Zoho Developer Community Monthly Digest - August 2024

Zoho Developer Community Monthly Digest - August 2024



Hello everyone,

Get ready for another exciting month of Zoho development! Our August digest is packed with events, resources, and community discussions to empower you as a Zoho developer. Let's dive right in!

Upcoming Events

To stay on top of the upcoming developer community events, keep an eye on this page.

Zoho RPA

Zoho RPA is a Robotic Process Automation platform that helps automate manual, repetitive, and tasks that follow specific rules in businesses and helps in streamlining processes, reducing errors, and increasing efficiency. Whether you're just getting started with Zoho RPA or looking to deepen your knowledge, this training is designed to help you optimize your automation efforts. This is a 3-day training with each day offering a one-hour session, accommodating various time zones.

Title: Get to Know Zoho RPA - Optimize, Accelerate & Transform your Automation Journey
Dates: Sept 10 – Sept 12, 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

Zoho Creator Developers' Month

It’s that time of the year again! September is Creator Developers’ Month, where we devote the entire month to empowering developers worldwide through low-code. Join our exclusive September campaign and enjoy a 50% discount on our Zoho Creator online trainings. Learn everything from the basics to advanced concepts in Zoho Creator, including Deluge scripting, integrations, automations, and mobile features.

Stage 1- Basic concepts in Creator - building applications using different components in Zoho Creator (for Business Users)
Stage 2 - Advanced concepts in deluge, integration, automations in applications, and mobile features (for Developers)

APAC, ANZ & EMEA  (1:30 PM to 5:30 PM IST)
Sept 9 – 11: Stage 2Registration Link

Americas (9:30 pm to 1:30 am IST)
Sept 16 – 18: Stage 1 - Registration Link
Sept 23 – 25: Stage 2 - Registration Link

Bonus: After completing the training, you will be provided an opportunity to take the Zoho Creator Certification exam to validate your skills.

Zobot Bootcamps - India

We're thrilled by the support and reception we've had so far for the Zobot Bootcamps in the first six cities on our schedule. We can't be more excited to meet you all in your cities soon and equip you to build fully functional AI chatbots for your business or as a service for your clients using Zoho SalesIQ's Zobot platform. 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. Register for a bootcamp in a city near you!

Zoho Extensions 101 – Extensions for Zoho Finance Suite 

This series offers a comprehensive exploration of developing extensions and widgets for the Zoho Finance suite. Did you know that we have a dedicated portal in Sigma with which you can create extensions for a range of applications in the Zoho Finance Suite, including Zoho Books, Zoho Billing, Zoho Expense, Zoho Inventory, and Zoho Invoice? 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. Registration and more details here.

Zoho Apptics 101

In this series, we’ll dive deep into every aspect of application analytics to help you understand how Zoho Apptics aids in measuring important KPIs that reflect your app's performance, growth, and engagement. Registration and more details here.

Zoho CRM Client Script 

Fueled by popular demand, we're back with a line-up of sessions in the Client Script series, focusing on advanced features and real-time business applications. Learn how to tailor Zoho CRM by defining highly interactive and responsive interfaces to cater to real-time business needs as our experts and guest speakers from the community walk you through the basics of Client Scripts and showcase various use case implementations. Registration and more details here. If you're interested to showcase your Client Script projects to the community in one of these sessions, write to us at developer-community@zohocorp.com

Creator Tech Connect:

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. The recent series focussed on SAML and Active Directory in Zoho Creator and during the upcoming session we will explore about Managing users and applications in Zoho Creator with Zoho Directory.

Title: SAML and Active Directory in Zoho Creator
Date: September 12, 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 our Zoho Developer Community website to stay informed about the latest updates in the developer community.

Community Discussions

Zoho Developer Forum

  • @Andrew Garcia was struggling to add Google Click Identifier (GCLID) to Zoho CRM Leads using the UPSERT API and was considering a complicated workaround. Thanks to a quick response from @Jeganprabhu S, Andrew realized it was just a small testing oversight—problem solved in no time! 
  • @WM Yeo was trying to set up email reminders for Zoho CRM tasks based on the "Due_Date" field but kept running into errors. After a little tweak here and a nudge there with the help of the community, everything fell into place—combining email and popup reminders, they got everything working smoothly, thanks to good ol' teamwork!
  • The power of community? When your code’s giving you a headache, they’ve got the aspirin ready! Here's a classic example of such a case - When @WM Yeo couldn't get a variable to work with the search function, @Arthur de neuville swooped in with a quick code fix that did the job.

