Leverage layout rules to customize workflow

Layout rules in Zoho Sprints primarily aim to customize the field layout of your creation forms to meet complex requirements. But it doesn't stop there. Its customization can push the boundaries of how your fields behave, how data is gathered, how processes are branched out, and how workflow is channeled.

Based on conditions, you can tailor field behavior, direct the life cycle of an item, mandate specific actions, restrict the field options, or auto-assign users. The possibilities are aplenty.

We've tried to provide a few sample scenarios that help you automate your data collection and progress tracking flow. If you have any specific requirements, please state them in the comments, and we'll find out if layout rules can help you.

Use case 1: Restricting item statuses based on work item types

With layout rules, each item type can have its own workflow. This means it can have its own unique set of statuses that align with its specific lifecycle.

Let's assume you have three item types: Bug, Story, and Task.

Each type follows its own lifecycle, represented by the following statuses.

• Bug goes through the To Do, In Progress, Bug Fixing, Bug Testing, and Done statuses.
  
• Story has To Do, Ideation, In Progress, Development, Review, and Done.
  
• And Task moves through a simple To Do, In Progress, and Done.
  

To align with these flows, certain statuses should not be available to specific item types. For instance, a story or a task should not be moved to the Bug Fixing status. Similarly, a bug or a task should not be moved to the Development status.

To enforce this, we can create layout rules that control which statuses are available based on the item type.

So, we'll create three conditions with each item type as the primary field.

• If the item type is Bug, specify the condition with the trigger action to restrict the status pick list to To Do, In Progress, Bug Fixing, Bug Testing, and Done.
  
• If the item type is Story, specify the condition with the trigger action to restrict the status pick list to To Do, Ideation, In Progress, Development, Review, and Done.
  
• If the item type is Task, specify the condition with the trigger action to restrict the status pick list to To Do, In Progress, and Done.
  

Together, these conditions control the status progression for each item type. So, when you create a bug, it will only progress into the statuses that belong to the Bug lifecycle.

Use Case 2: Restricting future statuses based on the item's current status

When your team requires a pre-defined strict workflow where an item can be moved from a specific status to only a few statuses, layout rules can help implement this. For example, an item in the Bug Fixing status should only move to Bug Testing, and no other status. This way, each status controls the next status in the workflow.

To ensure this, create layout rules specifying conditions for each of the item status:

• If the status is To do, specify the condition with the trigger action to restrict the status pick list to In progress and Rejected.
  
• If the status is In progress, specify the condition with the trigger action to restrict the status pick list to In progress and Development.
  
• If the status is Development, specify the condition with the trigger action to restrict the status pick list to Review Level 1.
  
• If the status is Review Level 1, specify the condition with the trigger action to restrict the status pick list to Reopen and Review Level 2.
  
• If the status is Reopen, specify the condition with the trigger action to restrict the status pick list to In progress.
  

Use case 3: Making a field mandatory based on item status or item type

Let's assume you want a field to be made mandatory only when the item is moved to one particular status. Which implies the field will remain non-mandatory during other statuses and will be mandatory only at that particular status. So, the progress to that status must be allowed only when the mandatory field is updated.

For instance, when an item is moved to the Done status, the Approver field must become mandatory to record completion approval. To ensure that this process is executed, you can create a layout rule where the primary field is the Status Name. If the status field is updated to Done, specify the condition with the trigger action to set the Approver field as mandatory.

​

​

Use case 4: Showing or hiding a section or field based on item types

Layout rules enable you to show or hide fields or sections based on item type conditions.

Let's say a section with fields related to a new feature should only be visible when the item type is New Feature.

Similarly, when the item type is Security Issue, the section with fields related to Security issue must be visible.

To achieve this, create a layout rule with Item Type as the primary field.

• Create a condition for the New Feature item type with a trigger action to show the New Feature Details section.
  
• Create a condition for the Security Issue item type with a trigger action to show the Security Issue Details section.
  

Use case 5: Selecting specific assignees for item types and priorities

Layout rules can help you assign users based on the item type and priority. Let's say your team has a group of developers with varied levels of experience and expertise. You want to assign the high priority items to a more experienced member like John, while assigning low priority items to a novice like Peter.

