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
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
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:
- 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
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
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!
SEE ALSO
- Recent Topics
- Automatic Verification of IMAP Integration Status- Our sales staff have their O365 email integrated with CRM, over time this integration requires re-authentication via the UI. I can manually check the integration status by accessing Settings -> Channels -> Email -> Email Sharing -> "Configuration Type" 
- Tip of the Week #68– Share and access files faster with Zoho WorkDrive extension.- Have you ever wasted time searching for the right file to attach to your emails—or worried whether the right people could access it? Without proper sharing settings, files might end up inaccessible to teammates or, worse, visible to people who shouldn’t 
- CV-Library: The Newest Source Booster in Zoho Recruit!- We’ve expanded your sourcing toolkit — CV-Library, one of the UK’s largest and most trusted online job boards, is now available as a Source Booster in Zoho Recruit. This gives recruiters instant access to millions of UK-based candidate profiles, all without 
- Zoho AI Translate Task as Rest API- I cant find any docs on how to use Zoho AI Translate Task from a rest api call https://www.zoho.com/deluge/help/ai-tasks/translate.html I am working on a custom Widget and I dont think I can execute zoho deluge ai translate task from a custom widget. 
- Is there the possibility to book less than 250 customer portal users?- If you use the Creator, which is included in Zoho ONe, you can create a customer portal and give access to a maximum of 3 external people / customers, right? On the Creator website I saw that you can add 250 users for 100€/month. However, we don't need 
- Display Parts custom fields in the Work Order- Hello, I see that is it possible to add custom fields in the Parts module. Would it be possible to also add those custom fields in the Work Order Module under Parts? This would be very useful for customer who want to showcase more information about parts. 
- Unable to edit Saved Estimates- We are facing issue with editing the price or discount for a saved estimate for nearly 1 week. 
- Translation Blueprint & Picklists with Custom Values- Hello everyone, I downloaded the translation file and I'm not finding the blueprint transitions. Does this means that the transitions cannot be translated? Also, the picklist values to be translated in the document are not the same that are actually used the in module. For exemple, for my lead module, the picklist values for Lead Status are : Not-contacted, contacted, junk and lost lead. In the translation document (English to French), this is what I see: PicklistValues.Leads.Lead_Status.Contact 
- How to create a custom sales signal?- I want to create a custom sales signal for a custom module. is it possible to create one? If anyone know please let me know 
- Only show products in offers based on lead source- We work with several lead sources, each with their own products and different pricing. For example, one product might have two or three different prices. Sometimes, when creating a quote, the wrong product is accidentally selected. Is there a way to only 
- Narrative 7 - The importance of data sharing- Behind the scenes of a successful ticketing system - BTS Series Narrative 7 - The importance of data sharing Definition Data sharing requires a commitment to preserving the integrity and dependability of shared data throughout its entire lifecycle. This 
- TrueSync regularly filling up my local disk- Seems that WorkDrive's TrueSync randomly starts filling up my local hard drive space. None of the folders have been set as "Make Offline" but still it seems to randomly start making file offline. The settings of the app is so minimal and is of no real 
- Check out in Meetings- Why there is no check out in Meetings of Zoho CRM, very difficult to track 
- Issue with Zoho Projet- Zoho Project on all the cellphones of my customer is crashing. He has mixed brands (Samsung and Pixel). Everything is fine on website and mobile website. Could not reproduce the issue in workshop using Samsung/Pixel/iPhone Uninstallation of Zoho Project 
- SecurePass email English language issue -- please hire someone to correct the English language issues sprinkled throughout your interface- I wrote previously about some incorrect English in your SecurePass offering. After about six months it was corrected. I have never revoked permission before today and just discovered another language mistake that was not corrected. When you revoke a SecurePass 
- Published Components- @zoho team, Checking if we can add a password for the public links as we have non-licensed users 
- Zoho Creator customer portal users- Hi, I'm in a Zoho One subscription with our company. I'm running a project now that involves creating a Zoho Creater application and using the Zoho Creator Customer Portal.  At most we need 25 customer portal users. In our Zoho One plan we only get 3 
- 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 
- Tip of the Week - Extracting Data from JSON Columns- Let's say you are importing a CSV or Excel file into Zoho Analytics. What if the file contains a few columns in JSON format? This is where Zoho DataPrep, embedded right within Zoho Analytics, comes in handy. This week's tip explains how to extract data 
- Deluge UI Updates- Are there any updates planned for the Deluge UI in Zoho Desk? It feels quite dated and lack-lustre after you've spent some time in the CRM Deluge UI. 
