Kaizen #73 - Portal #APIs [Part II]

Kaizen #73 - Portal #APIs [Part II]

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another week of Kaizen!

In continuation to our previous post on Portal APIs in Zoho CRM, we will discuss more on user groups and users this week.
Let us consider the case of the automobile industry. In such a case, you may need to give portal access to more than one user type, such as customers, employees, and partners.
With user types, each user will have access to the information that is most relevant to their role. For example, when you give your customers portal access, they can book services, view and update their service schedules. Your partners or employees with portal access can view customer behaviours, sales date, etc. 

Create a User Type via API

Using this API, you can create a user type for a portal you have already created.

Request URL: {api-domain}/crm/v4/settings/portals/<portal_name>/user_type
Request Method: POST
Scope: ZohoCRM.settings.clientportal.ALL/CREATE

Input Keys

 Key
 Description
name : string, mandatory
Name of the user type.
personality_module : string, mandatory
The module api name for which the user type is to be configured.
active : Boolean, optional
Represents whether the user type is active or inactive. The default value is false.
modules : JSONArray, mandatory
The JSON array containing keys that describe the user type's settings for different modules that are linked to the personality module through look up or multi-lookup fields.
modules.layouts.id : Number, mandatory
The layout the user type should be able to access.
modules.permission : key value pairs, mandatory
Boolean key-value pairs that represent the permissions you want the users to have in the module. The possible keys are view, edit, create.
modules.views : JSONObject, mandatory
The custom view or canvas view to display the records for the user type.
modules.id: Number, mandatory
The related module id.
modules.shared_type : String, mandatory
Represents whether the module is a private or public module.
modules.filters : JSONObject,mandatory
Field id, by which the module record can be filtered for the user type.
modules.fields : JSONArray, mandatory
Field permissions for the user type with read_only (Boolean), api_name(field API name) and id of the each field to be configured for the module. Note that if any of the fields in the layout is marked mandatory, they cannot be read-only in the portal.

For example, the following request creates the user type Customer for the ZylkerAutos portal, with view permission to the service module.

Sample Request:

Sample Input:

{
   "user_type":[
      {
         "name":"Customer",
         "personality_module":{
            "api_name":"Customer"
         },
         "active":true,
         "modules":[
            {
               "layouts":[
                  {
                     "id":"1306462000000095055"
                  }
               ],
               "permissions":{
                  "view" : true
               },
               "views":{
                  "id":"1306462000000091501",
                  "type":"custom_view"
               },
               "filters": null,
                fields": [
                 {
                      "id": "18936550000000063924",
                      "read_only": false
                  }
                ],
               "id":"1306462000000000125",
               "shared_type":"private"
            },
            {
               "layouts": null,
                "views": null,
               "filters": null,
               "permissions":{
                  "view":true
               },
               "id":"1306462000000000147",
               "shared_type":"private"
            }
         ]
      }
   ]
}

Sample Response

{
    "user_type": [
        {
            "code": "SUCCESS",
            "details": {
                "id": "1306462000001856005"
            },
            "message": "user type created successfully.",
            "status": "success"
        }
    ]
}

Update User Type via API

Suppose your automobile dealership firm decides to expand your online booking system to allow customers to schedule test drives, in addition to service appointments. In this case, the dealership may need to update the Customer user type to include the ability to book test drives. You can use the Update User Type API to make such updates. 

Request URL : {api-domain}/crm/v4/settings/portals/<portal_name>/user_type/<user_type_id>
Request Method : PUT
Scope : ZohoCRM.settings.clientportal.ALL/UPDATE

Input Keys:

Key Description
name : string, optionalName of the user type.
personality_module : string, optionalThe module api name for which the user type is to be configured.
active : Boolean, optionalRepresents whether the user type is active or inactive. The default value is false.
modules : JSONArray, optional
The JSON array containing keys that describe the user type's settings for different modules that are linked to the personality module through look up or multi-lookup fields.
modules.layouts.id : Number, optionalThe layout the user type should be able to access.
modules.permission : key value pairs, optional
Boolean key-value pairs that represent the permissions you want the users to have in the module. The possible keys are view, edit, create.
modules.views : JSONObject, optional
The custom view or canvas view to display the records for the user type.
modules.id: Number, optional
The related module id.
modules.shared_type : String, optional
Represents whether the module is a private or public module.
modules.filters : JSONObject, optional
Field id, by which the module record can be filtered for the user type.
modules.fields : JSONArray, optional
Field permissions for the user type with read_only (Boolean), api_name(field API name) and id of the each field to be configured for the module. Note that if any of the fields in the layout is marked mandatory, they cannot be read-only in the portal.

For example, the following request updates the Customer user type's access to the Service module.

