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. @Anonymous User, @Abhishek , and @Anonymous User jumped in and explained that a Map approach is superior. Go through this conversation to know why!
  • @Anonymous User 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.
  • @Anonymous User sought a way to send emails to each contact listed in a Zoho CRM subform. @Anonymous User suggested using Zoho Flow to automate this process, while @Anonymous User 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.
  • @Anonymous User wanted to automate a field update based on user data. @Anonymous User, 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, @Anonymous User, 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 @Anonymous User 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. @Anonymous User 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

      • Recent Topics

      • Apply transaction rules to multiple banks

        Is there any way to make transaction rules for one bank apply to other banks? It seems cumbersome to have to re-enter the same date for every account.
      • How to bulk update records with Data Enrichment by Zia

        Hi, I want to bulk update my records with Data Enrichment by Zia. How can I do this?
      • Need Guidance on SPF Flattening for Zoho Mail Configuration

        Hi everyone, I'm hoping to get some advice on optimizing my SPF record for a Zoho Mail setup. I use Zoho Mail along with several other Zoho services, and as a result, my current SPF record has grown to include multiple include mechanisms. My Cloudflare
      • How do I split a large CSV file into smaller parts for import into Zoho?

        Hi everyone, I’m trying to upload a CSV file into Zoho, but the file is very large (millions of rows), and Zoho keeps giving me errors or takes forever to process. I think the file size is too big for a single import. Manually breaking the CSV into smaller
      • Client Script Payload Size Bug

        var createParams = { "data": [{ "Name": "PS for PR 4050082000024714556", "Price_Request": { "id": "4050082000024714556" }, "Account": { "id": "4050082000021345001" }, "Deal": { "id": "4050082000023972001" }, "Owner": { "id": "4050082000007223004" }, "Approval_Status":
      • Sync Issue Between Zoho Notebook Web App on Firefox (PC) and Android App

        Hi Zoho Notebook Community, I'm facing a sync problem with Zoho Notebook. When I use the web version on Mozilla Firefox browser on my PC, I create and save new notes, and I've synced them successfully. However, these new notes aren't showing up in my
      • Messages not displayed from personal LinkedIn profile

        Hello. I connected both our company profile and my personal profile to Zoho social. I do see all messages from our company page but none from my private page. not even the profile is being added on top to to switch between company or private profile,
      • lead convert between modules

        Hello, The workflow we set up to automatically transfer leads registered via Zapier into the Patients module to the Leads module started to malfunction unexpectedly on September 25, 2025, at 11:00 AM. Under normal circumstances, all fields filled in the
      • Flow Task Limits - How to Monitor, Understand Consumption?

        So, I got an email last night saying that I've exhausted 70% of my tasks for this month, and encouraging me to buy more tasks. I started to dig into this, and I cannot for the life of me figure out where to find any useful information for understanding,
      • Cross References Do Not Update Correctly

        I am using cross references to reference Figures and current am just using the label and number, i.e. Figure #. As seen here: When I need to update the field, I use the update field button. But it will change the cross reference to no longer only including
      • Manage control over Microsoft Office 365 integrations with profile-based sync permissions

        Greetings all, Previously, all users in Zoho CRM had access to enable Microsoft integrations (Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks) in their accounts, regardless of their profile type. Users with administrator profiles can now manage profile-based permissions
      • How to Track and Manage Schedule Changes in Zoho Projects

        Keeping projects on track requires meticulous planning. However, unforeseen circumstances can cause changes to schedules, leading to delays. It becomes important to capture the reason for such changes to avoid them in the future. Zoho Projects acknowledges
      • Is there a notification API when a new note is addeding

        Trying to push to Cliq, or email notification when there's a new note added in module. How to implement this?
      • Collaborate Feature doesn't work

        Hello Team. It seems that the collaborate section is broken? I can post something but it all appears in "Discussions". In there is no way how I would mark something as Draft, Approval, post or any of the other filter categories? Also if I draft a post
      • Edit Permission during and after approval?

        When a record is sent for approval Can a user request for edit permission from the approver? We don't want to give edit permissions for all the records under approval Only on a case-by-case basis How can we achieve this?
      • Zoho web and mobile application not workingn

        Both zoho forms web and mobile application aren't working. I have checked my network connections and they are fine.
      • Introducing the revamped What's New page

        Hello everyone! We're happy to announce that Zoho Campaigns' What's New page has undergone a complete revamp. We've bid the old page adieu after a long time and have introduced a new, sleeker-looking page. Without further ado, let's dive into the main
      • Bulk Moving Images into Folders in the Library

        I can't seem to select multiple images to move into a folder in order to clean up my image library and organize it. Instead, I have to move each individual image into the folder and sometimes it takes MULTIPLE tries to get it to go in there. Am I missing
      • Latest updates in Zoho Meeting | Breakout rooms and End to end encryption

        Hello everyone, We’re excited to share a few updates for Zoho Meeting. Here's what we've been working on lately: Introducing Breakout Rooms for enhanced collaboration in your online meetings and End-to-end encryption to ensure that the data is encrypted
      • Systematic SPF alignment issues with Zoho subdomains

        Analysis Period: August 19 - September 1, 2025 PROBLEM SUMMARY Multiple Zoho services are causing systematic SPF authentication failures in DMARC reports from major email providers (Google, Microsoft, Zoho). While emails are successfully delivered due
      • Accidentally deleted a meeting recording -- can it be recovered?

