Hello Everyone,
Introducing a custom function that automates the process of adding new portal users to Help Center user groups, making user management effortless!
By default, Zoho Desk allows you to assign new portal users to groups manually. But with this custom function, the process is completely automated, ensuring seamless categorization.

Why User Groups?
Zylker Techfix was dedicated to helping customers through their Help Center. While they actively supported users, there was one challenge: everyone received the announcements, irrespective of their requirements.
Zylker Techfix wanted a smarter way to engage their users by sending targeted announcements based on individual interests, such as gadgets, office equipment, and operations.
To make this happen, they created user groups and assigned new users accordingly. But manually adding users to the right groups was time-consuming.
So, they automated the process! With a custom function, they streamlined operations, ensuring every new portal user was automatically assigned to the right Help Center user group. More relevance, better engagement, zero manual effort.
Let’s walk through the steps to incorporate this custom function into your workflow.
Prerequisites
1. Create a connection
1.1 Go to Setup(S) and choose Connections under Developer Space.
1.2 Click Create Connection.
1.3 Select Zoho OAuth under Default Connection.
1.4 Set the connection name as zohodesk.
1.5 Disable the toggle for User Credentials of Login User.
1.6 Under Scope, choose the below scope values:
Desk.contacts.READ
Desk.contacts.UPDATE
1.7 Click Create and Connect.
1.8 Click Connect and click Accept.
Connection is created successfully.
Create a Workflow Rule
1. Go to Setup, choose Workflows under Automation.
2. Under Workflows, click Create Rule.
In the Basic Information section,
3. Select Contacts from the drop-down menu under Module.
4. Enter a Rule Name and Description for the rule.
5. If you want to activate the rule right away, select the Active checkbox. Else, create the rule and activate it later.
6. Click Next.
In the Execute on section, follow these steps:
7. Select Field Update. Select field isPortalUser.
8. Click Next.
9. In the Criteria section, add isPortalUser is and select the checkbox. click Next.
10. In the Actions section, click the + icon and select New next to Custom Functions.
11. Enter a Name and Description for the custom function. Choose Contacts under Module.
12. Under Argument Mapping, give a desired Method Name. Map the arguments as below:
12.1 In the Argument Name field, type contactId and select Contact ID under the Contacts Section.
13. In the script window, insert the Custom Function given below:
- // ---------------User inputs------------------------------------------
- deskUrl = "https://desk.zoho.com/api/v1/"; // replace based on user dc
- groupId = "<<GROUP ID>>"; // replace the group id in your desk portal
- //---------------------------------
- logs = Map();
- try
- {
- getContactStatus = invokeurl
- [
- url :deskUrl + "contacts/" + contactId + "/helpCenters"
- type :GET
- connection:"zohodesk"
- ];
- contactUserId = getContactStatus.get("data").get(0).get("userId");
- if(contactUserId != null)
- {
- addUserToGroup = invokeurl
- [
- url : deskUrl + "groups/" + groupId + "/users/add"
- type :POST
- parameters:"" + {"users":{{"id":contactUserId}}}
- headers:{"Content-Type":"application/json"}
- detailed:true
- connection:"zohodesk"
- ];
- info "addUserToGroup" + addUserToGroup;
- }
- }
- catch (errorInfo)
- {
- logs.insert("errorInfo":errorInfo);
- }
- info "logs: \n" + logs;
- if(logs.containKey("errorInfo"))
- {
- throws "Error happen in the CF execution";
- }
User Inputs
a. In Line 2, replace .com in the URL based on your DC.
b. In Line 3, enter the group ID to which you would like to add your new portal users. To access group ID, go to Setup >> Help Center >> Select the Department having your preferred User group >> choose User Groups on the left panel >> Select the user group >> The Id in the address bar is the required Group ID.

Note: Configure the Workflow for the contacts module in the respective department where you want to add portal users to be added to the User group.
14. Click Save to save the custom function.
15. Click Save again to save the workflow.
Share with us how this custom function helps you in your operations! Drop a comment below or reach out to us at
support@zohodesk.com, we’re just an email away!
Meet you in the next post!
Regards,
Lydia | Zoho Desk
Recent Topics
User marked as SPAMMER. Mail Fetch has also been disabled for any active POP accounts.
I am the administrator for joelles.com One of our accounts has been blocked saying this: User marked as SPAMMER. Mail Fetch has also been disabled for any active POP accounts. I cannot change the disabled account in the control panel as it says that it
My domain did not activate
Hi, my domain (apsaindustrial.com.ar) did not activate, and the phone verification message never arrived. Please would you solve this problem? Thanks.