Sample Request

https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v4/settings/portals/ZylkerAutos/user_type/1306462000001856005

Sample Input

{
   "user_type":[
      {
         "modules":[
            {
               "permissions":{
                  "edit":true,
                  "create":true
               },
               "id":"1306462000000000125",
               "shared_type":"private"
            }
         ]
      }
   ]
}

Sample Response

{
    "user_type": [
        {
            "code": "SUCCESS",
            "details": {
                "id": "1306462000001856005"
            },
            "message": "Portal user type updated successfully.",
            "status": "success"
        }
    ]
}

Delete User Type via API

Let us consider the case where your company had a user type for suppliers in its portal but has decided to handle supplier management through a separate system. In this case, you would need to delete the supplier user type from the portal to simplify user management and ensure that only the necessary users have access to the portal. 

Request URL: {api-domain}/crm/v4/settings/portals/<portal_name>/user_type/<user_type_id>
Request Method: DELETE
Scope: ZohoCRM.settings.clientportal.ALL/DELETE

For example, the following request deletes the supplier user type from the ZylkerAutos portal.

Sample Request

Sample Response

{
    "user_type": [
        {
            "code": "SUCCESS",
            "details": {
                "id": 1306462000001857564
            },
            "message": "Portal user type deleted successfully.",
            "status": "success"
        }
    ]
}

Please note that you cannot delete a user type with users. You should transfer the users to another portal before deleting the user type.

Transfer User to another User Type

There may be scenarios where you have to transfer a user from one user type to another. For instance, if a customer is upgraded to premium level which offers additional services, you might need to transfer the customer to a new user type that includes these features. Also, if you ever have to delete a user type, you need to transfer the users in that user type to another one. 

Request URL: {api-domain}/crm/v4/settings/portals/<portal_name>/user_type/<user_type_id>/users/action/transfer
Request Method: POST
Scope: ZohoCRM.settings.clientportal.ALL/UPDATE

Parameters

Parameter
Description
transfer_to : string, mandatory
The id of the user type to which you want to transfer the users.
personality_ids : string, mandatory
comma separated list of ids of the users you want to transfer.

Sample Request

Sample Response

{
    "users": [
        {
            "code": "SUCCESS",
            "details": {
                "personality_id": "1306462000000659009"
            },
            "message": "User has been transferred successfully",
            "status": "success"
        }
    ]
}

You can transfer up to 200 users in one API call. If there are more than 200 users to be transferred, a job will be scheduled.

Change Status of a User 

If you want to change the activate or deactivate a user, you can do so using this API.

Request URL: {api-domain}/crm/v4/settings/portals/<portal_name>/user_type/<user_type_id>/users/<user_id>/actions/change_status
Request Method: PUT
Scope: ZohoCRM.settings.clientportal.ALL/UPDATE

Parameters

Parameter
Description
active : Boolean, mandatory
To mention whether to activate or deactivate the user.

The following request changes the status of the user to inactive.

Sample Request

Sample Response

{
    "change_status": [
        {
            "code": "SUCCESS",
            "details": {
                "personality_id": "1306462000000665004"
            },
            "message": "Status of the user changed successfully.",
            "status": "success"
        }
    ]
}

Delete User from Portal

There may be times when you want to delete a user from a portal to prevent unauthorized access. You may use the Delete User from Portal API to do this.

Request URL: {api-domain}/crm/v4/settings/portals/<portal_name>/user_type/<user_type_id>/users
Request Method: DELETE
Scope: ZohoCRM.settings.clientportal.ALL/DELETE

Parameters

ParameterDescription
personality_ids : string, mandatoryComma separated ids of the users you want to delete from the portal.

Sample Request

Sample Response

{
    "users": [
        {
            "code": "SUCCESS",
            "details": {
                "personality_id": "1306462000000659009"
            },
            "message": "Portal user deleted successfully.",
            "status": "success"
        }
    ]
}

Please note you can delete up to 499 users from a portal synchronously. If you want to delete 500 or more users, a delete job will be scheduled.

We hope you found this post useful, and that it has given you a better understanding of the Portal APIs. See you next week with another useful topic.

If you have any questions or feedback, please let us know in comments below, or write to us at support@zohocrm.com. We would love to hear from you!


    • Recent Topics

    • How are people handling estimates with Zoho inventory?

