Zoho Creator : Paint your records using Canvas Builder!

Zoho Creator : Paint your records using Canvas Builder!


Dear Creators,

We're thrilled to bring you an incredible new feature - the Canvas Builder, the solution that directly addresses the "user experience factor"! This cutting-edge tool is live now, and we are delighted to share how this feature will revolutionize the way you design detailed views for your records within Zoho Creator.

There is no longer a one-size-fits-all approach for every organization, and Canvas provides the precise flexibility we require, with its wide range of customization options. It offers a a simple drag-and-drop editor and pre-designed templates for every industry and department.

Great design drives usage and offers an immersive experience!

Designing made easy

You can now create stunning templates effortlessly. Canvas builder offers you three flexible options that makes re-ordering and visualizing your data easy, thereby drawing attention to essential information quickly and efficiently.

Gallery Templates

We have curated a collection of ten professionally designed templates for you to choose from and design your requirements. Simply select the one that fits best your needs , and with our live data preview, you can visualize how your template will appear in real-time and customize it exactly the way you have envisioned.


  

Create from Scratch

Unleash your creativity! Similar to working on a real canvas, you can intuitively drag and drop elements anywhere on the builder to start crafting your design. The builder is divided into three sections - DataElements, and Style - allowing you to customize every aspect of your template with ease and creativity.



Import Templates:

Canvas also allows you to download the custom template you've created in JSON format from the Canvas Builder. Importing these templates directly into your detail view saves you time and effort, making it a breeze to have your layout ready in no time.



A Plethora of Features

The Canvas Builder is packed with a plethora of features to ensure a seamless design experience. By organizing your data components the way you want and applying attractive designs, you are not only making your layouts presentable, but also extremely functional by offering your users exactly what they are looking for, the moment they land on record's detail view.

Drag and Drop Fields: Effortlessly add form fields, system fields, custom actions, blueprints and other add-ons to your canvas by simply dragging and dropping them, thereby streamlining the process of designing your dream layout.   

Primitive Elements: Explore an extensive set of primitive elements available in the Elements section. You can easily incorporate these elements into your design by dragging and dropping them wherever you desire.

Style Customization: The Style section empowers you to format all elements and fields according to your preferences and brand identity, ensuring a consistent and appealing visual appearance.

Use-case

Let's explore the Canvas feature with a real-time use case to provide a clearer understanding of its practical applications. 

Assume that Sam, a real estate entrepreneur wants to use the Canvas Builder in Zoho Creator to create personalized and visually appealing layouts for his property listings.

Accessing the Canvas Builder

  1. Sam logs in to his Zoho Creator account.
  2. He navigates to the "Reports" section from the main dashboard.

Initiating Canvas Layout Creation

  1. Within the "Reports" section, Sam identifies the "Detail View" option.
  2. Sam finds the "Create Custom Layout" button under the "Detail View" section.
  3. When he clicks the button, the Canvas Builder opens up.


 

Selecting Design Preferences

In the Canvas Builder, Sam is presented with two options: pre-designed gallery templates and designing from scratch. He decides to select a template from gallery templates to create a unique layout for his property listings.


Previewing with Live Data

In the "Gallery Templates" section, each template will load with Zoho Creator's live data. This enables Sam to preview each template and visualize how his property listings will appear in the live view using actual property information.



Customizing the Layout

Sam can intuitively drag and drop essential fields, including property details, location, and pricing, from the "Data" section onto the Canvas builder.
He explores and incorporates various primitive elements such as TabsLinesSections, Buttons, and Icons, aligning them as needed to create an appealing layout.



Styling to Match Brand Identity

Within the "Style" section of the Canvas Builder, Sam customizes fonts, colors, alignments, and spacing to ensure brand consistency and professional presentation. He can also apply his application's theme color or variations of the same inside the builder.



Width Adjustment

Sam sets the width of elements in the layout as "fluid" for some elements/components, allowing them to expand automatically and fill available space.
For other elements/components, he chooses "fixed" so that they will retain their default width.



