Integrating applications with Zoho Projects through Connections | Community | Zoho Projects
In our last post, we discussed the essential features that a Zoho Projects extension can provide. Starting with this post andin every subsequent post going forward, we'll go through each of those features in depth, one by one, with an example use case.
In this post, we'll explore the Connections feature in detail.
Connections: When and why?
Creating a tightly coupled integration requires the establishment of a secure connection between applications. To achieve this secured connection, the Sigma platform provides the Connection feature that can be used to establish a secure link and perform data operations across applications seamlessly and efficiently through an extension.
Use case
Working on development-related tasks might require dealing with a variety of files, such as code snippets, help documents, or service level agreements. While several file management applications are available to securely store and organize data, manually handling file storage between applications remains challenging.
For our example, let's use Zoho Projects to manage all tasks, and Dropbox to manage and store data.
What is the difficulty faced?
Dropbox offers a file request feature that allows you to collect files and organize them into folders. However, as we talked about in our previous post, manually categorizing and uploading task-related files to their respective file request folders in Dropbox would be a time-consuming and laborious activity. Instead, it would be more efficient to integrate Dropbox with Zoho Projects so that uploading task files to Dropbox file request folders can be done instantly from within Zoho Projects.
How can it be sorted?
You can create a connection between Zoho Projects and Dropbox. With the secure connection setup, the file request folders available in Dropbox can be listed on the task details page of Zoho Projects through an extension. You may then easily upload files from Zoho Projects to their corresponding folders in Dropbox, saving time and making you more organized.
What are the components required to achieve this use case?
- A connection between Zoho Projects and Dropbox.
- An extension configuration that includes:
- Creating an extension
- Configuring the plugin manifest
- Setting up the widget code to display the Dropbox file request folders inside the Zoho Projects task details page.
Now, let's see how we can achieve each of these components.
1. Creating a secure connection using the Connection feature
- Log in or sign up into developer.zoho.com.
- Go to Sigma and access your workspace.
- Once you enter your workspace, select the Connections section in Sigma.
Note: Connections created in Zoho Projects are also accessible within the Connections section in Sigma. These connections can be used in extensions to connect with other applications.
- Choose the service as Zoho Projects and select your Zoho Projects organization. Click on Create Connection.
- Sigma offers a list of default services from which you can choose and easily connect with Zoho Projects. If the application you want to integrate isn’t in the default list, you can add and build a connection with it using the custom services option.
Note: If you’re looking to connect Zoho Projects with another Zoho Product that also follows the OneAuth authentication mechanism, select the service Zoho OneAuth from the Default Services list to create the connection.
- In our example, the application to connect with Zoho Projects is Dropbox, and because it’s in the Default Services list, go ahead and choose Dropbox.
- After choosing the service, enter the connection name. A connection link name will be populated automatically.
- Toggle Use credentials of login user to Yes if you want every user installing the extension to access the connection using their own login credentials, or No if admin credentials are enough to access the connection.
- In our example, we'll proceed with the former. So toggle to Yes, and then click Create and connect.
Note: For services in which the option to choose the scopes is displayed, choose the necessary scopes, and then click Create and connect.
- You’ll be directed through a series of authorization steps before being prompted to connect with Dropbox by entering your login information.
- The connection will be established successfully once you sign in with Dropbox, and you will be redirected to the Connection Summary details page in Sigma.
- To access this connection as part of an extension, you’ll need to configure the sample code provided under the JSON section in the plugin-manifest.json file. We’ll explore this in the next section.
2. Extension configuration
Now that we've successfully established our connection, let's look at how we can achieve our use case feature of displaying the Dropbox file request folder within the Zoho Projects task detail page. As mentioned earlier, to accomplish this, we’ll need to implement the following measures.
A. Create an extensionB. Configure the plugin-manifest.json fileC. Set up the widget code
Let's explore these steps in order.
A. Create an extension
- Create an extension for Zoho Projects using the Sigma cloud editor.
B. Configure the plugin-manifest.json file
- As previously stated, to access the connection established between Zoho Projects and Dropbox, the connection must first be configured in the plugin-manifest.json file.
- Copy the JSON sample code from the Connection Summary Details page and paste it into the plugin-manifest.jsonfile as the value for the connections key.
- You will also need to white list the Dropbox domain for Dropbox calls to be processed without being blocked.
- Include the domain in the plugin-mainfest.json file as the value for the whiteLitsedDomains key.
- As we saw in our earlier post, the plugin-manifest.json file includes a widget called Projects Extension by default. For our example, because we’re connecting with Dropbox and constructing a widget that will include Dropbox request folders to upload files, enter the widget name and location.
