What's New - March 2025 | Zoho Backstage

What's New - March 2025 | Zoho Backstage

Hello there,
 
We’re thrilled to introduce a much-awaited lineup of powerful features and enhancements designed to fulfill your event management needs. Here's a round-up of the latest updates that will enhance your experience with Zoho Backstage this month.

Offer Tickets 

Early bird and limited-time offers are powerful tools to boost ticket sales and generate early revenue. With the new Offer Tickets feature, you can create multiple offers as tiers within a single ticket class, making the process more streamlined and automated.

Previously, you had to create separate ticket classes for each offer and manually manage their availability. Now, you can:
  • Add multiple offers under a single ticket class
  • Automate the offer start and stop conditions
  • Reduce manual intervention
Key benefits
 
  • Increased marketing impact: Time-sensitive discounts create a sense of urgency, encouraging faster ticket purchases.
  • Early revenue and cash flow: Early sales provide immediate cash flow to cover event expenses like venue deposits, marketing, and logistics.
  • Leverage Psychological Triggers:
    • FOMO (Fear of Missing Out): Limited-time availability compels attendees to act quickly.
    • Perceived Savings: Attendees feel they are getting a deal, making them more likely to buy.
How to use
 
Setting up offers



You can add offers as tiers within a ticket class and configure their availability based on:
  • Time: Set specific start and end dates for the offer.
  • Quantity: Define the number of tickets available at the offer price.
Flexible offer progression
 
From the second offer onward, you can choose to automatically start the next offer when the previous one ends. Or, set a custom start date for the new offer.

Customizing offer display

You can customize how offers are displayed on your event website using the Website Designer. The offer card can show:


  • Current Offer
  • Previous Offer
  • Next Offer
  • Both Previous and Next Offers
This flexibility helps you highlight the most relevant deals and enhance visibility.
 
Good to know 
  • During the ticket purchase process, the offer name appears alongside the ticket class name. The order summary clearly displays the applied offer.
  • After attendees purchase their tickets, the "Your Orders" section displays the offer name along with the ticket class name. The invoice also reflects the offer name for transparency.
  • When manually adding an order, any valid offers associated with the ticket class are applied automatically. There's no need for manual price adjustments.
  • During check-in, only the original ticket class amount is displayed.
  • Offer-tiered tickets cannot be selected during manual check-in.
Click here to learn more. 

Tax Rules - Canada (Early access)

Accurate tax calculation is essential for ensuring compliance and transparency in event management. With the new Tax Rules feature for Canada, you can automatically apply the correct tax rates based on your event location, making tax management simpler and more efficient. Zoho Backstage now allows you to create tax rules for all 10 provinces and 3 territories, which can be selected and applied to an event automatically, ensuring the correct tax rates are applied without manual adjustments. This feature supports in-person, hybrid, and online events, offering flexibility and accuracy.
 
The Canadian tax rule engine covers 10 provinces, 3 territories, multiple tax agencies, and 12 sales tax rates, providing a comprehensive solution for handling event-related taxes.
 


How do taxes work on Canadian events?  
 
For in-person and hybrid events, the tax rate is determined by the event’s physical location, based on the Place of Supply, in compliance with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) regulations. This ensures attendees are charged the appropriate tax rate according to the province or territory where the event takes place.
 
For online events, where no physical venue exists, the tax is calculated based on the attendee’s location. This ensures the correct sales tax is applied, even when attendees purchase tickets from different provinces or countries.
 
How to use
 
To enable Canada Tax Rules, configure your organization’s location:
  1. Go to Portal Settings > Payments and Tax.
  2. Select Canada as the organization location. 
Once configured, the system automatically populates:
  • 12 default tax rates covering all provinces and territories.
  • 13 tax rules (one for each region).
  • A default rule for online events, applying the correct tax based on the attendee’s location.
  • 5 tax agencies for accurate tax handling. 
You can create new tax rates, groups, and authorities to meet your event’s specific needs. Additionally, you can add custom tax rules for both in-person/hybrid and online events, giving you full control over how taxes are applied.
 
Applying Tax Rules to In-Person and Hybrid events  

​
 
For in-person and hybrid events, Zoho Backstage automatically suggests tax rules based on the event location. The 13 default tax rules cover all Canadian provinces and territories. If the event location changes, the system automatically updates the relevant tax rules to reflect the new region’s rates.
 