Developers ZUG Cliq Channel

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.
  • Widgets are one way to make your work a lot simpler, and launching them on Zoho Marketplace is one way to help others as well make their work simpler. Check out this awesome (yet free!) widget launched by @Puneet chandhok, which autocompletes addresses in Zoho CRM!
  • And speaking of widgets, check out this template Doug created for building widgets, with support for dynamic configurations!
  • Who doesn't like a good GitHub repository that simplifies their work?! Take a look at thesesCatalyst Node JS functions compiled and shared by Nagarajan. Now that deserves a round of applause!
  •  If there's one thing that makes integrating Zoho products easier, it's to use Deluge—Zoho's proprietary scripting language. And a great starting point is this Deluge Roadmap shared by Rafi (who, btw, just got his Zoho Creator certification, followed by a deluge of appreciation from the community folks!) If you'd like to go more into detail, check out our Deluge 101 series. Also, stay tuned for our in-person Deluge bootcamps coming up pretty soon!
  • The first step of anything coding-related in any Zoho product is the authentication; a seemingly simple yet uber-crucial step. Venessa lends Buddy a helping hand with the same, which results in the longest conversation thread in the history of the Zoho Developer User Group Cliq channel!
  • Sometimes the simplest solutions are right under the nose! Doug faced an issue which was ultimately solved by the oldest solution known to man: turning it off and back again! But, there's more than that to this conversation! It's a classic example of the kind of knowledge exchange that happens within the Zoho Developer Community!

Community Spotlight

ZDH Speakers

As a continuation of featuring a ZDH presenter each month, this time, we are delighted to introduce the 13th episode presenter @Eric Chrobak. Explore this post to discover the knowledge and insights he shared with the community.

Cliq Contributors

Here are our top contributors who have gone the extra mile to support and assist the 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

    • What are people using to send Service based emails?

      Zoho Campaigns is for marketing. Users can unsubscribe from these emails. Service based emails need to be delivered and can without the worry of Can-spam act. What are people using to send service based emails? My mailing list is derived from a database
    • Client Script also planned for Zoho Desk?

      Hello there, I modified something in Zoho CRM the other day and was amazed at the possibilities offered by the "Client Script" feature in conjunction with the ZDK. You can lock any fields on the screen, edit them, you can react to various events (field
    • Introducing Zoho Commerce 2.0 — It's more than just selling!

      Hello! We are proud to launch Zoho Commerce 2.0, a reimagination of how online businesses look, feel, and function. This launch is both timely and symbolic, as we reaffirm our commitment to empowering small and medium enterprises with powerful, yet simple-to-use
    • Kits: Option to Hide Associate Items on Documents

      The new Kit type of Composite Item is very helpful, and we're already using it in several different ways. One problem is that there seems to be no way to hide the components on some documents, including Package Slips. There is an option given in settings
    • Unable to display field label from a hidden Single Line Textbox in Description

      Hi folks, I'm unable to display my hidden field, e.g. ${zf:SingleLine4} , in my description. I'm pre-filling this hidden Single Line Text box via "Field Alias - Pre-fill URL" settings. I noticed that my decimal form fields work, e.g. ${zf:Decimal}, and
    • An Exclusive Session for Zoho Desk Users: AI in Zoho Desk

      A Zoho Community Learning Initiative Hello everyone! This is an announcement for Zoho Desk users and anyone exploring Zoho Desk. With every nook and corner buzzing, "AI's here, AI's there," it's the right time for us to take a closer look at how the AI
    • Email for customer to provide payment information

      Is there a way for customers when you set up a subscription to get an email that prompts them to put in their billing information to start their subscription? Also, can you show the subscription in their portal?
    • Ticket Automatically Created from Closed Chat

