Introduction to Applications | Zoho Creator FAQs

FAQs: Introduction to Applications

This page serves as a comprehensive guide for users new to Zoho Creator covering various aspects such as application theme customization and demonstrates seamless functionalities for edit, delete, and duplicate actions.

What is an application? 

An application is a type of customizable solution offered by Zoho Creator that empowers users to collect, organize, and store data, track statuses, and automate various business operations efficiently.
They can be developed using the low-code platform, enabling you to automate your business processes, effectively manage data, and streamline your overall operations.

What should I be aware of before creating an application? 

Understanding the purpose of your database or the problem you aim to solve with your application is crucial.
Defining the purpose helps you prioritize and select the appropriate features and functionalities for your application. It enables you to focus on the essential elements that directly contribute to solving the identified problem.

Having a clear purpose guides the overall design and development process. It ensures that the application's structure, layout, and user interface are aligned with the intended purpose and offer a seamless user experience.

What data does Zoho Creator encrypt? 

Zoho Creator comes with a built-in encryption mechanism. This means that all media stored in your uploads, images, signatures, audio, and video in Creator app are encrypted. Additionally, when using fields to collect sensitive, confidential, personally identifiable information (PII),  or electronic protected health information (ePHI), you can add another layer of protection by enabling the encrypted data field property.
Data can be protected from theft and loss by using encryption, which adds an extra layer of security to the data. It is the process of encoding data so that only people with permission may access it. The data encoded in the cipher text cannot be read, even if a potential hacker manages to obtain it.

In addition to application layer encryption, our data centers in the US (United States), IN (India), AU (Australia), and EU (Europe) implement full disk encryption to ensure data security at rest. Furthermore, encryption in transit is employed to safeguard data during transmission. For detailed information about our encryption protocols, please refer to our encryption whitepaper here.

What is the purpose of sections, and how do they benefit users for easier navigation in an application? 

Sections play a vital role in organizing and enhancing the user experience of your Creator application. They allow you to visually and logically group components within your application, making navigation more intuitive and streamlined.

When accessing your Creator application, you will notice that components such as forms, reports, and pages are arranged within separate sections, each having a distinct header. By default, a form and its associated reports are grouped together in a section, while pages are displayed in a separate section.

You have the flexibility to customize the arrangement of components by dragging and dropping them across sections. Additionally, you can reorder sections and their components to suit your preferences and optimize the user flow within your application.

Sections offer several benefits for enhancing the user experience:
  1. Logical Grouping: By grouping related forms, reports, and pages together, you can create logical divisions within your application, making it easier for users to locate and interact with specific components.
  2. Customization: Sections allow you to customize the layout and organization of your application, enabling you to design a user interface that aligns with your specific requirements and enhances usability.
  3. Control over Component Visibility: You can use sections to hide specific forms, reports, or pages from users by placing them within a section and hiding that particular section. This grants you greater control over the visibility and accessibility of certain components.
In summary, sections in Zoho Creator provide a useful tool for organizing and customizing your application's components. By arranging forms, reports, and pages into logical groups and leveraging the flexibility of sections, you can optimize the user experience and ensure a seamless navigation experience for your application users.

How can I edit, delete, and duplicate applications that I created? 

To edit an application, click on the Edit button located in the bottom-right corner of the application name in the home page.

For duplicating the application or viewing the summary, select the meatball (three-dot) menu in the top right corner of the application in the home page and choose the duplicate option. 

Duplicating the application does not duplicate the data saved in as records. You can import data if required.

To Delete the application, select the meatball (three-dot) menu in the top right corner of the application in the home page and choose the delete option.

What are application themes and how do I set them? 

Themes play a significant role in enhancing the visual appeal and user experience of your Creator application. They allow you to select a specific color scheme and design that will be applied throughout your application, ensuring a consistent and appealing appearance.

By choosing an appropriate theme, you can create a cohesive and visually pleasing user interface that aligns with your branding or design preferences. The theme sets the tone for your application and influences how users perceive and engage with its elements.