You can also create custom tax rules by selecting a specific province or territory and applying a custom tax rate, offering greater flexibility for managing event taxes.
 
Applying Tax Rules to Virtual events
 
For online events, the system uses a default tax rule that covers all Canadian provinces and territories. Taxes are applied based on the attendee's location.
 
Canadian attendees are charged the applicable provincial tax rate.
International attendees are assigned a zero tax rate by default.
 
If you need to apply taxes to international attendees, you can create new tax rules tailored for online events, ensuring compliance with international tax regulations.
Info
  • Tax rules in Zoho Backstage are flexible and dynamic. You can modify them at any time during your event setup. However, changes will only apply to new transactions. Existing transactions will retain the original tax rule, ensuring previous purchases remain unaffected.
  • If you select a non-Canadian location for your event, the Canada Tax Rule will not be applied. This ensures taxes are only charged where applicable, preventing errors in cross-border events.

Event Category  


Categorize and filter events based on custom classifications for organizers and attendees to find and manage events easily. This new addition is aimed at improving event management by giving organizers the flexibility to create, manage, and filter events using custom categories. Organizers can now create up to 100 custom categories when setting up an event, giving them the freedom to define categories that suit their specific needs.
 
Previously, categories selected in Event Info were not utilized elsewhere, and there was no option to add new/manage categories.
Now, organizers can tailor categories to their specific needs and filter them on the Event Directory.

To access: 
  • While Creating an Event: On the Event Info page.
  • For Category Management: Under Portal Settings > Branding > Event Category.
Permissions:
 
Portal Owners & Admins:
  • Add, edit, and delete custom categories.
  • Cannot edit or delete default categories.
Event Organizers:
  • Can only add new categories.
  • Cannot edit or delete existing custom or default categories.

Other Enhancements 

Floor plan Focus Area 



The Focus Area in the floor plan refers to designated spaces within the event venue that are visually highlighted to draw attention to specific sections, such as booths, stages, or key locations. These areas allow organizers to emphasize important spots, making navigation easier for attendees and improving the overall flow of the event. Focus areas help guide visitors to essential parts of the venue, enhancing their event experience.

Custom Dates for  ticket classes (Early access)

In cases where smaller sessions or events (like welcome events, after-event parties, etc.) occur before or after the main event, this feature allows organizers to assign specific dates to separate ticket classes, ensuring tickets are only valid for the selected dates.
Info
Custom dates can be set within 30 days before or after the main event.

New WhatsApp triggers and templates 

The WhatsApp Integration, designed to enhance communication and engagement with all event stakeholders, now includes new triggers and templates to facilitate messaging and ensure timely updates for everyone.
 
For Purchasers:
  • Send Registration Confirmation: Instantly confirm registration to enhance the attendee experience.
  • Order Canceled: Notify purchasers promptly in case of any order cancellations.
For Speakers:
  • Welcome Speaker: Extend a warm welcome to our speakers and set a positive tone for their participation.
  • Speaker Added to a Session: Inform speakers when they’re added to a session, ensuring they are well-prepared.
  • Speaker Removed from a Session: Provide timely updates should there be any changes to their session involvement.
For Sponsors:
  • Thank a Sponsor Before Website is Live: Show appreciation early on, fostering positive relationships with sponsors.
  • Welcome and Thank Sponsor After Website is Live: Acknowledge sponsors publicly once the event website goes live.
  • Deny Sponsor Proposal: Deliver sensitive information with professionalism and clarity.
  • Acknowledge Sponsor Proposal: Confirm receipt of sponsor proposals, keeping communication open and transparent.
For Participants:
  • Event Canceled: Quickly inform participants in the event of cancellations, ensuring they’re kept in the loop.
We are continuously refining Zoho Backstage to make your event management experience even more powerful and intuitive. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming months!
 
If you have any questions, please contact support@zohobackstage.com. 

