Zoho Developer Community Monthly Digest - October 2024

Zoho Developer Community Monthly Digest - October 2024



Hello everyone,

This edition highlights October's product updates, upcoming community events, engaging discussions that sparked inspiration, and celebrates the top contributors who drove progress. Grab your favorite beverage and dive in!

Upcoming Events

Alert
We're super excited to announce our first-ever Zoho Developer Community Hackathon, coming your way this November. Get ready to innovate and compete on a global scale! Registration opens soon, so stay tuned for more details!

Zoho Apptics 101 

Date: November 12, 2024
Time: 12:30 pm IST & 9:30 PM IST
Title: Sessions, Screens, and APIs

In this series, we’ll dive deep into every aspect of application analytics to help you understand how Zoho Apptics aids in measuring important KPIs that reflect your app's performance, growth, and engagement. The last session of the series this year, focuses on Sessions, Screens, and API tracking. Registration and more details here.

Creator Tech Connect:

Title: Directory stores and device management in Zoho Creator using Zoho Directory.
Date: November 14, 2024
APAC & ANZ: 11 AM to 12 PM IST - Registration Link
EMEA: 4 PM to 5 PM IST - Registration Link
Americas: 9 PM to 10 PM IST - Registration Link

Creator's tech connect series would comprise of technical sessions that provide immersive training on the key essentials and technical nuances of building a solution in Zoho Creator. This is a great opportunity for our developer community to stay informed about Creator's new feature releases, product roadmap, best practices to follow while scripting in deluge, new deluge concepts, and cloud functions. The previous session focused on managing domains, controls, and security policies in Zoho Creator using Zoho Directory and in the upcoming session, we will explore directory stores and device management in Zoho Creator using Zoho Directory.

Catalyst Webinar

Title: Boost eCommerce Efficiency by Automating PDF and Invoice Generation at Scale
Date: November 21, 2024
Time: 8:30 pm - 9:30 pm IST or 8 AM - 9AM PT
 
Are manual processes slowing down your ecommerce business? Join this webinar to discover how automation can revolutionize your operations. Learn how to generate invoices and PDFs seamlessly, reduce errors, and scale your business effortlessly.

Agenda:
  • The Power of Automation: Understand how automating invoices and PDFs can drive efficiency and enhance your ecommerce operations.
  • Seamless Integration: Learn how to implement automated PDF generation into your existing systems with ease.
  • Scaling for Growth: Explore strategies to optimize your processes and scale your ecommerce business effortlessly.

Learning Table Series:

Title: Creator for the Finance Industry
Date: December 5, 2024
APAC & ANZ: 11 AM to 12 PM IST - Registration Link
EMEA: 4 PM to 5 PM IST - Registration Link
Americas: 9 PM to 10 PM IST - Registration Link

We designed this series to provide users with valuable insights and knowledge about Creator's capabilities in various business use cases and applications. This year, we have adopted the 12 Months 12 Industries concept. Every month, we will focus on a specific industry, illustrating its unique processes with real-time business scenarios and how to make best use of Creator for that industry. Our previous webinar on Creator for the NGO Industry was a success, and in the upcoming session, we'll be exploring Creator for the finance industry.

Feature Spotlight

Zoho Creator

We're thrilled to announce the launch of the revamped Zoho Creator Developer Console—a dedicated platform designed specifically for Creator developers and partners to build, test, and distribute apps to your clients. The revamped Zoho Creator Developer Console introduces a more streamlined, intuitive experience designed to empower developers at every stage of their app-building journey. Key updates include testing environments, seamless update deployment, the ability to publish apps for monetization in the Marketplace or distribute them privately with specific clients, and much more. Overall, the Zoho Creator Developer Console is an indispensable toolkit, enabling developers to innovate faster and deliver tailored, robust solutions to their clients.

Read more about this new launch in this community post or the partner network post.