- Zia Agents - Follow Ups- It would be nice to have Zia Agents do follow ups. A lot of times agents are trying to schedule things with users and they say "can we set your printer up tomorrow?" and the user never says anything. A way to have a personalized reminder to the user automatically 
- Hide Agents name in Ticket Responses in "My Area"- We were able to hide the agents name in the emails, however, the customer is able to see which agent has responded to a ticket in the thread of emails by going into their Help Center thread. Is there any way we can hide that information? 
- Option to Automatically Update Extensions- Hello Zoho Desk Team, We recently received an email notifying us about an extension update that must be done manually. We’d like to request a feature that allows extensions to be updated automatically without requiring manual intervention. This would 
- Embed Report with Auto Height- Hello Developers, When we embed report within Page, we are getting one awesome feature to adjust the report height. "Auto" and "Custom' height. This "Auto" option works well when we have no records. But I want to embed report based on some conditions 
- Zoho Payroll: Product Updates - August 2025- This month’s updates to Zoho Payroll bring enhanced efficiency and smarter features, simplifying payroll management for users in India, UAE, KSA, and US. Read on to explore how these updates can streamline your workflow. Filter Pay Runs by Type (India, 
- Numerical Rating for Interviewer Assessments- Introducing Numerical Rating, a powerful new addition to interviewer assessments that brings precision and flexibility to candidate evaluations. ✅ What is Numerical Rating? Numerical Rating lets interviewers assign a score for each question in the assessment, 
- User Tips: Adding Multiple Products (Package) to a Quote v2.0 (with Client Script)- This solution is an improvement on the original idea which used deluge. My solution was posted in the comments are: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/adding-multiple-products-package-to-a-quote The updated version uses client script instead 
- Are downloadable product available in Zoho Commerce- Hi all. We're considering switching to Zoho Commerce for our shop, but we sell software and remote services. Is there a features for downloadable products? I can't find any information about this. Thank you very much Alice 
- Need Faster Help? Try Live Chat Support- Hello there, We understand that sometimes, whether you’re facing an issue, exploring a feature, or need quick clarification, sending an email and waiting for a response just doesn’t cut it. You need answers, and you need them now. That’s exactly why we 
- Custom image for each contact using merge tag- Hi, I'm wondering if it's possible to set up an email campaign to display a different image for each contact using a custom field for the image url. I tried inserting custom html: <img src='$[UD:APP_IMAGE_URL||]$'/> but the editor seemed to reject this and did not actually add anything to the email template. Has anyone got any ideas? cheers, Jeremy 
- Comment Reactions like a Thumbs Up- Can we please have the ability to emoji react on comments or at the very least, thumbs a comment up? Literally every other project management system out there can support this and it is very much needed to just acknowledge a comment instead of completely 
- Zoho Mail Search Engine Sucks- Hello There! I really like all the features of Zoho Mail and I believe is way better than Gmail except for the Search Function. I believe Zoho Mail has a very poor search function, if you misspelled a word in the search box, Zoho Mail won't display any 
- Allow Subtasks and Task Lists to have their own Layout- I'd like to have the ability for subtasks and task lists to have their own layout.  A subtask for us doesn't require all the fields that a parent task has.  The subtask seems cluttered with all the extra fields. Within a project Task List had different purposes.  I'd like the task layout to be different for some task lists. 
- How to update Customers in Zoho Books through Zoho Flow?- Updating customers in Zoho Flow using a "update customer" action is deleting contact persons in Zoho Books. 
- Conect chat of salesiq with zoho cliq- Is there any way to answer from zoho cliq  the chat of salesiq initiated by customers? 
- How to transfer credit between customers?- Hi All, We have a slightly odd situation. It happens that we have two separate customers that are related to each other personally. One customer has an amount of credit, and would like to use that credit to pay the *other* customers invoice. How would 
- Zoho Books Reports: Basic report with total items sold and Cost of goods sold- How can books show a report with Item Name || Qty Sold || Total Revenue || Total Cost of Goods Sold || Margin I need to factor in also invoices that have been credited where customers returned good. This seems like such a basic report, I'm sure I'm missing 
- The amount entered is more than the balance due for the selected bills."- Hi Team i am trying to record payments for vendors using API and getting this error in response as { "code": 28011, "message": "The amount entered is more than the balance due for the selected bills." } JSON is prepared according to Documentation and 
- VBA handling named ranges- In VBA I'm able to work with a single cell named range. E.g. Set Jr = Range ("Year").Value. Also other options are working fine, like Range("Year").Address shows $L$3. However a named range refering to multiple cells is not working for me. Eg. tbl_Test 
- Kaizen #176 - Optimizing the Use of Record ID Variables in Zoho CRM Queries- Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen! Since the release of Queries, we have covered Handling Query Variables in Zoho CRM, Serialization and Schema Management, and Leveraging the 'crmAPIResponse' object in Queries in previous posts. Today, 
- Next Page