Zoho CRM Community Digest - September 2024

Zoho CRM Community Digest - September 2024



Hello Everyone,

Welcome to the September 2024 edition of the Zoho CRM Community Digest! This month, Zoho CRM has rolled out several exciting new features and enhancements to help you optimize your tasks and enhance productivity.

Let's dive in!

Product Updates:

Reports in Zoho CRM have been enhanced with a quick-view filter that allows you to apply up to five filter criteria, improving the flexibility of processed reports. Supported fields from the participating modules include Date, Date Time, Checkbox, User Lookup, Picklist, and MultiPicklist. Additionally, users can predefine filters at the preview stage to ensure the report is shared with the desired filter attributes applied, and designated color codes for picklist fields are now included. Check this announcement for a sneak peak of these changes.

Zoho CRM’s Zia Presentation now offers personalized insights and targeted distribution. This feature, accessible under Zia in Settings, allows admins to select underlying data for specific users easily, with options to carbon copy others and automate the delivery frequency, ensuring presentations are generated automatically as per set schedules. Read this post, give it a try, and see how Zia can provide valuable insights into your team’s performance!

Zoho CRM is simplifying its Feeds feature by removing functionalities with low usage. The updatedFeeds interface will no longer include viewing inactive records, viewing records you follow, and auto-follow rules (except for existing users who been using these features). However, workarounds for viewing inactive and monitoring followed records are available in this post.

Exciting news! Zoho WorkDrive now powers file storage for all new Zoho CRM signups across DCs. Connect your CRM to WorkDrive to automatically organize attachments into a dedicated folder for each record, structured as Module Name > Record Name > Attachments. Access your WorkDrive account easily through the Documents tab and manage permissions with Documents permission feature. Learn how to setup and collaborate with your team by reading this post.

The Zoho CRM integration with Zoho Creator, previously exclusive to the CRM Enterprise plan, is now available for Professional plan users! Seamlessly connect Zoho Creator with your CRM to create up to 5 custom tabs for your custom apps and 3 related lists per module to link data from custom apps with default CRM modules. For more details, check out our announcement post.

Zoho CRM has introduced organization-level controls that govern access to emails sent from within the platform. You can now manage who can access and edit emails, set organization-wide permissions to limit access to sensitive data, and control permissions for drafts and scheduled emails. Explore your organisations email settings by reading this post.

Zoho CRM Kiosk just got an upgrade! You can now add titles to your Kiosk screens, adjust their width for a better viewing experience and include three new fields—Percentage, URL, and Decimal. Use the #Merge Field function to merge data from your Kiosk screens or from your CRM data, and select values from existing data in picklist, multi-line, and checkbox fields in the create record action. Configure actions like lead conversion and scheduling directly within your Kiosk. Check out this post to discover more customization options!

Zoho CRM users in India who send notification SMS messages must comply with the new URL whitelisting mandate from TRAI (Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India). This requirement aims to prevent misuse. Please review this post and follow the guidelines provided by your network provider to ensure compliance.

Zoho CRM has introduced a new feature for managing subforms directly on the record details page. You can add, edit, delete, filter, and sort rows without switching back and forth to the record details page. This feature is being rolled out in phases. Check out this post to learn more.

Useful Discussions:

@Ozden Uslu encountered difficulties while trying to create a new pipeline in Zoho CRM, specifically with editing fields and deleting stages. @Subhash Kumar provided assistance by explaining how to edit and delete stages in the Setup menu in this post.

Annie wanted to know how to view the enrollment properties set for a cadence in Zoho CRM. @Sunderjan shared a screenshot showing that the "Who is this for?" section displays the enrollment criteria you've set. Check out this post to find out where it's located.

@Drik needed a way to automatically remind users to review uploaded documents . @Haiku Technical Support suggested using a Deluge function or a report. This solution helps track attachments and send reminders for overdue reviews. Learn more in this post.

Functions:

@Nick was attempting to create a workflow rule to automatically close tasks associated with new deals that meet specific criteria. @Subhash Kumar stepped in with a solution using a Deluge function. This function checks tasks for specific subjects and closes them automatically, reducing manual efforts. Check this post for the code!

"Every start is difficult; you're taking important steps. Keep going, buddy!" — @Andres had this to tell @Matt Warner, who encountered challenges while trying to update contact records in CRM with the number of meetings associated with each corresponding record. 