Zoho Finance Platform: External Lookup Data Type in Custom Fields

We've added the External Lookup data to custom fields. Using this data type, you can select one of the available Zoho apps and look up data from one of its fields. Currently, you can look up data from Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk. After selecting the Zoho app, you need to select the organization, module, and field to lookup. For example, if you want to view the meetings you've had with your customers, you can create an external lookup for Zoho CRM, choose the CRM organization, select the Meetings module, and select the field to lookup (say Title). Learn More.

Products supported: Zoho Books, Zoho Inventory, and Zoho Billing.

Keep an eye out for our ongoing Custom Function Series!
 
For any queries related to the Zoho Finance development platform, reach out to our tech team at devsupport@zohofinance.com

Resource Spotlight

Info
We've consolidated all the resources from the developer community learning series into a centralized hub for your convenient access. Consider bookmarking our Zoho Developer Community website to stay informed about the latest updates in the developer community.

Community Discussions

Zoho Developer Forum

  • Sometimes, choosing the right data structure can make a big difference. @Ilja wanted to know the best way to compare a list of countries with their corresponding ISO codes. While a long chain of if-else statements might seem like a simple solution, it gets slow and hard to manage with a large number of countries. @Sakis Oikonomou, @Abhishek , and @Eric Chrobak jumped in and explained that a Map approach is superior. Go through this conversation to know why!
  • @WM Yeo encountered a roadblock in their client script where changes to a specific field weren't triggering updates in other fields. Find out how they resolved the issue as this thread underscores the importance of understanding the appropriate methods for field updates in different contexts.
  • @Clarke sought a way to send emails to each contact listed in a Zoho CRM subform. @MaxKnowsZoho suggested using Zoho Flow to automate this process, while @Pheranda Nongpiur offered a more direct approach with a custom Deluge code snippet. This conversation underscores the flexibility of Zoho CRM, with both low-code and custom coding options available to fulfill specific needs.
  • @yongmeng.tay wanted to automate a field update based on user data. @Bhoomi Joshi, a dedicated Zoho MVP, went above and beyond, providing a detailed client script solution and even offering a personalized debugging session. This thread showcases the power of community support and the importance of clear communication in resolving technical hurdles.

Developers ZUG Cliq Channel

InfoThese conversations are confined to the Developers ZUG Cliq channel members. If you're keen on becoming a part of this space, visit our website, click JOIN NOW, and complete the form to get an invite to the channel.
  • Redundant work can get pretty tiresome. Our top contributor, @Pranit, tried to overcome such a task through auto-populating fields in Zoho Desk. Check out this conversation where the community members bring together different pieces of the puzzle to get the complete picture. @Carter shares the logical flow, and @Vivek shares the coding solution with @Venessa and @Dr. Joe Sweeney backing it up with their thoughts.
  • Almost always, someone from the Community has the answer to another's question. Sometimes, a member ventures into something unventured. @Pranit found himself in such a situation. Needing to convert a byte array to PDF, he turned to the community for help. While the community offered various suggestions, the perfect solution remained elusive. Check out the conversation to see if you might have a solution to his problem. Who knows, you might even find any of the offered solutions beneficial to your business!
  • Each integration between products gives any business an additional dimension of functionality. It's even more pivotal when that integration deals with the final step of the sales cycle—creating and delivering the invoice for a completed deal. @Buddy Quaid faced an issue while creating an invoice with Zoho Writer and storing & sending it from Zoho Workdrive. This month's top Cliq contributor, Vivek Rai, joins Buddy on quite a journey of issues and stumbling blocks, before reaching the solution. Check it out here!

Community Spotlight

ZDH Speakers

As a continuation of featuring a ZDH presenter each month, this time, we are delighted to introduce the 16th episode presenter . Explore this post to discover the knowledge and insights he shared with the community.

Cliq Contributors

Here are our top contributors who have gone the extra mile to support and assist the community:


We want to express our sincere appreciation to all our community contributors. Your commitment, expertise, and the time you invest are invaluable to the community. 

