Tips and Tricks #19: The 3 C's of Data in Zoho Subscriptions

Tips and Tricks #19: The 3 C's of Data in Zoho Subscriptions

With Zoho Subscriptions, your customers can sign up for a plan by entering their details in the hosted payment pages. By default, customers will be required to enter certain basic contact information like their name and billing details. This information will be used to create new customers and subscriptions automatically in Zoho Subscriptions.

However, your business requirements may vary, and you might need additional information from your customers when they sign up. This can easily be achieved using custom fields. But, what if you had created a custom field just for internal use? Who'd be able to view these fields?

In this post, we'll help you understand how the custom fields you create can be viewed by you, your customers and your application. 

1. How you see your data

Let's say you create a custom field called "Customer Rating" and your business process hinges on this custom field. In this case, it's important that you have easy access to this field. Fortunately, with Zoho Subscriptions' column customization options, you can choose to display custom fields in a module's list view, thereby letting you view your custom fields without having to perform additional clicks. Column customization is available for the Customers , Subscriptions , Invoices and Credit Notes modules.


To do this, click the column customization icon in the list view of supported modules.

Apart from column customization, you can also tailor-make views for particular needs by creating custom view filters. These filters can be based on custom fields. The filters that you create can be shared with everyone in your staff or only with certain users and roles, based on your preferences.


Click the view filters dropdown, above the list view of a module and click + New Custom View. 

2. How your customers see your data

The custom fields that you create should only be shared with your customers on a need-to-know basis. For example, if you have a custom field called "Loyal Customer", you might not want to display it to your customers on their invoices.

In this section, we'll take a look at how and when you can show/hide custom fields for your customers in various places like hosted payment pages, the customer portal and your invoice templates. 

Hosted Payment Pages

Using custom fields in hosted payment pages is a great way to collect additional data from customers, right when they sign up to your service. To do this, go to Settings > Preferences > Customer > Custom Fields > + New Custom Field. Make sure to enable the Show in Customer Portal/Hosted Page option.



Now, the custom field will be visible to your customers in the hosted payment pages. 

Customer Portal

It's important to note that enabling a custom field in the hosted payment pages will also display the custom field in the customer portal. Your customers will be able to edit custom fields in their customer portal, if you allow them to do so.

While you cannot restrict access to editing custom fields alone, you can configure whether your customers can edit their contact details, which includes custom fields, from the client portal. To do this, go to Settings > Preferences > Branding > Portal Settings. Here, check/uncheck the Allow customers to edit their information option, based on your preferences. 

Email Notifications

The email notifications that are sent to your customers from Zoho Subscriptions will not include any custom fields by default. So, if there's a custom field that's essential for your customer to see in an email, it can be done by editing the email template and adding a placeholder for the custom field.

To do this, go to Settings > Email Notifications. Here, click on a template name to edit the template and select a placeholder for the custom field from the Insert Placeholder dropdown.

Now, when the email is sent, the placeholder will be replaced with the custom field's value. 

Invoices and Credit Notes

For the same reasons that you'd include a custom field in an email notification, you can also include custom fields in invoice and credit note templates.

To do this, ensure that the Show in all PDF option is enabled while creating or editing a custom field.



You can learn more about customizing invoice templates from our help document. 

3. How your application sees your data

This section is especially for third party applications like Zapier or your own SaaS application that works with Zoho Subscriptions primarily through the powerful REST APIs.

Zoho Subscriptions can be tightly integrated with your web application by sending and receiving data through API calls, Webhooks and Custom Functions.

For example, if your customer's subscription status changes from Live to Cancelled, you can configure a webhook to deliver this information to your web application's database. This webhook will contain a payload with the Status identifier. However, your web application's status identifier may be named differently, or in a different format. This is where modifying the payload comes in handy.

In Zoho Subscriptions you can modify a webhook's payload in a format that works best with your application. To do this, go to Settings > Automation > + New Webhook. Here, you can modify the payload of your webhook in the Body section.


That's it folks, we hope you've found this post helpful. We're always looking for feedback and suggestions, so feel free to rattle off in the comments below. Until next time!

