Spotlight #2 - Part 1: 5 Custom Features you shouldn't miss in Zoho Sprints

Welcome back to our next spotlight on ' Customization'.

The product's reach is determined by how well it is customized for the end user. When customization is the key element in a product's growth, a scrum project requires tailor-made features to deliver outcomes in iterations effectively. Here is the list of five custom features that will be covered in part 1 of this spotlight. 

Let's see how these custom features in Zoho Sprints can help Helen solve her business problems. 

 

Business background

Helen is the 'Technical Lead' of a software sector 'Yards'. Her team is developing a new e-shopping website. They handle work across different teams and as the work items pile up they require an organized way of handling things. Let's see how the custom features can help the team. 

Work Item Type and Priority

Case	Solution
Helen wants to add all the requirements in specific types. Instead of using the default work item types (Story, Task, and Bug), she can customize the types.	Helen can use  CUSTOM WORK ITEM TYPE   and add new work items type. She can create all the categories in her website as the work item types:  Electronics - Requirements related to gadgets are added to this type.   Fashion  - Requirements related to men and women clothing are added to this type.   Decors  - Requirements related to home decors are added to this type.

This works similar for priority. She can access CUSTOM PRIORITY  and set new priorities for her team.  

Custom Layouts and Fields

Case

Solution

The default work item form has general fields for work items across domains. However, Helen would like to specify specific fields related to every department of her team. For example, she likes to have a specific layout for clothing related work items, shipping etc.

Helen can create CUSTOM LAYOUTS and FIELDS  for every department. These layouts can be associated with specific projects and the work becomes organized.     Shipping Layout - It has all the work item fields right from customer ordering the material to the shipping team working on the delivery.    Decoration Layout - It has the custom fields related to user requests for interior and exterior decors.    Textiles Layout - All the clothing related work items across categories (Men, Women, and Kids) are included in this layout.

Each of these layouts are associated with the relevant projects and the work is made easy for Helen. 

Project Templates

Case	Solution
Helen and her team have enrolled in a new project that is similar to the current project they are working on. They have a similar request from the customers for creating a new category for  'KIDS - CLOTHING '. How can they recreate all the items and sprints?	The new project will have sections and layouts similar to the existing project. Helen can create a TEMPLATE by importing all the work items and sprints. She can now associate it to the KIDS - CLOTHING project. This will break the hurdle of recreating the same set of work items multiple times.

 

Custom Status on Scrum Board 

Case

Solution

Since, Helen handles work across different teams, she can track a clear progress of each stage in the sprint. Working with default three statuses: To do, In progress, and Done will work for projects with small goals. However, Helen works for deliverables across different domains. For example, she has to categorize the progress of the work items based on the users purchase order.

Helen's constraint is resolved by creating  CUSTOM STATUS . She can create different statuses that are specific to her departments. This can help her in managing deliverables in an organized way across sprints. Every stage is added as a status. For instance, the initial work will be added to To Do and later moved on to any of the following status:  Orders Placed  Items packed in Dispatch warehouse  Shipped   Orders delivered  Orders returned  Redelivery

Work Item Linking

Case

Solution

Helen has got a bulk order for 'Denim Jeans' and this work item is passed on to the warehouse team. Unfortunately, they found a bug in the delivered materials. Now, the warehouse team has to order a new box of materials from the company. The team calls Helen and asks the shipping team to hold back the order. How can she handle this situation?

The customer's order is now dependent on the issue. Only when the issue is resolved the team can ship the product. Helen can now use the WORK ITEM LINKING  feature and link work item with the issue.    Work item A - Customer Order - Denim Jeans    Work Item B - Bug in the material  Work Item C - Redispatch materials to the company and place an order for the new box   Work Item D - Ship the new material to the customers   Helen can now set the  ‘Depends on’  link type for Item A and select all the depending items (B, C, and D).

A detailed walk-through on linking work items is published in our previous spotlight. Read more .      

That's how customization helps Helen and her team to organize and manage their project requirements. In the second part, we will discuss the next five custom features and how Helen uses them to manage her team.

PS: If you got any queries comment here or contact support@zohosprints.com  

  

Happy customizing!   

• Topic Participants

• monica

• Kazoo60

  

• Monica Ravikumar

  

• Sticky Posts

• Ask the experts - Live Q and A on the latest releases from Jan-Apr 2019

  Hello all,   We are excited to kick-start the 'Ask the experts' community series for Zoho Sprints. This series is user-centric and we will focus more on the latest releases and queries that are frequently discussed in our customer support tickets. The first version will cover all the features released in the first quarter of 2019.    What's in the first half?   The first half of this year has been successful with some feature releases and enhancements. Take a look at the list below: Custom layouts

• Focus Group #1 - Epics in Zoho Sprints

  Hello, everyone! As a part of our community learning series, we kick-start "Focus Groups" where you'll get a chance to have a look at a feature that's in its beta phase. "Epic" has been one of the most requested features of late. So, our first focus is on epics.  Our engineering team has developed a module for Epic in Zoho Sprints and the feature is in its testing phase now. We've planned to show a small demo to the folks who register with us through this post. You can also evaluate this feature

• Recent Topics

• Assign Income to Project Without Invoice

  Hello, Fairly new user here so apologies if there is a really obvious solution here that I am just missing... I have hundreds of small deposits into a bank account that I want to assign to a project but do not want to have to create an invoice every time

• Tracking Non-Inventory Items

  We have several business locations and currently use zoho inventory to track retail items (sales and purchase orders). We were hoping to use zoho inventory to track our non-inventory items as well (toilet paper, paper towels, etc). I understand that we

• Profile Page View Customization

  I need to change the fields, sections from the profile view of an emplyoyee.

