Augmenting subform capabilities
Greetings, everyone!
Finally, the day has come for us to announce some of the most anticipated, requested, and exciting updates to
subforms in Zoho Creator.
As you're aware, subforms are an integral part of Creator forms, as they help in establishing proper modelling of the app, collecting rows of data, and setting up users to enter data that has a parent-child relationship. With this new set of updates, we've bought in a paradigm shift to subforms, as they'll be getting an all-new look for an improved user experience, along with new capabilities for solving challenges. This post will give you a sneak peek into these new subform enhancements.
Do you find it difficult to scroll subforms horizontally? Do you wish you could drag and drop subform rows? Do you want to manipulate subform fields via Deluge script? Then your wait has come to an end—continue reading to learn more on how you can now do all of this in subforms.
Subform list and pop-up view
As announced in the
March 2023 post, the List
view type of subforms will display the subform as a pop-up, and the current method of displaying subforms has been christened
Grid.
To further understand how this can be helpful, let's put ourselves in the shoes of a supply chain manager. Their job requires them to regularly keep track of inventory lists in their warehouses.
Let's assume there's a form collecting warehouse details, like name, location, and stock inventory. For collecting the stock inventory details, a subform is present with these fields—Item No, Name, Manufacturer, Description, Cost Per Item, Stock Quantity, Inventory Value, Units Sold, Reorder Quantity, Reorder Date,
and
Person In Charge.
Now, the default view type will tire you out from scrolling back and forth horizontally, and results in a frustrating time-consuming process. We all long for a new way to avoid this and make data entry swifter.
To achieve this, make use of the new List option under
Subform->Field Properties->View Type.
List view, which looks similar to our list report, is a table-like subform without inline inputs. When you try adding or updating data in each row, a pop-up will be displayed listing out the fields with vertical scrolling, thereby ensuring a vastly superior user experience and more effective space management.
Crucially, it also helps to load subform rows quickly while editing records, by reducing the loading time.
While using an existing form as a subform, the form's exact structure will be replicated in the pop-up, to ensure consistency in the look and feel of the form. To understand this better, let's assume our form has a two-column layout, with
Section
and Note
fields. Now the same customizations will be displayed in the pop-up, too!
And that's not all—the new List view type is being extended to mobile apps, too. When it's enabled, the subform will be opened in the next screen, where users can add their data. This data will then be added as a subform row.
Custom sorting
Currently, the only sorting option in subforms is
field-based sorting, where you can choose a field based on which rows are sorted, either in ascending or descending order. Though this works well for basic cases, the need may arise in some cases to sort the subform in random order. With the new custom sorting support, you can effortlessly drag and drop subform rows to rearrange them.
To understand how it works, let's consider a task manager working on a To-Do List
form, to plan activities for a current project. For this, they have a main form collecting
project details, date-time,
and
milestones,
and a subform for maintaining the to-do list with the following fields:
Task Name, Description, Category, Status, Deliverables, Priority, and
Deadline. Here, before submitting the list, they want to rearrange some tasks based on their daily routine.
To achieve this, they use the Custom sorting option under
Subform->Field Properties->Sort type.
Now, with custom sorting, all they need to do to reorder the row sequence—both while adding and editing records—is simply drag and drop them in the required position.
The same order will be retained in reports or while opening the form for updating the list.
Note:
Custom sorting can be used both in List and Grid-type subforms.
Custom sorting will also be available on the mobile apps and you can effortlessly rearrange fields in subforms.
Deluge tasks for row-level actions
You can use a combination of workflows and Deluge scripts to help your subforms handle complex business logic. With that in mind, we formulated the idea of bringing in actions that help you take control at the row level of subforms.
In the past, you may have come across business scenarios which required you to hide/show or enable/disable a particular field in a specific subform row. Now, with new dedicated Deluge tasks, you can bid adieu to shortcuts and workarounds.
Note:
Deluge tasks can be used both in List and Grid-type subforms.
Enable/disable
The new enable and disable subform Deluge tasks can be used to enable and disable specific fields.
Syntax:
enable row.subform_field
disable row.subform_field
disable row.subform_field
Events:
On add row, On delete row, On user input of subform field
Let's assume a Vehicle form has fields like
Customer Name, Vehicle Model, and Date of Booking,
and a subform to collect payment details with the following fields:
Payment Date, Payment Method, Credit Card Number, Bank Account Number,
and
Transaction Ref Number.
