Zoho CRM Community Digest - May 2024

Zoho CRM Community Digest - May 2024



This May, we shipped several features and enhancements requested by the Community. Dive in to learn more about them and explore the engaging conversations awaiting you in the Zoho CRM Community. 

Product Updates:


Buttons in Zoho CRM got an upgrade! You can now tailor buttons to specific layouts, adding more context and reducing clutter. Even better, buttons are now available for Zoho CRM portals. This extended functionality allows your customers to launch a pre-configured Kiosk from within the portal with a single click, taking customisation to a whole new level. Check out the announcement post for more details, complete with use cases to help you understand this update better. 
Zoho CRM's timeline has received a major makeover with some exciting new capabilities. We've extended the timeline view to three years, replacing the previous six-month limit, allowing you to see more of the record's history at a glance. This highly requested enhancement from our community doesn't stop there. You can now add notes directly to timeline entries for quick updates, filter events to zoom in on specific information, and even see email statuses — all within the timeline view. Check out this post to learn all about these enhancements.

Introducing Custom Email Field Support in Zoho CRM:

Zoho CRM now lets you send emails and sync conversations with email addresses added to custom email fields in Zoho CRM. This feature, in addition to the existing support for primary and secondary email fields, provides a more comprehensive email history across multiple email addresses within the CRM record. Supported for Leads, Contacts, Vendors, and custom modules, this feature is optional. Follow the steps in this announcement post to enable it for your CRM account. 

Introducing Lead History for Converted Leads: 

The timeline view stores the historical changes made to records, helping with the audit trail. Previously, lead history became unavailable once leads were converted to contact records, a major pain-point expressed by many of our community members. With the revamped timeline view, we have addressed this gap by making the lead history of converted leads accessible within the timeline view of the corresponding Contact, Account, or Deal record. This update is tied to the revamped timeline feature, which is being rolled out in a phased manner. For more details and updates on the availability of this feature, follow this announcement post. 

You can now customize the columns displayed in the Contact Roles section inside the Deals module of Zoho CRM. This update allows you to rearrange the information and choose which details are most important for your team to see quickly. Check the latest comment by @Anonymous User in this post for the specifics.

We've enhanced the integration capabilities of Zoho CRM and Zoho Projects. A new Client Configuration section has been added in the setup to ensure you're aware of how your project clients are mapped to CRM Contacts and Accounts. Alongside the previously supported modules (Contacts, Accounts, and Deals), we've now included support for additional Zoho CRM modules like Products, Cases, Quotes, Invoices and Campaigns. This enables seamless access to all project-related information across related CRM modules. Automatic field mapping ensures that relevant details from the source module are populated when you create a project, eliminating the need for manual data entry. Additionally, the permission management of this integration is now simpler. Check out the post for more details!

Enhanced Validation Rules: 

The recent enhancements to validation rules introduce much-needed flexibility, allowing for quick validation of data at the individual field level. You can choose to prevent saving or allow it with a prompt when a validation fails, and decide where error messages appear —either at the field level or at the top of the page. Additionally, validation rules now extended to lookup fields. Dive into the post to learn more in detail. 

Useful discussions:

Moving Mail Merge Templates Between Modules:
@Caroline wanted to change the module associated with existing Mail Merge templates in Zoho CRM. Check out @838536863@zohoclosedAccount.com's suggested workaround in this post: download the original template, import it to the required module and re-map the merged fields. 

Mailchimp Extension for Zoho CRM:
Use this extension to seamlessly sync your campaigns and subscribers in Mailchimp with Zoho CRM. Send personalised emails based on your customers' interests and trigger email Campaigns with automated workflows based on CRM actions. To learn more about this extension, check out this post!

Enabling Clients to Update Data and Track Progress in Zoho CRM: 
@Salmaswco wants their clients to fill out a form in Zoho CRM, fetch previously filled data, review and update details, and track their progress over time. Depending on the depth of the requirement, this can be done natively in CRM using customer portals or by integrating with Zoho Forms or Survey. Check out this post for suggestions from @Anonymous User and @Amy on how to make this work. 

