Kaizen #182 - Queries in Canvas List View

Hello everyone!

Welcome to another week of Kaizen!

​

We're back with another post in this series on Queries in Canvas List View.

Queries in Zoho CRM allow you to dynamically retrieve data from CRM as well as third-party services directly within the CRM platform.

You can construct a query of one of the following types:

1. CRM Module type query to retrieve data from CRM modules.
   
2. COQL type query to construct a query using the COQL API.
   
3. REST API type query to fetch data from an external service and use it in Zoho CRM.
   

You can associate a query with the 'Decision' component of Kiosk, Canvas Detail View, or Canvas List View.

In this post, we will take up a use case and see how you can associate a query with Canvas List View.

Use case

Sales and support teams often need quick access to Zoho Desk tickets related to a contact in Zoho CRM. To avoid switching between apps to check ticket statuses, we can use the Queries feature to fetch the latest Zoho Desk ticket's details of a contact dynamically and display them on the Canvas List View page of the Contacts module.

This ensures that CRM users can instantly view the most recent ticket linked to a contact without leaving Zoho CRM.

Follow along to see how you can achieve this!

Step 1 - Add a Source

1. Go to Setup > Developer Hub > Queries > Sources > Add Source.
   
2. Under Information,
   
1. Give a name for the source and its Base URL. Queries will make API calls to this URL to fetch data. Ensure to add this to Trusted Domain.
   
2. Specify any default parameters and headers for this base URL.
   
3. Under Connection, choose the connection you have created with Zoho Desk with the necessary scopes. If you haven't, create one.
   
4. Click Save.
   
   

Note

Queries will make API calls to the URL you add in the Source and consume credits that are applicable in that service. Ensure you monitor your API usage in your source provider.

Step 2 - Create a REST API Query

1. Go to Setup > Developer Hub > Queries > Add Query.
   
2. Under Source, choose the source you created in step 1.
   
3. Under Information,
   
1. Enter the Name, API Name, and the Endpoint of the query.
   
2. Specify the parameter email that takes the dynamic variable {{Contact_Email}} as its value. This is to fetch the latest ticket from Zoho Desk for a contact with the email in this variable during runtime. Refer to our Kaizen post on Handling Query Variables in Zoho CRM for additional details.
   
3. Specify Headers, if any.
   
4. You can serialize the output to fit your needs using JavaScript in the Serializer.
   
   
5. Click Next.
   
6. Enter an email address in the box to test the query.
   
   
7. Click Save. You can see the response of the query and the serialized response if you had serialized the output.
   
   
8. Click Next.
   
9. You can see the Schema of the query. The Schema acts as a bridge/mapping layer between external API responses and Zoho CRM's internal data structure. For example, the response of the Desk API returns result[].assignee.firstName, which is mapped to CRM as Assignee > FirstName. Schema ensures that the CRM UI knows how to display the field correctly.
   With the right mapping in the schema, you can avoid manual data entry or syncing, and use the API data in workflows, reports, and dashboards.
   You can change the CRM Field Type and Label to suit your needs. Refer to our Kaizen post on Serialization and Schema Management for more details.
10. Click Save to save the query.
    

Now that our query and fetching data from Zoho Desk is sorted, let's move on to the Canvas.

The Custom List view in Canvas enables you to stack records horizontally, one above the other.

Follow the steps in the How to Work with Canvas? guide to create a Custom List View Canvas for the Contacts module.

1. On the Canvas, click the database icon for the Queries component.
   
2. Click Associate Query.
   
3. Give an Association Name and select the Source(added in step 1) for the query.
   
4. Under Query, select the query you created.
   
5. The Variables section will contain the variables in the query. The drop-down displays all fields in the Contacts module. Select the Email field.
   
6. Under Result Mapping, choose Email as the Source Record Field and Contact > Email as the Query Response Path. The Query Response Path is populated from the schema of the query.
   
7. Click Done to associate the query with the canvas.
   
   
8. You can see all the fields of the query on the left. Drag and drop the required fields on the canvas.
   
   
9. Save the canvas.
   
   

Time for the big reveal!

The following GIF shows how the ticket details from Zoho Desk are populated on the Canvas List View of the Contacts module.