For those who are new to the Zoho Developer Community, check out this post to get started

We appreciate you dedicating your time to peruse this month's digest. Make sure to follow the digest each month for the most recent updates and conversations. Stay connected and participate in the forums and the Cliq channel to be featured in the upcoming month's digest. Wishing you an amazing month ahead!



SEE ALSO

    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






                                                            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

                                                                                                            • Introducing Connected Records to bring business context to every aspect of your work in Zoho CRM for Everyone

                                                                                                              Hello Everyone, We are excited to unveil phase one of a powerful enhancement to CRM for Everyone - Connected Records, available only in CRM's Nextgen UI. With CRM for Everyone, businesses can onboard all customer-facing teams onto the CRM platform to
                                                                                                            • Zoho CRM in Microsoft Power Automate Custom Connector

                                                                                                              Hi everyone, I’m building a Power Automate flow that integrates Microsoft Bookings with Zoho CRM. The goal is to automatically create a meeting (event) in Zoho CRM whenever a new appointment is booked via Microsoft Bookings. To achieve this, I created
                                                                                                            • Granular Email Forwarding Controls in Zoho Mail (Admin Console and Zoho One)

                                                                                                              Hello Zoho Mail Team, How are you? At present, the Zoho Mail Admin Console allows administrators to configure email forwarding for an entire mailbox, forwarding all incoming emails to another address. This is helpful for delegation or backup purposes,
                                                                                                            • Sales order & purchase order item links for item details

                                                                                                              This is fantastic for checking lots of things, I use it a lot. It would be great to see it extended to invoices & bills On another note, may as well throw in my favourite whinge ..... Wish you guys would get the PO receive differences sorted urgently,
                                                                                                            • Custom Fonts in Zoho CRM Template Builder

                                                                                                              Hi, I am currently creating a new template for our quotes using the Zoho CRM template builder. However, I noticed that there is no option to add custom fonts to the template builder. It would greatly enhance the flexibility and branding capabilities if
                                                                                                            • Problem with Email an invoice with multiple attachments using API

                                                                                                              I have an invoice with 3 attachments. When I send an email manually using the UI, everything works correctly. I receive an email with three attachments. The problem occurs when I try to initiate sending an email using the API. The email comes with only
                                                                                                            • Zoho Workdrive - Communication / Chat Bar

                                                                                                              Hi Team, Please consider adding an option to allow admins to turn on or off the Zoho Communication Bar. Example of what I mean by Communication Bar: It's such a pain sometimes when I'm in WorkDrive and I want to share a link to a file with a colleague
                                                                                                            • Introducing Profile Summary: Faster Candidate Insights with Zia

                                                                                                              We’re excited to launch Profile Summary, a powerful new feature in Zoho Recruit that transforms how you review candidate profiles. What used to take minutes of resume scanning can now be assessed in seconds—thanks to Zia. A Quick Example Say you’re hiring
                                                                                                            • Kaizen #190 - Queries in Custom Related Lists

                                                                                                              Hello everyone! Welcome back to another week of Kaizen! This week, we will discuss yet another interesting enhancement to Queries. As you all know, Queries allow you to dynamically retrieve data from CRM as well as third-party services directly within
                                                                                                            • Need the ability to have read only fields on a form.

                                                                                                              There needs to be functionality in Creator that allows a field on a form to be read only. Most screen building software applications have this capability. I know you can hide certain fields from specific users and that you can also make the whole form read only but that's not the functionality I need. I want to be able to create a form where certain fields are editable and other are for display purposes only (read only). For example if the form was displaying information on an item that the user
                                                                                                            • Reverse payment on accidentally closed invoice.

                                                                                                              An invoice was closed accidentally with the full payment added. However, only partial payment was paid. How can I reopen the invoice and reverse this to update it to show partial payment?
                                                                                                            • New integration: Track booking page appointments in Google Analytics 4

                                                                                                              Hello all, Greetings from the Zoho Bookings team! We’re excited to introduce our new Google Analytics 4 (GA4) integration designed to help you track booking activity, understand customer behavior, and measure marketing performance, all in one place. What
                                                                                                            • Zoho Books Sandbox environment

                                                                                                              Hello. Is there a free sandbox environment for the developers using Zoho Books API? I am working on the Zoho Books add-on and currently not ready to buy a premium service - maybe later when my add-on will start to bring money. Right now I just need a
                                                                                                            • How to list emails in a folder, e.g. Inbox, on multiple pages when using Zoho mail webpage?