Auto-Send Emails to Deal Contacts on a Monthly Basis: 
@Pam wants to send recurring emails every month to Deal contacts based on specific criteria. They figured out that Workflow rules are the way to go for this but needed some reassurances on whether they are doing it the right way. @Anonymous User and @Anonymous User provided some pointers to reassure them and added more details to it in this post.

Automating VAT Calculations for Quotes:
@Coen | Heative was struggling with manually setting the VAT on quotes each time. which lead to sending incorrect quotes to their customers when missed. Check out @Ishwarya SG's suggested solution in this post to add an aggregate field that automatically rolls up the VAT values from individual products to the quote. 

Functions: 

Automatic Field Updates Between Contacts and Deals Module:
@Tyler Christie sought a way to automatically update select fields in deal records whenever related fields are updated in the Contact module. In the discussion thread, @Hugh Marshall provided a Deluge script function to achieve this. Tyler even shared an enhanced version of the code that allows mirroring multiple fields at once. Check out the post to learn more!

Chain Workflows in Zoho CRM: 
@Oscar brought up an interesting use-case that involves two workflows working in tandem. The first workflow triggers a field update in the Contacts module whenever a Deal is marked as "Closed Won". This in turn triggers the second workflow from the Contacts module to send an email to Deal Contact. They got it all right except for a parameter that needs to be added in the Function code to make the output of the first workflow trigger for the next one. Check out the solution, shared by @Vigneshwaran K and @Ishwarya SG in this post.

@Reynald needed help integrating their website with Zoho CRM. They were unsure of specific API details such as the URL, API Key, client ID, etc., as well as how to integrate them. @Ishwarya SG suggested using Zoho APIs to push website information to the CRM and shared the API documentation. Meanwhile, @Bhoomi Joshi explained the steps to generate the required credentials. Join the discussion to learn the process. 

Automatically Count Emails Open for Lead Engagement Tracking:
@Antonio wanted to track lead engagement with emails sent through mass emails. He needed a way to increment a numeric field each time an email is opened. Check out @Vigneshwaran K's response in this post, which provides an API-based solution to achieve this. 

Prevent Editing In Lookup Fields: 
@kparikh44444 wants to make a lookup field in a subform with the Deals module as read-only once the deal reached specific stage. They had successfully made other fields read-only using client scripts but were stuck with the lookup field. Check out this post for the script provided by @Hugh Marshall to achieve this requirement.

Auto-fill Time Zones Based on Postal Codes:
@K-CRM wants to populate the Time Zone field for Contacts automatically and Leads. Their goal is to send bulk emails to these Contacts/Leads at the beginning of their local day, and wanted to know if this can be done using their client's Postal Code. Check the solutions shared by @Vigneshawaran K and @Haiku Technical Support in this post.

Hiding Custom Based on Lead Stage: 
Revisiting an old discussion on hiding/disabling the convert button unless the lead reached a specific stage, @Dan had a similar requirement with a custom button but wanted it to work without reloading the page. @Hugh stepped in with a solution, prompting @Dan to post a glowing tribute for Hugh, quoted below! 
Check out this post for an interesting discussion.

Kaizen: 

Kaizen#136 - Zoho CRM Widgets using ReactJS:
Learn how to create custom widgets for Zoho CRM using frameworks like ReactJS. check this post for step-by-step instructions on setting up the project, including installing, creating, building and packaging the widget for Zoho CRM. 

Kaizen #137 - Lead Conversion using Zoho CRM APIs: 
Learn how to leverage Zoho CRM APIs to convert Leads into Contacts, Accounts, and Deals while avoiding duplicate records in this post. 

Kaizen #138 - How are Widgets used in Zoho CRM Settings?Interested in learning more about Widgets in Zoho CRM? Check out this Kaizen post for an interesting use-case on how to leverage Widgets to make your Knowledge Base resources accessible right within CRM. Don't forget to explore the recommended reads section at the end of this post to learn more about Zoho CRM Widgets. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this month's round-up. Keep tabs on the digest every month for the latest ideas and discussions. Stay tuned and engage in the forums to be included in the next month's digest. Have a wonderful month ahead!