- The final configured plugin-manifest.json file for our example would be as follows:
- {
- "connectors": [{
- "connectionLinkName": "dropbox",
- "userAccess": true,
- "sharedBy": "xxxxxxx",
- "connectionName": "dropbox",
- "serviceName": "dropbox",
- "isUserDefinedService": false
- }],
- "whiteListedDomains": ["https://api.dropboxapi.com"],
- "service": "PROJECTS",
- "cspDomains": {
- "connect-src": []
- },
- "storage": true,
- "locale": ["en"],
- "config": [],
- "modules": {
- "widgets": [{
- "name": "Dropbox - File Upload",
- "location": "taskdetails_rightpanel",
- "url": "/app/dropbox.html"
- }],
- "triggers": []
- }
- }
C. Setting up the widget code
Now, that we’ve created an extension and configured the plugin manifest file, let's finally set up the widget code in order to display all Dropbox file request folders inside our task details right panel.
Dropbox.html widget code: Please find the widget code snippet as an attachment in this post.
- In this widget code, we’ve invoked the Dropbox API to list file request folders by constructing and passing the required data along with the connection we had established for Dropbox.
- The API will be invoked and return all of the file request folders in the task details right panel, from which users can click on the link and directly upload files to Dropbox from within a task in Zoho Projects itself.
Sample output
- Once the code is setup, publish and install the extension to check the functionality in the Zoho Projects portal.
- Enter a task and click the extensions icon in the right panel.
- From the lists of your Dropbox file requests, select the requests to which you wish to upload files.
- The file will be successfully uploaded in the respective Dropbox file request.
We’ve demonstrated how to upload files directly to Dropbox file request folders from within Zoho Projects in this example. As part of your extension, you can use the Connections feature to do a variety of tasks, some of which are highlighted below.
- View and update files associated with a certain request.
- Create Dropbox folders and share them with collaborators.
Connections, therefore serves as a powerful tool that assists you in establishing a connection with other apps and performing smooth data transactions across your applications, thereby improving business functions and optimizing your work.
We hope this information was useful to you. Continue to follow us for further updates!
Sign up for a Zoho Developer account and start developing extensions for Zoho products using Sigma.
SEE ALSO
Access your files securely from anywhere
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
Nanditha Somasundaram Somasundaram
Sticky Posts
Building extensions #10: Fetch customized user inputs, store them globally at the app level, and access them across entities
This data storage concept enables you to store data related to your extension for both entity properties and extension properties. In our previous piece, we looked at how to store data for entities using entity properties. In this post, we'll look atBuilding extensions #9: Store, retrieve, and access entity-specific data in widgets using data storage
Data storage - Overview Storing data related to the extension you are working on is essential. It can be saved as key-value pairs for an entity or extension, known as entity and extension properties, respectively. Data can be saved for the following entitiesBuilding extensions #7: Create custom widgets for a simplified end-user experience
Discover the benefits of using widgets! We explored the significance of widgets, prerequisites, and the availability of JS SDK methods as part of our previous post. In this post, let's go over a detailed example of using widgets along with certain ZohoBuilding extensions #6: Custom user interfaces with Widgets
Welcome to our post on Widgets for Zoho Projects! In our last post, we explored the significance of the connections feature, showed how to use it, and provided an example use case. In this article, we'll look at the importance of widgets, another featureBuilding extensions #5: Integrating applications with Zoho Projects through Connections
In our last post, we discussed the essential features that a Zoho Projects extension can provide. Starting with this post andin every subsequent post going forward, we'll go through each of those features in depth, one by one, with an example use case.
New to Zoho TeamInbox?
Zoho TeamInbox Resources
Zoho DataPrep 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
Live webinar: Mastering financial presentations with Zoho Show
Hey there finance professionals! We know many of you are currently knee-deep in report creation mode to wrap up the fiscal year for your organization. Creating a presentation to communicate essential financial data isn’t simple, with all the calculations,Rejected Accounts still listed for Deal
Hello guys I have a approval process thats validate the Accounts in CRM The issue is even when a account is rejected you can open a deal with it It's not supposed to appear in the lookup field or the approval process become pointless Can you guys helpOptimizing Zoho CRM & Xero Workflow – Advice Neede
Hi everyone, We’ve been using Zoho for all CRM functions and Xero for all accounting, but the workflow between the two has become difficult to manage. The business does not want to move from Xero, as it's the accountants’ preferred system, but we needCan't create task programmatically using deluge
I have a Date/Time field like this when it is edited, I want to create a task using deluge function. I use the code below to create a task. but unfortunately, the task is never created even I run it using 'execute' button on function editor. what wentOpen word documents directly within zoho writer without converting
There was an article in the help page that said that there would be a feature where zoho writer can directly open MS Word files without the need to convert those files to zoho format. It was said that it would be available by Q1 2023. Here is the articleNot receiving email at Outlook
Hi, I've set up the account and can do everything except receiving email at Outlook. Please find print screen below parameters configured and advise what could went wrong. I can send email from both Webmail and Outlook. I could, however, receive emailOffice 365 and Zoho CRM
Does anyone have this synching properly. I configured it and the Zoho Calendar shows up in 365 but nothing comes from 365 into zoho crm. I have enabled the two way. No errors are being generated. If anyone has some insights I would really appreciateTo unblock , ensure atleast 5% free space of your total mailbox size exists after email deletion.