If the item type is Bug and the priority level is Critical, you can assign the bug to John. If the priority level is High, it goes to Peter.

To meet this requirement, you can create a layout rule with Item Type as the primary field.

• Create a condition for the item type Bug with a subcondition where the priority level is Critical and the trigger action has the Set Field Value Assignee as John.
  
• For the same condition, add a subcondition where the priority level is High and the trigger action has the Set Field Value Assignee as Peter.

Similarly, say you want the Task item type with a medium priority level to go to Helen, and a low priority level should go to James.

• Create a condition for the item type Task with a subcondition where the priority level is Medium and the trigger action has the Set Field Value Assignee as Helen.
  
• For the same condition, add a subcondition where the priority level is Low and the trigger action has the Set Field Value Assignee as James.
  

These are just a few examples of how layout rules can streamline your project management. Do you have any particular scenario that needs resolution? Please share it with us.

Thanks,

Zoho Sprints Team

• Topic Participants

• Neethinila R

  

• Sticky Posts

• Tip #28 - Plan less and deliver more using WIP limit in Zoho Sprints

  Hello, It's been a while since we met with a quick, interesting tip. As the saying goes, "Too much of anything is good for nothing", today the focus is on delivering your outcomes with the right amount of planning. Your plan should be practical, calculative, and achievable for driving a qualitative success.    Laura's plan   Laura has a habit of planning her project deliverables before assigning work to her team-mates. Once the plan is finalized, she schedules a general meeting with her team and

• Tip # 3- Working on the Scrum board

  Continuing from our Tip #2 on leading to a sprint, let's see how to manage the work items on the Scrum board.  Once you start the sprint your work items are automatically displayed on the Scrum board where you will actually manage the work items. It is a snapshot of the backlog items identified for the current sprint.    The layout of the Scrum board Simply put, the scrum board is just like a physical board with sticky notes on which the work items of the active sprint are displayed.  The scrum board

• Tip#2- Leading you to a Sprint

  Product Backlog After the user stories are written and finalized, they are sorted to create the Product Backlog for the project during the Backlog Grooming meeting. This is a master list of all the work items that have been identified for the project and sorted by priority. Requirements are not constant during this period.The Product Backlog is dynamic and is an ongoing process. Every user story in the Product Backlog is customer centric. The Product Backlog includes: User centric stories based on

• Tip #1- Why swimlanes?

  Lanes define a clear path to reach your destination. In Agile, swimlane is one such concept that sets a simple and clear process of the work that you do.   The concept of swimlane can be related to the pool, where the swimmers gather in their respective lanes to start off. Similar to the pool, work items are grouped in different categories. Each category is referred as a lane and is displayed in horizontal format. Swimlanes are effective in categorizing the work items with respective to specific

• Recent Topics

• Recruit paid support?

  Hi all, Could anyone who has paid support package advise if it provides value for money with regards to support response times? Exploring the idea as unfortunately when we have faced issues with Recruit it has been a 7+ day timescale from reporting to

• Ticket Status email

  Good day, This was discussed in the past, but it would be helpful if we could have the system assign a custom response to a status. We have various statuses for tickets, e.g. "closed due to no response", or "Pending Status", it would be helpful for the

• Future Orders - Due Date

  Hi In my role, I can receive tickets where the work required is requested months in advance. Using a Future Orders option, which I believe was setup under the On Hold status type, hides the Due Date, in all views/ticket etc. Whilst I understand the reasoning

• Introducing Withdrawal Reasons for Offers

  We’re excited to introduce a new enhancement to the Offer module that brings more clarity and accountability to every withdrawn offer. The Withdrawal Reason update ensures that each withdrawal — manual or automatic — is backed by a clear explanation,

• Zoho Creator customer portal users

  Hi, I'm in a Zoho One subscription with our company. I'm running a project now that involves creating a Zoho Creater application and using the Zoho Creator Customer Portal.  At most we need 25 customer portal users. In our Zoho One plan we only get 3

