Zoho Developer Community Monthly Digest - December 2024

Hello everyone!

As we step into the new year, let’s reflect on the strides we’ve made together and gear up for the exciting opportunities 2025 holds. This month’s digest highlights key updates, engaging discussions, and upcoming events designed to keep you informed and empowered in your development journey. Let's dive right in!

Upcoming Events

ZDK CLI (Zoho Development Kit Command Line Interface)

Date: Jan 16 | Feb 6 | Feb 27 | Mar 20 | Apr 10

Time: 10:00 AM IST & 8:00 PM IST (GMT+5:30)

Managing metadata in Zoho CRM shouldn’t feel like navigating a maze. Yet, the endless clicks to modify profiles, roles, modules, or layouts—and the challenges of version control—can quickly become overwhelming. What if you could skip the hassle and manage your metadata effortlessly? Introducing ZDK CLI—your one-stop solution for streamlining metadata modifications, pushing changes directly from the command line, and tracking updates seamlessly with your preferred Version Control System (VCS). Register now and join this five-session virtual learning series to discover how to take control of your CRM workflow with ZDK CLI.

Creator Tech Connect

Title: Building Intuitive UI/UX with HTML & ZML in Zoho Creator

Date: January 16, 2025

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

Creator's tech connect series comprises 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. In our previous session, we discussed the most recent improvements and updates in the Zoho Creator product release. In the upcoming session, we will explore how to leverage HTML and ZML to build custom and dynamic UI/UX in Zoho Creator.

Get to know Zoho Deluge:

Title: Get to know Zoho Deluge series

Dates: January 28–30, 2025

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

To help users unlock the potential of Deluge, we’ve launched the Get to Know Deluge series. This program serves as an introduction to Deluge's foundational concepts while offering a glimpse into its advanced capabilities. This three-day series is designed to help participants understand the capabilities of Deluge and learn how to apply them effectively in their operations. By the end of the series, we believe participants will gain a strong understanding of Deluge’s purpose, its role across Zoho products, and its basic concepts, setting the stage for mastering its advanced features.

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.

• Zoho CRM Developer Updates:
• Kaizen Posts:
  
• Kaizen #167 discusses the configuration and initialization of Zoho CRM Python SDK for different client types. We have covered the initialization process for Self-Clients and Server-Based Clients in detail.
  
• Kaizen #168 explains how to append your refresh token with additional scopes using Incremental Authorization.
  
• Kaizen #169 discusses Serialization and Schema Management in Queries.
  
• Kaizen #170 answers the frequently asked questions on Zoho CRM Notification APIs in the Zoho Community Forum.
  


• Zoho CRM: Here are big updates and enhancements in Zoho CRM in Q4 to give you a head start on putting them into action for your business and improving your operations. This way, you can close out a great year and start the next one on the right foot!
  
  
• Zoho Forms: For businesses, every minute saved during data collection can mean more time for innovation and growth. Let’s explore how Zoho Forms’ new Dynamic Prefilling with Webhooks works, its benefits, and real-world applications that can transform your data collection process in this blog.
  
  
• Zoho RPA: We're thrilled to announce the official launch of Zoho RPA—robotic process automation software designed to revolutionize automation in businesses of all sizes. In today's fast-paced digital landscape, day-to-day manual tasks can be a bottleneck to progress. This is where Zoho RPA steps in, offering comprehensive suite automation solutions to meet diverse needs. 
  
  
• Zoho Sign & Bigin Integration: Introducing Zoho Sign integration for Bigin where businesses can sign, send, and manage their contracts within the CRM itself, unifying all the customer-facing operations in a single tab.
  
  
• Zoho SalesIQ: With the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, chatbots are not just tools for customer service; they are transforming the entire customer experience landscape and improving business efficiency. Explore the top benefits of chatbots for businesses and customers in detail on this blog.
  
  
• Zoho Cliq Developer Platform: While we're on the subject, let's discover how Zoho Cliq's developer platform can help you build a customer support automation tool that fosters customer satisfaction and streamlines workflows for effective customer management.
  
  
• Zoho Directory – Always Verify #06: We're wrapping up 2024 with the best identity and access management stories from across the interwebz with the December edition of Always Verify. This is your security briefing for the year & you can expect to learn why hackers love holidays and how to get ahead of them, new Microsoft 365 account deactivation errors, why it's finally time to move away using SMS based MFA. While this newsletter has a lot of cyber security advice on how to prepare for the end of the year, we are sure it will be helpful all-year round.

Community Discussions

Zoho Developer Forum

• We all have things we prefer to do in our own unique way, even in the way a business is run. When @Ben needed to modify the default design of Zoho CRM to suit his unique preference of displaying data, @Hugh steps in with his suggestion. Check out this post which also links to @Hugh's article AND his video that walks us through the process.
• They say two heads are better than one. That sure is the case with a seemingly simple issue @George faced. A couple of our community members step in with solutions of their own to try and help solve the problem. 
  
• Updating data accurately in a CRM has to be one of the cornerstones of a good business. The possibility of errors grows exponentially, especially when data is spread across multiple modules. @Jean needed help with the same, to save time and to reduce the risk of human error as well. Check out the solution that was suggested to him by @Pheranda.
  
• Two-way communication is critical for any relationship. It's no different between two servers. In these days demanding data security and privacy, certain IP restrictions need to be implemented. If your business server has such limitations, take a look at this post which specifies the public IP addresses used by some Zoho DCs. 
• Setting up APIs using different languages too can be a hassle at times. If, like @Dimitri, you too are facing issues with API calls working in one coding language but not in another, the suggestions offered by our specialist could help you out. Check it out here!
  

• The way different coding languages work doesn't stop with just API calls. @Dmitri faced another issue with accessing data stored in his CRM when using two different languages. Check out the solution that fixed his issue in this post.

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 BE PART OF COMMUNITY and complete the form to get an invite to the channel.

• Maintaining redundant code snippets can be a huge pain. Thankfully, Zoho CRM has a feature to reduce unnecessary code redundancy. Check out this conversation where Mike suggests the same to Morgan, which will now save @Morgan from a ton of headaches in the future!
• Sometimes, the tiniest bugs take the most time to squash. And what can make all the difference is an extra set of eyes, which is the essence of the Developers ZUG Cliq channel. Check out this conversation where @Ryan faced a deal-breaking but microscopic issue, and all it took was for him to post it in the Cliq channel for another community member to fix!
• So far, we've seen a number of examples how the Developers ZUG Cliq channel enables Zoho developers to squash bugs faced by someone else on the other side of the globe. At times, that's not enough, and we'll have to bring out the big guns. Check out this conversation where @Pablo uses AI to solve @Jason's data-type conversion issue.
• While the Cliq channel is for Zoho developers, not all issues faced by the community are coding-related. Since Zoho's services can be better than those of its competitors, many like @Shantanu prefer switching ecosystems. But not all such big jobs need to be complicated! Check out this conversation where @Subhash suggests he try one of Zoho's migration tools! You too might need it in the future ;)

Community Spotlight

ZDH Speakers

As a continuation of featuring a ZDH presenter each month, this time, we are delighted to introduce the 17th episode presenter @Olivier Anh. Explore this post to discover the knowledge and insights he shared with the community.

Cliq Contributors

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. 

Make sure to follow the digest every month for the most recent updates and conversations. Stay connected and participate in the forums and the Cliq channel to be featured in the upcoming month's digest. Wishing you all a very happy new year and an amazing month ahead!

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