Extension pointers #5: Working with widgets to power-up extension capabilities (Part-2)
Widgets simplify work and enhance the functionality of Zoho CRM by contextually embedding third-party services and adding new features to Zoho CRM.
In the previous post (Part 1), we mentioned what widgets are, the basic steps to install ZET CLI, and how to create a widget. Here's a quick summary of those pointers before we move into further detail with our current post.
- Widgets help embed applications in Zoho CRM and seamlessly synchronize application data into native CRM components.
- It also helps to add new features to Zoho CRM and create customized UI interfaces using the HTML, CSS, and JS library.
- Zoho Command Line Interface (ZET CLI) can be used to create, validate, package, and locally run your widgets.
After packing the widget you can embed it inside Zoho CRM as a connected app and host the widget either internally or externally on the server to get it running. As a continuation of the previous post, let's see the different ways to host widgets and how widgets can be embedded in Zoho CRM.
A widget application can be hosted either internally or externally.
Internal Hosting
Zoho's Servers are used to host an application internally. In order to host the application you created internally, you will need to upload the packed and zipped file of your project.
External Hosting
External hosting enables you to host your app externally with third-party web hosting solutions.
Where can widgets be embedded in Zoho CRM?
A widget can be embedded into different components in Zoho CRM
➤ Custom button
➤ Related list
➤ Web tab
In this post, we'll explain the steps involved in hosting a widget internally in Zoho using a connected app and embedding it in Zoho CRM Components while building an extension.
Steps to associate the Widget with a connected app of your extension and host it
1. Go to the Extension's Detail page of your extension.
2. Choose Connected Apps from the left panel of the Zoho Developer console under Utilities.
3. Provide the name and a description for the connected app. To host an application internally,
- Choose Internal Hosting
- The sandbox Zoho server URL is predefined and serves as the base URL.
- Upload the zipped file of the widget from the dist folder of your project's directory
- Click Save
Steps to Embed the widget
Once a widget is associated with your extension as a connected app, the next step is to embed and position the widget in the CRM components where you want it to serve its purpose.Now, let's see where you can embed the widgets.
Custom Button
Choose Components from the left panel of the Zoho Developer console under Build. Select the Links & Buttons tab and click Create New Button.
Provide the necessary details and select Invoke a Widget as the action you would like the button to perform.
Specify the HTML file location by appending it with the sandbox URL and click Save.
Once the custom button has been created successfully, you can test it in the sandbox testing environment to check if the functionality is working as intended. Later, when the extension is installed, the custom button will perform the functionality as defined in the widget in your Zoho CRM account.
Custom Related List
Similar to a custom button, it is possible to embed a widget into any module as a related list.
Choose Components from the left panel of the Zoho Developer console under Build. Select the Related Details tab and click Add Widgets.
Specify the sandbox URL of the widget along with the necessary details and click Save.
Web Tab
Choose Modules from the left panel of the Zoho Developer console under Build. Select the Web Tabs tab and click Create Web Tab.
Choose Type as Widget and specify the sandbox URL of the widget along with the necessary details and click Save.
Once you've embedded the widget in the required location, you can test it using the sandbox testing environment to see if the functionality is working as intended. Customize and enhance the widget's functionality as needed.
Up to this point we've explained in detail the process to install CLI, create a widget, associate the widget with a connected app, and embed it in Zoho CRM. In our upcoming post we'll see a working example of this process. 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
Developer
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
Update P_Leave: code: 7052 "Employee_ID": "Enter Employee ID"
Hi, Zoho People - Update Leaves Can someone assist? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ col = Collection(); col.insert("recordid":id); col.insert("Date_Check_Approval":zoho.currentdate); info zoho.people.update("P_Leave",col.toMap());CRM x WorkDrive: File storage for new CRM signups is now powered by WorkDrive
Availability Editions: All DCs: All Release plan: Released for new signups in all DCs. It will be enabled for existing users in a phased manner in the upcoming months. Help documentation: Documents in Zoho CRM Manage folders in Documents tab Manage filesAnyone worked out how to export or screengrab a full heatmap?
I'd love to be able to include a copy of a heatmap in a report but can't work out how to grab the whole thing as there doesn't appear to be an export function? Thanks in advance.Introducing Built-in Telephony in Zoho Recruit
We’re excited to introduce Built-in Telephony in Zoho Recruit, designed to make recruiter–candidate communication faster, simpler, and fully traceable. These capabilities help you reduce app switching, handle inbound calls efficiently, and keep everySender Email Configuration Error.