• Zoho Desk Android app update: Filter, Sort and Saved filters Enhancements

  Hello everyone! We are excited to introduce the below features on the Android version Zoho Desk mobile app: 1. Filter & Sort support has been introduced for the Contacts and Accounts modules. 2. Sort options is now available in Custom Modules as well.

• Accessing shared mailboxes through Trident (Windows)

  Hi, I have a created a couple of shared mailboxes. The mailboxes are showing up on the browser based Zoho workplace, but I cannot seem to figure out how to access my shared inboxes through Trident (Windows). Am I missing something or is this feature not

• Feature Request: Ability to set Default Custom Filters and apply them via URL/Deluge

  I've discovered a significant gap in how Zoho Creator handles Custom Filters for reports, and I'm hoping the Zoho team can address this in a future update. This limitation has been raised before and continues to be requested, but remains unresolved. The

• Closing the Loop: Why Lookup Asymmetry is Harming Data Integrity in Creator

  TL;DR: Lookup fields allow users to add new related records inline via the "+" icon, but there's no equivalent ability to edit an existing related record without navigating away and losing form context. Adding a native "Edit" icon—with automatic User

• filtering lookup field options based on information in another module.

  In our CRM system. We have the standard Accounts and Deals modules. We would like to introduce the ability to classify Accounts by Sector. Our desired functionality is to have a global list of all sectors that an Account can select, with the ability to

• Service op locatie organiseren met Zoho FSM: waar lopen organisaties tegenaan?

  Bij organisaties met service teams op locatie merken we vaak dat de complexiteit niet zozeer in de planning zelf zit, maar in wat er rond die planning gebeurt. Denk aan opvolging na interventies, consistente servicerapporten, en het bijhouden van installaties

• Introducing Assemblies and Kits in Zoho Inventory

  Hello customers, We’re excited to share a major revamp to Zoho Inventory that brings both clarity and flexibility to your inventory management experience! Presenting Assemblies and Kits We’re thrilled to introduce Assemblies and Kits, which replaces the

• Does the ability exist to make tax on the customer profile mandatory?

  I am reaching out to inquire about the possibility of making the "Customer Tax" field mandatory when creating a new customer in Zoho. We want to ensure that all customers have their tax information recorded to maintain compliance with our internal processes.

• email association with CRM

  Why is it 2024 (almost 2025) and Zoho has not figured out how to integrate email with CRM? It is so inconsistent at associating emails within CRM. I am an attorney. I have clients and work with other attorneys. Attorney John Doe is associated with multiple

• Fix the speed

  It takes ages to load on every step even though my dataset is quite small.

• Credit Note for Shipped and Fatoora pushed invoices

  We have shipped a Sales Order and created an Invoice. The Invoice is also pushed to Fatoora Now we need to create a credit note for the invoice When we try it, it says we need to create a Sales Return in the Zoho Books, we have already created a Sales

• FSM - Timesheet entires for Internal Work

  Hi FSM Team, Several of my clients have asked how they can manage internal timesheets within Zoho FSM. Since their technicians already spend most of their day working in FSM, it would be ideal if they could log all working hours directly in the FSM app.

• Add a way of clearing fields values in Flow actions

  It would be great if there was an option to set a field as Null when creating flows. I had an instance today where I just wanted to clear a long integer field in the CRM based on an action in Projects but I had to write a custom function. It would be

• Role Management

  I am creating an analytics dashboard for a company that will be utilized by its various departments such as Finance, Marketing, and HR. My goal is to design the dashboard with separate tabs for each department. Additionally, I plan to implement role-based

• Highlight a candidate who is "off limits"

  Hello: Is there a way to highlight a candidate who is "off limits"?  I would like to have the ability to make certain candidate and / or Client records highlighted in RED or something like that.   This would be used for example when we may have placed a candidate somewhere and we want everyone in our company to quickly and easily see that they are off limits.  The same would apply when we want to put a client or former client off limits so no one recruits out of there. How can this be done? Cheers,

• Announcing new features in Trident for Windows (v.1.37.5.0)

  Hello Community! Trident for Windows just received a major update, with a range of capabilities that strengthen email security and enhance communication. This update focuses on making your mailbox safer and your overall email experience more reliable.