    • Recent Topics

    • Changing a Single-Line Text field into a Multi-line Field without losing data

      Is it possible to change a Single-Line Text field into a Multi-line Field without losing data. I have a module with data for which I would like to change a single-line field into a multi-line field but I'm worried it might delete the pre-existing da

    • Allow the usage of Multi-Select fields as the primary field on "Layout Rules"

      We want to force our users to enter some explanation strings when a multi-select field has been utilized. I can't understand the reason for the usage restriction of Multi-Select fields as a primary field. This is a simple "Display hidden mandatory field

    • Engage with your customers at scale using WhatsApp Marketing Template messages

      Hi everyone, To make it easier for organizations to communicate with customers, Desk now allows you to send individual, mass, and bulk WhatsApp template messages from both the Ticket and Contact modules. How is this going to benefit your business? WhatsApp

    • CRM/Bookings integration edits Contact names

      Hi there, I've installed the extension that connects Zoho CRM and Zoho Bookings. When we get a new appointment from Bookings from an existing Contact, that Contact's record shows this: First Name was updated from asd to blank value Last Name was updated

    • Domain Change

      “Please update my Email-in domain from @biginmail.biginmail.in to @biginmail.zoho.com. Messages to the .in domain are bouncing.”

    • Webhooks Limit Exceeded

      Today, I received an error message saying, 'Total number of Webhook call exceeded', but when I look at Manage > Billing, it doesn't look like any of my invokeURL calls are being logged. Following the advice from this thread: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/webhooks-daily-limits-in-zoho-creator

    • why cant i access my email account. it keeps asking me for reverifiying my account by entering my password.

      I cant access my account. it keeps asking me for reverifcaton by entering my password. once its entered it asks for it over and over.

    • Option to block bookings from specific email address or ip adresss in zoho booking

      Sometime few of our client keep booking irrelevant booking service just to resolve their queries and they keep booking it again and again whenever they have queries. Currently its disturbing our current communication process and hierarchy which we have

    • Auto select option in CRM after Zoho Form merge

      Hi, I have a dropdown field in Zoho CRM that is filled with a Zoho Form. The data is filled but not automatically shown. After selecting the right value in the dropdown the information a second field is shown. So the question is; how can I make the dropdown

    • Option to Customize Career Site URL Without “/jobs/Careers”

      Dear Zoho Recruit Team, I hope you are doing well. We would like to request an enhancement to the Career Site URL structure in Zoho Recruit. In the old version of the career site, our URL was simply: 👉 https://jobs.domain.com However, after moving to

    • 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

    • スマホでキャンペンメールを見ると正しく表示されない

      キャンペーンのメール（HTML）を作成しましたが、スマホ表示に切り替えると正しく表示されません（添付参照）過去に作成したキャンペーンでは特に意識してませんでしたが、問題なく表示されていたようです。うまく表示される場合とされない場合の違いは何でしょうか？

    • Bring your CRM data straight into your presentations in Zoho Show

      Let's say you are working on a presentation about your team's sales pipeline for an upcoming strategy meeting. All the information you need about clients and leads is in Zoho CRM, but you end up copying details from the CRM into your slides, adjusting

    • Improved RingCentral Integration

      We’d like to request an enhancement to the current RingCentral integration with Zoho. RingCentral now automatically generates call transcripts and AI-based call summaries (AI Notes) for each call, which are extremely helpful for support and sales teams.

    • Introducing New APIs in Zoho Contracts

      We are excited to announce the release of new APIs in Zoho Contracts to help you automate and manage every stage of your contract lifecycle more efficiently. Here’s a quick overview of what’s new: 1. Complete Contract Draft You can use this API to complete

    • Vimeo

      For me Vimeo is the most important video social channel for media and filmmakers. Would others agree and like it added to Zoho Social.

    • Delete a department or category

      How do I delete a Department? Also, how do I delete a Category? This is pretty basic stuff here and it's impossible to find.

    • Organization Emails in Email History

      How can I make received Org Emails to show up here?

    • Create custom rollup summary fields in Zoho CRM

      Hello everyone, In Zoho CRM, rollup summary fields have been essential tools for summarizing data across related records and enabling users to gain quick insights without having to jump across modules. Previously, only predefined summary functions were

    • Editing the Ticket Properties column

      This is going to sound like a dumb question, but I cannot figure out how to configure/edit the sections (and their fields) in this column: For example, we have a custom "Resolution" field, which parked itself in the "Ticket Information" section of this

    • Deleting Fields in CRM Deletes Views in Analytics

      Hey friends! I'm having some issues when we modify some fields within ZohoCRM. There are times where we need to sunset a field and eventually completely remove it. In these instances, it seems like a lot of views are removed in Analytics. This ranges

    • Zoho Analytics Automatically Deletes Queries and Reports When a Synced CRM Field Is Removed

      We’ve encountered a serious and recurring issue that poses a massive data integrity risk for any Zoho Analytics customer using Zoho CRM integration. When a field is deleted in Zoho CRM — even an unused one — Zoho Analytics automatically deletes every