Note that every time you reload the canvas, the query underneath makes an API call to the source provider to fetch data for the contacts in Zoho CRM. Ensure your API calls are monitored to avoid exhasuting your credits.

We hope you liked this post.

​

Let us know your thoughts in the comments or write to us at support@zohocrm.com.

Topic suggestions are welcome! See you all next week!

Cheers!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

See Also

• Queries in Zoho CRM
• Kaizen #166 - Handling Query Variables in Zoho CRM
• Kaizen #169 - Serialization and Schema Management in Queries
• Kaizen #172 - Leveraging the 'crmAPIResponse' object in Queries
• Kaizen Directory
• Previous Kaizen - Mandating Subform Data for Blueprint Transitions using Widget
  

• Topic Participants

• Shylaja S

  

• Sticky Posts

• Kaizen #217 - Actions APIs : Tasks

  Welcome to another week of Kaizen! In last week's post we discussed Email Notifications APIs which act as the link between your Workflow automations and you. We have discussed how Zylker Cloud Services uses Email Notifications API in their custom dashboard.

• Kaizen #216 - Actions APIs : Email Notifications

  Welcome to another week of Kaizen! For the last three weeks, we have been discussing Zylker's workflows. We successfully updated a dormant workflow, built a new one from the ground up and more. But our work is not finished—these automated processes are

• Kaizen #152 - Client Script Support for the new Canvas Record Forms

  Hello everyone! Have you ever wanted to trigger actions on click of a canvas button, icon, or text mandatory forms in Create/Edit and Clone Pages? Have you ever wanted to control how elements behave on the new Canvas Record Forms? This can be achieved

• Kaizen #142: How to Navigate to Another Page in Zoho CRM using Client Script

  Hello everyone! Welcome back to another exciting Kaizen post. In this post, let us see how you can you navigate to different Pages using Client Script. In this Kaizen post, Need to Navigate to different Pages Client Script ZDKs related to navigation A.

• Kaizen #210 - Answering your Questions | Event Management System using ZDK CLI

  Hello Everyone, Welcome back to yet another post in the Kaizen Series! As you already may know, for the Kaizen #200 milestone, we asked for your feedback and many of you suggested topics for us to discuss. We have been writing on these topics over the

• Recent Topics

• Age Calculation

  I've attempted to calculate the age of someone based on their birthday input by using the formula field. It works but I don't want all those decimals on there. I then tried to use "set variable" after birthday input but I get a field type mismatch, long vs. floating. Any ideas would be wonderful.

• Search on Custom Field

  We're working on an integration with the Zoho FSM API and are trying to retrieve companies based on a custom field we added to the Companies module. However, we can't find a way to filter or query records using custom fields through the API. We have a

• Sendmail function / custom action?

  I've setup a function hoping to email various business departments the details of a record once all work in that record is complete so gone about setting up a custom action in such way that each record line on the report has a button to click. Question is how do I actually include data from that record in the email that is sent when the button is clicked? I had thought that since this were being sent per record the email would include the data which had been entered

• API to post drafts for social media

  I we want to post draft posts to our zoho social account and then approve and schedule them within Zoho social. is this possible with for example: https://apis.zoho.com/social/v2/post TIA Jon

• What impactful sales coaching techniques have you used to boost your team's performance?

  I'm curious about the real-world impact of sales coaching on team performance. What specific techniques or strategies have you found most effective in driving consistent improvement and growth in your sales team? Any success stories or lessons learned

• Adding Taxes to paid consultations in Zoho Bookings

  I created a 'paid' consultation under Zoho Booking and integrated it with payment gateways for online/instant payment before a booking is done. How can I add 'taxes' to the price of consultation? I can add taxes to other Zoho apps (liks Books, Checkout,

• Possible to bold or indent text in the description field?

  As part of one item, I often have a detailed description that would be much easier to read if there was the ability to have a bulleted list or bold text and the like. Is this possible? My last invoicing software allowed markup in the field so, for example, an asterisk meant a bullet. I haven't been able to find any documentation related to this.  Any information would be appreciated. Thank you.