Hello Team, Hope you are all doing well. We are in the process of creating the Zoho FSM environment in the UAE. When we try to add the sender email address “techsupportuae@stryker.com”, we receive the error message: “Error occurred while sending mailDefault/Private Departments in Zoho Desk
1) How does one configure a department to be private? 2) Also, how does one change the default department? 1) On the list of my company's Zoho Departments, I see that we have a default department, but I am unable to choose which department should be default. 2) From the Zoho documentation I see that in order to create a private department, one should uncheck "Display in customer portal" on the Add Department screen. However, is there a way to change this setting after the department has been created?Es posible cambiar el lenguaje de los modulos del ASAP?
Es posible cambiar el lenguaje de estos textos? Tengo Zoho configurado en español pero aun así me muestra estos textos en ingles:Auto-publish job openings on my Zoho Recruit Careers Website
I have developed a script using the Zoho Recruit API that successfully inserts new jobOpening records to my Zoho Recruit website, but my goal is to auto-publish to the Careers Website. The jobOpening field data shows two possible candidates to make this[Free webinar] Custom domains for portals in Zoho Creator - Creator Tech Connect
Hello everyone, We’re excited to invite you to another edition of the Creator Tech Connect webinar. About Creator Tech Connect The Creator Tech Connect series is a free monthly webinar featuring in-depth technical sessions designed for developers, administrators,Remove my video
Hi, How can I remove my video so that I don't have to see myself. It's weird so I always remove my own video from what I see but cannot find this feature here. Thanks!Marking a meeting 'done'.
I would like to somehow mark a meeting 'done' and placed under the contact's page rather than deleting it and having no record of it. Am I missing a button that does this?Add Lookup Field in Tasks Module
Hello, I have a need to add a Lookup field in addition to the ones that are already there in the Tasks module. I've seen this thread and so understand that the reason lookup fields may not be part of it is that there are already links to the tables (Super Admin Logging in as another User
How can a Super Admin login as another user. For example, I have a sales rep that is having issues with their Accounts and I want to view their Zoho Account with out having to do a GTM and sharing screens. Moderation Update (8th Aug 2025): We are workingCannot find zpuid for Zoho Projects user
I'm using the Zoho Projects v3 API to create a task. The task is created successfully, but in order to assign the task owner, the "Create a Task" API also requires the zpuid of the task owner. Unfortunately I cannot find any user-related API calls thatAllocating inventory to specific SO's
Is there a way that allocate inventory to a specific sales order? For example, let's say we have 90 items in stock. Customer 1 orders 100 items. This allocates all 90 items to their order, and they have a back order for the remaining 10 items which couldCan Zoho Marketing Automation send OTP codes via WhatsApp during user registration?
The flow I would like to implement is: A user signs up in the mobile app and enters their phone number. The system generates a one-time verification code (OTP). The OTP is sent to the user via WhatsApp message. The user enters the code in the app to confirmIncorrect Functioning of Time Logs API (Version 3)
We need to fetch the list of time logs for each task for our company internal usage. We are trying to achieve it by using the next endpoint: https://projects.zoho.com/api-docs#bulk-time-logs#get-all-project-time-logs Firstly, in the documentation thePartial payments for retainer invoices
When a customer does not pay the entire retainer invoice there is no way to apply a partial payment. PLEASE add this function.Can I export to PDF in Zoho Learn
I have seen help pages where export to pdf options are available but I do not see that option available from the application. I see that exprt is available in my free trial version but that is only to html pages. I need to be able to export my manualsService line items
Hello Latha, Could you please let me know the maximum number of service line items that can be added to a single work order? Thanks, Chethiya.Sending emails via Books
Anyone else getting similar problems recently ??..... Hi, Your message to the following recipient was not delivered. Please find the details below. Bounce Details: Bounced Address : someone@google.com Bounce Reason : other ; Status : 5.0.0 (undefined status) ; Daignostic-Code : smtp;542 someone@google.com Rejected ; Bounced Time : Sep 05, 2017 06:37 PM BST Regards, Zoho Team The email addresses were fine only a few days ago but are now being rejected ?PDF Generator Upgrade
Hi Team, What will happen if I don't make any changes for existing template. Zoho just ask us upgrade but haven't tell the benefit. Zoho CorporationNo Need To Fix Something That Is Working
Zoho Books is a great financial tool which helps businesses to become more efficient and productive with day-to-day operations. As such, every change, upgrade, improvement needs to be carefully thought before implemented in the software and I'm sure ZohoTotal Cost in reports showing zero
The image below shows my issue. The column Total Cost should show the cost to our company based on hours logged and the employee's rate. For instance, if the person working on Subtask 1 is paid 20/hr, then Total Cost should display $160 ($20x8 loggedZoho Books (and other finance suite apps) - Retrospective Linking of Invoice and Sales Orders to Quotes.