Cheers,
Varun Steven
The Zoho Subscriptions Team


    Access your files securely from anywhere

          Zoho Developer Community




                                    Zoho Desk Resources

                                    • Desk Community Learning Series


                                    • Digest


                                    • Functions


                                    • Meetups


                                    • Kbase


                                    • Resources


                                    • Glossary


                                    • Desk Marketplace


                                    • MVP Corner


                                    • Word of the Day



                                        Zoho Marketing Automation
                                                • Sticky Posts

                                                • Tip #4 : Refer and Earn Workflow system for your Subscription Business

                                                  Hello everyone, We've been coming up with a tip every week to address specific business scenarios which can be implemented for your business. In continuation to the previous post, this week we will be seeing about how you can implement the Refer and Earn Workflow system to acquire more customers. Why are Referrals important? Customer Acquisition is crucial for any business to sustain itself in a constantly evolving market. It involves persuading new consumers to purchase your products. Customers
                                                • Tip #2 - Cancellation of Offline Subscriptions based on the Expected Payment Date

                                                  Hello everyone, As you all know, we are coming up with a custom function workflow every week to address specific business scenarios. In continuation of this previous blog, this week we will be seeing about Cancellation of Offline Subscriptions based on the Expected Payment Date. Business Scenario: In general, for any business, the customers make payments via online as well as offline. In case of subscription where the automatic collection of charge is enabled (aka online subscription), the customer's
                                                • Tip #3 : Send SMS Reminders for your Subscription Business

                                                  Hello everyone, As you all know, we are coming up with a tip every week to address specific business scenarios. In continuation to the previous blog, this week we will be seeing how you can use SMS reminders for your Subscription Business. Using SMS messages for your Subscription Business: While managing your subscription business, more often than not, you need to keep your customers informed about upcoming renewals, payment reminders and cancellations. By keeping them informed in advance, you can
                                                • Tips And Tricks - Announcement

                                                  Hello everyone, Every business is unique and each of them follows a specific workflow. While managing your customers' subscriptions with Zoho, you might have some needs unique to your business. Custom Functions helps you address such needs. This is a start to a series of posts, where we will be coming up with a custom function workflow every week that addresses specific business scenarios. Watch this space for further updates! Also, if you have any specific business scenario which needs to be addressed,
                                                • Tip #6 : Accessing external URLs from Zoho Subscriptions

                                                  Hello everyone, We have been sharing a tip every week to address specific business scenarios which you can implement for your subscription business. Last week, we shared a tip about implementing the Approval Workflow system. This week, let's look at how you can access external URLs with the help of Custom Link. Business Scenario: Every business functions differently and has its unique requirements. At times, businesses might want to access other websites or applications by appending specific information


                                                Manage your brands on social media



                                                      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 Campaigns 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

                                                                                                  • fetch records from analytics table from creator

                                                                                                    I have a creator workflow that I am working in that will compare data from within the app to a table in zoho analytics. Is there a way to fetch a record from Analytics? I have attempted a custom connector with analytics and tried to use it with invoke
                                                                                                  • Ability to Change Custom View After Cadence Creation

                                                                                                    Dear Zoho Team, I hope you are well. We would like to request an enhancement to the Cadence feature in Zoho CRM. Currently, during the creation of a Cadence, we can select a Custom View under the "Who is this for?" section. However, once the Cadence is
                                                                                                  • Zoho Creator Integration with QuickBooks: A Step-by-Step Guide

                                                                                                    Introduction: Integrating Zoho Creator with QuickBooks allows you to sync your business data between the two platforms, providing a seamless experience for managing accounting, invoicing, and financial data. This integration helps automate workflows and
                                                                                                  • Note not being pulled for other modules in email template

                                                                                                    Hi there, Currently i am creating an email template that is able to pull the data from notes field in estimate module and email it to procurement team where they will be able to receive the email with the contents of the note, i am unable to replicate
                                                                                                  • No Sales Returns on SO's with Dropped Shipped items + Inventory Items

                                                                                                    We have encountered an issue in Zoho related to sales orders that include both dropshipped items and inventory items. Specifically, it is currently not possible to create sales returns for the company’s own inventory items from these sales orders. This
                                                                                                  • Pre-fill TO and CC fields for Email Templates

                                                                                                    This would be a game changer to be able to set either specific email addresses or merge fields based on deal role titles into email templates. Please pass this along to *hopefully* add to future features of Zoho CRM.
                                                                                                  • Pick list - Cannot save list "Special Characters not Allowed" error message

                                                                                                    Bulk uploading values. All values are pretty standard - with the exception of a "-" (dash). Like:  Industry - Prepared Food Is the simple dash a special character too? Jan
                                                                                                  • Flow with CRM