                                                                                                              Something as shown in the figure. There are totally 50 emails in Sent folder. If "Mail per page" equals 20, then the Sent folder is split into 3 pages. When I wander through Sent folder, I can just select a specific page to jump to. BTW, it seems that
                                                                                                            • Zoho Calendar soft bounce on @hotmail.com and @yahoo.com email addresses

                                                                                                              Hello, our Zoho calendar recently does not send the calendar invites to emails with hotmail and yahoo domains and comes back with a "soft bounce". other domains like Gmail works fine. Also sending "email" to the same emails to the above domains work well
                                                                                                            • IMAP Server not responding.

                                                                                                              Trying to connect a phone via IMAP and getting "imap.zoho.com not responding." Is the server down, for maintenance or otherwise? I've tried this on two different devices and got the same error on both.
                                                                                                            • Elevate your CX delivery using CommandCenter 2.0: Simplified builder; seamless orchestration

                                                                                                              Most businesses want to create memorable customer experiences—but they often find it hard to keep them smooth, especially as they grow. To achieve a state of flow across their processes, teams often stitch together a series of automations using Workflow
                                                                                                            • ERROR CODE :512 - 5.4.4 DNS error:NXDOMAIN.

                                                                                                              Suddenly we cant send mail, we are getting this error for all outbound mail to multiple domains.
                                                                                                            • New in Cadences: WhatsApp follow-ups, upgraded limits, and options for add-ons

                                                                                                              Hello everyone, We're rolling out two key updates to help you engage better and scale smarter with Cadences in Zoho CRM. Reach customers on WhatsApp, directly from Cadences Previously, Cadences have enabled you to automate follow-ups through emails, calls,
                                                                                                            • Zoho CRM Analytics - Allow To Reorder Dashboards

                                                                                                              I would like to suggest that you add the ability to reorder dashboards in the Analytics Module. I can see that this has been requested some time ago, the latest 9 years ago. I am not sure if this is a big or small endeavor, but such a small fix can go
                                                                                                            • Can Zoho Flows repeat Actions more than once?

                                                                                                              I'm attempting to make an intentional Zoho Flow loop using the below layout. However, when "WithinLimit" condition is met, the program fails to execute the action "Get & Add Request Co..." again. Is this by design? Is Zoho Flows unable to repeat actions
                                                                                                            • Unveiling Cadences: Redefining CRM interactions with automated sequential follow-ups

                                                                                                              Last modified on 01/04/2024: Cadences is now available for all Zoho CRM users in all data centres (DCs). Note that it was previously an early access feature, available only upon request, and was also known as Cadences Studio. As of April 1, 2024, it's
                                                                                                            • customer data security

                                                                                                              We are exploring ways to enhance our within Zoho CRM. Our Goal: We want to fully integrate RingCentral with Zoho CRM to enable click-to-call functionality for our sales team. However, to comply with data privacy regulations and protect customer contact
                                                                                                            • 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
                                                                                                            • Sync CRM inventory data with Zoho Books

                                                                                                              I just switched everything over to ZoHo books, but I am trying to find out why the CRM Estimates, Invoices, and Sales Orders created in ZoHo CRM are not then duplicated in ZoHo Books? I had Quickbooks before, and had to do everything twice, I thought
                                                                                                            • mask Customer phone number and agents cant see customer phone number

                                                                                                              Is there any way we can integrate Zoom Phone with Zoho CRM while ensuring that customer phone numbers remain masked? We need a solution where agents can make outbound calls but cannot see customer phone numbers. Please let us know if there is any solution
                                                                                                            • Presenting ABM for Zoho CRM: Expand and retain your customers with precision

                                                                                                              Picture this scenario: You're a growing SaaS company ready to launch a powerful business suite, and are looking to gain traction and momentum. But as a business with a tight budget, you know acquiring new customers is slow, expensive, and often delivers
                                                                                                            • how to differentiate if whatsapp comes from certain landing page?