• Formatting of Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss Reports

  The default format of the Balance Sheet and P&L Reports are based on the Account Types and then the individual accounts within the Chart of Accounts. These are then ordered alphabetically under these sub-headings and one is unable to re-order these or

• UK MTD reports concerning turnover and cerash accounting

  Hi I am a sole trader, and I have just started with Zoho Books in order to comply with the new HMRC requirements. I use 'cash basis' - which I understand to mean that income is when the cash comes in (not the invoice date) and expenses are when they are

• Retainer Invoice.

  Why ZOHO not have facilities to deduct partially advance payment from an invoice.

• Share saved filters between others

  Hi, I am in charge to setup all zoho system in our company. I am preparing saved filters for everybody, but the only one can see its me. How can others see it? Thanks

• No practical examples of how survey data is analyzed

  There are no examples of analysis with analytics of zoho survey data. Only survey meta data is analyzed, such as number of completes, not actual analysis of responses, such as the % in each gender, cross-tabulations of survey responses. One strange characteristic

• Zoho Creator as LMS and Membership Solution

  My client is interested in using Zoho One apps to deploy their membership academy offer. Zoho Creator was an option that came up in my research: Here are the components of the program/offer: 1. Membership portal - individual login credentials for each

• Adding Chargebee as a Data Connector

  Is it possible to get Chargebee added as a Zoho Analytics data connector?

• Webform & spam

  Hi, We set up 2 webform on our website, fowarding the content to Zoho CRM. Since it has been opened up, we are getting lot of spam message (for now about 20 a day). To lower the  amount of false new leads we added the captcha field and new enquieries are send to the Approval Leads list. However we still get some spam. Is there any "anti spam" mechanism built in Zoho CRM, or how is the best way to avoid these kind of spam ? Thanks

• Dropbox to Workdrive

  Namaste, Trust you all are doing well. Wanted to check how this can be done with Zoho flow. I typically receive dropbox links from my clients. Is there a way where I can provide the link to Zoho flow and it downloads the files from dropbox link to a work

• Deals by Stages Funnel not showing in correct order

  Using the Stage-Probability Mapping for the Deals module we have created a steps our deals will pass through, RFQ, Closed/Lost, Declined/No-Go, Pricing, Submitted, Negotiations, Won. However when I view the Deal By Stages Funnel it does not show in the

• Confirmation prompt before a custom button action is triggered

  Have you ever created a custom button and just hoped that you/your users are prompted first to confirm the action? Well, Zoho knows this concept. For example, in blueprint, whenever we want to advance to the next state by clicking the transition, it is

• How to create auto populate field based on custom module in Zoho CRM?

  Hello, i'm still new to Zoho CRM and work as administrator in my company. Currently, I'm configuring layout for Quotes Module. So, the idea is, I've created a read-only field in Quotes called "Spec". I want this field automatically filled with Specification

• Rich Text For Notes in Zoho CRM

  Hello everyone, As you know, notes are essential for recording information and ensuring smooth communication across your records. With our latest update, you can now use Rich Text formatting to organize and structure your notes more efficiently. By using

• Office 365 and CRM mail integration: permission required

  Has anyone run into this weird problem? My email server is Office 365. When I try to configure Zoho CRM to use this server, a Microsoft popup window opens requesting user and password. After entering that, I get a message in the Microsoft window saying

• Deluge - Can't get phone number SalesIQ

  Hey folks, I’m building a custom plug for SalesIQ that’s supposed to register leads into Zoho CRM. The SalesIQ chat is being implemented on WhatsApp, and in my plug I’m using this line: mobile_clean = session.get("phone").get("value"); From what I understand,

• Zoho Desk - Community

  As a regular user of Zoho Cares Community I would really love to see the publish date of articles. For example, when I look at Announcements, it would be very beneficial to see which ones were posted recently, over those which have just and a recent comment.

• access to quartz for my customers

  Hi how can I have access to the application quartz you use for us to send you screen rocording, this feature would be immensely useful for our customers support https://quartz.zoho.com/

• Issue with Inline Images in Email Reply via Zoho Desk API

  Hi, I am attempting to send inline images in an email reply using the Zoho Desk API, but the images are not being displayed inline for the recipient. I have followed this documentation: https://desk.zoho.com/DeskAPIDocument#Uploads https://desk.zoho.com/DeskAPIDocument#Threads#Threads_SendEmailReply

• How to search a value stored in a subform?

