Zoho Developer Community Monthly Digest – March 2025

Zoho Developer Community Monthly Digest – March 2025



Hello everyone,

This month is packed with exciting product updates, learning sessions, and powerful community conversations that remind us: sometimes, the best solutions come from a single shared question. From quick workarounds to upcoming training events and product releases, there's something here for everyone.

Let's dive in!

Upcoming Events

Creator Tech Connect

Title: Product release updates in Zoho Creator
Date: April 9–10, 2025
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 comprises 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. In our previous session, we discussed advanced UI/UX customizations in Zoho Creator. In the upcoming session, we will explore the recent product release updates in Zoho Creator.

ZDK CLI (Zoho Development Kit Command Line Interface)

Date: April 10
Time: 10:00 AM IST & 8:00 PM IST (GMT+5:30)

Managing metadata in Zoho CRM shouldn’t feel like navigating a maze. Yet, the endless clicks to modify profiles, roles, modules, or layouts—and the challenges of version control—can quickly become overwhelming. What if you could skip the hassle and manage your metadata effortlessly? Introducing ZDK CLI—your one-stop solution for streamlining metadata modifications, pushing changes directly from the command line, and tracking updates seamlessly with your preferred Version Control System (VCS). Register now to discover how to take control of your CRM workflow with ZDK CLI.

Extensions 101

TitleZoho Projects – Data Storage
Date: April 17
Time: 10:00 AM IST & 8:00 PM IST (GMT+5:30)

This series aims to guide developers through the process of building extensions for various Zoho products using the Zoho Developer platform, Sigma. Our previous sessions in this series covered extension development for multiple Zoho products and highlighted the platform's key capabilities for developing efficient extensionsRegister for the upcoming sessions, where we'll delve deep into developing extensions for Zoho products like Projects, CRM, Books, and Desk.

Zoho Developer Hangout – Episode 21

Title: Zoho System Integration: Collect, Manage, and Utilize Data
Date: April 23

Time: 8:00 PM IST (GMT+5:30)

In this session, we’re featuring a ZDC Hackathon 2024 winner from the Zoho Creator Category who tackled one of the biggest business bottlenecks—hiring—and turned it into a fully streamlined, automated system. Wonderboy, Sourcing Coordinator & Junior Developer at WeThinkCode_, built this project using Zoho Creator, CRM, and Forms, simplifying the entire recruitment process—from collecting applications to sending updates via WhatsApp and email. It’s smart, practical, and something you could absolutely build on. Register here.

Catalyst 101

Title: Data & File Management and Querying
Date: April 29
Time10:00 AM IST & 8:00 PM IST (GMT+5:30)

Catalyst is a full-stack cloud development platform that simplifies the complex. Build, test, host, deploy, and optimize solutions like never before. Its easy learning curve eliminates complexities, empowering you to craft bold innovations at the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO). This is a four-part learning initiative that focuses on offering a thorough understanding of Catalyst—Zoho's cloud computing platform. Click here for registration and more details.

Learning Table Series

Title: Creator for the Property Management
Date: May 8, 2025
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 of Creator's capabilities in various business use cases and applications. This year as well, 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 Asset Management was a success, and during the upcoming session, we'll be exploring Creator for the Property Management.

Zoholics USA 2025

Date: May 13–15
Location
GRB Convention Center in Houston

Join us for three days of inspiration, innovation, and invaluable connections. Whether you’re attending breakout tracks, scheduling 1-on-1 expert sessions, or mingling in networking lounges, we promise you’ll leave with actionable insights and a refreshed perspective on your business. More details here.

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.
Alert
Postman’s 2025 Developers’ Choice Awards at POSTCON ’25

If you’ve found our Zoho CRM Developers API collection on Postman helpful, we’d be honored to have your support! This collection is regularly updated with a focus on simplifying your development experience and helping you work with our APIs effortlessly. We’re excited to be a part of this contest and your vote could help us win. Your support not only motivates us but also drives us to improve and deliver more value to our developer community.

Please cast your vote here and share our profile. Voting lines are open until April 18, 2025. 
  • Zoho Creator
    Get access to the previous Zoho Creator Session recordings from Youtube & Zoho Creator Studio below:
  • Zoho Analytics
    Let's explore how the integration between Zoho Analytics and Zoho Desk can transform customer support, helping teams move from basic reporting to data-driven decision making in this blog.

  • Zoho Flow
    One of the biggest advantages of using Zoho Flow is that all your workflows are in one place, making it easy to make changes, switch them on or off, and monitor how every step is performing. 
    Now we're making it even easier for you to keep track of your flows and perform quick operations. Say hello to the Zoho Flow mobile app for iPhone!