      Is there a way to prevent a ticket being create for every chat.... or at the very least have it automatically closed.
    • I want to Show the product list based on the drop Down

      in quotation app , amc form form i have Department drop down field and in subform i have loop up field item description taken from the anothe app PRO I want to show the product list look up based on the deparment selected example if they selected deparment
    • Bad User: Authenticated but not connected

      Zoho CRM cannot send/receive emails and it appears as if it may be an api configuration change either via Zoho or MS. Does anyone have information on how to fix this error message? I am admin on all my accounts. Zoho and MS are blaming each other.
    • Zoho + ERP (SAP)

      First of all: I'm using Zoho CRM and I have complete right that it's a brilliant solution for sales force. But, in my new job, doesn't exist a CRM system and I want propose Zoho CRM. In the company, we're using a ERP (SAP), a few time ago. I would like to know about integration between Zoho CRM and ERP (SAP), as possible? How I can do that? Regards, Renato Lima
    • Lookup fields

      Is there any way to add Lookup fields to Zoho FSM -- I do not see the option but I see default lookup fields in different modules
    • Sort data in Pivot Table

      Is it possible to sort by a data field. I can gruop and filter, but I culdn't find how to sort the results. Tank You.
    • Inventory Barcode Creation - Add Picture of Item

      Hi I am trying to set up bar code labels and include a picture of the item on the label - any idea on how to add that field to the barcode generator?
    • Shared Snippets Everyone

      Hi, Now that the Shared Snippets have been released and I think will be the most used feature implemented in 2023 :) Creating and Using Snippets in Ticket Responses - Online Help | Zoho Desk Maintain consistency in ticket responses with shared snippets
    • Please Enable Snippets for Agents Adding Comments

      Snippets and templates are currently enabled for agents when they use the reply functionality. There is currently no way to add a template or snippets when an agent comments. This is really weird. Our agents don't use the reply functionality, only the
    • Topics assigned to Contacts in Campaigns

      I have yet to find an efficient way to assign topics to contacts in campaigns with the new system in place.  We have daily contacts added to our system through various forms and we have to manually go in and add topics to contacts before each email campaign
    • CRM Email Insights Not Working - Status not Changing

      I used to be able to see if a customer opened/read an email in CRM, but I no longer get those status changes inside their record. I have everything enabled and I am sending the email from CRM. The experience center has the status' enabled as well. Any
    • Product and Service

      Hi guys, there is a difference between layout of product and service if Long Description field have some kind of text. Please see screenshot 1 for Service here: https://prnt.sc/7xWwPKd29nWP for Product here: https://prnt.sc/LGmtVd_U6H7q As you can see
    • The Urgent Need for Native Brazilian Payment Integrations: PIX and Direct Bank Connections

      Hello Zoho Team, I am writing to emphasize a critical functionality gap for Zoho Books in the Brazilian market: the lack of modern, native payment gateway integrations. The current options are insufficient. The Mercado Pago integration, for instance,
    • Better implementation of Item Category on Invoices and Estimates

      1) I have added Item Category as a custom field. Honestly, this should be a native part of the item itself, and either required, optional, or not used.  2) When entering an item on an invoice, you have to enter the first character(s) of the item, otherwise
    • Try CRM for everyone button in the way of workflow

      Please consider using the bottom bar for offers. Using the top bar for offers like "Try CRM for everyone" really gets in the way of my day to day workflow.
    • Zoho CRM email formatting issues

      I have been having a hard time with formatting email templates. It feels like Zoho email is "fighting my edits." It refuses to change size, font, etc. Sometimes, the template looks great, then when the email gets sent, it looks completely different- some
    • Weekly Tips : Seamlessly collaborate with Share Drafts in Zoho Mail

      Ever found yourself stuck wondering how to get input on an important email draft without actually sending it? Maybe you want a teammate’s feedback or approval from your manager—without exposing sensitive info. Or perhaps you are working across different
    • How to Share a workdrive folder outside organization ?