Bom dia, Já deletei todos os e-mails , mas ainda não consigo desbloquear o e-mail comercial@hidrotecnicauberlandia.com.br. Já faz dias que deletei, mas ainda não desbloqueia quando sigo os passos de UNLOCKED ME. Por favor me ajudem.Kiosk Page Refresh
We have a Kiosk running from a button in contacts to update values and also add related lists, which works great, but when the kiosk is finished the page does not refresh to show the changes. Is there a way to force the contact to refresh/update whenZoho does not send invitation email if meeting is created in calendar
Problem: I create a meeting in calendar and add attendees. After "Save" button it asks me if I want to send email to all ettendees, I click Send. But none emails are sent. I did try that over outlook (connected thru active sync) or in zoho web mail. NothingChange Background in PDF Template
Background PDF Hi, I want to ask a question. I want to create a background template with my own image. Above is an example that I made, why does the result not fit the A4 format? Like cut off. I used an A4 Portrait image, is there a size error? can youSpotlight #7 - Automatic Transitions in Blueprint
Previously, records could not be moved from one state to another without user intervention. With automatic transitions, move records from one state to another automatically, when it elapses its pre-defined time. This Spotlight discusses how automaticAccepted meeting invites not showing on calendar
I can receive a calendar invite to a meeting, I confirm I can attend and hit accept. I then check my calendar and it doesn't show. 30 seconds later, it does show up but it is delayed leaving the feeling something didn't work correctly. Can this be improved,Cross module filtering is now supported in CRM
Editions: All DCs: All Release plan: This enhancement is being released in phases. It is now available in AU, JP, and CN DCs. Help resource: Advanced filters The Cross-module filtering enhancement is now available to all CRM accounts in the followingNo fue posible enviar el mensaje;Motivo:553 Relaying disallowed. Invalid Domain - admin@laboratoriosantarosa.org
Hola Renovamos después del tiempo el dominio, y luego de eso se cayó el servicio de correo. Seguimos las indicaciones que se indican en este articulo, sin embargo, hasta el momento solo podemos recibir correos pero no enviar. Hemos actualizado los registrosZoho Error: This Operation has been restricted. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com for further details
Hello There, l tried to verify my domain (florindagoreti.com.br) and its shows this error: This Operation has been restricted. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com for further details. Screenshot Given Below - please check what went wrong. ThanksError AS101 when adding new email alias
Hi, I am trying to add apple@(mydomain).com The error AS101 is shown while I try to add the alias.My IMAP mail suddenly stopped working
On my iPhone and iPad, IMAP stopped working for my Zoho account with the error "User name or password incorrect" and "Invalid credentials failure" however I was able to access via web with the same credentials. Also stopped working on Apple Mail client.When choosing custom view, load a particular Kanban view by defualt
I have two custom views defined (say viewA, viewB) in the Leads module. I also have a Kanban views (say K1 and K2) defined in the Leads module. What I would like is that if I select viewA, it automatically loads Kanban via K1. If I select viewB, it automaticallyUse result of one formula field for another formula field
Can I pull data from one formula field as one of the values for another formula field? I tried doing it and it's returning an "invalid formula" error so I'm not sure if I made the formula incorrectly or if it's just really not possible to do that. Also,Windows Desktop App - request to add minimization/startup options
Support Team, Can you submit the following request to your development team? Here is what would be optimal in my opinion from UX perspective: 1) In the "Application Menu", add a menu item to Exit the app, as well as an alt-key shortcut for these menusExport all Zoho desk tickets for past 3 months
Hi I need to export ticket data from Zoho Desk. Specifically, I'm looking to: Export the last 3 months of tickets include ticket categories, timestamps, resolutions, agent responses (basically as much data as possible) the ticket content being the mostZoho Calendar (Refresh Rate)
Why don't the calendars refresh more than every 12 hours? That is crazy. I cannot be the only user who wants to see this change? I see and understand that I can MANUALLY update them, but need them to auto refresh either (1) whenever there is a changeUnattended Sessions - Groups and Access
I would like to see Groups to organize Unattended Computers (what is currently labeled "My Computers") and a way to restrict access to individual users to specific groups.No Hope for Zoho Meeting