Now, there are two payment options—Card and Netbanking. If Card is chosen, then the Credit Card Number field should be enabled and the Bank Account Number field should be disabled. Similarly, when Netbanking is chosen, then the Bank Account Number field should be enabled and the Credit Card Number field disabled.
Code snippet:
if(Payment_details.Payment_method == "Card")
{
enable row.Credit_card_number;
disable row.Bank_account_number;
}
if(Payment_details.Payment_method == "Netbanking")
{
enable row.Bank_account_number;
disable row.Credit_card_number;
}
{
enable row.Credit_card_number;
disable row.Bank_account_number;
}
if(Payment_details.Payment_method == "Netbanking")
{
enable row.Bank_account_number;
disable row.Credit_card_number;
}
Hide/show
The new show
and
hide subform
Deluge tasks can be used to show and hide specific fields.
Syntax: hide row.subform_field
show row.subform_field
show row.subform_field
Events: On add row, On delete row, On user input of subform field
Let's use the example of a rental property manager who needs to keep track of a list of properties that are available in every locality. For this, a form is used for collecting information like Locality and No of Vacant Properties, and a subform will be used to list property details with the following fields: Property Name, Address, Square Feet, Rent, Advance, Category, and Contact Number.
When the category is Brokerage, we need to hide the contact number of the landlord. We can use the new Deluge tasks to achieve this.
Code snippet
:
if(row.Category == "Brokerage")
{
hide row.Phone_Number;
}
else
{
show row.Phone_Number;
}
-----
That's it from us on our subform enhancements! We expect these updates to be rolled out in the upcoming weeks. Once done, we'll pop in a comment below and also update our Release Notes page.
Don't forget—your feedback helps us make Creator better and stronger. We'd love to hear what you think about these updates. Please use the space below or send your feedback to
support@zohocreator.com.
Regards,
Zoho Creator Team
Access your files securely from anywhere
New to Zoho Recruit?
Zoho Developer Community
New to Zoho LandingPage?
Zoho LandingPage Resources
New to Zoho Survey?
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Bigin?
Topic Participants
Ashwin Vishal R
Jean Le Gal
stevesmith41
Darren Burn
Anurag Jaiswal
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 capabilitiesZoho 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 continueZoho 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 newUpcoming 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
New to Zoho TeamInbox?
Zoho TeamInbox Resources
Zoho CRM Plus Resources
Zoho Books Resources
Zoho Subscriptions Resources
Zoho Projects Resources
Zoho Sprints Resources
Qntrl Resources
Zoho Creator Resources
Zoho CRM Resources
Design. Discuss. Deliver.
Zoho Show Resources
Get Started. Write Away!
Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.
Zoho CRM コンテンツ
-
オンラインヘルプ
-
Webセミナー
-
機能活用動画
-
よくある質問
-
Ebook
-
-
Zoho Campaigns
- Zoho サービスのWebセミナー
その他のサービス コンテンツ
Nederlandse Hulpbronnen
ご検討中の方
Recent Topics
Changing field types
Question im a Zoho CRM user and curious, if I change a flied type from single or multi line text to a URL field type will i lose the data in the field or will it be converted to website link automatically. ThanksAdding Taxes to paid consultations in Zoho Bookings
I created a 'paid' consultation under Zoho Booking and integrated it with payment gateways for online/instant payment before a booking is done. How can I add 'taxes' to the price of consultation? I can add taxes to other Zoho apps (liks Books, Checkout,Zoho CRM Reports Module on Mobil App
I have the mobile app and the reports module doesn't appear in the sidebar for some reason. I saw a Youtube video where the user had the Reports module on mobile. Is there a setting to show it on mobile? Thanks.Inquiry on Help Centre Tab Customisation
Hi Zoho team, I’m wondering if it’s possible to further customise the Help Center tabs, specifically the descriptions under Knowledge Base, Community, and Tickets. While the current setup allows customising tab names, being able to tailor the descriptionsPassing a form object to a function
Suppose I have a sort_order field in multiple tables and I want to increment it by +1 onCreate of a new record. Is there a way to pass the form object as an argument into the function to keep things DRY? The following function from Zia works, but I'dCan you copy and paste a page within a form?
