Extension pointers #14: Extend end-user benefits and allow personalization by implementing extensions with custom actions
From our earlier post on custom actions, we know that we can create templated actions, share them with end users, and allow them to reuse those actions to achieve personalized outcomes. In this post, we'll look at how custom actions make it easy for users to carry out these templated tasks to get customized results.
Consider the following scenario: a hardware company that already uses Zoho CRM then utilizes Zoho Projects to implement and work on the deals they've won. Assume that the Zoho Projects portal has two projects: one for handling smaller revenue deals that require minimum development and less time, and the other for managing larger revenue dealsthat will eventually demand more time and resources for execution.
As an end user processing deals in Zoho CRM, it would be extremely convenient for the company to have the deals automatically fall into the appropriate projects, such as a task based on the expected revenue. Furthermore, it would be ideal to send emails to the customer with whom they have made the deal to request anything needed from their end in order to move forward with the implementation of the deal. Let's see how we can achieve this with the help of custom actions.
We have detailed posts on the steps to create a custom action along with a live example. Now, let's reiterate and go over the steps to achieving the above use case.
Developer activities
1. Create a connector for Zoho Projects.
2. Create a custom user interface (widget-connected app) that allows the user to select the project where the deal should be created as a task, as well as add the personalized email subject and body that will be sent to the user.
3. Create a custom action in the Zoho Developer console.
- Associate the custom user interface to the custom action.
- Define an action that creates a task in the selected project and also sends an email to the customer based on the values entered by the end user in the custom UI.
Extension/end-user activities
4. Create workflows as an end-user (i.e., set criteria on expected revenue; provide personalized values for email subject and body, and choose the project in which the deal fulfilling the set criteria should be created as a task) and assign a custom action to them.
Developer activities
1. Creating a connector
- Create a new connector in your extension for Zoho Projects using the Connectors feature under Utilities in the left panel of the Zoho Developer console.
Note: Zoho Projects follows the OAuth 2.0 protocol for its authentication mechanism. You can refer to this post to learn more about the steps to register Zoho Projects and retrieve your client credentials.
- Add the necessary connector APIs for your functionality.
- The Zoho Projects REST APIs added for our example are mentioned below.
Connector API Name | Method type | URL |
Get Projects | GET | https://projectsapi.zoho.com/restapi/portal/${portalid}/projects/ |
Create project task | POST | https://projectsapi.zoho.com/restapi/portal/${portalid}/projects/${projectid}/tasks/?name=${name}&description=${description} |
2. Create a custom user interface:
1. Create a custom user interface that allows the end user to select the project in which they want to create the deal as a task, as well as enter the email subject and body that should be sent to the contact associated with the deal.
2. You can find the HTML code for the custom UI as an attachment to the post.
- In the HTML code, we have two text fields to get the user inputs for the email subject and body.
- We have also invoked the connector API to get projects from a portal. The response is then populated and displayed as a dropdown list to allow the user to select the project in which they want the deal to be created as a task.
- In the HTML code snippet, we have hard coded a static value for the Zoho Projects portal.
Note: Depending on your business use case requirements, you can create custom variables to prompt the user to input their Zoho Project portal ID, or you can create a setting widget that displays the user's portals, allowing the user to choose the portal in which they want to have the deals created as tasks as well.
- ZOHO.CRM.ACTION.setConfig - In this example, we have utilized the setConfig method. This method can be used to set values to variables which can be retrieved later through the widget's page load response.
➤ For our example, we have used the setConfig method to set various Zoho CRM deal and email (subject and body) user input values to variables. We have later obtained these saved values through the widget's page load response, which contains a configdata key with these set data as its values.➤ Sample page load response when ZOHO.CRM.ACTION.setConfig is used in our example:
"module": "Deals", "configdata": { DealTest: "Sample Digital Marketing Project" Dealdescription: "${!Deals.Description}" Dealname: "${!Deals.Deal_Name}" Message: "Sample Message" Subject: "Deal Won!" To: "${!Deals.Contact_Name.Email}" |
➤ We have then used the preset saved values available in the configdata key to prepopulate the widget UI every time it loads.
3. Create a custom action
- Go to the Zoho Developer console and select the extension in which you want to create the custom action.
