New in Canvas: Customizable tables in related lists, sub-tab grouping, and actions for better navigation

New in Canvas: Customizable tables in related lists, sub-tab grouping, and actions for better navigation

Dear All,

The Canvas team has made using Canvas easier and more enjoyable with a few additional customization features that can help you design more effective detail view pages.

So, Canvas, as you all may know, is a platform with which you can customize various parts of your CRM to

  • Organize your data better.

  • Customize them for different profiles;

  • And of course, bring a whole new fresh design that is consistent with your brand. 

Here are a couple of exciting updates that can help you design more effective detail view pages using Canvas.

1. Customizable tables in related lists - which allows you to style your RL tables by adding images and a pop of color to them.
2. Introducing expandable sub-tabs. You can now group your tabs into sub tabs based on a theme, thus making navigation easier. 

Customizable tables in related lists

To start off, let's look at how you can customize your related lists table. Previously, you could only choose between static or list table templates as seen in the image below. 


While this was functional, we realized that businesses might prefer to customize their own tables. With the latest update—the Customizable Table option in the navigation toolbar—you can customize your related lists table. Options include field selection and styling. With this feature, you can add colors to rows and columns, in addition to resizing (by extending column markers), besides, adding, or removing rows and columns from your table. 


These functions are important because they'll make it easier for you to differentiate your rows and columns, expand the columns that contain more data, and add images as well.

Tab enhancements
Sub-tabs

Another improvement we've added to Canvas is the option to create a sub-tab. So imagine your record's view page has a Tab with numerous elements, namely attachments, open and closed activities, notes, campaigns, social, and more, in addition to some custom tabs. Having these tabs laid out makes it easier for you to navigate through your related lists. However, your interface may become cluttered if there are too many tabs.

Now, imagine you have these components categorized into multiple groups of the same theme. Like for instance, you combine open activities, closed activities, invited meetings, and upcoming actions under a group called Activities. Similarly, you create other groups that can either all be expanded simultaneously or one at a time - based on your preference. This will not only help declutter your components, but also put things into perspective. 

These groups that you create are called Sub Tabs, and you can perform one of the two actions on them.

Multi expand: This is the default option. When you want to open multiple sub-tabs simultaneously, you can do so by selecting the multi expand action tool. In other words, the submenus of one sub-tab will not collapse when you click on another.

Single expand: When you select this option, only its associated sub menus will expand or collapse. In instances where you've expanded one sub-tab and then clicked on another, the previous sub-tab menus will collapse before the following one expands.



So how are these Sub Tabs created?

When you add a Tab from your elements onto your Canvas view editor, you have the option of adding Custom Tabs, Sub Tabs or Related Lists.

Select Sub Tab.


Next, under your Sub Tab, you have a blue plus sign. When you click on that, you can add the Related Lists that fall under your Sub Tab theme. Like in the example we mentioned earlier, you can combine open activities, closed activities, invited meetings, and upcoming actions under a Sub Tab called Activities. 

Let us look at some other examples of components that can be grouped together as sub tabs.

Sub Tab (Group) Name
Components
Marketing
Campaigns, Visits, Social, Sales Inbox
Inventory
Invoices, Sales Orders, Purchase Orders, Quotes, Vendors, Price Books, Products


Use Case - I 

Education Industry

Student Information 
Student Documents, Degree, Courses, Thesis Guides, Placements 


Use Case - II

Real Estate

Contact's Property Information 
Properties, Documents, Notes, Quotes, Invoices

That is all for this announcement. Let us know your feedback in the comments below. For more details on Canvas, check out our help document. 

    • Recent Topics

    • Zoho Analytics - Bill Table

      Hi I am new to Zoho and mainly work in Books. Recently learned of Zoho Analytics and am exploring it to create reports that would be useful for me. For example, I want to create a bills cash forecast by week for cash flow planning. When I start to create

    • Creating a tax - amount table in Analytics

      Hi everyone, I would like to create a report in Zoho Anayltics that creates the tax and amounts in a table. I have been able to create a report that shows me all the tax accounts, but I can't get it combined with the amounts of the accounts. Is there

    • Is it possible to do custom domains on test accounts that use saml setups?

      In Zoho Billing, Is it possible to do custom domains on test accounts that use saml setups for the customer portal?

    • I’m facing an issue while trying to upload a PDF file to a custom file upload field within the Leads module via the Zoho CRM API.