I have been looking at trying to copy/duplicate a whole page within a form. I can't see how I can do this without having to add all the data in again. This is very time consuming. Any help would be great.Zoho Desk Limitations
Good day, all, I would like to know whether others share my frustration with some of Zoho's limitations. Don't get me wrong, I like Desk (and I also have a subscription for Analytics), I have been with them for close to 10 years, and unfortunately, ISMS to customers from within Bigin
Hi All, Is there anyone else crying out for Bigin SMS capability to send an SMS to customers directly from the Bigin interface? We have inbuilt telephony already with call recordings which works well. What's lacking is the ability to send and receiveUnable to sort as Descending order
Trying to change the sort order for a lookup field (checkboxes) from Ascending to Descending and keep getting an error in Deluge that the order must be Ascending Did anyone ran into this? Thanks EyalHow do I copy an email message to one or more other folders?
I can move a message to another folder using the "move to" option but I can't figure out how to copy a message.New feature request: Allow copy of email message to another folder
Hello Zoho team, This is a suggested new feature to allow copy an email message to either another folder or the same folder. Within the same Zoho account. This is not a support request about "label". This is a suggested new feature to allow copies ofHotmail is blocking the zoho mail IP
Greetings, Since last Tuesday (5 days ago today) I wrote to Zoho support and I still haven't received a single response (Ticket ID: 2056917). Is this how you treat people who pay for your email service? I am making this public so that those who want toDesk DMARC forwarding failure for some senders
I am not receiving important emails into Desk, because of DMARC errors. Here's what's happening: 1. email is sent from customer e.g. john@doe.com, to my email address, e.g info@acme.com 2. email is delivered successfully to info@acme.com (a shared inboxChange eMail Template for Event-Invitations
Hello ZOHO-CRM Team How I can change the eMail Template for Event-Invitations? I work with the German Version of the Free Version. I know how I can modify eMail alerts or Signature Templates, but where I can other eMails modify you send out? Thank you for your answer. Regards, JuergCreator Simplified #11: Create a custom button to download files
Hey there! This time, let's see how to create custom buttons to download the files uploaded in the file upload field. Sample use-case A training app has a module that provides the materials for all the available courses. Students can click on the correspondingHide horizontal lines at bottom of form
Hi I have a page with 3 forms embedded in html snippets. On each of the forms I can hide the submit button easily but I am left with the horizontal lines that bound that section and I cannot figure out to remove them (see below for the two sets of horizontalAutosaving of Form Field
HI can anyone suggest a way of autosaving or simulating an autosave function for a specific field in a form. The story is as follows. I have a bunch of technicians who write notes on how they do a repair. Sometimes they write for a couple of hours the troubleshooting process. If they click incorrectly, press ESC, Cancel or the browser crashes the information is lost which can be heartbreaking so my guys use notepad and then copy the information in. The only way around this is to click submit on theCan I export all attachments from Zoho CRM?
Can I export all attachments from Zoho CRM?Zoho Tracking Image location
So we've been having an issue with tracking email opens. Specifically in Gmail. Our emails are not that long either, maybe 4 sections of image/250 characters of text/button per section. But all my test accounts I used via Gmail we're showing opens. But then come to find out the tracking image is at the very bottom of the email. So If the message is clipped (It always just clips our social icons on the bottom) and the user doesn't click the show more button it never tracks the open. Looking at otherAI Interview Insights: Turn Recorded Interviews into Quick Transcripts & Summaries
Evaluating interviews shouldn’t require replaying long recordings or taking manual notes. With AI Interview Insights, you can now review complete transcripts and AI-generated summaries of your One-way (Recorded) interviews right inside Zoho Recruit. ThisHow do I associate pricebooks to a customer?
I setup a few pricebooks, that worked fine. But now the only thing I can do with it, when I enter a quote or sales order, I can select which pricebook to use, but I have to do this product by product every time I add one. Is there a way to connect a pricebookEmployee Appraisal Applicability - Why is Date of Joining Hard-Coded?
In the new (to me, at least) Performance Appraisal Cycle wizard, it's possible to set criteria to determine for whom the appraisal process should apply. This makes sense on its face. However, one MUST use the Date of Joining criterion as a filter. WhySpotlight series #6: The Show app for Android TV has a new look!
