Kaizen #95 How is a Widget used in a Blueprint?

Kaizen #95 How is a Widget used in a Blueprint?

Hey folks!!
Let's continue the discussion from Kaizen #23 and focus on exploring the concept of Widgets in Blueprints.

What are Widgets?

Zoho CRM's widgets are custom components that you can add to your Zoho CRM system to extend its functionality, provide additional data, or integrate with external services. These widgets can be built using Zoho's widget SDK (Software Development Kit), which allows developers to build and integrate custom applications directly into Zoho CRM.

What are Blueprints?

Blueprints in CRM help you design processes with pre-defined conditions and enable the system to follow a specific flow. A record can only move to the next state if it satisfies the given condition; otherwise, it remains in the same state. Blueprints help in converting leads into customers and developing your business. A transition button acts as an intermediary between two states, holding the condition and facilitating the flow within the system.

For instance, when a person approaches a bank for a loan, the bank needs to check the person's previous loan's status. They need to verify whether he has any existing loans or any defaults from other banks or from the same bank. The bank will provide loans based on the person's current and past borrowing behaviours. This can be achieved using widgets in blueprints.

The Flow Representation

                                              
Let's consider that a person named Shane has applied for a loan. His details will be in the "Loans" Module in the CRM. The bank employee responsible for processing the loan applications will review Shane's credibility and decide whether to approve or reject the loan.
  • If Shane has not settled any of his previous loans and has a bad repayment history, the bank will decline his new loan request, and the record will be marked as 'Rejected' state.
  • If there are few current active loans with a good repayment history, the bank will approve the loan, and the status of the newly sanctioned loan will be 'Active.'
In this use case, we cannot use any inbuilt CRM's blueprint options to show a popup of Shane's previous loan details and make a decision. Therefore, we will associate a custom widget to assist the banker in making the decision during the Blueprint transition.

How do I create a widget in the Blueprint?

  1. Go to Setup > Developer Space > Widgets.
  2. Click Create New Widget.


Note : The widget is hosted internally (Zoho) in the post. Please refer to this page to view the source code.

Sample Codes

index.html

  1. <!DOCTYPE html>
  2. <html>
  3. <head>
  4.   <title>User Details</title>
  5.   <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
  6.   <script src="https://live.zwidgets.com/js-sdk/1.2/ZohoEmbededAppSDK.min.js"></script> 
  7. //Import this JS SDK to use SDK methods
  8.   <script src="index.js"></script>
  9. </head>
  10. <body>
  11.   <div class="container">
  12.     <h1>User Details</h1>
  13.     <div class="details">
  14.       <h2>Basic Details</h2>
  15.       <p><strong>Name:</strong> <span id="name"></span></p>
  16.       <p><strong>Email:</strong> <span id="email"></span></p>
  17.       <p><strong>PAN ID</strong> <span id="panId"></span></p>
  18.       <p><strong>Address</strong> <span id="address"></span></p>
  19.       <!-- Add more fields as needed -->
  20.     </div>
  21.     <div class="details">
  22.       <h2>Current Loan Requests</h2>
  23.       <p><strong>Loan ID:</strong> <span id="loanId"></span></p>
  24.       <p><strong>Loan Type:</strong> <span id="loanType"></span></p>
  25.       <p><strong>Amount:</strong> <span id="amount"></span></p>
  26.       <!-- Add more fields as needed -->
  27.     </div>
  28.     <div class="loan-history">
  29.       <h2>Loan History</h2>
  30.       <div class="loan-history-table">
  31.         <table>
  32.           <thead>
  33.             <tr>
  34.               <th>S. No</th>
  35.               <th>Bank Name</th>
  36.              .
  37.              .
  38.             .
  39.           </tr>
  40.           </thead>
  41.           <tbody id="loanHistoryTableBody">
  42.             <!-- Loan data will be dynamically populated here -->
  43.           </tbody> 
  44.         </table>
  45.       </div>
  46.     </div>
  47.   </div>
  48.   <div class="buttons">
  49.     <button id="button1" onclick="closePopup()">Decline</button>  //When the decline button is clicked, a method is called to close the widget pop-up
  50.     <button id="button2" onclick="moveToNextState()">Approve</button> //When the Approve button is clicked, a method is called to move the record to the next state.
  51.   </div>
  52. </body>
  53. </html>
To use the Zoho CRM APIs in the widget, you can use the API helpers provided in the JS SDK.