      Hi Zoho Team, I’m facing an issue while trying to upload a PDF file to a custom file upload field within the Leads module via the Zoho CRM API. I am able to manually upload a PDF into this field through the UI. I am also able to upload files as attachments

    • No chat option

      Chat option is not available in Android app.

    • How to add custom templates in zoho sheets mobile

      How can I add custom templates in Zoho spreadsheet mobile?

    • Order Items

      Hi .. We have to implement orders with line but each line should have a separate record and not as a subform, does anyone have experience with that kind of solution what is the best practice for that kind of thing Thanks

    • Trello: Invalid Client - Client ID passed does not exist

      Hello, I am trying to authorize the Zoho CRM power-up in Trello but always land on the following page: I tried adding a trello client to the Zoho API console but this generated a different client ID to the one in the link of the page in the above picture.

    • Zoho Sprints - Q2 updates for 2025

      Hello everyone! We’re excited to share the latest updates from Zoho Sprints for Q2 2025! This quarter, we rolled out a few highly-requested features designed to enhance collaboration and time management across your projects. Here's a look back at the

    • CRM Email Insights Not Working - Status not Changing

      I used to be able to see if a customer opened/read an email in CRM, but I no longer get those status changes inside their record. I have everything enabled and I am sending the email from CRM. The experience center has the status' enabled as well. Any

    • The use of Ticket statuses

      When your support team mark a ticket "Closed" before I had a time to check what your team has done on the ticket - I have to consider this as you consider the ticket closed even if I dont consider it closed. Which automatically produce a negative sentiment.

    • "Replace" an existing version of CRM

      Hi all, I have a question, I saw an article about this once, but I now cannot find it. I am working with a client who has had their CRM in Zoho One built and extensively modified. But it is non-functional now, and rather than try and unpick the system,

    • Data Import From a private PostgreSQL RDS Instance

      Hello All, I feel like the problem I am experiencing has been seen before; however, I am having a difficult time finding any solutions. Hoping the community has some insights. I am trying to import data from a PostgreSQL RDS instance that is behind an

    • Assistance Required: Authentication Error When Sending Credit Application Form

      Hi, I'm encountering an error message that states: "Authentication unsuccessful – the user credentials were incorrect." This occurs when I attempt to send the credit application form to our customers. I've attached the form I’m trying to send for your

    • Missing Fields in Lead Conversion Mapping

      I’ve been using Zoho CRM since 2013 to manage leads and convert them into contacts and jobs. When I convert a lead to a customer, I create a new contact and a job. Previously, this process automatically transferred key information from the lead to the

    • Allow selection of select inactive users in User data fields

      Hello, We sometimes need to select a previous employee that has an inactive account in the User data field. For example, when doing database cleanup and indicating actions are done by a certain employee that weren't filled out when they were part of the

    • Connection to Zoho One

      My org has a Zoho One account, which includes Zoho Social. We are wanting to try linkthread. However, I want to make sure it is set up properly from an account perspective, as I have accidentally created Zoho accounts separate from Zoho One when I didn't

    • Ticket Automatically Created from Closed Chat

      Is there a way to prevent a ticket being create for every chat.... or at the very least have it automatically closed.

    • IMPORT INVOICES CSV

      Hi, Impossible to import invoices in Zoho books with a csv file. I have also tried with the template. My topic keeps getting closed but I did not get any answer Is there an issue with this fonctionnality ?

    • Related Lists in Email Templates

      Hi Zoho team, I would love to see a feature where related list information can easily be added to an email template (instead of mail merge). I have a client who books flights for their customers. They do this through a Flights module so all booked flights

    • Outlook plugin funktioniert nicht.

      DAs Outlook Plugin funktioniert nicht mehr. Ich werde aufgefordert, mich mit der App "OneAuth" anzumelden Intelligente Anmeldung per OneAuth funktioniert nicht zufreidenstellend. Nach erfolgreicher Anmeldungung mittels QR Code lande ich wieder beim QR

    • iOS App Version 3.0 - Customer list gone?