To help him achieve this, @Hugh provided guidance on using COQL queries to retrieve events within a specific date range and extract the necessary information. @Andres then shared the correct syntax that helped resolve the error in Matt's code.
Take a look at this interesting post for the working code!

It's @Matt Warner again, whose post received insightful responses from many community members. Matt's Deluge function to validate if a lead is over 18 years old wasn't working. @Subhash provided a corrected code snippet, and other members contributed as well. Matt acknowledged his learning curve as a non-developer and appreciated the explanations. Learn with Matt in this post!

Dev's Corner:

Raantjes wanted to open a pre-filled email template with the ability to edit the content before sending it by clicking a button in the Blueprint. @Hugh and @Maadhari shared their suggestions for using Client Scripting to achieve it in this post.

@WM Yeo was using a Client Script function in Zoho CRM and wanted to extract the return value from a standalone function but faced challenges doing so. By following these steps outlined in this post, you can achieve this requirement. Check out the code snipped in this post shared by @Jeganprabhu for more details.

@Jordan Barker wanted to show a warning for specific picklist selections in Zoho CRM. @Anamika suggested using the "value" parameter of the onBeforeUpdate() function. This captures the user's new selection, rather thanthe previously saved value, thereby facilitating the warning pop-up for Jordan! Check out this post to learn about the warning based on the intended selection!

WM Yeo wanted to use Client Scripts to update calculations based on changes to any of the 94 modifiable fields in their Zoho CRM module. However, there's a limit of 30 Client Scripts per page. Hugh Marshall suggested a simpler approach that accomplishes this more efficiently, allowing the script to identify the changed field and perform the necessary calculations. Curious to know more? Check out this post.

Kaizen:

Discover how to leverage the Schema Explorer in Postman to effectively understand and interact with the Zoho CRM GraphQL API.

This post addresses a common pain point for Zoho CRM users migrating from Pipedrive. Learn how to automatically update picklist values based on closing dates using Deluge functions within workflows.

This post compiles all the frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the common functionalities, limitations, and best practices of Zoho CRM Subforms.

Discover how to build a custom button widget in Zoho CRM that simplifies mass communication. This widget allows users to send SMS notifications and pre-recorded calls to multiple leads or contacts simultaneously.

Explore Flyouts in Zoho CRM Client Script. This post explains how to use them to display widgets and highlights the key differences between Flyouts and Popups.

Thank you for taking the time to read this month's round-up. Keep tabs on the digest every month for the latest ideas and discussions. Stay tuned and engage in the forums to be featured in next month's digest. Have a wonderful month ahead!

    Access your files securely from anywhere







                            Zoho Developer Community





                                                  Use cases

                                                  Make the most of Zoho Desk with the use cases.

                                                   
                                                    

                                                  eBooks

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

                                                   
                                                    

                                                  Videos

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

                                                   
                                                    

                                                  Webinar

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

                                                   
                                                    
                                                  • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                  • Meetups


                                                  • Ask the Experts


                                                  • Kbase


                                                  • Resources


                                                  • Glossary


                                                  • Desk Marketplace


                                                  • MVP Corner




                                                            • Sticky Posts

                                                            • How to reach the official Zoho Support channels and avoid fake ones.

                                                              Dear Customers, Thanks a lot for choosing Zoho! Our applications are built to help achieve your day-to-day business goals. We are committed to engaging with you, to understand and develop solutions that enhance your productivity.  We are happy and ready to help you use our services effectively. Understanding and avoiding fake support Just like using popular bank names and financial applications for phishing purposes, using Zoho and claiming to be providing Zoho Support or services with false numbers
                                                            • Function #35: Close all tasks associated with a lead and create a new task.

                                                              Welcome back everyone! Last week, we learnt how to close all tasks of a deal depending upon the deal stage. This week, let's look at a custom function that lets you close all of the tasks associated with a lead while simultaneously creating a new task, like when you need to halt all progress towards a lead while the lead is not available at the moment but create a reminder task. Business scenario: The success of a company, in one way or another, is determined by the leads it gets. Each lead is just
                                                            • Zoho CRM Webinar - Redesigning Daily User Experiences with Canvas

                                                              <br> Your users across roles use the CRM for day-to-day tasks that are necessary. Whether they perform their tasks on time, the right way, or at all depends on a lot of factors, including User Experience. Many businesses struggle with rigid layouts,
                                                            • Join us at the Canada ZUG Meetup: What’s New in Zoho CRM

                                                              Hello Zoho Community! Start your year with fresh insights into Zoho CRM’s latest updates and tools. Whether you're a CRM beginner or a experienced user, this meetup is crafted to help you optimise your processes and leverage new features. Explore practical
                                                            • CRM Hack #2: Automate sending of birthday greetings to your customers.