      Hi, Earlier we were using Google Suite and were able to share the google drive folders with external organization ( Auditors , marketing collaterals ) as most of them had a personal gmail account they were able to access it without any issue. How can
    • Zoho CRM Account Duplication via Credit Application Form

      Hi, We send a credit application link to our customers via email, which is managed through Zoho Campaigns. When a customer submits the form, it automatically creates a new account in Zoho CRM. We would like to know how to stop this from creating duplicate
    • 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
    • Flexible Milestone Invoicing

      If your Zoho Projects portal is integrated with Zoho Invoice/Books, you can now create an invoice for your milestones. You can enable it under Integration Preference and invoice milestones regardless of the project's billing type. For instance, consider
    • The get records i am getting produts that show in the show in the sub form item list field

      The get records i am getting produts that show in the show in the sub form item list field if(input.Department != null) { // Get filtered records once creator_ptid = zoho.creator.getRecords("harshadgroup","item-master","All_Products","Department == \""
    • Incorrect Handling of XLSX data

      Trying to import an XLSX schedule of bills into Zoho Books I ran across the problem of date formatting. To replicate: Build a CSV file with bill dates in whatever format you like and import it - this should work if you match the "dd/MM/yyy" etc. format
    • Add Zoho Form Submission as Attachment to Zoho CRM Deal using Zoho Deal ID

      Hi Zoho team, I have a Zoho Form in which one of the fields will be hidden but will be defaulted with the Zoho Deal ID. Once the form is submitted, I want to reattach the submitted form (and another uploaded file field) into Zoho CRM Deals record. The crazy part is that Deal Name and Stage are the only two fields available for mapping. I have the actual Deal ID. Why can't I just use that. Can you please fix it so that I can properly attach the submission using Zoho Deal ID instead of name/stage (which
    • Workdrive on Android - Gallery Photo Backups

      Hello, Is there any way of backing up the photos on my android phone directly to a specific folder on Workdrive? Assuming i have the workdrive app installed on the phone in question. Emma
    • Displaying related quotes in sales order and back

      Hi, My colleague liked to see to which sales orders, the quote has been converted. Quote shows Invoices, but not SO. Same, they would like to see the quotes in the sales order, as they can see invoices, packages, shipment, How can we achieve this ? Thank
    • Payment link showing as malicious

      We've had a few customers who have been unable to pay invoices as the payment link (the domain is zohosecurepay.eu) is showing as a malicious website in their browser. Could anyone help with this please?
    • Side bar menu

      It would be great if you could stop the auto collapse of expanded menus when selecting a different module. It would save a lot of mouse clicks for a lot of users that frequently switch between sales & purchases as we do, it's easier to collapse them manually when not required !
    • Export Invoices to XML file

      Namaste! ZOHO suite of Apps is awesome and we as Partner, would like to use and implement the app´s from the Financial suite like ZOHO Invoice, but, in Portugal, we can only use certified Invoice Software and for this reason, we need to develop/customize on top of ZOHO Invoice to create an XML file with specific information and after this, go to the government and certified the software. As soon as we have for example, ZOHO CRM integrated with ZOHO Invoice up and running, our business opportunities
    • Multiple Respondents for One Survey Submission?

      Does anyone know of a way to allow multiple respondents to complete only one  survey and then also see (while completing the survey) the responses for their fellow colleagues who already answered that question? The situation is that our new customers have within their own organization, multiple employees that will need to assist in the one survey response. Since we don't always know which new respondent is the "who" that will have the answer, we need multiple respondents to be able to view the response
    • Can you remove the title from the forms?

      I am placing the iframes for my forms on my website.  Is it possible to remove or hide the title of the form so that it doesn't show up on the website? Is it possible to place text in the form like "clicking submit will take you to paypal." thanks
    • Zoho CRM's custom views are now deployable from sandboxes

      This feature is now available for users in the AU, JP, and CN DCs. Hello everyone, We're excited to announce that you can now deploy custom views from sandboxes to your production environment to ensure a smoother transition and save valuable setup time.
    • Create static subforms in Zoho CRM: streamline data entry with pre-defined values

      Last modified on (9 July, 2025): This feature was available in early access and is currently being rolled out to customers in phases. Currently available for users in the the AU, CA, and SA DCs. It will be enabled for the remaining DCs in the next couple
    • Next Page