Organizing Data with Tabs

To enhance the user experience, Sam effectively organizes property data by dragging related blocks into tabs within the layout.
Related blocks are nothing but Lookup and Subform data which are associated in the parent form.
This logical arrangement ensures that potential property buyers can easily access relevant information.


 

Creating Custom Actions:

In the Canvas Builder, Sam has the option to create custom actions that enhance the functionality of his property listings.
He creates a custom action to allow users to directly inquire about a property through the layout.



Fine-tuning Field Properties

Sam utilizes the "Properties" tab for each field to fine-tune specific properties according to his real estate business requirements.
He customizes the display format for the property pricing field to show currency symbols and decimal places.
For example,  he can customize the prefix, suffix, first name & last name properties for the name field i.e., he can hide/show the sub fields as required.


Applying Conditional Formatting

Sam applies conditional formatting to highlight essential data within the layout, such as displaying urgent listings with eye-catching colors.
This feature ensures that potential buyers can easily identify critical information and make informed decisions.



Importing and Exporting Templates

The Canvas Builder offers Sam the option to download pre-built templates in JSON format using the "Export" button. He exports his custom layout as a template for future-use or to share it with his colleagues to re-create the exact layout in other apps.



Ensuring Responsive Web Support

Canvas templates are initially supported for web use only, to ensure a seamless user experience on desktop browsers.

Thus, Canvas is truly a game changer in that it's all set to catapult your Creator user experience to new horizons. And the icing on the cake — you don't need to write a single line of code — and that, in other words, is the pinnacle of customization.

🔗 Access the Canvas Builder now and embark on a journey of crafting beautifully designed layouts with ease!

Release plan:

The canvas builder has been rolled out on August 1, 2023.

Help documentation: 

 
Thank you for being an integral part of the Zoho Creator community. Your feedback is invaluable as we continuously strive to improve and expand our offerings.

Stay tuned for more exciting updates!

Regards,
The Zoho Creator Team

 

    Access your files securely from anywhere







                        Zoho Developer Community





                                              Use cases

                                              Make the most of Zoho Desk with the use cases.

                                               
                                                

                                              eBooks

                                              Download free eBooks and access a range of topics to get deeper insight on successfully using Zoho Desk.

                                               
                                                

                                              Videos

                                              Watch comprehensive videos on features and other important topics that will help you master Zoho Desk.

                                               
                                                

                                              Webinar

                                              Sign up for our webinars and learn the Zoho Desk basics, from customization to automation and more

                                               
                                                
                                              • Desk Community Learning Series


                                              • Meetups


                                              • Ask the Experts


                                              • Kbase


                                              • Resources


                                              • Glossary


                                              • Desk Marketplace


                                              • MVP Corner


                                                        • Sticky Posts

                                                        • Zoho 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 continue
                                                        • Zoho 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 new
                                                        • Upcoming 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
                                                        • Introducing Zoho Creator's v2 APIs

                                                          Hello App Creators, Welcome to Zoho Creator's v2 APIs! This post will serve as the central point for migrating implementations of Creator's current APIs (v1) to v2. Improvements that v2 brings OAuth-based authentication, which is more secure than the


                                                        Manage your brands on social media



                                                              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

                                                                                  • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                                    CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                                  • Kaizen

                                                                                    Kaizen

                                                                                  • Functions

                                                                                    Functions

                                                                                  • Meetups

                                                                                    Meetups

                                                                                  • Kbase

                                                                                    Kbase

                                                                                  • Resources

                                                                                    Resources

                                                                                  • Digest

                                                                                    Digest

                                                                                  • CRM Marketplace

                                                                                    CRM Marketplace

                                                                                  • MVP Corner

                                                                                    MVP Corner







                                                                                      Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                      Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                      Get Started Now


                                                                                        Zoho Show Resources


                                                                                          Zoho Writer Writer

                                                                                          Get Started. Write Away!