                                                                Hello everyone! What sets you apart as a sales person is your ability to add that personal touch to your business relationship with your customers. Sending a gift on a special day, or leaving a note wishing them on their birthdays, are small, yet significant actions that show your customers that you care. And these are actions done without any expectations :) You must be engaging with a lot of customers and it is highly unlikely that they all are your friends on Facebook or some social channel,


                                                            Manage your brands on social media



                                                                  Zoho TeamInbox Resources



                                                                      Zoho CRM Plus Resources

                                                                        Zoho Books Resources


                                                                          Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                                                                            Zoho Projects Resources


                                                                              Zoho Sprints Resources


                                                                                Qntrl Resources


                                                                                  Zoho Creator Resources



                                                                                      Zoho CRM Resources

                                                                                      • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                                        CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                                      • Kaizen

                                                                                        Kaizen

                                                                                      • Functions

                                                                                        Functions

                                                                                      • Meetups

                                                                                        Meetups

                                                                                      • Kbase

                                                                                        Kbase

                                                                                      • Resources

                                                                                        Resources

                                                                                      • Digest

                                                                                        Digest

                                                                                      • CRM Marketplace

                                                                                        CRM Marketplace

                                                                                      • MVP Corner

                                                                                        MVP Corner






                                                                                          Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                          Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                          Get Started Now


                                                                                            Zoho Show Resources


                                                                                              Zoho Writer Writer

                                                                                              Get Started. Write Away!

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

                                                                                                Zoho CRM コンテンツ








                                                                                                  Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                                      ご検討中の方




                                                                                                            • Recent Topics

                                                                                                            • How to add Connector in developer platform zoho?

                                                                                                              Hi, I am working on creating an Extension, and part of the development is to retrieve Email templates. In my CRM instance I can invokeURL by creating Zoho OAuth connection and get the template. But developer platform does not provide Zoho OAuth or any
                                                                                                            • How to archive Lost/Junk Leads so sales reps don’t see them, but keep them for reporting?

                                                                                                              Hi everyone, In our Zoho CRM we have two Lead Status values: Lost Lead and Junk Lead. What I want to achieve is: When a lead is marked as Lost or Junk, it should disappear from my sales reps’ Lead views (so they only see active leads). At the same time,
                                                                                                            • Zoho CRM Canvas Copy Original Layout

                                                                                                              Hello all, I want to use Canvas to make small changes to certain views, not to make huge changes. Is it possible to copy the original Zoho layout and set-up and start from there? I checked and all I can find are some templates which are far from the original
                                                                                                            • Zoho Bookings know-how: A hands-on workshop series

                                                                                                              Hello! We’re conducting a hands-on workshop series to help simplify appointment scheduling for your business with Zoho Bookings. We’ll be covering various functionalities and showing how you can leverage them for your business across five different sessions.
                                                                                                            • Is there a way to request a password?

                                                                                                              We add customers info into the vaults and I wanted to see if we could do some sort of "file request" like how dropbox offers with files. It would be awesome if a customer could go to a link and input a "title, username, password, url" all securely and it then shows up in our team vault or something. Not sure if that is safe, but it's the best I can think of to be semi scalable and obviously better than sending emails. I am open to another idea, just thought this would be a great feature.  Thanks,
                                                                                                            • Revenue Management: #5 Revenue Recognition in SaaS

                                                                                                              If you're building or running a SaaS business, you've probably encountered this. You get paid upfront for a subscription and a one-time onboarding fee, but you end up with confusion about when to consider it revenue. Can I book all of it now? Should I
                                                                                                            • MS Teams for daily call operations

                                                                                                              Hello all, Our most anticipated and crucial update is finally here! Organizations using Microsoft Teams phone system can now integrate it effectively with Zoho CRM for tasks like dialling numbers and logging calls. We are enhancing our MS Teams functionality
                                                                                                            • Zoho Learn Course Access Issue

                                                                                                              One of the learners in a specific course can't see any lessons. They are registered as both a user and learner for this course in Zoo Learn. What could be the reason?
                                                                                                            • ZOHOLICS Japan 2025 開催のお知らせ(再投稿)