index.js

  1. ZOHO.embeddedApp.on("PageLoad", async function (data)
  2. //This event is used to get the page load data
  3.  {
  4.     console.log(data);
  5.     const loanRec = await ZOHO.CRM.API.getRecord({
  6.         Entity: data.Entity, // Here, 'Entity' is 'Loans Module'
  7.         RecordID: data.EntityId //The 'ID' of the record
  8.     });
  9.     console.log(loanRec.data[0].Recipient.id);
  10.     const contactRec = await ZOHO.CRM.API.getRecord
  11. //gettind contact details
  12. ({
  13.         Entity: "Contacts",
  14.         RecordID: loanRec.data[0].Recipient.id
  15.     });
  16.     const loanHistory = await ZOHO.CRM.API.getRelatedRecords
  17. //getting related records of the contact
  18. ({
  19.         Entity: "Contacts",
  20.         RecordID: loanRec.data[0].Recipient.id,
  21.         RelatedList: "Loan_History",
  22.         page: 1,
  23.         per_page: 200
  24.     })

  26. ZOHO.embeddedApp.init(); 
  27. //used to initialize widget
  28. function moveToNextState()
  29. {
  30.     ZOHO.CRM.BLUEPRINT.proceed(); 
  31. //ZOHO.CRM.BLUEPRINT.proceed() function from JS SDK, which helps in making the blueprint transition
  32. }
  33. //method used to move a record to the next state

  35. function closePopup(){
  36.     ZOHO.CRM.UI.Popup.close();
  37. }
  38. //method used to close the widget
  39. function displayBasicDetails(data) {
  40.     console.log(data);
  41.     document.getElementById('name').textContent = data.Full_Name;
  42.     .
  43.     .
  44. }
  45. }

Associating a Widget to the Blueprint

Add the hosted 'Check Profile' widget in the 'During' transition in the blueprint.
                  
Click Add > Widgets - The list of available widgets in your CRM will be displayed. 
States in this Blueprint:
  • Approval Pending : It is the default status of a newly created record in the loan module.
  • Active: If a person has a good loan repayment history, then the loan application will be sanctioned as per the banker's decision, and the status for the newly created loan will be 'Active'.
  • Closed : When a current loan is closed by the bank, the record's status will be 'Closed.'
  • Default : When any previous loans remain unsettled and the person is unavailable when a bank approaches for repayment on or after the payment due date, it is considered a fraudulent act. Such loans will be marked as "default". In such cases, the bank will decline the current loan request, and mark it as 'Rejected'.
  • Rejected : If a person has a bad repayment loan history or defaults, the bank will decline the loan, and the record's status will be 'Rejected'.
The below GIF represents a set of records waiting for approval from the bank under the Approval Pending custom view.

When the banker accesses the individual loan request, he/she will see the 'Check Profile' transition button. Using this transition, the banker can view the custom widget that displays the loan history and other details required to make a decision.
Here, the banking personnel can approve the loan by verifying the details. If the user has a goo   score and repayment history, the record will move to the Active state (newly requested loan).

If the applicant possesses any existing outstanding loans, lacks sufficient collateral, fails to provide verifiable income proof, or exhibits a history of defaults, the bank will decline the request, and the record will be moved to 'Rejected' state. This will help a bank to avoid fraudulent acts.


How will the CRM fetch a person's loan history from a third-party website?
To retrieve a person's current and previous loan status from a third-party website, banks employ different processes in different countries. 
The credit score will be tracked based on different Unique IDs issued by each country to their citizens. These details can be fetched from their respective websites using widgets.
For example :
  • USA - Social Security Number.
  • UK - The National Insurance Number.
  • Ireland - The Personal Public Service Number.
  • India - Permanent Account Number, etc.
We hope you found this post useful. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section or reach out to us at support@zohocrm.com
Cheers!!!
Further Reading

    Access your files securely from anywhere








                            Zoho Developer Community



                                Bootcamp
                                Community
                                Pricing
                                Webinars
                                What's New
                                Integrations
                                Contact Support
                                Contact Sales
                                  Zoho Survey Resources
                                    Features
                                    Survey Templates
                                    Integrations
                                    Community
                                    iOS Mobile Surveys
                                    Pricing
                                    Android Mobile Surveys
                                    Insurvey Blogs
                                    Insight Blogs
                                    Tips & Tricks