ME SALE ESTE ERROR: No fue posible enviar el mensaje;Motivo:554 5.1.8 Email Outgoing Blocked
Ayuda!! Me sale este error al intentar enviar mensajes desde mi correo electronico de Zoho! Tampoco recibo correos pues cuando me envia rebotan. Ayuda, Me urge enviar unos correo importantes!! Quedo atenta MAGDA HERNANDEZ +5731120888408
Is there a way to sync Tags between CRM and Campaigns/Marketing Hub?
I wonder if there is a way to synch the tags between CRM and Marketing-Hub / Campaigns?
how to see if a specific contact opened an email in zoho campaign?
how to see if a specific contact opened an email in zoho campaign?
Revenue Management: #8 Revenue Recognition in Educational & Training Institutions
Educational Institutions and training centres typically collect course fees at the time of enrolment, sometimes for a one-day workshop and sometimes for a year-long certification course. You might also charge separately for course materials or evaluation.
How to Customize Task Creation to Send a Custom Alert Using JavaScript in Zoho CRM?
Hello Zoho CRM Community, I’m looking to customize Zoho CRM to send a custom alert whenever a task is created. I understand that Zoho CRM supports client scripts using JavaScript, and I would like to leverage this feature to implement the alert functionality.
how to use validation rules in subform
Is it possible to use validation rules for subforms? I tried the following code: entityMap = crmAPIRequest.toMap().get("record"); sum = 0; direct_billing = entityMap.get("direct_billing_details"); response = Map(); for each i in direct_billing { if(i.get("type")
Using files from Zoho CRM in Gemini/ChatGPT/Claude
Hi all, I’ve got subscriptions to Gemini and a few other AI tools which I use for tasks like data enrichment, email composition, etc. In our workflow, we often receive various documents from clients — such as process workflows, BRDs/requirement documents
Enhancements to the formula field in Zoho CRM: Auto-refresh formulas with the "Now" function, stop formula executions based on criteria, and include formulas within formulas
Dear Customers, We hope you're well! By their nature, modern businesses rely every day on computations, whether it's to calculate the price of a product, assess ROI, evaluate the lifetime value of a customer, or even determine the age of a record. With
Maximum file limit in zoho people LMS
Dear Team, I am having approximately 4.9 GB of material, including PPTs and videos for uploading in zoho people LMS course. May I know what is the maximum limit limit for the course files Thanking you, With regards, Logeswar V Executive _ Operations
Dynamically prefill ticket fields
Hello, I am using Zoho Desk to collect tickets of our clients about orders they placed on our website. I would like to be able to prefill two tickets fields dynamically, in this case a readonly field for the order id, and a hidden field for the seller
Optimize your Knowledge Base for better visibility by allowing search engine crawling and indexing
All you need to know about no-follow and no-index in KB. What are article crawlability and indexability? Crawlability and indexability are vital for making an article visible and accessible to search engines. When a search engine crawls an article, it
Has anyone created a public ASAP Guide that I can check out?
I am thinking of adding an ASAP guide to my web application, but I have noticed that the ASAP widget itself can be really slow to load sometimes. Has anyone created a public ASAP Guide that I can check to see how performant it is? I don't want to spend
Zoho Desk Partners with Microsoft's M365 Copilot for seamless customer service experiences
Hello Zoho Desk users, We are happy to announce that Zoho Desk has partnered with Microsoft's M365 to empower customer service teams with enhanced capabilities and seamless experiences for agents. Microsoft announced their partnership during their keynote
What’s New in Zoho Analytics – September 2025
Hello Users!! In this month’s update, we’re raising the bar across multiple touchpoints, from how you bring in data, plan and track projects to how you design and brand your dashboards. We’ve added the all-new Gantt chart for project visualization, expanded
Zoho MCP has no tools for Creator or 3rd Party Apps?
I don't see a Zoho MCP community forum so putting this here. Two big problems I see: 1) Although Zoho advertises "over 950 3rd party apps" as available through their MCP, when I go to "Add Tools" there are ZERO 3rd party apps available to choose from.
Zoho Forms - Zoho Drive connection - Shared Drives not supported
Hello i am stuck with Google Drive Connection There is no supported shared drives Connection is not support shared drives boolean Query Parameters - supportsAllDrives=true&supportsTeamDrives=true to activate fetch files from the shared drives. Ahat need
Can't create package until Bill created?
I can't understand why we cannot create a package until a Bill is created? We are having to created draft Bills to create a package when the item is received, but we may not have received a Bill from the supplier. Also, Bill # is required, but we normally
Whats the Time out Limit for API Calls from Deluge?
Hi Creator Devs, We are making API calls to third party server via Deluge. Getting this error message: Error at line : 24, The task has been terminated since the API call is taking too long to respond. Please try again after sometime. Whats the default
How to get the authorization code for domain transfer from Zoho?