    • Sticky Posts

    • How to reach the official Zoho Support channels and avoid fake ones.

      Dear Customers, Thanks a lot for choosing Zoho! Our applications are built to help achieve your day-to-day business goals. We are committed to engaging with you, to understand and develop solutions that enhance your productivity.  We are happy and ready to help you use our services effectively. Understanding and avoiding fake support Just like using popular bank names and financial applications for phishing purposes, using Zoho and claiming to be providing Zoho Support or services with false numbers

    • Function #35: Close all tasks associated with a lead and create a new task.

      Welcome back everyone! Last week, we learnt how to close all tasks of a deal depending upon the deal stage. This week, let's look at a custom function that lets you close all of the tasks associated with a lead while simultaneously creating a new task, like when you need to halt all progress towards a lead while the lead is not available at the moment but create a reminder task. Business scenario: The success of a company, in one way or another, is determined by the leads it gets. Each lead is just

    • Zoho CRM Webinar - Redesigning Daily User Experiences with Canvas

      <br> Your users across roles use the CRM for day-to-day tasks that are necessary. Whether they perform their tasks on time, the right way, or at all depends on a lot of factors, including User Experience. Many businesses struggle with rigid layouts,

    • Join us at the Canada ZUG Meetup: What’s New in Zoho CRM

      Hello Zoho Community! Start your year with fresh insights into Zoho CRM’s latest updates and tools. Whether you're a CRM beginner or a experienced user, this meetup is crafted to help you optimise your processes and leverage new features. Explore practical

    • CRM Hack #2: Automate sending of birthday greetings to your customers.

        Hello everyone! What sets you apart as a sales person is your ability to add that personal touch to your business relationship with your customers. Sending a gift on a special day, or leaving a note wishing them on their birthdays, are small, yet significant actions that show your customers that you care. And these are actions done without any expectations :) You must be engaging with a lot of customers and it is highly unlikely that they all are your friends on Facebook or some social channel,

    • Recent Topics

    • Select CRM Custom Module in Zoho Creator

      I have a custom module added in Zoho CRM that I would like to link in Zoho creator.  When I add the Zoho CRM field it does not show the new module.  Is this possible?  Do i need to change something in CRM to make it accesible in Creator?

    • New User - Opening Stock Aging Report

      I am setting up new client and am entering Opening Stock - created items and entered quantity/price details. Now the aging report is showing all the opening stock as new. How do I enter the Purchase Dates of these items so that I get accurate Inventory

    • Bulk Receive Multiple Purchase Orders

      Is there a feature or function that will allow you to bulk receive issued purchase orders? I have about 100 that need to be received from 5 years ago.

    • Manual Invoice

      How to create a Manual invoice, I need to enter Amount directly instead of (qty*Rate). our company is a service sector

    • Effective Inbox Organization: Folders vs Tags in Zoho Mail?

      I'm exploring the best ways to organize a busy inbox, especially when managing multiple clients or project using Zoho Mail. I’d love to know what works best for others: 1. Do you prefer **folders** (possibly with sub-folders) for each client or project?

    • Merging contacts and or accounts

      Hello, In a prior CRM we were able to merge contacts and or accounts.  We have turned on the function to stop multiple contacts with the same email, so we can prevent multiple contacts from happening, however, we now have multiple contacts that have the

    • Capture Reason for absence next to Campaign Member Status. Is there a reasonable workaround?

      I've reviewed the topics I could find to do with this but still couldn't find anything that satisfies our requirements: We would like to track a *reason* (picklist or text, doesn't matter which) why a Campaign Member (Lead or Contact associated with a

    • Zoho Learning Management System - Certificate Upload by Employees

      We are planning to enroll employees in courses which are hosted by coursera or similar sites. I want to share the links of those courses and also want employees to upload their completion certificate once they are done. Is this function possible in

    • Add RTL and Hebrew Support for Candidate Portal (and Other Zoho Recruit Portals)

      Dear Zoho Recruit Team, I hope you're doing well. We would like to request the ability to set the Candidate Portal to be Right-to-Left (RTL) and in Hebrew, similar to the existing functionality for the Career Site. Currently, when we set the Career Site

    • Button or Links order

      Is there a way to re-order the buttons or links that are created?