        Hi, I accidentally deleted the recording for a meeting I had today. Is there a way I can recover it?
      • To Zoho customers and partners: how do you use Linked Workspaces?

        Hello, I'm exploring how we can set up and use Linked Workspaces and would like to hear from customers and partners about your use cases and experience with them. I have a Zoho ticket open, because my workspace creation fails. In the meantime, how is
      • How to access email templates using Desk API?

        Trying to send an email to the customer associated to the ticket for an after hours notification and can't find the API endpoint to grab the email template. Found an example stating it should be: "https://desk.zoho.com/api/v1/emailtemplates/" + templateID;
      • Update Portal User Name using Deluge?

        Hey everyone. I have a basic intake form that gathers some general information. Our team then has a consultation with the person. If the person wants to move forward, the team pushes a CRM button that adds the user to a creator portal. That process is
      • Unable to retrieve Contact_Name field contents using Web API in javascript function

        Hello, I've added a field in the Purchase Order form to select and associate a Sales Order (Orden_de_venta, lookup field). I've also created a client script to complete some fields from the Sales Order (and the Quote), when the user specifies the related
      • Updating Woocommerce Variation Products Prices Via Zoho CRM

        I can update product prices with this flow: But I can't update variant products. I got a code from Zoho for this, but I couldn't get it to work. It needs to find the product in the CRM from the SKU field and update the variation with the price there.
      • Emails Disappearing From Inbox

        I am experiencing the unnerving problem of having some of the messages in my inbox just disappear.  It seems to happen to messages that have been in there for longer than a certain amount of time (not sure how long exactly). They are usually messages that I have flagged and know I need to act on, but have not gotten around to doing so yet.  I leave them in my inbox so I will see them and be reminded that I still need to do something about them, but at least twice now I have opened my inbox and found
      • Power of Automation :: Automatic removal of project users once the project status is changed.

        A custom function is a software code that can be used to automate a process and this allows you to automate a notification, call a webhook, or perform logic immediately after a workflow rule is triggered. This feature helps to automate complex tasks and
      • Customizing Form Questions per Recipient Group in Zoho Campaigns/Forms

        Hello everyone, I would like to ask if it’s possible in Zoho Campaigns or Zoho Forms to send out a campaign where the form questions can be customized based on the group of recipients. Use case example: I have prepared 20 questionnaire questions. For
      • Automatic category assignment

        Hi, I’d like to ask if there is a way to automatically assign an expense category based on the recognized Merchant. What would be the simplest way to set up automatic category assignment? Alternatively, is there an option to first choose the category
      • Every time an event is updated, all participants receive an update email. How can I deactivate this?

        Every time an event is updated in Zoho CRM (e.g. change description, link to Lead) every participant of this meeting gets an update email. Another customer noticed this problem years ago in the Japanese community: https://help.zoho.com/portal/ja/community/topic/any-time-an-event-is-updated-on-zohocrm-calendar-it-sends-multiple-invites-to-the-participants-how-do-i-stop-that-from-happening
      • Having Trouble Opening The Candidate Portal

        Recently am having trouble opening the Candidate Portal. It keeps loading but cannot display any widgets. Tried Safari, Chrome and Edge. Non of them work. Please solve the problem ASAP.
      • Forms - Notification When Response Submitted

        How do I set it up to generate an email notification when a response (class request) is submitted?
      • How to disable user entry on Answer Bot in Zobot

        Hi, I have an Answer Bot in my Zobot, here is the configuration: I only want the user to choose 1 of the 4 the options I have provided: When no answer found, user chooses 'I'll rephrase the question' or 'Ask a different question When answer is found,
      • More admin control over user profiles

        It's important for our company, and I'm sure many others, to keep our users inline with our branding and professional appearance. It would be useful for administrators to have more control over profile aspects such as: Profile image User names Email signatures
      • Please Make Zoho CRM Cadences Flexible: Allow Inserting and Reordering Follow-Up Steps

        Sales processes are not static. We test, learn, and adapt as customers respond differently than expected. Right now, Zoho Cadences do not support inserting a new step between existing follow-ups or changing the type of an existing primary step. If I realize
      • Changing the Default Search Criteria for Finding Duplicates

        Hey everyone, is it possible to adjust the default search criteria for finding and merging duplicate records? Right now, CRM uses some (in my opinion nonsensical) fields as search criteria for duplicate records which do nothing except dilute the results.
      • Clear Tag & Linking Between Quotes and Sales Orders

        Hi Zoho Team, In Zoho Books, when a quote is converted into a sales order, it would be extremely useful to have: A clear tag/indicator on the quote showing that it has been converted into a sales order. A direct link in the sales order back to the originating
      • 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
      • Add Direct Ticket Link to Zoho Help Center Portal in Email Replies

        Hi Zoho Support Team, We hope you're doing well. We’d like to request a small but valuable improvement to enhance the usability of the Zoho Help Center portal (https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/myarea). Currently, when someone from Zoho replies to a support
      • Next Page