• GPS tracking only or Check out facility

  Dear Team, Zoho CRM is quite robust CRM but till date i was waiting for the feature of having GPS tracking of Sales employees which is a common demand by all customers for thier field sales executives. We cover them by saying that CRM provides Checkin

• Appraisals on Employee Information Profile

  Is it possible to show completed appraisals on each employee's "Employee Information" page? I would presume at the bottom - similar to the "Related Lists" concept in Zoho CRM. Obviously view access would be limited to employee and appropriate other roles

• Kaizen #220: Actions API - Webhooks APIs - Part 2

  Hello all!! Welcome back to the follow-up Kaizen post of Kaizen #219: Actions API - Webhooks APIs - Part 1. In the previous week, we covered how to configure a basic Webhook and how to include Headers, Body, and URL Parameters using both the POST Webhook

• Standard Payment Term is not pulled from account to quotation

  Hey Team There seems to be something off. I do have "Net 30" as my default payment term in Zoho Books for my customers. If, from the customer overview or quote section, I create a new Quotation, the payment terms field stays blank and doesn't get the

• Manage your invoices from Bigin's mobile app (iOS)

  Hello everyone! We're happy to announce that users can now integrate Zoho Books with the latest version of Bigin's iOS app. Zoho Books can be integrated with Bigin only via the web application. Users can view the Zoho Books tab in the detail pages of

• 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

• Accessibility controls and multilingual captcha authorization for Help Center users ​

  Hello everyone, As part of our ongoing effort to improve user experience, we are excited about the accessibility controls and predefined accessibility personas added in the Help Center, similar to what is already available in Zoho Desk. Help Center users

• Zoho Sign + Zoho CRM : la solution pour simplifier vos accords de vente

  La conclusion d’un contrat de vente nécessite de nombreuses étapes : préparation de documents, validations successives et collecte des signatures. Les équipes commerciales passent souvent par plusieurs cycles de collaboration et de révision, tout en assurant

• Item/service subtotal

  Just discovered & really pleased that we can drag to re-order the line items in Sales orders & Invoices, a very nice feature which doesn't seem to be documented? It would be nice to be able to insert a subtotal as a line item to complete this great feature

• Send email template "permission denied to access the api"

  Hello, Per the title, I'm trying to send a Zoho CRM Email template based on the advice given here: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/specify-an-email-template-when-sending-emails-in-custom-functions (I'd prefer to send right from Deluge

• 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

• Copy, Paste, Highlighted text

  when i copy paste text it gets highlighted. Fix this.  WTF is with this black highlight ? Fix copy pasting. Some people pay for using this mail service. 

• Pricing Strategies: #6 Common Mistakes while Configuring Pricing

  "Why does this month's billing feel messy again?" That was the exact line Priya muttered while staring at the spreadsheet full of edited pricing, one-off discounts and mismatched subscription details. Her business was growing, but the pricing machine

• Publish to LinkedIn via API

  Hi, Is it possible to publish a job opening to LinkedIn (paid job slots) if creating a job opening via api / deluge function? Or is the user required to manually publish via the job boards process? Many Thanks Adrian

• FSM - Associating and selecting Contacts based on Service Addresses

  Hi FSM team, I've come across an FSM limitation I wanted to share for improvement. I'm currently configuring FSM for a client who provides heating system install and maintenance services. The are often sub contracted by building management companies to

• Do Unpublished Products in Shopify Sync to Zoho POS?

  Will an unpublished product in Shopify sync to Zoho POS? I would like to know how Zoho POS handles products that are in draft/unpublished status in Shopify.

• Problem in Zoho POS frontend ERP.

  We are facing some difficulties in our billing and inventory processes and require your support to resolve them at the earliest. Customer Advance Payments We receive advance payments from customers for upcoming sales. Please guide us on how to record

• How to create estimates/Invoices with sub-totals

  Every other accounting package can create estimates and invoices with Sub-totals. How can I do that in ZohoBooks?