                                                                                                    Hello, I have a simple flow that uses a web hook to enter data into a Sales Order. I have the web hook sending Flow data which has a PO field. If the PO has a special character like - or / or \ the task fails. How can I get the flow to be okay with the
                                                                                                  • Making the Resolution Tab Mandatory

                                                                                                    Hello Everyone! This edition is here to show you how to make the Resolution mandatory when closing a ticket. The Ticket Resolution tab helps keep a record of the solution provided for the ticket query. The resolution can serve as a quick reference to
                                                                                                  • Notificación de cumpleaños

                                                                                                    Hola: Se puede enviar alguna alerta de felicitación al personal que cumple años, que se dispare solo? Si existe como se puede hacer? Saludos
                                                                                                  • Automation#25: Move Tickets to Unassigned When the Owner Is Offline

                                                                                                    Hello Everyone, Welcome to this week's Community Series! 'Tis the holiday season—a time when work often takes a brief pause. The holiday spirit is in full swing at Zylker Techfix too, with employees taking some well-deserved time off. During this period,
                                                                                                  • Callback URLs

                                                                                                    I need to connect to an external service through an API that requires me to provide a Callback URL so that a status update can be sent back when the API request has been processed. Is there a way to do this in Creator without having to use a middleware
                                                                                                  • Email signature not being included if user creates ticket / sends email

                                                                                                    When I create a ticket (send email), the signature doesn't appear to be added to the ticket. Can you confirm if this is the case? It would obviously be useful to include the user's signature even when sending a client an email and not only on replie
                                                                                                  • Zoho Notebook window ignores taskbar

                                                                                                    When maximized to full screen, the Zoho Notebook window ignores the presence of the taskbar and overlaps it. What could be the problem? Linux Mint 22 Cinnamon. Zoho Notebook 3.2.0
                                                                                                  • URL for job opening

                                                                                                    I would like to ask you to add this feature to the product: create an unique url for each job opening on Zoho Recruit, so that I can add a link to it when I post the opportunity in a mailing list or on a forum.
                                                                                                  • Document images

                                                                                                    We used to be able to rotate the images but this has now been removed ???
                                                                                                  • VENDORS ARE NOT SYNCHED WITH CONTACTS IN CRM

                                                                                                    Hello, While the ACCOUNTS and CONTACTS (Including the primary contact) are synced with the CONTACTS module in CRM, the vendor's CONTACTS are not synced with CRM - which basically forces the users to re-enter all vendor's contacts twice and then update
                                                                                                  • Involved account types are not applicable when create journals

                                                                                                    { "journal_date": "2016-01-31", "reference_number": "20160131", "notes": "SimplePay Payroll", "line_items": [{ "account_id": "538624000000035003", "description": "Net Pay", "amount": 26690.09, "debit_or_credit": "credit" }, { "account_id": "538624000000000403", "description": "Gross", "amount": 32000, "debit_or_credit": "debit" }, { "account_id": "538624000000000427", "description": "CPP", "amount": 1295.64, "debit_or_credit": "debit" }, { "account_id": "538624000000000376", "description":
                                                                                                  • KB Templates

                                                                                                    * It would be nice if Zoho can provide users an option to create custom templates for KB articles. Also, it would be nice as well if the users can have an option to 1.) select a default template and 2.) declare default tag/tags, for KB articles created through Ticket's resolution.
                                                                                                  • Zoho CRM Reports Module on Mobil App

                                                                                                    I have the mobile app and the reports module doesn't appear in the sidebar for some reason. I saw a Youtube video where the user had the Reports module on mobile. Is there a setting to show it on mobile? Thanks.
                                                                                                  • Contacts Don't Always Populate

                                                                                                    I've noticed that some contacts can easily be added to an email when I type their name. Other times, a contact doesn't appear even though I KNOW it is in my contact list. It is possible the ones I loaded from a spreadsheet are not an issue and the ones
                                                                                                  • Zoho Projects Android app update - List view enhancement

                                                                                                    Hello, everyone! In the latest android version(v3.9.15) of the Zoho Projects app update, we have enhanced the List view of tasks. We have also introduced a complete scroll of the tasks in the list view without scrolling the task fields(status, start date,
                                                                                                  • On the US Data Centre rather than the UK but dont know how to migrate it

                                                                                                    We have a new staff member with an external email address and cant add them to Zoho chat - we have been told its becuase we are in the UK but on a US Data centre - we therefore need to change it but no idea how to can anyone else as we are going round
                                                                                                  • Zoho Sheet Custom function column showing Error #EVAL!

