Zoho Developer Community Monthly Digest - March 2024

Zoho Developer Community Monthly Digest - March 2024



Hello everyone,

In this digest, we've brought you a roundup of the highlights, community discussions, resources, and updates from March to keep you in the loop. Let's get right to it!

March Highlights

Zoho Developer Hangout 13

Zoho CRM offers flexibility for businesses to tailor it precisely according to their unique requirements. However, even the best suits may need a few extra accessories. That's where Zoho Creator steps in. When integrated with Zoho CRM, it extends the platform's capabilities, allowing you to build custom applications, forms, and views, transforming them into custom tabs within the CRM interface. Think of it as the stylish pocket square that completes the look. In this session, our MVP @Damien Cregan provided an introduction to Deluge scripting and its role in creating integrations between Zoho Creator and Zoho CRM. He also delved into the intricacies of fetching records from Creator within CRM and vice versa, as well as creating and updating records in both platforms. Watch the recording here.

Zoho Developer Hangout 14

By serving as gateways for accessing and sharing functionalities and data across applications, APIs empower developers to tap into external resources and services that enrich their applications with enhanced features and solutions. Eric, a consistent top contributor in the Zoho Developer Community, says, "Zoho APIs can be fun to use. For core applications like CRM, Desk, and Books, there is an abundance of API endpoints to use and play with. Whether you are developing in or out of Zoho, there is a lot of commonality." In this episode, he discussed the API documentation, limitations, and gotchas, using the API in Deluge, and then demonstrated a use case outside of Zoho with a Ruby application. Watch the recording here.

Upcoming Events

Note: To stay on top of the upcoming developer community events, keep an eye on this page.
  1. Zoho Developer Community Bootcamps - India: We're excited to announce a line-up of Zoho Developer Community Bootcamps in India. These bootcamps focus on empowering developers of all skill levels to learn and build extensions for Zoho products and potentially monetize them by listing them on Zoho Marketplace. This is a great opportunity to network with fellow developers and Zoho users, interact with Zoho experts, share ideas and experiences, and grow together as a community. Read through the details here and register for the meetup in your city.

  2. Zoho QEngine 101: We are happy to announce Zoho QEngine 101 series for the developer community consisting of five sessions in total. This series aims to enable attendees to create test cases from scratch, manage them under modules, and execute them for three different platforms—web, mobile, and API—using Zoho QEngine. Registration and more details here. We also have the Get to know Zoho QEngine webinar series to enhance your understanding of how to leverage QEngine for efficient application testing, particularly through automation. 

  3. Zoho CRM APIs: In this series, you will learn about OAuth2.0 authorization used by Zoho CRM APIs, CRUD operations for retrieving, creating, updating, and deleting records, efficient search/query methods, data synchronization techniques for consistency across platforms, and working with SDKs for seamless integration of Zoho CRM functionality into applications. Register for this multi-part series and start using developer-centric CRM features like a pro!

  4. Zoho Extensions 101 – Extensions for Zoho Finance Suite: This series offers a comprehensive exploration of developing extensions and widgets for the Zoho Finance suite. Starting with an introduction to Sigma and the Zoho Books platform, subsequent sessions cover creating extensions, testing, publishing, and listing apps in the Zoho Marketplace. Click here for the detailed agenda and registration.

  5. eSignatures with Zoho Sign: Discover how to create legally binding documents and seamlessly integrate Zoho Sign into your website or mobile application using Zoho Sign APIs and SDKs. Join us to learn the importance of integrating a digital signature solution into your website, get a product walkthrough of Zoho Sign, and gain insights into utilizing Zoho Sign's APIs effectively. Register here.

  6. Catalyst Masterclass – Build next-gen bots with NLP capabilities using ConvoKraft: Join us for an exclusive webinar on Catalyst ConvoKraft with industry experts to learn how to build next-gen bots with advanced Natural Language Processing (NLP) capabilities. Catalyst ConvoKraft is an open platform on which third-party, non-AI developers can build chatbots. Developers can easily embed bots built on ConvoKraft into their application's front end for end-users to interact with.

  7. Learning Table Series: 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 recent webinar on Creator for the Logistics Industry was a success, and during the upcoming session, we'll be exploring Creator for the Education Industry.

    Title: Creator For the Education Industry
    Date: May 2, 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

  8. Creator Tech Connect Series: 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. We are conducting a three-month series on mobile applications in Zoho Creator. The recently concluded session focused on customizing mobile applications in Zoho Creator, while the upcoming session in the series will be about Rebranding mobile applications in Zoho Creator.