                                                Latest Feature Updates

                                                  • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                  • Digest


                                                  • Functions


                                                  • Meetups


                                                  • Kbase


                                                  • Resources


                                                  • Glossary


                                                  • Desk Marketplace


                                                  • MVP Corner


                                                  • Word of the Day


                                                  • Ask the Experts




                                                      Zoho SalesIQ Resources

                                                            • Sticky Posts

                                                            • Kaizen #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 how

                                                            • Kaizen #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

                                                            • Kaizen #152 - Client Script Support for the new Canvas Record Forms

                                                              Hello everyone! Have you ever wanted to trigger actions on click of a canvas button, icon, or text mandatory forms in Create/Edit and Clone Pages? Have you ever wanted to control how elements behave on the new Canvas Record Forms? This can be achieved

                                                            • Kaizen #142: How to Navigate to Another Page in Zoho CRM using Client Script

                                                              Hello everyone! Welcome back to another exciting Kaizen post. In this post, let us see how you can you navigate to different Pages using Client Script. In this Kaizen post, Need to Navigate to different Pages Client Script ZDKs related to navigation A.


                                                            Manage your brands on social media
                                                            Access Zoho Social

                                                              Zoho Pagesense Resources


                                                                  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

                                                                                      • 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

                                                                                              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

                                                                                                              • How to show branch instead of org name on invoice template?

                                                                                                                Not sure why invoices are showing the org name not the branch name? I can insert the branch name using the ${ORGANIZATION.BRANCHNAME} placeholder, but then it isn't bold text anymore. Any other ideas?

                                                                                                              • Create CRM Deal from Books Quote and Auto Update Deal Stage

                                                                                                                I want to set up an automation where, whenever a Quote is created in Zoho Books, a Deal is automatically created in Zoho CRM with the Quote amount, customer details, and some custom fields from Zoho Books. Additionally, when the Sales Order is converted

                                                                                                              • Marketing Automation Requirements Questions

                                                                                                                I would like to set up a multi-email drip campaign- please see the structure below and confirm if I can achieve this set up in Zoho marketing automation. Where applicable, highlight gaps and workarounds. Thanks Drip email campaign- Can I create one drip

                                                                                                              • Zoho CRM for Gmail Extension Not Working in Brave Browser?

                                                                                                                Is anyone able to get the Zoho CRM Chrome Extension working in the Brave browser? They're both built on the Chromium platform and every other Chrome Extension works with the exception of Zoho CRM for Gmail so any ideas here?

                                                                                                              • Sharing URLs and direct access

                                                                                                                Hello, I am storing my team's email signature images on Workdrive. I am creating a public image download share and adding “?directDownload=true” so that the image can be accessed without the Workdrive interface. A few questions: 1) Can we generate friendly

                                                                                                              • how to change the page signers see after signing a document in zoho sign

                                                                                                                Hello, How can I please change the page a signer sees after signing a document in Zoho Sign? I cannot seem to find it. As it is now, it shows a default landing page "return to Zoho Sign Home". Thanks!

                                                                                                              • Question about using custom_fields in Storefront Add-to-Cart API (error 2003 – required details)

                                                                                                                Hi everyone, I’m working with the Zoho Commerce Storefront API, specifically the Add to Cart endpoint: POST /storefront/api/v1/cart According to the documentation, this endpoint supports a custom_fields parameter for adding line-item custom data. I’m

                                                                                                              • Can a project be cloned?

                                                                                                                Good afternoon, greetings. I would like to ask if it's possible to clone a project in Microsoft Project. I found a way to do it using templates, but I'm not sure if there's a direct way to clone a project. Thank you in advance for your attention, and

                                                                                                              • Timesheet Tasks in Zoho Books: associate to service item

                                                                                                                How do we associate a service item to timesheet tasks in Zoho Books? For example: Joe spent 5 hours on project:task1 which is Service Item#1 (Income:Service1). When the invoice is issued thru the Project Invoice section, this is not available. When the

                                                                                                              • Why Sharing Rules do Not support relative date comparison???