      We are often using Zoho Books for estimates that then get converted to invoices within Books. We would like the sales team to migrate entirely to Zoho Inventory and no longer need to use Zoho Books so that they are only on one system. How are people managing
    • Relative Date Searches

      Currently in the search options, it has "date", "from date" and "to date". I think it would be great if there were options like "date greater than x days ago" and "date less than x days ago". I realise that as a once off you can just use the existing
    • Performance is degrading

      We have used Mail and Cliq for about three years now. I used to use both on the browser. Both have, over the past 6 months, had a severe degradation in performance. I switched to desktop email, which appeared to improve things somewhat, although initial
    • Ask the Experts 23: Customize, utilize, and personalize with Zoho Desk

      Hello everyone! It's time for the next round of Ask the Experts (ATE). This month is all about giving Zoho Desk a complete makeover and making it truly yours. Rebrand Zoho Desk with your organization’s details, customize ticket settings based on your
    • Dear Zoho CEO: Business Growth is about how you prioritise!

      All of us in business know that when you get your priorities right, your business grows. Zoho CRM and Zoho Books are excellent products, but sadly, Zoho Inventory continues to lag behind. Just this morning, I received yet another one-sided email about
    • Payroll In Canada

      Hi, When can we expect to have payroll in Canada with books 
    • Please review and re-enable outgoing emails for my domain

      Hello Zoho Support, I have recently purchased a new domain and set up email hosting with Zoho. However, my account shows "Outgoing Email Blocked". I am a genuine user and not sending bulk/spam emails. Please review and re-enable outgoing emails for my
    • Payroll without tax integrations (i.e. payroll for international)

      It seems as though Zoho waits to develop integrations with local tax authorities before offering Zoho Payroll to Zoho customers in a country. Please reconsider this approach. We are happy Zoho Books customers, but unhappy that we have to run payroll in
    • goingout e mail block

      info@ozanrade.com.tr
    • Incoming mails blocked

      Zoho User ID : 60005368884 My mail Id is marketing#axisformingtechnology.com .I am getting following message "Your Incoming has been blocked and the emails will not be fetched in your Zoho account and POP Accounts. Click here to get unblocked." Please
    • Assistance Needed: Ticket Status Not Updating and Sorting by Last Customer Reply in Zoho Desk

      Hello, I’m facing two issues in Zoho Desk that I’d like your guidance on: Ticket Status Not Updating: When a customer replies to a ticket, the status does not change to Reopened. Instead, it remains in Waiting on Customer, even after the customer’s response
    • Configuring Email Notifications with Tautulli for Plex

      Hi I'm new to Zoho. I am from Canada and I have a I use a web based application called Tautulli for Plex that monitors my Plex media server. It also sends a newsletter to my followers. To set this up they require a "From" email address., a smtp server
    • Is there a way to automatically add Secondary Contacts (CCs) when creating a new ticket for specific customers?

      Some of our customers want multiple contacts to receive all notifications from our support team. Is there a way to automatically add secondary contacts to a ticket when our support team opens a new ticket and associates it with an account? This would
    • How to Set Up Zoho Mail Without Cloudflare on My Website

      I'm having some trouble with Cloudflare here in Pakistan. I want to configure Zoho Mail for my domain, but I'm not sure how to set it up without going through Cloudflare. My website, https://getcrunchyrollapk.com/ , is currently using CF, but I'd like
    • Spam is Being Forwarded

      I am filtering a certain sender directly to the Trash folder. Those messages are still being forwarded. Is this supposed to happen?
    • IMAP Block

      My two accounts have been blocked and I am not able to unblocked them myself. Please respond to email, I am traveling and this is urgent.
    • "DKIM not configured"

      Hello. I have been attempting get the DKIM verified but Toolkit keeps sending the message that it is not configured, but both Namecheap and Zoho show it as configured properly. What am I missing?
    • Zoho mail with custom domain not receiving email

      i registered zoho mail with my own domain. I can login and access the mail app. I tried to send email from an outlook email account and an icloud email account. Both emails were not received. My plan is free. I also tried to send email from this zoho
    • Set connection link name from variable in invokeurl

      Hi, guys. How to set in parameter "connection" a variable, instead of a string. connectionLinkName = manager.get('connectionLinkName').toString(); response = invokeurl [ url :"https://www.googleapis.com/calendar/v3/freeBusy" type :POST parameters:requestParams.toString()
    • Waterfall Chart

      Hello, I would like to create a waterfall chart on Zoho analytics which shows the movement in changes of budget throughout a few months, on a weekly basis. Should look something like the picture below. Does anyone know how to?
    • Help Center and SEO: Any Benefit to My Domain-Mapped Website Ranking?