                                                                                          Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                                                                                            Zoho CRM コンテンツ








                                                                                              Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                                  ご検討中の方




                                                                                                        • Recent Topics

                                                                                                        • CRM Custom function updating a module record shows the Super Admin user as the record modifier

                                                                                                          Dear Zoho CRM Team, Is there any way to update this so that when a custom function has updated a record the Super Admin user doesn't become the modifier? This happens on the record as a modifier and shows up in the audit logs. It would be more useful
                                                                                                        • HOW TO VIEW INDIVIDUAL COST OF NEWLY PURCHASED GOODS AFTER ALLOCATING LANDED COSTS

                                                                                                          Hello, I have been able to allocate landed costs to the purchase cost of the new products. however, what i need to see now is the actual cost price (original cost plus landed cost), of only my newly purchased products to enable me set a selling price
                                                                                                        • Get Workflow Metadata via API

                                                                                                          Is there a way to get metadata on workflows and/or custom functions via API? I would like to automatically pull this information. I couldn't find it in the documentations, but I'm curious if there is an undocumented endpoint that could do this.
                                                                                                        • QR code image is not exported in PDFs

                                                                                                          The new QR code field works fine when I include it in a report template and I choose the print option: https://creatorapp.zoho.com/<username>/<app_link_name>/record-print/<report_link_name>/<record_ID>/ But when I try to save the document to a .pdf file
                                                                                                        • Zoho Form to Zoho Form Integration

                                                                                                          I've created an application form that asks for references. I would like the submission of the application form to trigger a form to the reference using the email id and name entered in the first form. In the reference form that is triggered I need to
                                                                                                        • Zoho Forms - edit the settings of the Zoho CRM field to change the integration with CRM

                                                                                                          I've created a Zoho CRM field in my form to pre-populate selected CRM details into the form, following the instructions here https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/crm/integrations/zoho/zoho-forms/articles/zoho-forms-crm-integration#Step_2_-_Add_Zoho_CRM_Field_in_the_form
                                                                                                        • Zoho CRM Webinar – Automate everything across Customer Journeys in CommandCenter 2.0

                                                                                                          How efficient is your current CRM automation setup? As customer journeys become more dynamic, it's common for data and actions to get scattered across teams and modules. This leads to broken processes and inconsistent customer experiences—especially across
                                                                                                        • Skip Pages - Zoho form

                                                                                                          Hi Team, I need help with skipping pages based on the below logic in Zoho form: If field number of borrowers is 1 and field number of dependants is 0 then do not show page borrower 2 and 3 If field number of borrowers is 2 and field number of dependants
                                                                                                        • How to print blank form and also how to use form offline

                                                                                                          I have created a form in PC and want to use the form in the field to gather information. Can I use the form offline in PC - in case I have no internet access? As a fail safe, I'd like to print the blank form ut just in case the PC form doesnt work for
                                                                                                        • Using Marketing Automation Journey to associate lead record with a campaign?

                                                                                                          Hello, I am trying to push people from a Marketing Automation Journey to a CRM campaign so I can track lead journeys and lead conversions however I am hitting a roadblock. When a lead hits particular scores or does specific actions in marketing automation
                                                                                                        • Customer Parent Account or Sub-Customer Account

                                                                                                          Some of clients as they have 50 to 300 branches, they required separate account statement with outlet name and number; which means we have to open new account for each branch individually. However, the main issue is that, when they make a payment, they
                                                                                                        • Switching Between Multiple Zoho One Organizations in New UI

                                                                                                          Here’s a polished version in English that you can use on Zoho’s support or community forum: Subject: Switching Between Multiple Zoho One Organizations in New UI Hello Zoho Community / Support Team, I’m currently managing two independent Zoho One organizations.
                                                                                                        • Reports showing 24hr days instead of business hours

                                                                                                          I am not sure what I am missing, I created a report to look at resolution times in business hours but it is displaying hours based on 24hr days. I have business hours set (7am-5pm) and all that functionality is working, the reports are displaying 2 days
                                                                                                        • Refunds do not export from Shopify, Amazon and Esty to Zoho. And then do not go from Zoho inventory to Quickbooks.