Hello everyone! We are delighted to introduce our revamped and redesigned Show app for Android TV. Smart TVs are exploding in popularity. Android TV alone has over 110 million active monthly devices. Zoho Show, as part of a constant effort to improveAsk the Experts 26: Brighten every customer interaction with Zoho Desk all year long
Hello everyone, Greetings and welcome to Ask the Experts 26. As we wrap up 2025, we are excited to invite you to the 26th episode of our Ask the Expert series. 🎄The Merry Metrics Edition = Best of Zoho Desk [Best Practices + Holiday Automation + Year-EndPricing calculator
Alright, so I'm trying to create a pricing calculator/pricing report generator to use in a cabinet shop. I did all the logic and such, and the calculator works. I have a few other things that I would need it to be able to do though, I'll do my best toBug Details
In the Bug detail the milestoneid is missingGroup by Owner/ Owner Kanban /Group by Custom Field
Hi, We are missing the option of viewing Tasks grouped by their owner, as it is an essential function for us to manage our employees' working tasks. We find it hard to inspect what are the tasks that our employees are working on. We are seeking an optionStop completed task lists from disappearing?
Is there any way to stop projects from making tasks lists disappear when all the tasks in the list are completed? That's one of those little things where we're constantly fighting the product. For instance we have some projects which are ongoing - no start and end date. We use Kanban view to show the various task lists. We don't want the kanban list to disappear every time the items on it happen to be closed out. ThanksExciting Updates to the Kiosk Studio Feature in Zoho CRM!
Hello Everyone, We are here again with a series of new enhancements to Kiosk Studio, designed to elevate your experience and bring even greater efficiency to your business processes. These updates build upon our ongoing commitment to making Kiosk a powerfulChange of Blog Author
Hi, I am creating the blog post on behalf of my colleague. When I publish the post, it is showing my name as author of the post which is not intended and needs to be changed to my colleague's name. How can I change the name of the author in the blogs?? Thanks, RamananAllow customers to choose meeting venue and meeting duration on booking page
My business primarily involves one-to-one meetings with my clients. Given the hybrid-work world we now find ourselves in, these meetings can take several forms (which I think of as the meeting "venue"): In-person Zoom Phone call I currently handle theseBooking outside of scheduled availability
Is there a way for staff (such as the secretary) to book appointments outside of the scheduled availability? Right now to do this special hours must be set each time. There should be a quicker way. Am I missing something?Operation Questions.
Hello, I hope you are well. To explain a little, we are a company that sells services and products with a technical team responsible for installation and maintenance. Zoho FSM can be useful for the technical team, namely for the technical coordinatorDirect Access and Better Search for Zoho Quartz Recordings
Hi Zoho Team, We would like to request a few enhancements to improve how Zoho Quartz recordings are accessed and managed after being submitted to Zoho Support. Current Limitation: After submitting a Quartz recording, the related Zoho Support ticket displaysUpdate date & time when a cell is edited
Hi All, I am desiring to have a cell update with the current date and time when another cell is edited. Any ideas? Thank youAdd "Groups" to "Share With" on Reports & All Entries
Hi, On Forms we can share Publicly, with Specific Users And/Or Specific Groups or All Users. With Reports and All Entries we lack the "Groups" option, please add this as with many users this saves a lot of work. Thanks DanAdd Pause / Resume Option to Zoho Quartz Recordings
Hi Zoho Team, We would like to request an enhancement to Zoho Quartz recordings: the ability to pause and resume an ongoing recording. Current Limitation: At the moment, when recording an issue with Zoho Quartz, the recording continues even when we areCustom Fields Not Showing Up in Invoice PDF Template Document Information
I have added 2 custom fields under Sales > Invoices > Manage Custom Fields. They are set to show in all PDFs. However when I am editing my Invoice PDF template, i do not see the custom fields under Document Information.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 weCan I use a Standalone CRM Function as the Callback URL For Async Export Data API?
I am creating an export job using this API https://www.zoho.com/analytics/api/v2/bulk-api/export-data-async/create-export/view-id.html There is a "callbackUrl" key in the CONFIG object. I tried copying the URL for a standalone function in CRM which canNext Page