                                                                                                                I am creating a Sharing Rule and simply want to share where "Last Day of Coverage" (Date field) is Greater than TODAY (Starting Tomorrow). However, sharing rules don't have the option to compare a date field to a relative date (like today), only to Static

                                                                                                              • Task/Activity indicator in SalesPipeline overview has disappeared

                                                                                                                I Just logged in my ZOHO CRM first 2026 checking my salespipeline overview , Every record card used to show an indication that there was an open task (Yellow if the expiry date was close, red if the expiry date was today and grey when it had expired).

                                                                                                              • Tip #56- Accessibility Controls in Zoho Assist: Hearing- 'Insider Insights'

                                                                                                                As we begin the new year, it’s a great time to focus on making our tools more inclusive and accessible for everyone. Remote support often involves long hours in front of screens, varying lighting conditions, and users with diverse accessibility needs.

                                                                                                              • Zoho Desk Android app update: Table view for All Departments view, custom button

                                                                                                                Hello everyone! In the latest version(v2.9.25) of the Zoho Desk Android app update, we have introduced Table view for the 'All Departments' view in the ticket module. We also have supported an option that allows tickets in the Table view to be sorted

                                                                                                              • What's New - December 2025 | Zoho Backstage

                                                                                                                In December, Backstage introduced a focused set of updates that improve how you manage registrations, communicate with attendees, and track participation. These enhancements are designed to give organizers greater flexibility and clearer control across

                                                                                                              • Need code format to specify default values

                                                                                                                Can someone please direct me to the code syntax or the proper translation per the instructions circled below. These instructions don't seem correct.

                                                                                                              • Problem with CRM Connection not Refreshing Token

                                                                                                                I've setup a connection with Zoom in the CRM. I'm using this connection to automate some registrations, so my team doesn't have to manually create them in both the CRM and Zoom. Connection works great in my function until the token expires. It does not refresh and I have to manually revoke the connection and connect it again. I've chatted with Zoho about this and after emailing me that it couldn't be done I asked for specifics on why and they responded. "The connection is CRM is not a feature to

                                                                                                              • Add multiple users to a task

                                                                                                                When I´m assigning a task it is almost always related to more than one person. Practical situation: When a client request some improvement the related department opens the task with the situation and people related to it as the client itself, the salesman

                                                                                                              • A Roundup of Zoho Sprints 2025

                                                                                                              • Sorting Custom Date in API isn't working w pagination limit

                                                                                                                How can we sort a custom field with DATE using pagination? Starting at page=1 then moving to page=2 with a limit of 10 each, its all messed up and even shows some of the same records as page 1? https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v2/INVOICE_MODULE/search?criteria=(FM_Contact_ID:equals:1234)&sort_by=Invoice_Date&sort_order=desc&per_page=10&page='

                                                                                                              • SAP Business One(B1) integration is now live in Zoho Flow

                                                                                                                We’re excited to share that SAP Business One (B1) is now available in Zoho Flow! This means you can now build workflows that connect SAP B1 with other apps and automate routine processes without relying on custom code. Note: SAP Business One integration

                                                                                                              • Enhancement in Role and Profile mapping of agents in Sandbox

                                                                                                                Hello everyone! We have brought in a modification in the way users are mapped to a particular role and profile in Sandbox. What has changed? When agents are copied from production to Sandbox: If a user's current role and profile is available in Sandbox,

                                                                                                              • The reason I switched away from Zoho Notebook

                                                                                                                My main reason for switching to Zoho was driven by three core principles: moving away from US-based products, keeping my data within India as much as possible, and supporting Indian companies. With that intent, I’ve been actively de-Googling my digital

                                                                                                              • Decimal places settings for exchange rates

                                                                                                                Hello, We are facing issues while matching vendor payments with banking feeds. As we often import products/services exchange rate comes into play. Currently, ZOHO allows only six digits for decimal places. We feel that conversions like JPY to INR require

                                                                                                              • Zoho removed ability to see all Scheduled Reports!

                                                                                                                If you are not the owner of a scheduled report, Zoho recently removed the capability to see each scheduled report. As an admin who relies on seeing all scheduled reports being sent, this is a terrible update. Now I cannot see ANY scheduled reports...even the ones I am being sent!!  This should be a setting for admins to control.  This is a bad update.

                                                                                                              • Automate Backups

                                                                                                                This is a feature request. Consider adding an auto backup feature. Where when you turn it on, it will auto backup on the 15-day schedule. For additional consideration, allow for the export of module data via API calls. Thank you for your consideration.