                                                                                                    Hello I have a custom function in Zoho Sheet developed to convert a date time from one time zone to another. The custom function takes date and time columns and then using subHour( ) converts the time to PST time. However, though the custom function works,
                                                                                                  • How to add a Data Updated As Of: dynamically in text?

                                                                                                    I need to add a "Data Updated As Of" in the dashboard to show when was the last date the data was updated. I tried to create a widget but it does not look really good, see below. Is there a way I can do this through the text widget and update it automatically
                                                                                                  • Create Your Own Issue Management System

                                                                                                    Effective issue management is a cornerstone of project success. Every bug or issue, no matter how small, needs to be tracked and resolved in time to maintain project momentum. In this post, we’ll explore how an issue management system in Zoho Projects
                                                                                                  • Resource utlisation

                                                                                                    Dear Team, We use the excel for the weekly predicted people utilization how the resource are allocated , is there any way that i can use any of the zoho products.
                                                                                                  • Ask the experts - A live Q & A discussion on Zoho Recruit

                                                                                                    We are delighted to come back with another edition of Ask the Experts community series. This edition, we'll be focusing on everything about Zoho Recruit. The topics will focus on the features that are used/asked by the majority of users and also based
                                                                                                  • Bug - OTP (email) and No Duplicates

                                                                                                    Scenario: Form with an email field, Validation: "No Duplicates" (because I want to ensure 1 entry per email). Embedded form into website (JS option). Enabled email based OTP. 1st test (via my website) - entered my email address - sent OTP - entered pin,
                                                                                                  • Personal Facebook page posting instead of Business Page

                                                                                                    I have a Facebook page that is associated with my Personal Profile and I am the Admin of that Page. I would like to schedule and Post to my Personal Page not the Business Page. Each time I try to connect to the "Page" it takes me to the Business Page. Is there a way of connecting to my personal page?
                                                                                                  • Fixed asset management

                                                                                                    I want to know if there is any individual module for fixed assets management
                                                                                                  • Recording depreciation of fixed assets as a percentage of residual value

                                                                                                    In India, fixed assets are depreciated as a percentage of their residual value at the beginning of each fiscal year. I went through the documentation for creating recurring journal entries, but could only find ways to depreciate by a fixed rupee amount
                                                                                                  • Function #28: Automatically calculate Customer Loyalty points

                                                                                                    Hello everyone, and welcome back to our series! Today, we're excited to share a workflow designed to streamline the management of loyalty points. Many businesses offer incentives or rewards in the form of loyalty points to their customers as a way to
                                                                                                  • Function #6: Calculate Commissions for paid invoices

                                                                                                    Zoho Books helps you automate the process of calculating and recording commissions paid to sales persons using custom functions. We've written a script that computes the commission amount based on the percentage of commission you enter and creates an
                                                                                                  • How to Add Product SKU in Invoice?

                                                                                                    How to Add Product SKU in Invoice?
                                                                                                  • Tracking movement between departments

                                                                                                    I've been developing a reporting system in Zoho and one of the groups I want to develop a report on primarily moves tickets from department to another. Is there a way to set up the reporting on Zoho (or Zoho Reports) that can tell me the number of tickets
                                                                                                  • Zoho CRM Calendar View

                                                                                                    Hello Zoho team, We need desperately a calendar view next to list, kandan and other views. I think it should be easy to implement as you already have the logic from Projects and also from Kanban View in CRM. In calendar view when we set it up - we choose
                                                                                                  • Call transcrition working for ringcentral?

                                                                                                    I don't see anything about what telephony providers can be used. The Zoho support person A said that RingCentral isn't supported. Zoho support person B said that it works, just make sure the call recording link works. Excellent instructions here: Call
                                                                                                  • What is syntax to call creator function (or trigger a creator workflow) from CRM deluge?

                                                                                                    What is syntax to call creator function (or trigger a creator workflow) from CRM deluge?
                                                                                                  • WhatsApp and Zoho Creator Integration

                                                                                                    How we have integrate WhatsApp App with Zoho Creator without using external application ?
                                                                                                  • Next Page