- Create a custom action by navigating through Automate - > Custom Actions, under the Build section in the left panel. Click Create Action.
- Enter the Custom Action Name and Description. Click Next.
- Provide the location of the html file (widget UI) to complete the resource path. Click Next, then click Create Function.
- Enter the Deluge function to perform our use case functionality.
- Click Save & Close, then click Save.
Deluge function code snippet:
dynamic_map = Map(); dynamic_map.put("portalid","xxxxxx"); dynamic_map.put("projectid",input.config.get("Dealproject")); dynamic_map.put("name",input.config.get("Dealname")); dynamic_map.put("description",input.config.get("Dealdescription")); response = zoho.crm.invokeConnector("xxxxx.zohoprojects.createprojecttask",dynamic_map); sendmail [ from :zoho.adminuserid to :input.config.get("To") subject :input.config.get("Subject") message :input.config.get("Message") ] |
- In the above Deluge code, we have performed the functionality of creating the deal as a task in Projects and sending an email to the deal's contact with the input provided by the end user in their CRM account while associating the custom action to a workflow.
Custom action in effect (End-user):
Create workflows:
- As an end user who has the extension which features the custom action installed in the Zoho CRM account, go ahead and create workflows to define criteria and associate the custom action.
- In our case, we have two workflows:
➤ One for smaller deals where the expected revenue is less than 1000 USD
➤ One for larger deals where the expected revenue is greater than or equal to 1000USD
- Upon choosing the custom action, the custom UI appears where-in you can provide user specific input for email body and subject and also choose the project where you want deal to be created as a task in Zoho Projects.
Smaller revenue deals:
Larger revenue deals:
- When a deal with the necessary criteria is satisfied, an email is sent out to the deal's contact with the subject and body provided by the end user. A task is also created in Zoho Projects with some specific deal details.
This is one business case where you can use custom action. As a parallel use case to the above example itself, say you have multiple projects in Zoho Projects, each used to work on different case categories (bugs, issues, feature request, etc.). You could develop the same kind of template and allow end users to configure the criteria and outcomes accordingly.
You could also use custom actions feature to perform templated actions to obtain personalized outcomes depending on your business needs. We hope you found this information helpful. Keep following this space for more information!
SEE ALSO:
Access your files securely from anywhere
Centralize Knowledge. Transform Learning.
All-in-one knowledge management and training platform for your employees and customers.
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
Nanditha Somasundaram Somasundaram
Sticky Posts
Kaizen #198: Using Client Script for Custom Validation in Blueprint
Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – 1 More to the Big Two-Oh-Oh! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.Kaizen #226: Using ZRC in Client Script
Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. In today's post, lets see what is ZRC (Zoho Request Client) and how we can use ZRC methods in Client Script to get inputs from a Salesperson and update the Lead status with a single button click. In thisKaizen #222 - Client Script Support for Notes Related List
Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. The final Kaizen post of the year 2025 is here! With the new Client Script support for the Notes Related List, you can validate, enrich, and manage notes across modules. In this post, we’ll explore howKaizen #217 - Actions APIs : Tasks
Welcome to another week of Kaizen! In last week's post we discussed Email Notifications APIs which act as the link between your Workflow automations and you. We have discussed how Zylker Cloud Services uses Email Notifications API in their custom dashboard.Kaizen #216 - Actions APIs : Email Notifications
Welcome to another week of Kaizen! For the last three weeks, we have been discussing Zylker's workflows. We successfully updated a dormant workflow, built a new one from the ground up and more. But our work is not finished—these automated processes are
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
Where are recordings stored?
