Zoho Developer Community Monthly Digest - April 2024

Zoho Developer Community Monthly Digest - April 2024



Hello everyone,

April was an action-packed month for the Zoho Developer Community! From insightful sessions on strategic software development to the conclusion of the exciting bootcamps in India, there's plenty to catch up on. Explore upcoming events, valuable resources, and engaging community discussions in this month's digest. Dive in for a dose of inspiration and stay connected with the latest updates!

April Highlights

Zoho Developer Hangout 15

This session was all about exploring how to strategically develop software that drives business growth. @David Afolabi–Group Program Manager, Systems, Analytics & Solutions Architecture/Engineering, Boost Media Group—gave practical insights into value chain architecture and learn how to align your solutions with evolving business processes. Watch the recording of this session here.

Extensions - India Bootcamps

We wrapped up the Zoho Developer Community Bootcamps in India! The bootcamps were all about building connections, getting expert tips from Zoho pros, and feeling the power of the community. Big thanks to the Zoho experts who shared their knowledge and to everyone who participated. This is just the beginning – stay tuned for even more opportunities to learn, connect, and collaborate in the next round of bootcamps! Here's a small recap from the Chennai bootcamp.

Upcoming Events

Note: To stay on top of the upcoming developer community events, keep an eye on this page.
  1. 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.

  2. Zoho QEngine 101: 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. With three sessions already completed, our focus will now shift to Mobile testing in the upcoming session slated for June 6. Register here.

  3. 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 on May 16 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.

  4. 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. Check out part 2 of this series where we discussed Python SDK and the API credit system. In the upcoming session on May 29, we'll be covering Search API & COQL API. Register here.

  5. Zoho Apptics 101: In this series starting June 11, 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. Click here to register.

  6. Learning Table SeriesWe 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 Education Industry was a success, and during the upcoming session, we'll be exploring Creator for the Manufacturing Industry.

    Title: Creator For the Manufacturing Industry
    Date: June 6, 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


  7. Creator Tech ConnectCreator'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 recent session of the series focused on rebranding mobile applications in Zoho Creator, while the upcoming session in the series will be about Mobile SDK in Zoho Creator.

    Title: Mobile SDK in Zoho Creator
    Date: June 13, 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

  • This post is a goldmine for anyone working with Deluge scripting! @Rodger shares a struggle many face (confusing variable names) and nailed down a simple yet effective naming convention for variables and objects, making scripts way easier to read and manage. It's clear he's put a lot of thought into this, and kudos to him for generously passing on the knowledge.
  • Stuck with duplicate leads due to address variations in Zoho CRM? This community forum thread can help!
  • Look no further than this forum discussion if you're grappling with generating invoices from quotes in Zoho CRM, particularly with custom fields and API restrictions. Check out the code snippet shared by our MVP @Bhoomi to assist @Lili.
  • @Jean wants to nudge employees to fill a non-mandatory field in Zoho CRM. Our MVP @Hugh steps in with a clever client script that triggers a pop-up reminder upon saving. As @Jean digs deeper with follow-up questions, the conversation evolves with @Javier and @Subhash joining the mix to explore advanced options. Check it out here.

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.
  • A little delay is needed at times, only when it's a part of the code! @Labiol needed help with hard-coding a delay in his Deluge code, and thankfully, there was no delay in @Richard and @Mike coming to his aid with an effective, documented solution. Check it out here.
  • Sometimes the answer is right under the nose! @Eric Chrobak faced an issue spanning various Zoho Products, which required work with SQL, and @Ed jumped in with the simplest solution one can imagine. Check it out for yourself here!
  • They say there's more than one way to skin a cat. Apparently, there were also mutiple ways to solve @Reid's need to filter contacts and deals based on different stages in communication. Check out the different solutions offered by Mike and Sayali here!
  • Syncing data between applications lets users manipulate data in specific ways for specific needs. That's what Ram needed help with; syncing contacts between Zoho CRM and Zoho Books. Janani jumped in with sample code that saved Ram's day!
  • Calculating geographical distances is an integral part of a multitude of businesses, such as Real Estate, eCommerce, and so on, for varied use cases. When @Ron needed help, @Puneet took him a lot closer to solving his query on calculating geographical distances using Zoho Creator
  • Not all code that is written in Zoho's suite of products has to be in Deluge, Zoho's own coding language! Check out this interaction that happened when Vigneshwaran needed help with Javascript to retrieve records from Zoho Creator. 

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 10th presenter @Eric Chrobak. 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!

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