  • Zoho Notebook
    AI is advancing rapidly and becoming a staple in our daily lives. From boosting our writing skills to enhancing productivity, AI tech is all around us. Because AI is so impactful and becoming the future of advanced technology, we thought, why not implement it in Zoho Notebook to make your writing experience a piece of cake? I
    ntroducing Notebook AI, our powerful AI writing assistant in Zoho Notebook.

  • Zoho Directory – Always Verify #09
    As we march ahead into April 2025, you have on your screens yet another edition of Always VerifyWe have searched the internet far and wide to bring you impactful Identity and Access Management stories- MFA mandates, ransomware attacks, crazy authentication workflows and of course, the Oracle Cloud breach.

Community Discussions

It’s a great reminder that in the right community, every challenge is just one conversation away from a breakthrough.

Zoho Developer Forum

  • @Nik ran into a snag trying to remove backslashes from a string in Deluge, so he came up with a quick workaround—bit of a hack, but hey, it did the trick. Then @Andres stepped in with a much cleaner fix that made things way easier. Want to know what the fix was? You’ll have to check out the post! Just goes to show, even a messy workaround can lead to a solid solution when you share it with the right crowd.
  • @Federico ran into a workflow hiccup while creating a related record in Zoho CRM—every time he hit “Save,” it would bounce him right back to the parent record. He wanted to stay on the newly created record instead. What followed was a thoughtful exchange around client scripts, potential workarounds, and platform limitations. While there's no one-click fix (yet), the conversation shed light on the why behind this behavior—and sparked ideas that might just lead to a future product tweak. Curious how others are handling it? The post’s worth a read.
  • When @Richard ran into a frustrating error in his Zoho Books Deluge script, the error message wasn’t giving him much to work with. He reached out to the community, and @Bhoomi, our MVP, stepped in to help, spotting a small but crucial syntax issue—something as simple as a missing semicolon. It’s a reminder of how sometimes the smallest detail can cause the biggest roadblock. Check out the post for the full solution!
  • @Taryn noticed something strange—values entered into a custom field on the Lead form in Zoho CRM weren’t saving, and the field just lit up yellow with no error message in sight. It was one of those head-scratcher moments until @Anonymous User stepped in with a simple but spot-on suggestion: check the field’s permissions. Sure enough, that was the culprit. Just another example of how a fresh pair of eyes in the community can help uncover what you might’ve missed.
  • When @ebizness set out to automatically create a new Contact every time a custom CRM module received a new record, things seemed straightforward—until the workflow threw an error. While @Ishwarya guided them through the workflow setup, it was @Max Tyack who shared a golden tip that turned the tide. The moment @ebizness tried it, everything clicked into place. Curious what that magic tip was? Head to the thread to see the clever trick that made the automation work seamlessly!
  • @Hayden’s post casually introduces the concept of the Levenshtein Distance algorithm—measuring how many edits it takes to turn one word into another—while showing how he built a working fuzzy matching system in Deluge. Using maps to mimic 2D arrays and a quirky recursive helper, he proved that with a bit of creativity, even compact scripting tools can be stretched to do pretty impressive things. A fun read that’s both educational, entertaining, and super cool!

Developers ZUG Cliq Channel

Info
These 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.
  • This thread explores a real-world use case that pushes readers to think beyond the UI. By sharing her situation, Trish uncovered a workaround others can benefit from. Conversations like these empower developers to dive deeper into Deluge, workflows, and modular automation—things the docs might not cover, but the community certainly does!
  • When the documentation doesn’t cover a unique use case, conversations with peers help fill the gaps. When @LaVerne set out to trigger a custom function from the Zoho Cliq check-in (without using Zoho People), @Mike helped highlight some platform boundaries, while @Pranit offered practical insights and opened up the idea of using Cliq Widgets as a potential custom solution.
  • @Mangesh faced a common developer pain point: missing custom fields in the Zoho Books API response. His precise question led to a straightforward and helpful answer from @Pranit, who offered a simple tip that now makes API calls more predictable. It’s proof that asking clear questions gets you closer to clean solutions—especially when the right folks are listening.

Community Spotlight

Cliq Contributors

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. 

Make sure to follow the digest every 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 all an amazing month ahead!