      First of, I love the Help Center which I've just decided to integrate into my website to replace its old-fashioned FAQs. So much more to achieve there now! Lots of new benefits to the site visitors and to me in terms of organizing and delivering all the
    • Issue with Importing Notes against Leads

      Hi, I am attempting to import some Notes into Zoho CRM which need to be assigned to various Leads. I have created a csv file which I am testing that contains just one record. This csv file contains the following columns: Note Id Parent Id       (I have
    • Trigger a Workflow Function if an Attachment (Related List) has been added

      Hello, I have a Case Module with a related list which is Attachment. I want to trigger a workflow if I added an attachment. I've seen some topics about this in zoho community that was posted few months ago and based on the answers, there is no trigger
    • Option to Hide Project Overview for Client Profiles

      In Zoho Projects, the Project Overview section is currently visible to client profiles by default. While user profiles already have the option to restrict or hide access to the project overview, the same flexibility isn’t available for client profiles.
    • Creator Add Records through API - Workflows not triggered ?

      Hi Everyone, I am trying to add records to my Creator application through a third party app that I am developing. Currently, I am testing this through Postman. The records I need to add have a lot of workflows to run to populate dropdowns, fields, use
    • Important Update: Changes to Google Translate Support in Zoho SalesIQ

      We’re updating our default chat translation options across all Zoho SalesIQ data centres to offer a more secure, in-house solution for your translation needs. What’s changing? We will be offering Zoho Translate (our in-house tool) as the default translation
    • Zoho CRM Community Digest - July P1 | 2025

      Hey everyone, The start of July 2025 marked a special milestone: 200 posts in our Kaizen series! For those new here, Kaizen is a go-to series for Zoho CRM developers, where we regularly share best practices, tips, and expert insights to help you build
    • What’s New in Zoho Expense (April – July 2025)

      Hello users, We're happy to bring you the latest updates and enhancements we've made to Zoho Expense over the past three months, which include introducing the Trip Expense Summary report in Analytics, extending Chatbot support to more editions, rolling
    • Weekly Tips: Insert frequently used phrases in a jiffy using Hotkeys

      You often find yourself using similar phrases in an email —like confirming appointments or providing standard information. Constantly switching between the mouse and keyboard interrupts your flow and slows you down.Instead of typing the same phrases over
    • Undo Command in Notebook

      It would be handy to have an Undo in the row of icons at the bottom of the notes.
    • Improved UI for a Seamless User Experience - Calls, Tasks, and Meetings

      Hello all, We are making UI unification across CRM so that the UI experience is seamless across the product. As part of that effort, we have made changes to the details page of activity-based module records—Meetings, Calls, and Tasks. Let's look at these
    • New Customization options in the module builder: Quick Create and Detail view

      Hello everyone, We have introduced two new components to the module builder: Quick create and Detail view. The Quick Create Component It is a mini form used to create a record and associate it to the parent record from a lookup field. For example, if you have a Deals lookup in the Contacts module, then you can associate existing deals or create a deal and associate it with the contact. You can customize this Quick Create form by adding standard as well as custom fields. There is no limit to the number
    • Narrative 9: GC—Meaningful conversations that benefit your customers

      Behind the scenes of a successful ticketing system - BTS Series Narrative 9: GC—Meaningful conversations that benefit your customers Customers often seek immediate solutions, which is why self-service options are essential. Guided Conversations provides
    • FSM App Oddity

      We recently rolled out FSM to our technicians, and only one technician is having an issue. He's using an iPhone with iOS 18.6 installed. When he goes to service appointments using the calendar icon at the bottom of the app, he gets a list view only. Typically,
    • Cliq Not Working !

      Zoho Cliq has been experiencing connectivity issues since this morning. The app is unable to establish a connection with the server.
    • Injecting CSS into ZML pages

      Is there a way to inject CSS into ZML pages? Use case: 1. Dashboard displays 'Recent Activities' card displaying a list of newly added records 2. Each item in list links to the record onClick 3. When a user points the cursor over an item in the list,
    • Power of Automation :: Automated Weekly Notifications for Unapproved Timesheets

      Hello Everyone, A custom function is a software code that can be used to automate a process and this allows you to automate a notification, call a webhook, or perform logic immediately after a workflow rule is triggered. This feature helps to automate
    • Extracting Data from Sitelink APIs

      Hi All, I'm working to pull data on Sitelink using API calls but i can't seem to extract it. If you click expand, you will see it has a lot of data in it. I tried extracting from the map but it's not giving me anything. Is there a workaround on this or
    • Export a list of fields for all modules in a spreadsheet with specific field data

      Many of my clients are using spreadsheets to create lists of fields for all modules when starting a new implementation or when updating an existing setup. This is a useful process but also a very time consuming one. It would be good a list of fields could
    • [Important announcement] Zoho Writer will mandate DKIM configuration for automation users

      Hi all, Effective Dec. 31, 2024, configuring DKIM for From addresses will be mandatory to send emails via Zoho Writer. DKIM configuration allows recipient email servers to identify your emails as valid and not spam. Emails sent from domains without DKIM
    • Next Page