To set a theme for your application when accessed in web browser mode:
  1. Edit your application by accessing its settings or design options.
  2. Locate the Web icon in the top-left corner and click on it. This will open the settings specifically for the web browser mode of your application.
  3. Click the Themes in the top-right corner to access the theme customization options.
    The Themes tab will slide in from the right side of the screen, presenting you with various theme choices.
  4. From the available themes, you can select the one that best suits your preferences and application requirements. The themes may offer different color schemes, styles, or layouts.
By following these steps, you can easily set a theme for your application when it is accessed in web browser mode. This allows you to customize the visual appearance and design of your application to create an engaging and cohesive user experience.

How do I view forms, reports, pages and workflows in my application? 

To view the forms, reports, pages, and workflows created within your app
  1. Click the drop-down menu next to the app name in the top-left corner of the edit mode. This will display a list of options related to your app.
  2. Look for the section or header that corresponds to the specific component you want to view, such as Forms, Reports, Pages, or Workflows.
  3. Under the respective section, you will find a list of all the components created within your app. These components may be organized in sub-sections or displayed in a straightforward list, depending on the platform's interface.

Can I export an app to another account? 

Yes, you can export an application as a DS file to another account.
Deluge Script (DS) File is a file that stores the structure of a Zoho Creator Application in text format. It captures everything about an Application, right from the Forms, Fields, Reports, Pages, Deluge scripts, Schedules, Sections to Application-level settings.
Learn how to export ds file.

How can I publish an app live? 

Currently, only publishing components of the application is available.
Publishing components of an application will enable anyone to access it, even if they don't have a Zoho creator account. Publishing a component will generate a permalink and an embed code for that specific component. The permalink can be shared with users. Once published, any changes that you make to the component in the Creator application will be reflected in the published version automatically. Learn how to publish a component.

How can I share an app with other users? 

To add to application as users:
  1. Click the Users option under the Manage section in the left pane.
  2. Click the Add Users button.
  3. Enter the name, email address and other details of the user.

  4. Under the Add to application, section choose the Applications as user option.
  5. Under the Application name field choose the app to which the user is to be added.
  6. Under the Role field, choose the role which is to be assigned to the user.
  7. Under the Permission field, choose the permission which is to be given to the user.
  8. You can include the user to multiple applications by clicking on +Add application button.
  9. Click the Add user button.

Do users need to have a zoho account to be able to access my app? 

Yes, to access the whole application, users need to have a Zoho account.

But you can publish components of an application to be available to anyone.
Or, you can also create a portal and let your users be added as portal users.

Can I test an app before publishing it? 

Environments serve as a platform to perform preliminary testing in a restricted environment, and to publish changes in one go, rather than performing gradual changes in the application.
Check our Understand Environments doc to know more.

Can other users help me develop the app? 

To add to application as developer:
  1. Click on the Users option under the Manage section in the left pane.
  2. Click the Add Users button.
  3. The Add Users tab appears. Enter the name, email address and other details of the user.

  4. Under the Add to application section, choose Applications as developer option.
  5. Under the Application name field, choose the app to which the user is to be added.
  6. Under Development field, choose the permission which is to be assigned to the user in the development environment. The options available are : Access and Publish. You can choose either one or both. Access gives permission to edit and access the development app whereas Publish gives permission to publish the development changes to Stage.

  7. Similarly, under Stage field choose the permission which is to be assigned to the user in the stage environment. The options available are : Access and Publish. You can choose either one or both. Access gives permission to only access the stage application and Publish gives permission to publish the versions to production.
  8. Click on + Add Application to add the developer into multiple applications.
  9. Click the Add user button.

I can't find an app i created / an app that was shared with me? 

Please check the filter applied to applications displayed.
  1. All:  All applications are displayed
  2. Created by me:  Application created by you will only be displayed
  3. Production only: Aplication in production will only be displayed


Related Help Docs 

  1. Understand Application
  2. Plan Before Creating an Application
  3. Zoho Creator Homepage

Related FAQ Pages 

  1. Creating an application
  2. Basic Application Actions
  3. Access Applications

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