SEE ALSO



        • Recent Topics

        • Important changes for users with Zoho accounts in the UAE and other Data Centers

          What's changing? Previously, the same email address could be used to create separate Zoho accounts in both the UAE data center and another Zoho data center (such as US, EU, IN, AU, JP, CA, SA or SG). With this change, an email address can be associated
        • 👍 Zoho CRM's Notes now gets Reactions and a new look

          Available in SA and JP DCs. Rolling out to other DCs in phases. Hello everyone, Notes help users capture important updates, collaborate with teammates, and maintain context for records. Now with Note Reactions, users can quickly acknowledge updates, express
        • Conditional Layouts On Multi Select Field

          How we can use Conditional Layouts On Multi Select Field field? Please help. Moderation update: Multi-select picklist fields are now supported in Layout Rules. Additionally, Layout Rules is now available in the Professional Edition. These updates have
        • Zoho Marketing Automation WhatsApp Campaign Import Sync for Zoho Analytics

          WhatsApp is a critical channel in modern marketing, yet WhatsApp Campaign metrics from Zoho Marketing Automation currently cannot be natively imported into Zoho Analytics via the default advanced analytics connector. Integrating this into the standard
        • merge the Multiple POs to single PO if Vendor of PO"s --in Zoho Inventory

          HI Merge the Multiple POs to single PO if Vendor of PO"s are Same ----in Zoho inventory Please provide any work around to achive this .
        • Is there a CRM Deluge function available to convert an RTF (rich text field) to plain text (with no formatting tags)?

          I know that we can run reports so that RTF fields can either show as plain text or the text or the text with the formatting fields included (which is wonderful, btw, as it helps me adjust tags when I need to troubleshoot and just see what I need to see
        • 【Zoholics Japan 2026】ITreview 口コミ投稿キャンペーンを実施します!

          ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは! 2026年9月25日(金)開催の「Zoholics Japan 2026」会場にて、 Zoho CRM・Zoho Workplace・Zoho Mail を対象とした「ITreview 口コミ投稿キャンペーン」を実施します! Zoholics にご来場いただく皆さま、ぜひこの機会に普段お使いの Zoho 製品について、率直なご感想をお聞かせください。 【キャンペーン内容】 対象製品: ・Zoho CRM ・Zoho Workplace ・Zoho Mail キャンペーン実施時間:
        • Contact removed when picking ticket template.

          hi new to Desk rolling out to company, replacing Freshdesk. Is there way to keep the in context contact when selecting a template? When you choose a template you lose the contact!
        • Using IMAP configuration for shared email inboxes

          Our customer service team utilizes shared email boxes to allow multiple people to view and handle incoming customer requests. For example, the customer sends an email to info@xxxx.com and multiple people can view it and handle the request. How can I configure
        • Zoho Tables is now available in Zoho One!

          Hello Zoho One users, We’re excited to announce that Zoho Tables is now included as a part of Zoho One suite! As teams grow, managing projects, approvals, inventories, campaign trackers, and operational workflows across multiple spreadsheets become difficult.
        • Zoho Publish is now available in Zoho One!

          Hello Zoho One users, We’re excited to announce that Zoho Publish is now included as part of the Zoho One suite! As businesses grow, managing Google Business Profiles across many locations becomes challenging. Business information needs to stay accurate,
        • Global Sets for Multi-Select pick lists

          When is this feature coming to Zoho CRM? It would be very useful now we have got used to having it for the normal pick lists.
        • Bank Transaction Rules Link Under Each Bank Account

          Hello, can you'll move the "transaction rules" button or link back under each bank account? It is now on Bank Overview, if I am working on a specific bank account, I don't want to go out to overview to check the rules. That button displays rules for all
        • Nested notebooks

          Dear Sir/Madam, I would like to know if it is possible to nest notebooks. It would be very helpful when there are too many, as it would improve organization. Thank you for your response. Best regards.
        • Zia Agents looks promising, but I still cannot deploy my first agent or connect WhatsApp after weeks of support tickets

          Hi Everyone, I am posting here because I am stuck and need practical help from someone who has successfully deployed a Zia Agent with WhatsApp. Zia Agents looks like a very promising product. I have watched the platform expand quickly, and I have noticed
        • Zoho CRM

          Cuándo voy a adjuntar un archivo .pdf en un registro en el campo Archivo obtengo el siguiente error:
        • Implement Meeting Polls in Zoho Bookings

          Dear Zoho Bookings Support Team, We'd like to propose a feature enhancement related to appointment scheduling within Zoho Bookings. Current Functionality: Zoho Bookings excels at streamlining individual appointment scheduling. Users can set availability
        • Recording Salaries and wages in zoho books with bank fees

          Hello Community, I am posting this questions to understand the best way to record the salary and payroll expenses in zoho books. The way it works here, For example if I have 3 employees and each employee salary is lets say $1000. I usually use the bank
        • API - Available Stock Definitions

          Okay, Zoho team... your copywriters fell down on the job for this one :) I think these warrant a bit more explanation as to what they include and what they don't.
        • [BUG] WebTabs in ZohoCRM now have a spurious "\" displayed along with some additional HTML Head code included

          An example of the issue can be seen below:
        • CNIL - Suivi de Pixel

          Bonjour à tous, À la suite de la nouvelle recommandation de la CNIL sur les pixels de suivi dans les e-mails, savez-vous si Zoho Campaigns permet : de conditionner le suivi des ouvertures au consentement de chaque contact ; de proposer un lien permettant
        • Scheduled import

          The tutorial shows a scheduled import option but this option doesn't appear to be available when using Zoho DB.
        • #4 Choosing How My Invoice Should Look

          Day 4: Meera had the basics sorted. Her business name was there, the address looked right, and her logo finally appeared where it should. But the invoice still did not quite look like hers. Her old studio used invoices that were clean, tightly laid out,
        • Transaction rules for "Owner's Contribution" ?