• Categorize Items with Item Headers

  Hello customers, Did you ever want to classify items based on specific categories to help your customers understand your invoice better? With the new Item Header feature, you can easily categorize items in your invoices and estimates and give them a common title.  Item Headers are available in the Invoices, the Recurring Invoices and the Estimates module. It can be carried forward from estimates to invoices at the time of converting the estimates.  To add an item header: Go to the Estimates, Invoices

• Discount on the transaction level in POS

  "Is it possible to apply a discount on the total bill before tax in Zoho POS?" I want to apply a discount on the total transaction amount in Zoho POS, but the discount should be calculated before the taxes are applied. Is there an option to do this in

• Create Tasklist with Tasklist Template using API v3

  In the old API, we could mention the parameter 'task_template_id' when creating a tasklist via API to apply a tasklist template: https://www.zoho.com/projects/help/rest-api/tasklists-api.html#create-tasklist In API v3 there does not seem to be a way to

• Send Automated WhatsApp Messages and Leverage the Improved WhatsApp Templates

  Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're excited to announce a major upgrade to Bigin's WhatsApp integration that brings more flexibility, interactivity, and automation to your customer messaging. WhatsApp message automation You can now use

• Jobs at multiple locations

  Hi A lot of times we have same job open at multiple locations. So I would like an option where we can create a job and choose multiple locations. Currently we have to create individual jobs for each location. If we can create one job and mention multiple

• From Zoho CRM to Paper : Design & Print Data Directly using Canvas Print View

  Hello Everyone, We are excited to announce a new addition to your Canvas in Zoho CRM - Print View. Canvas print view helps you transform your custom CRM layouts into print-ready documents, so you can bring your digital data to the physical world with

• Tag Adding Option in Kanban Card Customization Bigin CRM Mobile App

  I would like to request an option to add and display tags on Kanban cards in the Bigin CRM mobile app. This feature would make it easier to categorize deals and quickly identify priorities while working on the go.

• Empowered Custom Views: Cross-Module Criteria Now Supported in Zoho CRM

  Hello everyone, We’re excited to introduce cross-module criteria support in custom views! Custom views provide personalized perspectives on your data and that you can save for future use. You can share these views with all users or specific individuals

• Associating a Candidate to a Job Listing

  Hello, I am trying to use Zoho Forms embedded on my website for candidates to apply for a job opening. I want the form then to tie directly with zoho recruit and have the candidate be automatically inputed into Recruit as well as associated with the specific

• WhatsApp Voice Message Sending Option in Bigin CRM

  I would like to request a feature that allows users to send WhatsApp voice messages directly from Bigin CRM. This would help improve communication efficiency and make it easier for teams to respond quickly to customer inquiries.

• CRM: hosting a single html file in Zoho and displaying it as a widget

  I have seen that CRM offers the option of uploading a web project to Zoho itself and displaying it as a widget in CRM. The instructions then talk about setting a development environment with Node and developing an application to upload to Zoho. But I

• How to change position button transtition of Blueprint?

  Hi Everyone, Look at my screenshoot, it is possible move the reject button to the right? I couldn't find that setting in the blueprint. Thank you.

• Multi file upload

  Hi, I just wonder if one could upload multiple files in one shot, say between one and three files, without adding multiple File Upload fields? Thanks, Alalbany

• Sorting Descending in a lookup

  I have a case number lookup on multiple forms. I need the most recent added to appear at the top of the lookup or as the list of cases grom it's too much to scroll. Is there a way to have a look up sort descending?

• Auto-upload Creator Files to WorkDrive

  Hi everyone, I’m working on a workflow that uploads files from Zoho Creator to specific subfolders in Zoho WorkDrive, as illustrated in the attached diagram. My Creator application form has two multi-file upload fields, and I want—on successful form submission—to

• Asap Widget 2.0

  Where's the documentation for the new ASAP widget? https://www.zoho.com/desk/developers/asap/#introduction this one is outdated How can we dynamically navigate between different views? How can we prefill ticket forms using ASAP 2.0?

• Can the Trigger be changed?

  I'm afraid I already know the answer, but here goes... After activating a workflow (under Campaigns > Automations), Then later choosing to Edit the workflow, Can the Workflow's Trigger be changed? Currently the entire Trigger section + options are gone

• Next Page