Enable Zoho Projects Integration
To enable the integration
- Log into your Zoho CRM account with Administrator privileges.
- Go to Setup > Marketplace > Zoho > Zoho Projects.
- In the Zoho Projects Integration page, click Get Started.
Free Edition users can try this feature for 15 days.
Integration steps
Zoho Projects Integration for your CRM Account consists of four main steps.
1. Portal Configuration/Zoho Projects Portal
In Zoho Projects, a portal is a central place where all projects can be managed and accessed. You can configure one portal from Zoho Projects in this integration. On integration, all projects associated with the selected portal will be pushed inside Zoho CRM and can be managed from within Zoho CRM. There are three possible cases under portal configuration.
- Configure your own Zoho Projects portal
- Configure other user's portal
- Create a portal in Zoho projects
2. Client Configuration
The Client Configuration section displays information about how your Zoho Projects clients are linked to your Zoho CRM. Aclient in Zoho Projects will correspond to a Contact, and the client's company will correspond to an Account. The configuration is system-defined, and it can't be modified.
3. Zoho Projects related list in Zoho CRM
- You can select the modules to show a Zoho Projects related list with project details during integration.
- You can also map the fields of the module with Zoho Projects to accurately represent your project details.
- You can map the Zoho projects fields with the corresponding CRM fields of the selected modules. Both the standard and custom fields in Zoho Projects are displayed in field mapping.
- Mapping the fields will ensure that fields get auto-populated inside Zoho CRM every time a new project is created.
4. Permissions for Zoho CRM Users
You need to set the permissions for all the Zoho CRM users based on their profiles. On setting the permissions for the profiles, all CRM users under the respective profiles are pushed automatically into Zoho Projects. The role of Zoho CRM users pushed into Projects is set by default as "Employees". If the CRM users already existed in Zoho Projects before this integration, their roles remain unchanged.
Let's take a look at the steps one-by-one.
1.1. Portal Configuration
A portal, in Zoho Projects, is a central place where all projects can be managed and accessed. You can configure one portal from Zoho Projects in this integration. On integration, all projects associated with the selected portal will be pushed inside Zoho CRM and can be managed from within Zoho CRM. There are three possible cases under portal configuration.
- Configure your own Zoho Projects portal
- Configure other user's portal
- Create a portal in Zoho projects
To configure your portal
- Go to Setup > Marketplace > Zoho > Zoho Projects.
- In the Zoho Projects Integration page, under Portal Name select a portal from the drop-down list.
All your portals will be displayed here.
II. Use another user's portal
To configure other user's portal
- In the Zoho Project's Configuration page, click the Use another user's portal(s) link.
- Enter the admin's email address and click Send for Approval.
An invitation email will be sent to the address.
You must wait till the confirmation is done by the projects administrator. In case the email is not received, you can resend from the configuration page.
- Once approved, the configuration page will display Approved.
You can click Proceed or Abort Integration.
Note
- Upon resending the invitation, a reminder email will be sent to the projects admin. Upon canceling the invitation the sent request will become invalid.
- An email notification is sent upon approval, you can click Proceed with the integration. Once you abort integration, you can send a fresh request.
How will the Zoho Projects administrator approve the portal request?
The Zoho Projects administrator will receive an email from the requester (CRM administrator). He must confirm the request and select the portal that he wants to give access to.
The admin can reject the request if, h e doesn't wish to give access to the portals.
If portals are unavailable, then the system will automatically reject the request and an email notification will be sent to the requester and the admin. To approve the portal request
- Open the portal request email and click Click Here.
You will be redirected to the Zoho Accounts page. - Click Confirm.
You will receive a success message. An approval email will be sent to the requester too.
Note
If active portals are unavailable then the admin will receive a message saying invalid URL.
III. Create a portal in Zoho Projects
In case you do not have a portal at all, you can create a new one from Zoho CRM.
- In Zoho CRM, under Portal Configuration, click Create New Portal.
- Enter a Portal Name.
- Click Create.
Choose the portal from the drop down list and click Save.
Your new portal is now created and integrated with Zoho CRM.
1.2. Client Configuration
This section shows the mapping of your Client details from Zoho Projects with Contacts and Accounts in Zoho CRM. Your client from Zoho Projects is mapped to Contacts in your CRM, and the client's company is mapped to Accounts.
The client configuration is set by default, and cannot be changed. The linking field for the client in this scenario is their email address in the contacts module.
During integration, you can select the modules that will show a Zoho Projects-related list with project details. Furthermore, you can ensure your project details are precisely depicted within these modules by aligning the module fields with those in Zoho Projects.
To add Zoho Projects related lists in CRM modules
- Navigate to Setup > Marketplace > Zoho > Zoho Projects.
- In the Zoho Projects integration page, under Zoho Projects related list in Zoho CRM section, click Add Modules.
- In the related lists in Zoho CRM window:
- Map the Zoho CRM module fields for the respective Zoho Projects fields.
- Add more modules to show the related list if needed, and map the fields of the particular module.
Note:
- The modules supported for configuring Zoho Projects related list in Zoho CRM are: Contacts, Accounts, Deals, Products, Cases, Quotes, Sales Orders, Purchase Orders, Invoices, and Campaigns.
1.4. Set permissions for Zoho CRM users
To set the permissions for profiles
- In Permissions for CRM Users, click Setup.
- You can enable the projects integration access to specific profiles by toggling the permissions button.
- Select the check boxes for the respective profiles to set the Zoho Projects Related List permissions, View, Create, Edit, and Delete to the CRM users.
- Click Save.
If you wish to change the profile permissions in the future, you can do so by clicking on the Edit Configuration link.
Client Account Mapping
Client Account Mapping is an option provided as part of this integration. In this step, you can match the Clients (in Zoho Projects) with Accounts (in Zoho CRM). Once the exact match is found, projects classified under the Clients are automatically associated with the respective matching account in Zoho CRM, thus saving you a lot of time and effort. Also, with the help of custom mapping you can manually select the clients from Projects and match them to the respective CRM Accounts.
If you want to map the projects of those client(s) to Account(s) automatically, click Yes, Map matching records. The records are mapped, and an email regarding mapped and unmapped records along with the reason why some records were unmapped is sent to the administrator(s).
If you don't want to use this option, click No, Skip to map records manually later.
Note - Client Account Mapping is a one-time occurrence. Once you skip this step at this point, you cannot go back to automatically mapping clients with accounts again unless you deactivate the Projects portal and associate it back with Zoho CRM.
- Client Account Mapping also involves mapping of Client Users (in Zoho Projects) with Contacts (in Zoho CRM). This mapping happens in the background and is not displayed for users to see during the integration.
Contact users are the contacts available in your CRM that can be added as contacts in Zoho Projects. If it's a contact, the contact won't get access to Zoho Projects account. However, the client users have the access to associated projects.
Deactivate Zoho Projects Integration
As an administrator of Zoho CRM, you can deactivate Zoho Projects from your CRM account. Upon deactivation:
- The projects associated under any modules will no longer be viewable in Zoho CRM.
- The projects created within Zoho CRM will still be available in Zoho Projects, and the users associated with the projects will continue to have access to them.
- Synced tasks will be disassociated and will not be in sync automatically even if the same portal is configured again.
To deactivate Zoho Projects integration
- Log in to Zoho CRM with administrative privileges.
- Navigate to Setup > Marketplace > Zoho > Zoho Projects.
- In the Zoho Projects page, click Deactivate Zoho Projects.
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