Zoho Meeting is just the poorest meeting app I've come across in a long time. The support sucks too. I called to see if there was anything that could be done on the backend and while I was on a test meeting with support the video was lagging and freezingAdd clients without needing a client company
I, like many people, deal directly with individual clients rather than companies. It's really obnoxious to have to add a client company and treat my client, who is an individual person, as a company. Zoho - can you please build in a way to bypass the need for the client to be part of a company? This is a problem in cliq as well - I want to invite my clients to channels in Cliq but needing to create a company is confusing for them and makes them feel as if they don't belong on the app. But that'sClient reminders
Hi Is there anyway to send automatic client reminders when we are pending a response from them? For instance, in a blueprint, say you have a transition that asks them for some additional information... They may take a while to reply, so is there a wayAdd Image Upload Field to Zoho Bookings Registration Form
Hi, We would like to request the addition of an image upload field to the Zoho Bookings registration form. Currently, Zoho Bookings only supports text-based fields (e.g., Single Line, Multi-Line, Email, Checkbox, Dropdown, Radio Button, and Date), butCurrent Year Merge Tag
I am looking for a way to add the current year dynamically to email campaigns. For example "Copyright 2024", so that templates are always up to date and this would also really help with automations. Another example could be a Happy New Year email whichBlueprints: Create Global Transitions
Dear Zoho Team, it would be nice we could create global transitions for blueprints. The use case would be the following: We have 4 different processes with the same transitions in different orders. We could create 4 different blueprints, but wheneverCheck-in and check-out time calculation discrepancy as shown in a screen recording
Please see linked screen recording for my question: https://workdrive.zohoexternal.com/external/94dd0267dc877b3f827cc09b294625105627680700cec50e71d36c08e94cb257Zoho marketing hub integration with WordPress WooCommerce
Hello All, I am a Zoho One User and we are using Zoho Marketing Hub we also have a website on Wordpress and we use Woo Commerce as our store. im looking to find out if Zoho Marketing Hub Integrates with WooCommerce ideally we would like to create Journeys or campaigns series based on customer behavior such as buying or already have purchased specific products. or if they go to the store but don't buy (abandon cart follow) i saw that there is a wordpress plugin for Zoho Campaigns https://wordpress.org/plugins/zoho-campaigns/ butNeed help in search with formula culums in reports
Hello, I do not know where to start with this one : I have a customer report with all that was bought and paid by my customers. It can be many records for one specific customer. Ex. Customer A has 1 record for a purchase of 1000 $, and 2 records of paymentshow to send recurring estimates instead of recurring invoices
Hello, Is it possible to use the recurring invoice functionality to send recurring estimate to our customers ? We first need to send them an invoice in order to receive their purchase order and then send them the invoice with their purchase order numberAS101
I'm having issue while adding email alies to an email. Please help.Tracking UTM Campaign information in CRM
Hi All, We have had this questions asked a few times lately so thought it would be a great idea to post it here for others benefit. Many have asked this: How can I track campaign information in CRM from my online campaigns and report on UTM tracking details? Below is what we have set up for other businesses who are using UTM Codes for all their campaigns. Follow the 4 steps below to set this up for your CRM: 1. Create Fields in CRM Leads Module Add a field in the Leads module called 'ReferrerAdding fields to campaign members
Is it possible to add fields to campaign members? I want to be able to insert a date that certain actions happened as we progress a client, but can't see where or how I might be able to do thatAmazon Integration
Hi, I am seller on Amazon , & I would like to sign up for Zoho books. However my question is can we automate/integrate invoicing, charges and returns in amazon with Zoho using API? Do you have a developer for this? I did take a look at zapier however it just has a create Invoice function nothing else.Remove Zoho contract upsell at customer sign completion page
Hello, I am going through testing for a zoho contract for my organization and I noticed that after the customer signs the contract they are forwarded to a completion page that tries to sell them on using zoho contracts. I find that very unprofessionalRetain Jira Ticket When Merging Tickets in Zoho Desk
Hi, We would like to request a feature enhancement for Zoho Desk's ticket merging process regarding Jira ticket retention. Current Behavior: When merging two tickets (manually via the interface or through the API), we can select the "master" ticket intoNext Page