    Title: Rebranding Mobile Applications in Zoho Creator
    Date: May 9, 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

Resource Spotlight

We've consolidated all the resources from the developer community learning series into a centralized hub for your convenient access. Consider bookmarking the Zoho Developer Community website to stay informed about the latest updates in the developer community.

Community Discussions

Zoho Developer Forum

  • At times, even the tiniest syntax slip-up can be vexing. That's where community support comes through, as members have likely encountered similar challenges. In this instance, @Philip sought assistance on our forum for a WHERE clause issue in a COQL query, and as usual, @Haiku Technical Support swiftly offered helpful tips to guide @Philip and @DataWarehouse.
  • More often than not, minor script glitches can escalate into significant time drains for developers. @Jason's struggle with transferring subform records highlights the frustration such issues can bring. Our MVP @Hugh Marshall's timely intervention not only resolved the problem but also underscored the invaluable support network within the community.
  • @Emmanuel struggled to update a multi-select field in Zoho CRM, prompting other community members to jump into the discussion with similar challenges. @Sunderjan and @Pheranda pitched in with code snippets to help them through their predicaments.
  • Identifying the cause of a problem is key to resolving it, which is precisely what @Hugh Marshall aided in with @Jorge's situation. While attempting to parse an XML file in Zoho CRM, @Jorge Andrés faced challenges in isolating and processing details from the XML, despite exploring different solutions. Go through this conversation to understand how community can be your go-to when you’re stuck in coding conundrums.

Developers ZUG Cliq Channel

Note: These conversations are confined to the Developers ZUG Cliq channel members. If you're keen on becoming a part of this space, please fill in this onboarding form to receive your invitation to join the channel.
  • Does it spark your interest when I say that it's possible to search email ID in Leads and Contacts modules at the same time? Go through this discussion where @Venessa West shares how.
  • @Nhivethasre comes to @Piyush's rescue with the steps involved in publishing his Zoho Creator app on Google Play Store and Apple's App Store. Make sure to bookmark this thread for future reference when you're ready to publish your own app!
  • Our champions Tasha and Puneeth offered step-by-step solution to Fatih in this discussion to fetch data from a website (specifically, YouTube) using Deluge and funnel it into Zoho Desk via an app developed with Zoho Catalyst.
  • Check out this lovely conversation that shows the pros coming together to help each other out with great camaraderie!
  • @Haiku Technical Support helped @Danny save some time by suggesting a more straighforward solution to his requirement, avoiding the need to integrate more products than needed.

Community Spotlight

ZDH Speakers

The contributions of our ZDH presenters have been instrumental in the success of the this segment. We extend our heartfelt appreciation for their efforts.

As a continuation of featuring a ZDH presenter each month, this time, we would like to introduce our ninth presenter Christopher Mowers. Explore this post to discover the knowledge and insights he shared with the community.

Cliq Contributors

The Developers ZUG Cliq channel has consistently served as the primary hub for community members seeking technical assistance and engaging in savvy discussions. Here are our top contributors who have gone the extra mile to support and assist the Zoho Developer 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 to be featured in the upcoming month's digest. Wishing you an amazing month ahead!

SEE ALSO





        • Recent Topics

        • Reminder needs 0 minute choice

          I most use 0 minute reminders.  Every other calender service has this choice.  If I create an event in my Android calendar with 0 minute reminder it will change to 5 minute.  Please ad 0 as a reminder choice, this should be a 5 minute fix.  Thanks.

        • Customer ticket creation via Microsoft Teams

          Hi all, I'm looking to see if someone could point me in the right direction. I'd love to make it so my customers/ end users can make tickets, see responses and respond within microsoft teams. As Admin and an Agent i've installed the zoho assist app within

        • Is there a way to update all the start and end dates of tasks of a project after a calendar change?

          Hi! Here's my situation. I've built a complete project planning. All its tasks have start dates and due dates. After completing the planning, I've realized that the project calendar was not the right one. So I changed the project calendar. I now have

        • How to update task start date when project start date changes?

          Hi there, When the start date of a project changes, it's important to update the start dates of the tasks associated with that project to reflect the new timeline. Is there a way to shift the start date of all project tasks when the start date of a project

        • Issue with Picklist Dropdown Not Opening on Mobile

          Hello I am experiencing an issue with picklist values on mobile. While the arrow is visible, the dropdown to scroll through the available values often does not open. This issue occurs sporadically, it has worked occasionally, but it is very rare and quite

        • using the client script based on the look up filed i wnat to fetch the record details like service number , service rate

          based on selected service look up field iwant to fetch the service serial number in the serice form how i achive using client script also how i get the current date in the date field in the on load of the form

        • Zoho Books/Square integration, using 2 Square 'locations' with new Books 'locations'?