          I have a bank account where a lot of the deposits are "Owner's Contributions" (i.e., the business owner investing money in the company). Is it possible to create a Transaction Rule to automatically recognize these? They all have the same verbiage from
        • DYK 12: Turn Email into Work Items

          Did you know you can add work items to your Zoho Projects portal directly from your inbox? The initial step of important collaborations start over an email, and most of these require an immediate follow-up by creating a task, or reporting an issue. During
        • Custom Function not getting package details when triggered from Workflow Rules.

          I have a custom function for Packages that submits a form in our Creator app that we use to generate custom shipping labels (internal staff complete deliveries so we cannot generate shipping labels straight from Inventory). When the function is executed
        • how to Solve Conflict Invoices in Zoho POS

          Hello Team, I am facing a repeated issue in Zoho POS while saving a sale that contains service-based items. My products are intentionally created as Service (Non-Inventory) items because I do not want to track stock for them. However, every time I try
        • ¿Cuándo estará disponible la edición de Zoho POS para México?

          He estado revisando las capacidades de Zoho POS y su evolución dentro de la estrategia de Zoho for Retail, y me parece que existe una oportunidad muy interesante para el mercado mexicano. Zoho POS ya ofrece funcionalidades para gestionar ventas, inventario,
        • Important update for Zoho RPA Windows Agent users

          Hi everyone, We would like to share an important update for Zoho RPA Windows Agent users running Windows Server 2016 or Windows Server 2019. The new Zoho RPA Windows Agent 6.0.0 and later versions are not supported on Windows Server 2016 and Windows Server
        • Multi-Option Estimates: One Estimate, Multiple Choices

          Every service request can have multiple solutions. Multi-Option Estimates help you present these different solutions in a single estimate with its own name, parts, price, and total. Each option can differ in scope, approach, or price — whatever choices
        • Delete CRM Portal

          How do I delete portals from my CRM? I created one just to test, it is not in use and is disabled but it's existence is preventing me from marking fields in modules as "required" unless I make it 'read/write' in the portal first. I'd rather just delete
        • Marketing Tip #32: Improve SEO and customer confidence with an FAQ section

          Before making a purchase, customers often have simple questions about delivery times, returns, product usage, or sizing. If they can’t quickly find answers, they may leave your store without buying. Adding a clear FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section
        • ZOHO Campaigns in ZOHO Analytics - Campaigns vs Contacts Table

          There seems to be information in the Zoho Campaigns table such as Unique Opens and Unique Clicks that can't be found in the Campaigns vs Contacts table where only Opens and Clicks are shown on a per contact level. Is there a way to bring Unique Opens
        • How to change an employee mail id

          Hi, Does the administrator have the rights to edit an  employees mail id. 
        • Cousin Domain Verification in Zoho Mail: Identify and block look-alike domains

          Phishing attacks often rely on domain names that closely resemble legitimate ones. This makes it difficult for users to identify fraudulent emails at first glance. Zoho Mail's Cousin Domain Verification feature allows administrators to define trusted
        • How do I add 2 agents under the same email?

          I have 2 agents who use the same email address. I added one, but when adding the second agent, it says that the email is already registered. How do I configure this properly?
        • Zoho Desk API modifiedTimeRange returns HTTP 500 around 2026-03-08T02:00:00.000Z

          Hello Zoho Support Team, We are experiencing a reproducible HTTP 500 Internal Server Error when querying the Zoho Desk API search endpoint with a specific modifiedTimeRange boundary. ### API Endpoint GET /api/v1/tickets/search ### Reproduction Steps &
        • Updating an Invoice Line Item's Discount Account via API Call / Deluge Custom Function

          I need help updating an invoice line item's discount account via API. Below is a screenshot of the line item field I am referring to. Now the field to the left of the highlighted field (discount account) is the sales income account. I am able to modify
        • Collaborate Visually with Whiteboard in Zoho Projects

          Whiteboard in Zoho Projects allows you to collaborate visually by creating diagrams, annotating designs, and sketching project workflows using shapes, text, and images within project modules. Team members can work simultaneously, improving productivity
        • Associate project with timer on iPhone

          When I start the timer without first associating a project (on my iPhone), its starts fine but now when I need to associate a project, and click on the link, I get a list of EVERY project I've ever put into Zoho Books. It used to just show active projects.
        • Next Page