                                                                                                              • GCLID and Zoho Bookings

                                                                                                                Is there anyway to embed a Zoho Bookings signup on a landing page and pass the GCLID information? More specifically, can this be done using auto-tagging and not manual tagging the GCLID? I know Zappier has an integration to do this but is there a better

                                                                                                              • Merge Items

                                                                                                                Is there a work around for merging items? We currently have three names for one item, all have had a transaction associated so there is no deleting (just deactivating, which doesn't really help. It still appears so people are continuing to use it). I also can't assign inventory tracking to items used in past transactions, which I don't understand, this is an important feature moving forward.. It would be nice to merge into one item and be able to track inventory. Let me know if this is possible.

                                                                                                              • Create PO from an invoice

                                                                                                                We are a hardware and software sales company which receives orders over the internet. We drop ship most of our products from a warehouse outside of our company. Our orders get sync'd into Zoho from our store via onesaas as invoices. It would be great

                                                                                                              • Blueprint or Validation Rules for Invoices in Zoho Books

                                                                                                                Can I implement Blueprint or Validation Rules for Invoices in Zoho Books? Example, use case could be, Agent confirms from client that payment is done, but bank only syncs transactions tomorrow. in this case, Agent can update invoice status to done, and

                                                                                                              • Resetting auto-number on new year

                                                                                                                Hi everyone! We have an auto-number with prefix "D{YYYY}-", it generates numbers like D2025-1, D2025-2, etc... How can we have it auto-reset at the beginning of the next year, so that it goes to D2026-1? Thanks!

                                                                                                              • The Social Wall: December 2025

                                                                                                                Hello everyone! As we wrap up the final edition of the Social Wall for 2025, it’s the perfect time to look at what went live during December. QR code generator From paying for coffee to scanning metro tickets, QR codes are everywhere and have made everyday

                                                                                                              • Custom AI solutions with QuickML for Zoho CRM

                                                                                                                Hello everyone, Earlier, we introduced Custom AI Solutions in CRM that let you access QuickML for your custom AI needs. Building on that foundation, we’ve now enabled a deeper integration: QuickML models can be seamlessly integrated into CRM, and surface

                                                                                                              • Helper Functions and DRY principle

                                                                                                                Hello everyone, I believe Deluge should be able to use 'Helper functions' inside the main function. I know I can create different standalones, but this is not helpful and confusing. I don't want 10000 different standalones, and I dont want to have to

                                                                                                              • Introducing workflow automation for the Products module

                                                                                                                Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're happy to announce a few recent enhancements we've made to Bigin's Products module. The Products module in Bigin now supports Workflows, enabling you to automate routine actions. Along with this update,

                                                                                                              • Power up your Kiosk Studio with Real-Time Data Capture, Client Scripts & More!

                                                                                                                Hello Everyone, We’re thrilled to announce a powerful set of enhancements to Kiosk Studio in Zoho CRM. These new updates give you more flexibility, faster record handling, and real-time data capture, making your Kiosk flows smarter and more efficient

                                                                                                              • Zia Formula Expression Generator for Formula fields

                                                                                                                Hello everyone! Formula fields are super useful when you want your CRM to calculate things for you but writing the expression is where most people slow down. You know what you want, but you’re not fully sure which function to use, how the syntax should

                                                                                                              • Issue with Zoho Creator Form Full-Screen View in CRM Related List Integration

                                                                                                                Hi Team, We have created a custom application in Zoho Creator and integrated it into Zoho CRM as a related list under the Vendor module, which we have renamed as Consignors. Within the Creator application, there is a form named “Pickup Request.” Inside

                                                                                                              • Wrapping up 2025 on a high note: CRM Release Highlights of the year

                                                                                                                Dear Customers, 2025 was an eventful year for us at Zoho CRM. We’ve had releases of all sizes and impact, and we are excited to look back, break it down, and rediscover them with you! Before we rewind—we’d like to take a minute and sincerely thank you

                                                                                                              • 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

                                                                                                              • Projects custom colors replaced by default orange

                                                                                                                Since yesterday, projects uploaded to Zoho, to which I had assigned a custom color, have lost the customization and reverted to the default color (orange). Has anyone else had the same problem? If so, how did you resolve it?

                                                                                                              • Next Page