    • 'Pin' notes, so that specific ones are always visible at the top of the 'notes' tab.

      It doesn't appear Bigin has the functionality to 'pin' a note to then have it always show at the top of the notes tab section of a record. Often times we have a large number of records, but key information we may want to have easily visible to all at

    • Request for Subform Support in Zoho CRM Webforms

      Hi Team, I hope you're doing well. I would like to bring to your attention that currently, Zoho CRM Webforms do not support Subforms, which limits our ability to send forms that mirror the actual structure used within Zoho CRM. This feature is extremely

    • Formatting Mailing Labels

      I want to use the "Print Mailing Labels" function on the drop down list, but I am not seeing a way to change the formatting on the mailing labels. At the moment, the information that appears on the mailing labels ARE NOT mailing addresses, but random

    • Maxima Address on FSM Customer

      Im trying to add probably 50 customers from one company but couldn't make it since it has limit..how do i add the limit?

    • How to Track Inventory Usage from Zoho FSM to Zoho Inventory?

      Hi everyone, We’re currently working on integrating Zoho FSM with Zoho Inventory, and we’ve encountered a challenge we’re hoping the community can help us understand better. Here’s the context: When we create a Work Order in Zoho FSM that involves parts

    • View subform entries without viewing a record in Zoho CRM | Kiosk Studio Session #8

      In a nutshell Have you ever wanted to take a quick peek at a record's subform? Examples might be invoiced items in an invoice, ordered items in a sales order, or purchased items in a purchase order. Let's say you're viewing your list of invoices in Zoho

    • Transforma tu Inventario: Control Inteligente y Funciones Clave en Zoho Inventory (Spanish Webinar)

      ¿Tu empresa necesita mayor trazabilidad y control en almacenes? Conoce cómo gestionar tu inventario con eficiencia y automatización... ¡y descubre las sorpresas que trae Zoho Analytics! Participa en nuestro webinar gratuito en español, este 19 de agosto

    • Dashlane discontinued its free plan: Here's why Zoho Vault's free plan is worth the switch

      Hey everyone, Dashlane password manager has officially announced that its free plan will be discontinued starting September 16, 2025. This change means that current free users will need to either upgrade to a paid subscription or export their data and

    • Mails are not being sent from custom Deluge function

      We are having troubles to implement sending Invoices / Sales_Orders etc. automatically using following deluge script: attachment_template_id = "aaaa"; record_id = "bbbb"; mail_template_id = "cccc"; //NEW aproach fileUrl = "https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v8/settings/inventory_templates/"

    • Currency transition

      We are using Zoho CRM in Curacao, Dutch Caribbean. Our currency is currently the ANG. Curacao will be transition ing from using the ANG (Antillean Guilder) to using the XCG currency (Caribbean Guilder) on March 31st 2025, see: https://www.mcb-bank.com/caribbean-guilder.

    • Notes and Attachments visibility can now be restricted based on profiles

      Dear All, We hope you're well! We are here with a quick update about Notes and Attachments profile permissions. In the past, a record's Notes and Attachments were visible by default to all users with record access. However, as notes and attachments can

    • Zoho webinar--hard for agencies

      So, this is just a dive into our use case, and why we've been disappointed in Zoho webinar. We are a small marketing agency, and we wanted to add webinars to the services we provide, as many of our clients want to learn to use them as part of their content

    • Celebrating Raksha Bandhan with Zoho Desk: A Bond of Trust, Protection, and Service

      Raksha Bandhan, celebrated across India, symbolizes the sacred bond of protection and affection between siblings. “Raksha” means protection, “Bandhan” means bond or knot: together, it represents a knot of care and security. On this occasion, we'd like

    • Banking > Import statements with a csv file

      Good morning, I am regularly using the "import statement" option to match my transactions. I've been using csv files produced by my bank online and was able to import my transactions. Until now. Thank you for your help for fixing this ! Alex.