• Early Payment Discount customize Text

  Hi, I’m currently using Zoho Books and am trying to customize the standard “Early Payment Discount” message that appears in the PDF invoice template. I’ve reviewed the documentation here: https://www.zoho.com/books/help/invoice/early-payment-discount.html

• Deprecation of SMS-based multi-factor authentication (MFA) mode

  Overview of SMS-based OTP MFA mode The SMS-based OTP MFA method involves the delivery of a one-time password to a user's mobile phone via SMS. The user receives the OTP on their mobile phone and enters it to sign into their account. SMS-based OTPs offer

• Zoho Sheet - Desktop App or Offline

  Since Zoho Docs is now available as a desktop app and offline, when is a realistic ETA for Sheet to have the same functionality?I am surprised this was not laucned at the same time as Docs.

• DKIM Now Mandatory - Changes to Zoho Forms Email Policies

  Hello Zoho Forms Users, This post is to inform you about an important update regarding the authentication of all email domains in your Zoho Forms account. This year, we are doubling down on our commitment to deliver a secure, seamless, and empowering

• Call description in notes

  When completing a call, we type in the result of the call in the description. However, that does not show up under the notes history on the contact. We want to be able to see all the calls that have taken place for a contact wihtout having to go into

• Email Address for Contact not Populating

  When I click "Send Mail" from a Contact's page, their email address does not auto populate the "To" field. How do I make this happen?

• New in CRM: Dynamic filters for lookup fields

  Last modified on Oct 28, 2024: This feature was initially available only through Early Access upon request. It is now available to all users across all data centers, except for the IN DC. Users in the IN DC can temporarily request access using this form

• Why hybrid project management might be the best fit for you?

  Project management techniques are designed to equip teams with proven methods for easy and efficient project execution. While management teams may have apprehensions about adopting the hybrid method of project management, we’ve compiled the top reasons

• Allow all Company Users to view all projects, but only owner/admins can change projects

  I was wondering if there was a permission setting I could adjust to allow all our company users to see all projects created. Then, only the project owners and admins with the change permission. Thanks

• Fail to send Email by deluge

  Hi， today I gonna update some email include details in deluge, while this msg pops up and restrict me to save but my rules has run for one year. can you tell me how to use one of our admin account or super admin account to send the email? I tried to update

• Seeking help to be able to search on all custom functions that are defined

  Hello I have a lot of custom functions defined (around 200) and i would like to search some specific strings in the content of those. Is there a way to accomplish that? If not, is there a way to download all existing custom functions in some files locally

• Totals for Sales Tax Report

  On the sales tax report, the column totals aren't shown for any column other than Total Tax. I can't think of a good reason that they shouldn't be included for the other columns, as well. It would help me with my returns, for sure. It seems ludicrous

• Add Bulk Section / Grid Layout Duplicate Feature in Zoho Forms Builder

  Currently in Zoho Forms, users can only duplicate individual fields. There is no option to duplicate an entire section or two-column/grid layout with all internal fields. This becomes inefficient when building structured forms such as Family Details,

• Leistungsdatum in Rechnungen (Zoho Books)

  Hallo, ist es irgendwie möglich den Leistungszeitraum in der Rechnung aufzuführen? Beste Grüße Aleks

• Zoho Trident Windows - Streams Not Visible

  Namaste We’re having an issue with Streams not being visible in Trident (Windows), which is important for us as we share many emails internally. It appears that the feature to show Streams above the Inbox folder, as seen in the default mailbox view, is

• Sales IQ Chat Widget is Only Displaying Last Name

  Can anyone suggest why the widget is only displaying "last name"?! We have the latest version of the wordpress plugin installed. Thanks Thanks!

• Shopify - Item sync from Zoho Inventory

  Hi team, We’ve connected Shopify with Zoho Inventory. We want that when an item is created in Zoho Inventory, it must create a product in Shopify. But currently, new items created in Zoho Inventory are not getting created in Shopify even after clicking

• Bulk upload image option in Zoho Commerce

  I dont know if I am not looking into it properly but is there no option to bulk upload images along with the products? Like after you upload the products, I will have to upload images one by one again? Can someone help me out here? And what should I enter

• Is it possible to setup bin locations WITHOUT mandating batch tracking?

  Hi fellow zoho users, I'm wondering if anyone else has a similar issue to me? I only have some products batch tracked (items with shelf life expiry dates) but I am trying to setup bin locations for my entire inventory so we can do stock counting easier.

• Kill zoho meeting

  Saying the quiet part out loud. Can zoho please just give up on the idea that they can make a meeting platform and just make our workplace licenses cheaper when you remove it so people can switch to zoom or teams. Tired of the excuses, you guys cant make

• Utilisation de Zoho en conformité avec l’article 286 du Code général des impôts (CGI)

  Cher(e) client(e), Conformément à l’article 286 du Code général des impôts (CGI) impose aux entreprises assujetties à la TVA d’utiliser des systèmes de caisse ou de gestion commerciale certifiés lorsqu’elles enregistrent des ventes à des particuliers.

• Next Page