      Not sure when this changed, but I seem to have been updated to 3.0 for the phone app (on iOS). I'm pretty sure that I used to have a Customers button that allowed me, for example, to see what appointments a customer has. Has this disappeared or am I just

    • Zoho Signature, "For Demo Purpose Only Powered by Zoho Sign"

      How to disable this text on the documents for signature. "For Demo Purpose Only Powered by Zoho Sign"

    • Add Resource variable to notification email customisation for Event Type

      The notification email customisation feature for Event Type does not include a variable for the Resource field. Without this field, Zoho Bookings cannot be used by any business for resource-based services or event types e.g. room bookings, equipment bookings.

    • Can't find add role button, is iet st because I have the free subscription

      Trying to add my accountant in Zoho Books if I press the add accountant button, I get stuck as it says no such role exists, and won't let me continue, I can't find the add roles button, so I am stuck. Is it because I have the free subscription? Also can't

    • Calendar view all appointments in workspace

      In the Calendar page, add the ability to view all appointments in the Workspace. The Manage Calendars filter requires me to select at least one user or resource, and it only lets me select up to five of them. There's no filter option to view the entire

    • Tip #13: Identify where your bookings come from with Source Tracking

      Source tracking is the practice of identifying where your bookings originated. This is important, because online bookings come from a wide variety of sources like social media platforms, your website, email and ad campaigns, partner websites, organic

    • Unable to Add Notes

      I've had a user report that they are unable to add notes to account records. I attempted and found the same issue. There is no option to save the note.

    • Workflow Rule Alert Not Working

      I have a workflow rule set (that I've been using for years) that suddenly stopped working. Module - Leads Execute on - Create Alerts - Email Active - Yes When I create my lead I no longer receive my email notification. 

    • Can zoho sign collect data feeding Zoho Sign?

      I m sending contracts to client who are not in my zoho CRM database yet. Can the data they enter in Zoho sign contract I send them, (that includes...) official company name address first name second name etc, ...Create or update a contact / account

    • IMAP ACCOUNT ACCESS PROBLEM

      Hi! I moved from Gmail some time ago to ZOHO. It works fine and it worked till yesterday. I found out that on my MAC OSX mail client I can not receive emails from ZOHO using IMAP. Gmail is set to IMAP and works OK. My company email account uses POP and works good as well. Is there anybody else who has such problem or this might be something with my email client...? I didi check for the settings but everything is as it was from the beginning. Honestly, I didn't change anything recently. It just stopped.

    • Modified approved time log

      I can’t seem to find a way to make change to approve time log entry. The case is the following. We pay the employees every 2 weeks, so employe A enter is time for the 2 weeks and then submit his timesheet. Now is superior approve the time he worked via

    • I want to Show the product list based on the drop Down

      in quotation app , amc form form i have Department drop down field and in subform i have loop up field item description taken from the anothe app PRO I want to show the product list look up based on the deparment selected example if they selected deparment

    • Inventory Barcode Creation - Add Picture of Item

      Hi I am trying to set up bar code labels and include a picture of the item on the label - any idea on how to add that field to the barcode generator?

    • Shared Snippets Everyone

      Hi, Now that the Shared Snippets have been released and I think will be the most used feature implemented in 2023 :) Creating and Using Snippets in Ticket Responses - Online Help | Zoho Desk Maintain consistency in ticket responses with shared snippets

    • Topics assigned to Contacts in Campaigns

      I have yet to find an efficient way to assign topics to contacts in campaigns with the new system in place.  We have daily contacts added to our system through various forms and we have to manually go in and add topics to contacts before each email campaign

    • Zoho CRM email formatting issues

      I have been having a hard time with formatting email templates. It feels like Zoho email is "fighting my edits." It refuses to change size, font, etc. Sometimes, the template looks great, then when the email gets sent, it looks completely different- some

    • Weekly Tips : Seamlessly collaborate with Share Drafts in Zoho Mail

      Ever found yourself stuck wondering how to get input on an important email draft without actually sending it? Maybe you want a teammate’s feedback or approval from your manager—without exposing sensitive info. Or perhaps you are working across different

    • How to Share a workdrive folder outside organization ?

      Hi, Earlier we were using Google Suite and were able to share the google drive folders with external organization ( Auditors , marketing collaterals ) as most of them had a personal gmail account they were able to access it without any issue. How can

    • Zoho CRM Account Duplication via Credit Application Form

      Hi, We send a credit application link to our customers via email, which is managed through Zoho Campaigns. When a customer submits the form, it automatically creates a new account in Zoho CRM. We would like to know how to stop this from creating duplicate

    • Next Page