    • How to setup pricing in Zoho

      Hi everyone, I am relatively new here and have just moved from my old inventory system to the Zoho one. I am trying to get my head around how it all works. I am mostly setup connected to a shopify store, but I do manual sales also For manual invoicing,

    • 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

    • Workaround: openURL in Blueprints - An alternate approach

      There is a roundabout way to open a URL in blueprints after a save event. By using the 'onBeforeMandatoryFormSave' in Client Script, you can open an external URL. Now, the problem is, this is designed to be run BEFORE the blueprint is saved, not after,

    • Prefilled Date fields auto-changed and then locked when using “Edit as new”

      If a document out for signature has date fields (not SignedDate fields) that were pre-filled before sending, and then you use “Edit as new” to create a new version of the same document, the value of those date fields gets automatically changed to today

    • 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

    • Access Phone Field Components (Country Code) Directly

      Hello everyone, I'd like to propose an enhancement for the Phone field in Zoho Creator. The Problem: The Phone field captures the country code and local number separately, but stores them as a single string (e.g., +1234567890). To get the country code,

    • Send mass messages through WhatsApp from the Tickets module

      Hi Everyone! Effective communication is key to delivering prompt and reliable customer support. Because WhatsApp is one of the most widely used and familiar messaging platforms, it's an effective channel for agents to reach customers who have submitted

    • Zoho Desk iOS and Android app update: AI powered: Reply Assistance and Refine Messages on IM module.

      Hello everyone! We are excited to introduce new AI powered features on the IM module of the Zoho Desk app. Reply Assistance: Reply Assistance generates suggested responses for incoming chat messages, which you can directly insert into the conversation

    • The difference between Zoho Marketing Automation and Zoho Campaigns

      Greetings Marketers! This post aims to differentiate between Zoho Marketing Automation and Zoho Campaigns. By the time you get to the end of the post, you will be able to choose a product that objectively suits you. What is Zoho Marketing Automation?

    • Lead Owner Signature Merge Field

      I want to automatically insert a signature (i.e. contact info usually found at the bottom of an email) into an email template, depending on who the lead owner is. What is the merge code for the Signature from a Users profile? CRM > Settings > Customization > Templates There is a popup near the bottom of the edit screen which says: "You can insert a Signature, which is available as a merge field in the users section." It is also referenced on this page: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/crm/customize-crm-account/customizing-templates/articles/template-builder#Merge_Fields

    • How do I create a time field?

      I want a field that only records time. I can only see how to create a date-time field. If I do that and enter a time, without a date, nothing is recorded. If I create a number or decimal field, I cannot use it in time calculations. All I want is a field

    • Experience effortless record management in CRM For Everyone with the all-new Grid View!

      Hello Everyone, Hope you are well! As part of our ongoing series of feature announcements for Zoho CRM For Everyone, we’re excited to bring you another type of module view : Grid View. In addition to Kanban view, List view, Canvas view, Chart view and

    • Alternating columns - How to reverse order on mobile - Responsive template

      Can the order of alternating columns be reversed on mobile so that image comes before the text? Example: Desktop Row 1 column Left (image) , column right (text) Row 2 column Left (text) , column right (image) Mobile Currently Row 1 Image over text Row

    • openUrl in blueprints

      My customer wants to open a URL at the end of a blueprint transition. Seems this isn't possible right now but it would be very useful. In this thread, https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/openurl-not-working the Zoho agent said that it's logically

    • Let us view and export the full price books data from CRM

      I quote out of CRM, some of my clients have specialised pricing for specific products - therefore we use Price Books to manage these special prices. I can only see the breakdown of the products listed in the price book and the specialised pricing for

    • Global Search placement in the new UI

      Having a hard time with the global search placement in the UI redesign. Surely I can't be the only one. Previously global search placement was perfect. A bar at the top/center of the page. Exactly where you would expect it to be. Since the new UI has

    • InvokeURL butchering JSON for OpenAI API calls

      My organization works with mostly educational institutions. We have a custom module called "Schools", which is the user-entered school name they put when using our service (which they enter along with their state and zip code). We want to map this to

    • CRM for email in Outlook: how to ignore addresses?

      We’re using the "Zoho CRM for email" add-in for Outlook. When opening an email, the add-in displays all email addresses from the message and allows me to add them to the CRM or shows if they’re already contacts. However, sometimes people listed in To

    • Next Page