                                                                                                              【コミュニティユーザーの皆さまへお知らせ】 Zoho 最大のユーザーイベント「ZOHOLICS Japan 2025」を9月19日(金)に開催します。 AI活用に関する特別講演、ユーザー事例、Zoho 製品の活用例のご紹介など、Zoholicsならではのセッションをご用意しています。 Zoho コミュニティ開催のMeetupとはまた違った雰囲気のイベントです。 ご都合のつく方はお気軽にご参加ください✨ 詳細はこちら https://events.zoho.jp/zoholics2025#/?affl=forumpost2
                                                                                                            • Phone Number format for Bulk Upload via csv for Zoho Sign

                                                                                                              What is the phone number format that we need to use for a bulk recipient upload via csv in zoho sign, should the country code be included for ex if its US should it be +18889007865 ior 18889007865 or without country code 8889007865? the sample csv provided
                                                                                                            • Filter Page Elements By Selectable Date Range

                                                                                                              I have created a basic Page that will serve as a client dashboard with elements that will provide simple counts & sums of data in reports. There are no reports or forms added to the page, just elements. It currently functions as needed, but shows the
                                                                                                            • Can’t Enter my Notebook is Locked

                                                                                                              I’ve been using Notebook for taking notes at my college for a month and I never signed in and I never established a password. Today I tried to enter the app after the update and it asked me for a password. I need to access to my notes urgently and I can’t
                                                                                                            • Send Email Directly to Channel

                                                                                                              Hi, We are coming from Slack. In Slack each channel has a unique Email address that you can send emails too. I currently forward a specific type of email from my Gmail InBox directly do this channel for Verification Codes so my team doesn't have to ask
                                                                                                            • Secure your external sharing process with OTP Authentication

                                                                                                              For any business, it's crucial to share files externally in a way that is both secure and controlled. Let's say you want to share confidential data with your partners and vendors. You must ensure that only your intended recipients can access the shared
                                                                                                            • Items attribute questions

                                                                                                              Many of my items have attributes, such as size and color. How can I add new fields to the "New Items" screen to capture that in my Purchase Orders, Items, and Sales Order pages? I only see these attribute fields when adding an Item Group. Also, on the
                                                                                                            • Is there a way to search mail for items you haven't yet responded to?

                                                                                                              I'm trying to create a search to show emails that haven't been responded to and that have also been assigned a tag or label. Is there a way to search for the inverse of replied?
                                                                                                            • Zobot and Sales IQ

                                                                                                              What will happen to the Zoho Sales IQ being integrated to the website after creating the Zobot on the website too
                                                                                                            • Subtotals per Header

                                                                                                              Hey, we would like to display subtotals per header in our invoices:
                                                                                                            • Zoho Cliq not working on airplanes

                                                                                                              Hi, My team and I have been having this constant issue of cliq not working when connected to an airplane's wifi. Is there a reason for this? We have tried on different Airlines and it doesn't work on any of them. We need assistance here since we are constantly
                                                                                                            • upgrade storage

                                                                                                              how to upgrade my storage
                                                                                                            • Linking items from books and subscription

                                                                                                              Linking books and subscription It is a pity that it is not possible to associate with a product an article present in ZohoBooks This would make it possible to manage products composed of a nomenclature of articles of books
                                                                                                            • Add the ability to view number of hours planned for a workorder while in the Dispatch Console

                                                                                                              Hi Zoho, When dispatching a work order through the Dispatch Console, there's currently no way to view the number of planned hours for the service tasks associated with that specific work order. Having to click into the details each time to check planned
                                                                                                            • Uploading Files from uploads api

                                                                                                              I tried uploading the image from the API call but its giving me unauthorized error even i have given valid token in header. After uploading i need that id to pass in create ticket api uploads but its not uploading that file. Please help me out in th
                                                                                                            • Categorize Items with Item Headers

                                                                                                              Hello customers, Did you ever want to classify items based on specific categories to help your customers understand your invoice better? With the new Item Header feature, you can easily categorize items in your invoices and estimates and give them a common title.  Item Headers are available in the Invoices, the Recurring Invoices and the Estimates module. It can be carried forward from estimates to invoices at the time of converting the estimates.  To add an item header: Go to the Estimates, Invoices
                                                                                                            • URLs being masked despite disabling tracking

                                                                                                              Hey, We had disabled click tracking from an email update we are sharing with our users. Despite this, the URL the end user is receiving is masked, and looks like "https://qksyl-cmpzourl.maillist-manage.net/click/1d8e72714515cda6/1d8e72714515ca70" instead
                                                                                                            • Change format of quantity format