                                                                                                              I create a Zobot in SalesIQ to create a Whatsapp bot to capture the lead. I have 2 landing pages, one is SEO optimized and the other want is optimized for leads comes from Google Ads. I want to know from which landing page this lead came through WhatsApp
                                                                                                            • Email Reminders on Shared Calendars

                                                                                                              How do we turn off the setting that emails reminders to everyone who has accepted or declined a calendar invite? If 8 of us have been invited to the same meeting, we receive 8 notifications for every step of the process, from invitation to decision.
                                                                                                            • Default Sorting on Related Lists

                                                                                                              Is it possible to set the default sorting options on the related lists. For example on the Contact Details view I have related lists for activities, emails, products cases, notes etc... currently: Activities 'created date' newest first Emails - 'created
                                                                                                            • additional accounts

                                                                                                              If I brought 5 emails to my account. Can I later buy additional emails.
                                                                                                            • WebDAV / FTP / SFTP protocols for syncing

                                                                                                              I believe the Zoho for Desktop app is built using a proprietary protocol. For the growing number of people using services such as odrive to sync multiple accounts from various providers (Google, Dropbox, Box, OneDrive, etc.) it would be really helpful if you implemented standard protocols such as WebDAV / FTP / SFTP so that alternative inc clients can be used.
                                                                                                            • Open Sans Font in Zoho Books is not Open Sans.

                                                                                                              Font choice in customising PDF Templates is very limited, we cannot upload custom fonts, and to make things worse, the font names are not accurate. I selected Open Sans, and thought the system was bugging, but no, Open Sans is not Open Sans. The real
                                                                                                            • What's New in Zoho Inventory | Q2 2025

                                                                                                              Hello Customers, The second quarter have been exciting months for Zoho Inventory! We’ve introduced impactful new features and enhancements to help you manage inventory operations with even greater precision and control. While we have many more exciting
                                                                                                            • How to refresh a ticket view ?

                                                                                                              I am doing a widget where I send a rest api call to make a new draft to the ticket I am viewing. The issue is sometimes it refresh a ticket view and I can see inserted draft right away, but sometimes I do not see it even if it is inserted correctly and
                                                                                                            • Ugh! - Text Box (Single Line) Not Enough - Text Box (Multi-line) Unavailable in PDF!

                                                                                                              I provide services, I do not sell items. In each estimate I send I provide a customized job description. A two or three sentence summary of the job to be performed. I need to be able to include this job description on each estimate I send as it's a critical
                                                                                                            • Supervisor Rules - Zoho Desk

                                                                                                              Hi, I have set up a Supervisor Rule in Zoho Desk to send an email alert when a ticket has been on hold for 48 hours. Is there a way to change it so that the alert only sends once and not on an hourly basis? Thank you Laura
                                                                                                            • ResponseCode 421, 4.7.0 [TSS04] Messages from 136.143.188.51 temporarily deferred due to user complaints

                                                                                                              Had email bounce. Let me know if you can fix this. Thanks. Michael
                                                                                                            • Zoho Canvas - Custom templates for related lists

                                                                                                              Hi, I see that the example pages load always one of our related lists in a custom template, but I dont know how to work with that:  1) How can i make my own custom templates for related lists?  2) Where and how can i check out existing custom templates?
                                                                                                            • Automation #15: Automatically Adding Static Secondary Contacts

                                                                                                              Rockel is a top-tier client of Zylker traders. Marcus handles communications with Rockel and would like to add Terence, the CTO of Zylker traders to the email conversations. In this case, the emails coming from user address rockel.com should have Terence
                                                                                                            • Next Page