Quickstart Guide For Extensions

Quickstart Guide For Extensions

Extensions—prebundled software components that can add a set of custom features to your Zoho CRM—enable developers to deliver a range of functionality not available by default on our system. This allows our partners to streamline the customization process and extend the capabilities of Zoho CRM, including integration with other third- party services.

To facilitate the exchange of smart extension solutions, we've established the Zoho Marketplace where users can list extensions they’ve created with Zoho Developer Console. Once an extension has been listed, other Zoho CRM customers will be able to install directly from the marketplace.

To model how you can create your own extensions, this guide will walk you through the process for an extension, named “Roll up amount to Account.”

This extension adds the closed won potentials of any account and shows the total revenue of all the potentials over the Account module. Let's assume you've received and fulfilled orders for a product 15–20 times in a given period of time. To better target your marketing budget, you want to know which customers are generating the highest revenues. To get this information, you could use the Reports module to analyze sale performance, but with this custom extension, you can automate the process and simplify your workflow.

Step 1: Extension Pre-requisites
  1. Get access to Developer Console
  2. Identify and prepare extension requirements

Step 2: Create Your extension
  1. 2.1 Set up your extension
  2. 2.2 Name the workflow rule
  3. 2.3 Specify the rule trigger
  4. 2.4 Set the criteria
  5. 2.5 Associate your custom function to the workflow rule.
Step 3: Testing the Extension

Step 4: Publishing the Extension

Step 1: Extension Pre-requisites

Get access to Developer console

Before you start building your extension, first you’ll need to set up a Zoho Developer account by visiting https://zoho.com/developer.

If you are an existing Zoho customer, you can get access to the Developer Console by logging in using your Zoho credentials.

For new users, to get access to Developer Console
1. Go to https://zoho.com/developer and click Sign Up Now.


2. Fill in the necessary details and click  SIGN UP FOR FREE.
3. You will receive an email with a confirmation link to your registered email address. Click that link and follow the steps provided to complete your registration.

Now you have a Zoho Developer account and you can begin the journey of your first extension creation.

Identify and prepare extension requirements:
Before you get started, it can be helpful to create a list of features that the extension is going to add in the Zoho CRM. Not only will this help you strategize the best way to implement the extension, but it will also give you an idea of the steps you need to take before you begin the process of programming your extension. This preparation could include creating a custom field, setting up a custom module or building a webhook for a third-party service. In our example extension, we first need to create a custom field called 'Revenue Generated' in the Accounts
 

Step 2: Create your extension.

2.1 Set up your new extension
  1. Click the Extensions for Zoho CRM in the Developer Console homepage.
  2. Click Create Extension.
  3. In the New Extension for Zoho CRM page, Specify the Extension's name.
    Once the name is specified, a Unique Namespace is automatically populated. Once created the Namespace cannot be changed.
  4. Provide a short description for the extension.
  5. Click Create.


2.2 Set up a workflow rule within the extension.
Workflow rules are a set of conditions that trigger specific actions within your application, such as sending email alerts, assigning tasks or updating the information in your records.
  1. Open the Workflow tab in the left-hand panel.
  2. Choose a name for the rule and give a brief description.
  3. Click Next.


2.3 Specify your rule trigger:
To set up a new rule, you must choose which type of execution trigger is associated with that rule. There are two types of rule triggers:
  1. Record Action - trigger rule when records are created, edited, created/edited, deleted or a specific field is updated.
  2. A Date Field's Value - for records matching rule criteria, trigger rule either monthly or yearly based on the value in the selected date field.
  3. Select A Record Action from the drop down menu.
  4. Click Create or Edit.
  5. Click Next.


2.4 Set Rule criteria:
  1. Select Execute workflowwhenever the criteria is met.
  2. Set the criteria pattern as follows: Stage | Contains | Closed Won
  3. Click Next.


2.5 Associating your Custom function to a workflow.

Custom functions allow you to use procedural logic to automate processes that are not covered by Zoho's default actions. In this case, we need to create a function that will roll up all the potential amounts in a particular account and show its summation in the custom field Revenue Potential.

1. Click on  Associate button at the bottom of the page.


2. In the following screen, you'll be able to create your custom function using Zoho’s DELUGE script editor. For our example extension, we need the custom function to perform the following sequence of actions:
  1. Points at a potential and fetches its account id.
  2. Use the account id to fetch all the potentials in that account.
  3. Sum up all the closed won potentials in that account and show the result in the Revenue Generated field in the Account module.
code for the custom function:
  1.   // Fetch account id from potential
  2.    accountid = input.potential.get("ACCOUNTID");
  3. // We run an API to store all the Potential ID's from the account id
  4.     potentials = zoho.crm.searchRecordsByPDC("Potentials", ("accountid"), accountid);
  5.     total = 0.0;
  6.     for each potential in potentials
  7. /* Check each potential's stage and add up the closed won one's */
  8.     {
  9.         stage = potential.get("Stage").toLowerCase();
  10.         if (stage.contains("closed won"))
  11.         {
  12.             total = (total  +  (potential.get("Amount")).toDecimal());
  13.         }
  14.     }
  15. /* Finally update the total amount in the custom field revenue potential we created in account module */
  16.     updateResp = zoho.crm.updateRecord(("Accounts"), accountid, { "REVENUE GENERATED" : total });
3. Create a name of custom function and click Save and Close.
 