  Hello, We store serial numbers in subforms but now we would like to be able to search the values to be able to easily find the record with the serial number. I saw that it's not possible to search such values through global search but is it possible to do it an other way? Thank you,

• Field Dependency Not Working on Detail Page in Zoho Desk

  Hi Support Team, I’ve created field dependencies between two fields in Zoho Desk, and they are working correctly on the Create and Edit layouts. However, on the Detail page, the fields are not displaying according to the dependencies I’ve set — they appear

• How do the keyword critera work?

  Hi, I'm working on automated assignment of tickets based on keywords. How does this feature work? Where does this criteria look for keywords - email address, subject, email body? Can you please clarify this as I want to avoid overlapping with criteria

• Error: Unsupported content type: text/html;charset=UTF-8 after tryeing to get the token for n8n automation

  I am working on ZOHO Desk automation and need to get the ZOHO auth token for n8n I have created the app in ZOHO Desk API, got client id and client secret. Added all data required to get a token in n8n. After I sign in with my ZOHO credentials in ZOHO

• Improving Collaboration Features in Zoho Portal

  Hello Zoho Community, I’ve recently started exploring Zoho services and I’m really impressed with the wide range of features. However, I feel there is still room for improvement in the collaboration area. For example, it would be really helpful if we

• Automated Shopify Emails Not Being Delivered

  I have an ecommerce store with Shopify. I recently set up my email to be served through Zoho. Since doing this, customers are not receiving some of our automated emails from Shopify itself. Our initial email that confirms their purchase goes through but our Shipping Notification that is automatically sent out upon fulfillment is not going through. Sometimes we get a notice that it's been classified as spam, sometimes nothing. I can send/receive email via Outlook on my desktop and I can send/receive

• Send a campaign to one recipient.

  Very often I speak to a customer and they say they didn't see my email (maybe it went in Junk, maybe they deleted it). Anyway, I just want to go into the Campaign and send it to one person. You already have a feature very close to this - when sending a Test. While developing a campaign, I can send tests to anyone. Why can't we have this AFTER  the campaign has been sent? I know, there's a caveat, and that's in the use of merge tags. Most of the time I only use FNAME, but maybe you could check if

• Try FSM again for our business

  We already have our customers individual equipment in CRM with serial numbers, install dates, warranty length and importantly next service which is generally 2 years. a month before the service date is due we get get a report and send out service reminders.

• Get Cliq Meetings in my O365 calendar

  Hi, we are currently evaluating to replace the Teams Messaging and Meetings with Cliq. We currently still have all our email and calendars in O365. What i want to achieve is, to create a (ZOHO) meeting from Cliq and have this meeting added to my Outlook/O365

• Issue with Zoho Help Portal – Tickets Missing or Not Answered

  Hi, How are you? I think there may be an issue with the Zoho Help Portal. I opened a few tickets directly in the help portal a some time ago but never received any response I also opened ticket 148356451 by email. I did receive a reply to it, but the

• DUNS & Bradstreet and Credit risk monitoring integration with Zoho books

  Small businesses not being paid by bigger clients and clients of all sizes is a huge problem. It will be nice if Zoho develops integration with DUNS & Bradstreet(D&B) and Credit risk monitoring integration with Zoho books. That have small businesses can

• Zoho Forms - Form Rules based on attachment fields

  Many businesses use forms to collect documents and images from customers. In many cases, you may want to trigger a notification or other automation based on whether or not an attachment was added. I've noticed that attachment fields do not appear in Rules

• Can't open draft email for editing

  Last night I started composing an email and I let it save in drafts. This morning I want to continue working on the email. It is in my Drafts folder but it will not open. The only option there is to delete it. This is not the first time it has happened. On previous occasions I have just deleted the draft and started afresh, but I really want this one back. Windows 10 with Pale Moon 28.10.0 browser.

• Open filtered deals from campaign

  Do you think a feature like this would be feasible? Say you are seeing campaign "XYZ" in CRM. The campaign has a related list of deals. If you want to see the related deals in a deal view, you should navigate to the Deals module, open the campaign filter,

• Change scheduling emails time

  When sending an individual email there is a great feature to schedule them to send later. I could only use the one time that is suggested. Is there a way to select another time? Regards, Glenn

• Next Page