                                                                                                          I have a huge hole in my accounts from refunds and the lack of synchronisation between shopify , Amazon and Etsy to Zoho ( i.e when I process a refund on shopify/ Amazon or Etsy it does not come through to Zoho) and then if I process a manual credit note/
                                                                                                        • Package Geometry

                                                                                                          how can i add the dimensions and weight capacity of the available boxes to be default in the system everytime we use it ?
                                                                                                        • Drag-and-Drop Customization Interface for Help Center in Zoho Desk

                                                                                                          Hi Zoho Desk Team, We hope you're doing well. We’d like to submit a feature request regarding the customization of the Help Center in Zoho Desk. 🔧 Current Limitation: At present, Help Center customization options are quite limited through the Zoho Desk
                                                                                                        • Parent-Child Tickets using API or Deluge

                                                                                                          Hi Everyone, We are looking at the parent-child ticketing features in Zoho Desk. We want to be able to create a parent ticket at customer level and nest child tickets underneath. The issue we are facing is to be able to automate this. I'm checking the
                                                                                                        • hide resolution from help centre

                                                                                                          to my surprise, i just found out that the resolution text is public in the helpcenter, even if 'notify customer' is off. is there a workaround to that? how do others deal with this? How zoho support does this and I don't think its used by Zoho in the first place. the resolution is meant to be private, not public
                                                                                                        • Stop selling out of stock Items.

                                                                                                          Hi I have been using Zohobooks for a around 8 month now. I am not involved in selling process but my staff cant stop selling product which they do not hold in stock, this is a big headache for me as physical count never matches what is shown on the books. 
                                                                                                        • Im trying to white list domain dynamically in zoho desk extension

                                                                                                          Im trying to white list domain dynamically in zoho desk extension. But it show error Error: {errMsg: 'No entry found in plugin-manifest whiteListedDomains for requested URL'} syntax "config": [ { "displayName":"Shopify Admin API access token ", "name":
                                                                                                        • CRM->INVENTORY, sync products as composite items

                                                                                                          We have a product team working in the CRM, as it’s more convenient than using Books or Inventory—especially with features like Blueprints being available. Once a product reaches a certain stage, it needs to become visible in Inventory. To achieve this,
                                                                                                        • Importing New Items to be Added to Existing Item Group

                                                                                                          How to use the import sheet to import new items to be added to an existing item group. The import gives me an error that the item group name already exists and won't proceed. If it's possible, how should my import spreadsheet should look like?
                                                                                                        • Sortie de Zoho TABLE ??

                                                                                                          Bonjour, Depuis bientôt 2 ans l'application zoho table est sortie en dehors de l'UE ? Depuis un an elle est annoncée en Europe Mais en vrai, c'est pour quand exactement ??
                                                                                                        • Create PDFs with Text so that we can copy from a generated PDF

                                                                                                          Currently, any information that a user enters into a field cannot be highlighted and copied from the PDF that Zoho Sign renders. For example, if someone were to provide a phone number in a Zoho Sign text field, you would not be able to copy the phone
                                                                                                        • Multi-Select lookup field has reached its maximum??

                                                                                                          Hi there, I want to create a multi-select lookup field in a module but I can't select the model I want the relationship to be with from the list. From the help page on this I see that you can only create a max of 2 relationships per module? Is that true?
                                                                                                        • Sync failed: Invalid Date value

                                                                                                          Hi, I have a local .sqlite database. After importing one table through the Databridge, and produced my dashboards, I cannot sync. I get an error regarding the date column: [Line: 2 Field: 4] (2018-07-12) -ERROR: Invalid Date value The data found at the
                                                                                                        • Condolences and Prayers Following the Ahmedabad Plane Crash

                                                                                                          Dear Zoho Team, We were heartbroken to learn about the tragic plane crash that occurred today in Ahmedabad, as reported in the news. On behalf of our entire team, we want to extend our deepest condolences to everyone at Zoho and across India who may have
                                                                                                        • Zoho Payroll US?