I have transferred my domain from zoho to godaddy, and that needs a authorization code. I haven't got any mail containing that. How to get the authorization code from domain transfer? Thanks, Arun
Community Digest Agosto 2025 - Todas las novedades en Español Zoho Community
¡Hola, Zoho Community! Agosto llega a su fin y septiembre nos trae aire fresco a la comunidad: más inteligencia con IA, actualizaciones que elevan la productividad y la recta final hacia Zoholics España 2025. Aquí tienes lo más destacado del mes para
I have error AS101 when I try to add paypal@mydomain.com to Zoho
Please help me with this. I tried to call the help line 4 times but don't get any response.
Tip #3: How to change your booking page language
Displaying your booking page in your target audience's language can greatly increase customer satisfaction. By speaking their language, you will help customers feel more comfortable scheduling with you and create a stronger connection with them. Let's
How can I optimize a Zoho Site page for SEO when embedding external menu or restaurant links?
Hi everyone, I’m experimenting with building small content hubs on Zoho Sites and want to make sure I’m doing it in an SEO-friendly way. For example, I tried creating a page that highlights restaurant menu items and linked out to a resource like this:
Diff signature for compose new email and replies
Hi, How do i have different signature for replies and new emails. its inconvenient to have one large signature for replies. Usually on Outlook we have the option to keep separate signatures for new emails and for replies.
Zoho Website Site Speed Up & Setting
We are experiencing slow loading speeds on our Zoho website and would like assistance in optimizing its performance. Kindly review the site and suggest or implement necessary improvements to enhance speed, especially related to: > Caching mechanisms >
Clickjacking: Zoho Vault's Response
Issue: Password manager browser extensions are found to be vulnerable to clickjacking security vulnerabilities that could allow attackers to steal account credentials, TFA codes, and card details under certain conditions. Reported by: Marek Toth, Independent
Refund
Hi There, Please refund me asap possible, because of no support given. Thank you
No option for pick up in Zoho Books / Inventory but yes on commerce
Is it planned to release soon on books/inventory?
Accessing Zoho form enteries via API
Hi As a user I can view enteries to a form at: https://forms.zoho.com/<myOrganisation>/report/<myReportName>/records/web How do I access these entries via API? I don't have any problem with scope and getting tokens. But I have no idea what the API call
Zoho Books - France
L’équipe de Zoho France reçoit régulièrement des questions sur la conformité de ses applications de finances (Zoho Books/ Zoho Invoice) pour le marché français. Voici quelques points pour clarifier la question : Zoho Books est un logiciel de comptabilité
Blueprint Issue - Being able to set a subform field as mandatory
I'm creating a blueprint. My record involves a subform which is only shown once field is set but the field gets set in step two of the process. My problem - I can't save the record as the subform field is set to mandatory - If I unset the mandatory field,
Blueprint - Mandatory file upload field
Hi, File upload (as we as image upload) field cannot be set as mandatory during a blueprint transition. Is there a workaround? Setting attachments as mandatory doesn't solve this need as we have no control over which attachments are added, nor can we
Zoho Books - Include Quote Status in Workflow Field Triggers
Hi Zoho Books team, I recently tried to create a Workflow rule based on when a Quote is Accepted by the customer. This is something which I thought would be very easy to do, however I discovered that Status is not listed as a field which can be monitored
Zoho Books - Show Related Sales Orders on Quotes
Hi Books team, I've noticed that the Quotes don't show show the related Sales Order. My feature request is to also show related Sales Orders above the Quote so it's easy to follow the thread of records in the sales and fulfilment process. Below screenshot
Add VAT/Tax line to bank adjustments
When categorising transactions and matching bank feeds with transactions such as customer payments, we use the "Add Adjustment" to add things like fees/bank fees. It would be useful to choose a VAT/Tax rate here. Whilst there is a bank charges option when adding a payment, this goes into the default bank charges account. We use the adjustments so that we can choose the account and separate our fees. We use different card providers and Worldpay charges VAT so we are stuck. We cannot integrate with
New Menu Layout Feedback
I'd really like to see the banking item back on the top of the menu. I'm sure part of it is just because that's what I'm accustomed to. However, for a bookkeeping program, I think there's a logic to having banking be on top. Not a giant issue, but something
How to use Rollup Summary in a Formula Field?
I created a Rollup Summary (Decimal) field in my module, and it shows values correctly. When I try to reference it in a Formula Field (e.g. ${Deals.Partners_Requested} - ${Deals.Partners_Paid}), I get the error that the field can’t be found. Is it possible
Form Accessibility
Hi, is there an update on the accessibility standard of Zoho forms? Are the forms WCAG 2.1 AA compliant?
Next Page