Step 3: Test your extension
Once you’ve finished building your extension, it’s time to test it. Zoho makes this easy by providing an isolated sandbox environment where you can test the extension without affecting the actual CRM in which it is going to be installed. Click  Test your Extension at the top of the Extension Details page.

The extension can be tested in a sandbox environment.
It provides you with an isolated environment where you can test the extension without affecting the actual CRM in which it is going to be installed.
 
Step 4: Publish your extension
After successfully testing of the extension you can publish the extension.
Follow the steps:
      1. Open the Extension Details tab in the left-hand panel.
     
      2. Click  Publish next to the name of the extension. A window will open displaying all the fields and custom function you have added.

     
      3. Review your extension, add remarks so that it becomes easier for us to review the extension and click Confirm.
     
      
      4. After you click Confirm, a popup window will appear, displaying the URL for your extension. To install the extension, navigate to the URL by copy the link to another browser window.
      5. Follow the same process to grant access to others users: simply send them the URL and have them log in to their account to install the extension.
      6. If you would like to make your extension publicly available on the Zoho Marketplace, click the check box at the bottom of the popup window. Your extension will be submitted to our review team, and if accepted, other users will be able to install it on their CRM systems.
      

Note
By default, your extension will be private, meaning it will not be listed on the Zoho Marketplace. If you forget to save the URL, you can find it in the Extension Details page.


It is also possible to create an extension that integrates different third-party applications with Zoho CRM, as different customers are in need of different integrations and this will help them achieve their requirement. These are the methods which we support to integrate the extensions with the third-party services :

* Token based authentication by using  Custom Variables.
* OAuth 2.0 by using  Connectors.

You can now start building your extension  here.

    Zoho CRM Training Programs

    Learn how to use the best tools for sales force automation and better customer engagement from Zoho's implementation specialists.

    Zoho CRM Training
      Redefine the way you work
      with Zoho Workplace

        Zoho DataPrep Personalized Demo

        If you'd like a personalized walk-through of our data preparation tool, please request a demo and we'll be happy to show you how to get the best out of Zoho DataPrep.

        Zoho CRM Training

          Create, share, and deliver

          beautiful slides from anywhere.

          Get Started Now


            Zoho Sign now offers specialized one-on-one training for both administrators and developers.

            BOOK A SESSION








                                You are currently viewing the help pages of Qntrl’s earlier version. Click here to view our latest version—Qntrl 3.0's help articles.




                                    Manage your brands on social media

                                      Zoho Desk Resources

                                      • Desk Community Learning Series


                                      • Digest


                                      • Functions


                                      • Meetups


                                      • Kbase


                                      • Resources


                                      • Glossary


                                      • Desk Marketplace


                                      • MVP Corner


                                      • Word of the Day


                                        Zoho Marketing Automation

                                          Zoho Sheet Resources

                                           

                                              Zoho Forms Resources


                                                Secure your business
                                                communication with Zoho Mail


                                                Mail on the move with
                                                Zoho Mail mobile application

                                                  Stay on top of your schedule
                                                  at all times


                                                  Carry your calendar with you
                                                  Anytime, anywhere




                                                        Zoho Sign Resources

                                                          Sign, Paperless!

                                                          Sign and send business documents on the go!

                                                          Get Started Now




                                                                  Zoho TeamInbox Resources



                                                                          Zoho DataPrep Resources



                                                                            Zoho DataPrep Demo

                                                                            Get a personalized demo or POC

                                                                            REGISTER NOW


                                                                              Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                              Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                              Get Started Now







                                                                                            You are currently viewing the help articles of Sprints 1.0. If you are a user of 2.0, please refer here.

                                                                                            You are currently viewing the help articles of Sprints 2.0. If you are a user of 1.0, please refer here.



                                                                                                  • Related Articles

                                                                                                  • Getting started with Zoho CRM Extensions

                                                                                                    This guide is designed to help you get started with Zoho Developer Console and complete the basic setup required to build your own extensions. The guide will help you with the following: Accessing the Zoho Developer Console  Creating and Managing ...
                                                                                                  • Quickstart to Zoho Desk Extensions

                                                                                                    At Zoho Desk, we believe in delivering good user experiences and making already good experiences better. In that vein, stepping into Zoho Marketplace is an effort towards achieving the latter goal. Zoho Marketplace is an online store where users can ...
                                                                                                  • Building Extensions

                                                                                                    What are extensions? Extensions are bundles of practicable code integrations, containing commands, bots, message actions, functions, schedulers and databases combined together to suit your client or user requirements. Extensions created by you ...
                                                                                                  • URL invoke type extensions

                                                                                                    What are extensions in Cliq ? Extensions are a great way to connect to a third party service thereby bringing in your everyday tools and work items together in one place- Cliq.  URL invoke type extensions  URL invoke type extensions are as same as ...
                                                                                                  • Publishing Extensions in Zoho Marketplace

                                                                                                    Publishing an Extension Extensions that are tested and good to go, can be published in Zoho Marketplace. First, hover over the extension name to view two options Publish and Edit. Selecting the Publish option will direct you to ...
                                                                                                    Wherever you are is as good as
                                                                                                    your workplace

                                                                                                      Resources

                                                                                                      Videos

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



                                                                                                      eBooks

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



                                                                                                      Webinars

                                                                                                      Sign up for our webinars and learn the Zoho CRM basics, from customization to sales force automation and more.



                                                                                                      CRM Tips

                                                                                                      Make the most of Zoho CRM with these useful tips.



                                                                                                        Zoho Show Resources