In some cases, Quotes and Invoies may be created sperately instead of using the convert feature. In this feature request I am asking for the Finance Suite team to consider adding a lookup field to reference the quote on Invoices and Sales Orders, or someBring real app analytics into Zoho Creator apps with Zoho Apptics
We’re kicking off the year with a release we’ve been looking forward to for a long time. After being in the works for a while, Zoho Creator and Zoho Apptics are now officially integrated, bringing in-depth product analytics directly into the Zoho CreatorZohoMail's outbound webhook sends incorrect folderId and messageId
I used a webhook (outbound) from within ZohoMail to send message details when a new message arrives that meets specific criteria. I received this data correctly. Now I want to get the attachment from this email message. When I made an api call using folderUse URL field to populate Image in a Email Template
We have two records Record 1: Appointments (with a Lookup to Doctors module) Related Record 2: Doctors (with a URL field that is an image of the doctor) We would like to populate a CRM email template with the image of the URL field for the related doctorLooking for Guidance on Building a Zoho Website
I'm exploring the possibility of building a custom website with specific features using Zoho as an alternative platform. My goal is to create something similar to https://gtasandresapk.com , with the same kind of functionality and user experience. I'dAbility to add VAT to Retainer Invoices
Hello, I've had a telephone conversation a month ago with Dinesh on this topic and my request to allow for the addition of VAT on Retainer Invoices. It's currently not possible to add VAT to Retainer Invoices and it was mutually agreed that there is absolutely no reason why there shouldn't be, especially as TAX LAW makes VAT mandatory on each invoice in Europe! So basically, what i'm saying is that if you don't allow us to add VAT to Retainer Invoices, than the whole Retainer Invoices becomesZoho Bookings Forge: A hands-on workshop series
Hello all! We’re hosting a five-part, hands-on workshop series to help you optimize Zoho Bookings for your business. In these sessions, we’ll cover key features, practical use cases, and clear steps to get started or improve your current setup. Here areIntroducing parent-child ticketing in Zoho Desk [Early access]
Hello Zoho Desk users! We have introduced the parent-child ticketing system to help customer service teams ensure efficient resolution of issues involving multiple, related tickets. You can now combine repetitive and interconnected tickets into parent-childUpdate Existing Records greyed out in Free Version
Trying to update records from an Excel sheet, and not getting the option to update. Only option is to add as new accounts. All documentation I can see says update should be an option! Accounts, Leads, Contacts, all the same.Help with deluge script
Hi Community, this is my first Deluge script. I've pieced it together from reading various articles I want to use it in a workflow to 1 Convert a lead to a contact 2. Create a record in a custom module Below is what I have got so far but it does not fireIntroducing Workqueue: your all-in-one view to manage daily work
Hello all, We’re excited to introduce a major productivity boost to your CRM experience: Workqueue, a dynamic, all-in-one workspace that brings every important sales activity, approval, and follow-up right to your fingertips. What is Workqueue? SalesDelete button
Hi, The delete button were hide into the three dot button. Can I display outside? why Zoho make this update?Zoho Vault CLI for Developers and Automations
Hi everyone, If you're managing credentials in scripts, CI/CD pipelines, or automation workflows, Zoho Vault's Command Line Interface (CLI) can help you securely access and manage secrets directly from your terminal. Zoho Vault was launched in 2013 asOn Edit Validation Blueprint
Hello, I have a notes field and a signature field. When the Approve button is clicked, the Signature field will appear and must be filled in. When the Reject button is clicked, the Notes field will appear and must be filled in. Question: Blueprint willServer-based Appication API access for Social, Sites, Flow, Pages.
Hello, I am trying to hook up API access for a number of apps and I have hit a wall trying to add these scopes to the API feed. We cannot find the correct way to list the scope for these Zoho apps; Social, Sites, Flow, Pages. Error on web-page comes backZoho Subscriptions -- Zoho Commerce integration
Is there integration between Zoho Subscriptions and Zoho Commerce? I would like to create subscription plans in Zoho Subscritpions and list them for on my Zoho Commerce store.Next Page