          Hello! I saw some old threads about this but wasn't sure if there were any updates. Is there a way to integrate the Square locations feature with the Books locations feature? As in, transactions from separate Books locations go to separate Square locations

        • Zoho Commerce - How To Change Blog Published Date and Author

          Hi Commerce Team, I'm discussing a project with a client who wants to move from Woo Commerce / Wordpress to Zoho Commerce. They have around 620 blog posts which will need to be migrated. I am now aware of the blog import feature and I have run some tests.

        • Does zoho inventory need Enterprise or Premium subsrciption to make Widgets.

          We have Zoho One Enterprise and yet we can't create widgets on inventory.

        • ZMA shows as already connected to Zoho CRM, but integration not working

          When I try to connect ZMA with Zoho CRM, it shows as already connected, but the integration doesn’t seem to be working. I’ve attached the screen recording for reference.

        • Automatic Email Alerts for Errors in Zoho Creator Logs

          Hello, We would like to request a feature enhancement in Zoho Creator regarding error notifications. Currently, Zoho Creator allows users to view logs and errors for each application by navigating to Zoho Creator > Operations > Logs. However, there is

        • Recurring Automated Reminders

          Hi, The reminders feature in Zoho Books is a really helpful feature to automate reminders for invoices. However, currently we can set reminders based on number of days before/after the invoice date. It would be really helpful if a recurring reminder feature

        • Workflow Rule - Field Updates: Ability to use Placeholders

          It will be great if you can use placeholder tags to update fields. For example if we want to update a custom field with the client name we can use ${CONTACT.CONTACT_FIRSTNAME}${CONTACT.CONTACT_LASTNAME}, etc

        • Zobot Execution Logs & Run History (Similar to Zoho Flow)

          Dear Zoho SalesIQ Team, We would like to request an enhancement for Zoho SalesIQ Zobot: adding an execution log / run history, similar to what already exists in Zoho Flow. Reference: Zoho Flow In Zoho Flow, every execution is recorded in the History tab,

        • Password Assessment Reports for all users

          I'm the super admin and looking at the reporting available for Zoho Vault. I can see that there is a Password Assessment report available showing the passwords/weak and security score by user. However I'm confused at the 'report generated on' value. Monitor

        • Can't change form's original name in URL

          Hi all, I have been duplicating + editing forms for jobs regarding the same department to maintain formatting + styling. The issue I've not run into is because I've duplicated it from an existing form, the URL doesn't seem to want to update with the new

        • Setting certian items to be pickup only

          How do we have some items that are pickup only? I have several items in my item's list that I do not ship. But they need to be on the website to be sold, and picked up in store. Need to be able to do this as one of these products is a major seller for

        • Using gift vouchers

          We would like to be able to offer a limited number of gift vouchers, of varying values, to our customers, and are looking for the best way to do this. We have looked at Coupons and Gift Certificates, but neither seem to fit the bill perfectly. Coupons:

        • Automatically updating field(s) of lookup module

          I have a lookup field, which also pulls through the Status field from the linked record. When the lookup is first done, the Status is pulled through - this works perfectly. If that Status is later updated, the lookup field does not update as well. As

        • Zoho Commerce and Third-party shipping (MachShip) API integration

          We are implementing a third-party shipping (MachShip) API integration for our Zoho Commerce store and have made significant progress. However, we need guidance on a specific technical challenge. Current Challenge: We need to get the customer input to

        • Adding custom "lookup" fields in Zoho Customization

          How can I add a second “lookup” field in Zoho? I’m trying to create another lookup that pulls from my Contacts, but the option doesn’t appear in the module customization sidebar. In many cases, a single work order involves multiple contacts. Ideally,

        • Can you import projects into Zoho Projects yet?

          I see some very old posts asking about importing project records into Zoho Projects. But I can't find anything up to date about the topic. Has this functionality been added? Importing tasks is helpful. But we do have a project where importing projects

        • Allocating inventory to specific SO's

          Is there a way that allocate inventory to a specific sales order? For example, let's say we have 90 items in stock. Customer 1 orders 100 items. This allocates all 90 items to their order, and they have a back order for the remaining 10 items which could

        • Zoho Inventory. Preventing Negative Stock in Sales Orders – Best Practices?