I have hosted a couple of test meeting, used the "record" button to start and stop the recording but I am unable to find where are those recordings saved? Can anybody help? ThanksZoho Desk's integration with Microsoft PowerBI delivers advanced analytics insights
Hello everyone, Gaining advanced insights through reports and dashboards is one of the critical requirements of every business. In addition to key metrics tracked in Zoho Desk, such as agent performance, SLA adherence, and ticket lifecycle, businessesIMAP error message in Zoho mail
I cannot send emails today. Everything fine for years until today. Get a message: "You are yet to enable IMAP for your account. Please contact your administrator". Does anyone know how to correct this?IMAP stopped working today
Hello! I've been a paid customer for more than 10 years, IMAP was always working fine. But today this is the error I've got on my iPhone: I've tried toggling the IMAP for my account (Mail -> Settings -> Mail accounts) off and on again, but that did notMultiple columns in a form
I am evaluating Zoho Creator. However, I am seeing almost no layout control on a form. Just a basic 1 or 2 column format that is then imposed on the entire form. That's not going to work for many, many real world cases. We need multiple columns per line, and we need each line/section to occupy a single column or be able to span the columns. Someone please tell me that I'm missing something and the capability is actually there.Global search
Hi! I think it would be great to have a global search that would give you results from all records of a database, no only for a single field of a single form as we have now. Thanks!Any insights about API/v2? Having problem for a while.
I don't know why it is throwing a 404 error, my report name is correct. Has someone had this issue and how you fix it?Edit QR code with redirect to form
Guten morgen, wir haben ein Formular Reklamation_erstellen. Dort soll ein QR Code erstellt werden, der im Lieferschein angezeigt wird. Beim Scannen auf dem soll das jeweilige Formular zum BEARBEITEN geöffnet werden. Leider bekomme ich es nur so hin, dassGetting all the ingredients together for baking an app
Good day everyone. After reading a lot of the help docs and watching videos, I now started on my app. To prevent hours and hours wasted on going down the wrong track, I would like some clarification on the following. But first some background: I haveHelp Needed with Configuring ZC Microservice
I'm attempting to create a simple microservice, but am running into problems with scope and auth. Using Custom API Builder, here's my setup: 1. Method: GET 2. Auth: OAuth2 3. User Scope: All users 4. Response: Standard 5. Function: A function that returnsCreator Simplified #10: Predefine Form Field Values and Make Them Read-Only for Users
Hey Creators, Ready for this week's tip in the Creator Simplified series? Today, we will explore how to have read only fields in a form. Use Case: Assume a scenario where the default value for a Department field needs to be English Literature, but youZoho Mail : Email Outgoing Blocked
I suddenly received the following message yesterday. I cannot send any mail. Please resolve as soon as possible, I cannot work without sending email. Dear User, We regret to inform you that your email outgoing has been blocked and you will not be ableCreator and Tables
Good day. I am trying to create my first application. I have imported my data into Tables and am creating my app in Creator. I do not see my tables and cannot see how to write forms data to a table. Even the Workflow just uses the form. In one of thecustomer Name and address details
i created one application there is no customer details in that . how to add customer details andRecalculate every row in the subform
Hello, Can anyone help me with a script, please? I have an issue. Sometimes it happens, that in a multi row subform one of the rows show an incorrect row total value. Not really understand how it can happen, if I have a 20 row subform, 19 rows show correctCreating Repeat Forms that remove redundancies
I wanted to understand if you can make multi-layer forms that reduce the need for users to input information in again and again. We want a form that our suppliers fill out per ingredient they sell, and the end result should have the Ingredient (SectionWhat is the difference between the free plan and the mail lite plan?
What is the difference between the free plan and the mail lite plan? How many emails can I send per day?Unblock email
Hi The outgoing mail from a client of me is blocked. I already made tickets and tickets are send to the EU desk but nobody is responding. The problem is already 4 days! There is absolutely no help from the support. I am really not satisfied at all! CanDomain verification failure
Hello Zoho Support, I purchased my domain directly through Zoho Mail, but the domain verification keeps failing with the message “TXT verification failed.” I’ve already waited and retried several times, but it still won’t verify. Could you please manuallyUnable to send message;Reason:554 5.1.8 Email Outgoing Blocked.
My email account is unable to send emails, and I urgently need to use it. How can I resolve this?If there is anything we have done wrong, please let us know in advance so we can actively cooperate to improve. User ID: 850482493URGENT: Email stopped workin - can't access admin panel
For some reason email sending stopped working. When I try to send an email it fails with "Unable to send message;Reason:451 4.7.1 Temporary system error" I can receive email just fine I see in my notifications some errors about the MX records, howeverCan I associate an invoice to a Project after the fact?