    • ZOHO BOOKS - RECEIVING MORE ITEMS THAN ORDERED

      Hello, When trying to enter a vendor's bill that contains items with bigger quantity than ordered in the PO (it happens quite often) - The system would not let us save the bill and show this error: "Quantity recorded cannot be more than quantity ordered." 

    • Has anyone successfully added Microsoft Graph API Oauth2 as a connection?

      I'm having trouble getting Microsoft Graph API created as a connection in zoho crm. Has anyone successfully added Microsoft Graph API Oauth2 as a connection? My issue is not necessarily on the Zoho side, but understanding how to set up the Microsoft side

    • Syncing Timesheets between Projects and Desk

      All users able to see their own timelog entries from all apps in one place, synced immediately. All managers able to view total/all time entries from one place. This is something that has come up for us and multiple clients. Example: we have a client

    • Spell Check default language

      Hello All, Is it possible to set the Spell Check default language? I can't find it in the settings. Thanks a lot! Levente

    • Zoho Backstage 3.0 - Boostez vos événements avec des outils malins

      Zoho Backstage vous accompagne dans l’organisation d’événements réussis, avec des outils qui simplifient la planification, optimisent l’exécution et renforcent la connexion avec votre public. La version 2.0 a apporté une nouvelle interface, plus de flexibilité

    • Portal user activity reporting

      Aside from the metrics section in the admin dashboard, is there a way to view/create reports for portal user activity? Im looking for a more granular option to see exactly what users are utilizing the portal. Thanks!

    • Automation #11 - Auto Update Custom Fields with Values from Emails

      This is a monthly series designed to help you get the best out of Desk. We take our cue from what's being discussed or asked about the most in our community. Then we find the right use cases that specifically highlight solutions, ideas and tips to optimize

    • Admins to set Agents Picture

      Admins should not have to rely on agents to set a nice profile picture for them. Admins get the headshot pictures from HR and should be able to upload and set their picture, not rely on them to: 1) upload a picture at all 2) upload a good picture 3) upload

    • Time Tracking Reporting and Billing

      I wish for the time tracking module to be enhanced further. Currently it is independent of Support Plans and Contracts. Support Plans and Contracts are also mostly separate. We need a better dashboard of this with the ability to natively mark billed or

    • Enhanced Email Signature Folding

      We have departmental signatures setup which are great, however, when viewing ticket details, it gets very overwhelming when scrolling though threads and conversations where you scroll past ten different signatures of your own team, then ten signatures

    • How to add formatting in zoho.cliq.postToUser(...) message?

      In a CRM Deluge function, I'm trying to use the message formatting guidelines given here: https://www.zoho.com/deluge/help/cliq/posting-to-zoho-cliq.html#message-formats My message is: message: #Title text. The result in Cliq is: #Title text. (no large

    • How to add line breaks in zoho.cliq.postToUser(...) message?

      In a CRM function using Deluge I'm sending this message and attempting to add some line breaks but they are ignored. Is there another way to add these breaks? My message: message: New urgent task\nDescription \nThis is a fake description.\n A new line?

    • Zia Agents/End of Day Reports

      As a manager or owner it would be nice if Zia analyzed today's (or this week's tickets) and gave an end of the day report to management team. - what important tickets were worked on or submitted today? - what agents were unproductive today and answered

    • Project Cost Tracking

      I see there are questions/concerns that Zoho doesn't track costs to a tasks in a project. We are a manufacturer and are in the early stages of tracking costs to project. I would like to expand out the COGS Chart of accounts in Books and record costs via

    • How to record if the payment made is return due to transaction failed.

      So there is Bill of $2000, and a payments made transaction to clear the bill. The amount is actually deducted from bank account. However, a few days later, I found the bank returned only $1750 cause there are $250 bank service charge for this failed transaction.

    • Help Center Customization UI

      The customization screens for the help center needs the UI improved. It looks straight out of 2004. The Zoho Desk normal UI is great. All it takes is uniform fonts and colors across all parts of the tool... I compare this to Zendesk Guide.

    • Next Page