencing an Internal Server Error (500) when attempting to view transactions across all of my banking accounts. Despite multiple attempts to resolve this, I have received little more than runaround from support, and the issue remains unresolved.
    • How do I add a blank line to the Organisation Address Format?

      I'd like to have my VAT number, for example, shown prominently by having a clear gap between it and the address block above, but any blank lines in the address format get ignored in PDF outputs.
    • Automatic Invoice Number generation for createRecord

      Hello, while testing some custom Buttons in my Zoho Books application, I noticed that I get an error that previously did not occur. After some further digging I found that the automatic transaction numbering of invoices no longer work in my organization.
    • Next Page