                                                                                                              Hi,  I would like to change the qunatity format from 1,00 to 1.  Is this possible?   thanks!
                                                                                                            • square up and Zoho books

                                                                                                              Since we set up the app connection between square up and Zoho books we have realised that when the amounts are getting transferred Zoho is adding VAT again making the numbers 20% more than they should be. We have checked our settings and they VAT/ Tax
                                                                                                            • How to provide Access rights to specific Bank accounts

                                                                                                              We have several bank accounts. I want to provide certain members access to only 2-3 accounts. It appears that when I give permissions, they are for ALL bank accounts. How do I do that?
                                                                                                            • Errors Getting a Bank Transaction

                                                                                                              Using Postman(for testing), I am receiving errors when attempting to get a single bank transaction. I am able to receive the list of bank transactions with https://www.zohoapis.com/books/v3/banktransactions/?organization_id={org_id} but when I try to
                                                                                                            • Add Ability to Use Zoho Finance Tags

                                                                                                              For Zoho Finance (Books and Inventory), the current actions do not allow us to affect the tags associated with the entities in question (customers, vendors, items, etc.). Please consider adding this functionality into the actions.
                                                                                                            • Subscriptions Plans and CRM Products Integration?

                                                                                                              Is there any way to set up plans and pricing in Zoho Subscriptions and have those available as Products in the CRM? We are trying to set up the CRM and the Products seem to be more geared toward selling products that are not subscription based.  So if we sell annual or monthly contracts which are $10/seat/month, I can set this up as a plan in Subscriptions, but how can I set the same thing up in the CRM for the salespeople to sell/quote? What is the best practice for setting up the CRM Products to
                                                                                                            • Mapping Zoho Subscription Plans and Products to CRM and Books

                                                                                                              We have products that are one time products and subscription products.   1) We would like to have the ability to create an opportunity in CRM that includes both one-time charge products and subscription products.  Currently the only way of creating a subscription product is by defining a "Product->Plan" hierarchy in Zoho Subscription.  It appears that the only SYNC between Subscription and CRM is around contacts and the Product->Plan hierarchy doesn't sync to CRM, thus, you would need a duplicate
                                                                                                            • Zoho People Attendance Module - Split Shifts

                                                                                                              Hello, Our business employs a number of college students who often split their workdays between work hours and class schedules, resulting in split shifts. For example: Employee 1 works 9am to 11:30am and then leaves for class, returning to work at 3pm
                                                                                                            • Bulk update fields based on date

                                                                                                              Hi! I need all the quotes with "Quote Stage" set to "Next Year" to update to "Draft" every January 8 (every year). Can you help?
                                                                                                            • Target for a campaign

                                                                                                              Hi, Hope you can help me. I need to create a report (for a marketing campaign) that combines Deals and Contacts to export all the contacts with closed deals. I can easily do that, what I cannot do is to remove from the target the contacts that have more
                                                                                                            • Zoho Desk + Jira integration - Email notifications and comments posted by administrator instead of real user

                                                                                                              Dear All, I set up the integration under my admin account, and now when users leave comments in Jira (to created tickets in Zoho Desk), the email notifications show that the ‘Administrator’ left a comment, not a real user. The same happens in the ticket
                                                                                                            • Celebrating the power of visuals

                                                                                                              On World Photography Day, we would like to highlight the power of visuals in customer service. Visuals promote learning and understanding in less time. A photograph can rekindle a memory, convey more than words, and give a fresh perspective. How does
                                                                                                            • Customer address in Zoho Bookings

                                                                                                              Hello,  Is it possible to add customer address information to the Zoho bookings appointment screen? Or have it pull that information automatically from the CRM? We are wanting to use this as a field management software but it is difficult to pull the address from multiple sources when it would be ideal to have a clickable address on the appointment screen that opens up the user's maps.  It would also be advantageous for the "list view" to show appointment times instead of just duration and booking
                                                                                                            • Blocking / black listing customers

                                                                                                              Hi, We have a situation, we observed that certain customers are blocking multiple appointments with our advsiors but not showing up. Some of these are repeat offenders. This leads to those service hours getting blocked and not available for genuine customers.
                                                                                                            • Option to block bookings from specific email address or ip adresss in zoho booking

                                                                                                              Sometime few of our client keep booking irrelevant booking service just to resolve their queries and they keep booking it again and again whenever they have queries. Currently its disturbing our current communication process and hierarchy which we have
                                                                                                            • Next Page