                                                                                                          Good morning, just reaching out today to see if there's any timeline, or if there's progress being made to bring Zoho Payroll out to be available to all states within the USA. Currently we're going through testing with zoho, and are having issues when
                                                                                                        • Zoho Developer Community Monthly Digest – May 2025

                                                                                                          Hello everyone, Welcome to this month’s Zoho Developer Community Digest! From fresh product insights to hands-on tech sessions and standout community threads, there's plenty here to keep your ideas flowing and your skills sharp. Be sure to explore our
                                                                                                        • Posibility to add Emoticons on the Email Subject of Templates

                                                                                                          Hi I´ve tried to add Emoticons on the Subject line of Email templates, the emoticon image does show up before saving the template or if I add the Emoticon while sending an Individual email and placing it manually on the subject line. Emoticons also show
                                                                                                        • Timesheet in project not visible to invited users.

                                                                                                          We are using Zoho Projects and have enabled the client portal so our clients can access both Projects and Timesheets. However, while the client can see the project, no timesheet entries are visible. How can we resolve this issue?
                                                                                                        • Unveiling Cadences: Redefining CRM interactions with automated sequential follow-ups

                                                                                                          Last modified on 01/04/2024: Cadences is now available for all Zoho CRM users in all data centres (DCs). Note that it was previously an early access feature, available only upon request, and was also known as Cadences Studio. As of April 1, 2024, it's
                                                                                                        • CRM: related table using module queries, are links possible?

                                                                                                          Hello. I was exploring the possibility of using a module query to get a filtered related list. For example, I'm using a Canvas custom details page and if an account has an open deal I'd like it to appear at the very beginning of the account page, with
                                                                                                        • not able to access Zoho from home WIFI

                                                                                                          for some reasone i am not able to access Zoho on my laptop or my iphone while i am connected to my home Wifi, i am able to access these sites both on laptop as well as Iphone and associated apps on any other Wifi as well as when I am on my 4G connection
                                                                                                        • Zoho Creator Migration

                                                                                                          After migrating our account from the Indian data center to the US data center, we are unable to log in to Zoho Creator using our existing credentials. We attempted to sign in at https://home.zoho.com and directly at https://creator.zoho.com using the
                                                                                                        • Scheduled outbound calls

                                                                                                          How do you mark a scheduled outbound call as complete? I see no way to change the status.
                                                                                                        • How to see exact clicked links in CRM from Zoho Campaigns ?

                                                                                                          Hi, I'm wondering how I can see the clicked links from an email sent from Campaigns when I'm in a campaign in the CRM module. I can see the number of clicks but I need the sales team to be able to see which link has been clicked by a prospect or contact.
                                                                                                        • Blueprint - Mandatory file upload field

                                                                                                          Hi, File upload (as we as image upload) field cannot be set as mandatory during a blueprint transition. Is there a workaround? Setting attachments as mandatory doesn't solve this need as we have no control over which attachments are added, nor can we
                                                                                                        • Email parser rule will only parse emails with an exact match? What madness is this?

                                                                                                          I finally got myhead around deluge and scripting, but wondered why my parser wasn't working. (https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/extract-11-digit-number-in-any-position-from-enail-subject) Problem: There are *zero* characters or phrases that
                                                                                                        • How to add a fee based on payment method

                                                                                                          I currently accept both ACH payments and credit card. I want to add a 3% fee to a number of my subscription plans if the customer chooses to use a credit card (and not ACH/checking). How do I do this? Is there an in-built feature, or would i have to create
                                                                                                        • Next Page