We have generated an invoice but would like to assoicate it to a Zoho Project after the fact. Is there any way to accomplish that? Thanks, ScottEmails I send as a cc or bcc NEVER GO THROUGH TO THA RECEIVER !!
every time i send a cc or bcc copy of an email to anyone when I’m using my zohomail.com email - no one ever gets the cc of bcc copy if the email: why???? And i triple check that the email addresses are correct; then i get back an email message (EVERYTIME)Add Support for Authenticator App MFA in Zoho Desk Help Center
Hello Zoho Desk Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to request an enhancement related to security for the Zoho Desk Help Center (customer portal). Currently, the Help Center supports MFA for portal users via SAML, JWT, SMS authentication,Auto-fill Contacts in Zoho Mail not working for me
We just switched to Zoho Mail for our company, and I am noticing that the "auto fill" feature when composing an email -- where the "to" field is autofilled (like in the attachment) from Contatcts works for everyone except me. Any way I might have madeHow to unlink a SAML user from the existing Zoho Desk user (domain change case)
Hi everyone, I’m trying to understand how to handle a situation where a customer changes their company domain. In our setup, users authenticate via SAML, so when the domain changes, the SAML system treats them as a new user. However, in Zoho Desk, I’dRelated to zoho survey
Hi team. I want to know something regarding zoho survey question builder. I have two questions each of dropdown (One answer) - question type. In the first question, there are 16 answer choices and in the second question, there are 3 answer choices. ForText Message
When trying to sent a text message, it says its an error i should contact a zoho agentZoho POS is now available for Canadian retailers
Hey everyone, We're excited to introduce the all-new Canadian edition of Zoho POS, which helps retail businesses simplify and manage their end-to-end business operations. Start by signing up and exploring the 15-day free trial. Sign up now How does ZohoPayroll In Canada
Hi, When can we expect to have payroll in Canada with booksMass update to change or shift all project dates and keep project structure + shift all sub-tasks dates with main tasks
Most users would expect that if they change the start date of their project then that will be reflected inside the actual project and any project structure would be retained. Additionally if a task list with associated sub-tasks is moved, most users would expect that those sub-tasks would also be moved along with their parent task. This is not the case. For a total Project shift of dates: * the start and end date from > "Edit Project" page can have a radio button added to "shift all project tasksClosing Accounting Periods - Invoice/Posting dates
Hi, I have seen in another thread but I'm unsure on how the 'transaction locking' works with regards to new and old transactions. When producing monthly accounts if I close December 24 accounts on 8th Jan 25 will transaction locking prevent me from postingIn-person ZUG Meetups for Real Estate Professionals - US Q1 2026
The Real Estate Zoho User Group is going on a multi-city, in-person meetup tour across the US, and we’d love to see you there! These meetups are a great opportunity to: Connect with fellow real estate professionals using Zoho Share challenges and discoverZoho CRM custom fields not showing in zoho creator
Hi Team, I have created a Products form with Zoho CRM integration and connected it to Products module of CRM. But when I see the reports of Products in Zoho creator then I am not able to see custom fields of Products module. Only standard fields of ProductsSending email notifications based on language
Hello. I would like to know how we can bypass the default notifications (which are just in English) for when a ticket is created/replied to/closed, to be in other languages, based on the language field in the ticket? I can create other email templates,Zoho 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. ThanksDownload a file from within a zoho creator widget
I have a widget running in Zoho Creator , it displays uploaded documents in a table file, and I have added a download link in the view. ( The widget is created with html, css and javascript). I do not succeed in getting the download working. Do I haveZoho / Outlook Calendar sync
The current Marketplace -> Microsoft -> Meetings integration needs 2 changes. 1. The current language for the Two-Way sync option should be changed. It currently states, "Sync both your Zoho CRM Calendar and Office 365 Calendar meetings with each other."Email content just contain 'OK' ,not what we expect
create campaign API URL: https://campaigns.zoho.com/api/v1.1/createCampaign req params: {'campaignname': 'General_Outreach_d0cfc415-43aa-4b96-bb09-558e76a3dda3_50_20251117_214806_660', 'from_email': 'admin@allinmedia.ai', 'subject': 'ALL IN MEDIA', 'list_details':Reopen ticket
Hello! Can I reopen a ticket just using the API ticket/sendReply ? What's the rules to do it? I'm trying but it doesn't reopen the ticket, it just send the replyNext Page