          Dear Zoho Inventory Community, We’re a small business using Zoho Inventory with a team of sales managers. Unfortunately, some employees occasionally overlook stock levels during order processing, leading to negative inventory issues. Is there a way to

        • Automation #10 - Auto Assign Ticket based on Keywords

          This is a monthly series designed to help you get the best out of Desk. We take our cue from what's being discussed or asked about the most in our community. Then we find the right use cases that specifically highlight solutions, ideas and tips on optimizing

        • Automate attendance tracking with Zoho Cliq Developer Platform

          I wish remote work were permanently mandated so we could join work calls from a movie theatre or even while skydiving! But wait, it's time to wake up! The alarm has snoozed twice, and your team has already logged on for the day. Keeping tabs on attendance

        • Reusable Custom Functions Across Department Workflows

          Dear Zoho Desk Team, We appreciate the powerful workflow automation capabilities in Zoho Desk, particularly the ability to create and use custom functions within workflows. However, we have encountered a limitation that impacts efficiency and maintainability.

        • Feature Request - Gift Cards or Gift Voucher Capability in Zoho Commerce

          Hi Zoho Commerce team, I'm comming accross more and more retail businesses who sell gift cards. As there is currently no way to manage this in Zoho Commerce, it is a blocker to addoption. This is particularly popular in Europe and North America. I recently

        • Don't Allow Customer to Edit Values After Submitting Ticket

          After a customer submits a ticket through the customer portal, they can go into the ticket and see some of the values from the questions they answered in the sidebar. Currently, a customer can edit these values even after they submitted them. This makes no sense. We ask very specific questions that we don't want customers to later change! Please disable the ability for customers to edit the values to their submission questions in the portal. Screenshot attached.

        • Analytics <-> Invoice Connection DELETED by Zoho

          Hi All, I am reaching out today because of a big issue we have at the moment with Zoho Analytics and Zoho Invoice. Our organization relies on Zoho Analytics for most of our reporting (operationnal teams). A few days ago we observed a sync issue with the

        • text length in list report mobile/tablet

          Is there a way to make the full text of a text field appear in the list report on mobile and tablet? With custom layouts, the text is always truncated after a certain number of characters.

        • Automation #4 - Auto Delete Tickets based on Rules

          This is a monthly series in which we pick some common use cases that have been either discussed or most asked about in our community and explain how they can be achieved using one of the automation capabilities in Zoho Desk. Unwanted tickets spamming

        • Zoho Community Digest — Enero 2026

          ¡Hola, comunidad! 🌟 Aquí os traemos las novedades más interesantes de Zoho durante este mes de enero, incluyendo actualizaciones de productos, integraciones y un recordatorio sobre los workshops certificados que vuelven a España. 🎓 Eventos y Comunidad

        • Automation #3 - Auto-sync email attachments to tickets

          This is a monthly series where we pick some common use cases that have been either discussed or most asked about in our community and explain how they can be achieved using one of the automation capabilities in Zoho Desk. Most of our customers use email

        • Automation #11 - Auto Update Custom Fields with Values from Emails

          This is a monthly series designed to help you get the best out of Desk. We take our cue from what's being discussed or asked about the most in our community. Then we find the right use cases that specifically highlight solutions, ideas and tips to optimize

        • Automation #13 - Auto assign tickets based on agent shift time

          This is a monthly series designed to help you get the best out of Desk. We take our cue from what's being discussed or asked about the most in our community. Then we find the right use cases that specifically highlight solutions, ideas and tips to optimize

        • Automation #14: Capture Jira Issue Key/ID in a Ticket Custom Field

          Hello Everyone! This month's edition brings you a custom function to consolidate your records associated with Jira integration. Jira integration enables support engineers and R&D units to collaborate seamlessly on feature development, product improvement,

        • Automation #16: Automate Ticket Reopening on Scheduled Timestamp

          Hello Everyone! This edition uncovers the option to schedule reopening a ticket automatically. Zylker Finance tracks insurance policyholder activities through Zoho Desk. For policyholders who pay monthly premiums, tickets are closed upon payment completion.

        • Automation#19:Auto-Close Tickets Upon Task Completion

          Hello Everyone! We’re excited to bring you another custom function this week. In this edition, we’ll show you how to automatically close tickets when all associated tasks are marked as completed. Let’s see how ZylkaPure, a leading water filter company,

        • Automation #15: Automatically Adding Static Secondary Contacts

          Rockel is a top-tier client of Zylker traders. Marcus handles communications with Rockel and would like to add Terence, the CTO of Zylker traders to the email conversations. In this case, the emails coming from user address rockel.com should have Terence

        • Next Page