Zoho Backstage August 2025 Updates

Every month, Zoho Backstage grows with you. These updates aren't just features and fixes, they're about making your workday smoother, your events more impactful, and your attendees happier. We’ve listened, learned, and shaped this release to keep things simple where they can be, powerful where they should be, and thoughtful all the way through. Think of it as a mini renovation where the walls stay up, but the lights shine brighter, the doors swing easier, and your coffee somehow refills itself. Let’s take a look at what’s new and enhanced this August.

---

Session registration  

Turn your agenda into a choose-your-own adventure.

We’re excited to announce the arrival of session registration in Zoho Backstage. This feature gives event organizers more control over premium content, attendee scheduling, and capacity management while creating a more personalized experience for participants.

With session registration, organizers can monetize high-value content such as workshops, masterclasses, and sessions featuring high-profile speakers. Attendees can pre-select the sessions they want to attend, helping them build structured schedules that suit their interests. On the organizer’s side, this avoids overcrowding by enforcing capacity limits and provides valuable insights into which sessions generate the most demand for future planning.

How it works:

• Session registration can be enabled from the Manage > Agenda screen. Once configured and republished, sessions will appear on the event website with registration options.
• When attendees register for the event, they can now select tickets, choose sessions, provide attendee details, associate attendees with specific sessions, and complete their payments in a single flow.
• After logging in, registered sessions appear under a new Your Sessions tab, while order-level details are available in Your Orders. If a session is canceled, attendees will see the update under Cancel and Refund History.
• Even after ticket purchase, ticket holders can log into the event website, go to Agenda > Register, and sign up for sessions later. Please note that, in this release, purchasers can't register sessions on behalf of other ticket holders.

Event organizers will find new tools to manage and track session registrations:

• Session Registration tab: Displays a list of all registered attendees, with options to filter by track, sort by details, and manage visible columns such as session name, track, date, time, and attendee count.
• Register New Attendee: Organizers can register attendees directly from the Session Registration tab or from each session’s View Attendees section. Here, they can export data, apply filters like ticket class or check-in status, and customize visible columns.
  
  
  
  
• Session Check-In: Supports both free and paid sessions. Organizers can register and check in attendees directly, even if they haven't registered in advance, through the Yet to Register section under Session Check-In.

After registration, attendees receive session details by email, similar to ticket confirmations. Email notifications also cover session cancelations. Within the Order Details tab, session information is listed alongside tickets, with cancelations and refunds captured in the Cancel & Refund History pane.

Plan availability: Available across all plans. Paid sessions are supported starting from Essentials and above.

---

Ticket grouping

Because tickets deserve a family tree too.

We’re adding more clarity and flexibility to how tickets are managed in Zoho Backstage with the introduction of ticket class grouping. This feature allows organizers to organize different ticket types into groups, making it easier to present a structured and intuitive registration flow for attendees.

Ticket classes such as General Admission, VIP, Free, Investor, or Partner passes can now be grouped together in a way that highlights their distinctions while still keeping the registration process simple. This helps attendees quickly understand the differences between options and choose tickets that best match their preferences, budget, or privileges.

How it works:

• Navigate to Registrations > Ticket Class > Add Ticket Group. Create a new group and assign ticket classes to it.
• Once created, groups can be edited at any time to add or remove ticket classes. If you need to rearrange, simply use the "Move to" option or drag and drop ticket classes within or across groups. If a group is deleted, only the group itself is removed, while the ticket classes remain available and appear as ungrouped.

This update gives organizers flexibility to design their ticketing structure around audience segments, ensuring clarity during registration while keeping the backend easy to manage.

On the event website, tickets are displayed in their grouped structure by default, giving attendees a clear view of available options. Organizers can choose to disable this grouped display from the website builder if they prefer a simpler layout. Any ungrouped ticket classes are automatically displayed under an “Others” section, ensuring no ticket is left out. The grouped view is consistently shown across the Tickets page, the Select Tickets screen, and even when adding an order from the Orders tab.

By grouping ticket classes, event organizers can create a clearer, more organized registration experience that benefits both their team and their attendees.

Plan availability: Included in the Free, Essentials, Premium, and Ultimate plans. 

---

Assign primary contacts for custom forms

No more “Who’s handling this?” moments.

Managing form responses just got a whole lot easier. With this update, Zoho Backstage now lets you assign a primary contact for each custom form. That means every submission reaches the right person without extra forwarding or missed follow-ups.

How it works:

• Navigate to Communicate > Preferences > Primary Contact > Module-Specific Primary Contact > Assign Primary Contact.
• Or, head to Manage > Custom Forms > Edit > Form Builder and set the contact directly from there.
• If you ever need to make a change, simply click Change, and you’ll be redirected back to the Primary Contact settings under Communicate. From there, you can update your configuration without any hassle.

Once a primary contact is set, every response submitted through your event website will trigger an email notification to the designated person. This means no more delayed follow-ups or confusion over who’s responsible for handling incoming submissions. Communication becomes more streamlined, and accountability is always clear.

The benefit of this update is simple: by assigning primary contacts, you ensure that form responses never slip through the cracks. The right people receive the right submissions, ownership is straightforward, and your team can manage event communications with greater confidence.

This enhancement is now available across all plans that support custom forms. 

Plan availability: Included in the Premium and Ultimate plans.

---

Enhancements

A new look for order management in Zoho Backstage

Orders, organized!

The Orders tab in the Registration module has been reimagined. What was once a simple list of purchases is now a full-featured workspace where organizers can view, edit, and act on orders with far more control than before.

At the heart of the update is a redesigned Order Details view. Each order is now broken down into clear sections: Order Information, Purchaser Details, and Order Summary. This structure helps organizers quickly locate the information they need without extra effort. Attendees and session registrations are also displayed in separate panels, making it clear who is associated with each order.

If something needs to be updated, the new Edit Order pane lets organizers adjust purchaser information and access billing addresses quickly. For offline orders, payments can now be marked manually as paid or unpaid, with fields for payment mode, transaction ID, and notes.

From the More Actions menu, every order now comes with tools to:

• Resend order emails
• Edit purchaser information
• Cancel or refund orders (with adjustable fees and refund amounts)
• Check purchaser email history
• Track order activity in real time

This means fewer steps, less switching between screens, and a faster workflow for managing registrations.

Events can generate thousands of orders, and keeping them organized is now easier than ever. The Orders tab includes advanced filters for order status, type, payment method, payment mode, and source. Sorting by purchaser name, order ID, or date/time makes it simple to surface the right records. And with 18 column headers to choose from, organizers can design their own view of the data, showing only what matters most.

This release doesn’t just improve the present—it also prepares for what’s ahead. 

Plan availability: Included in the Free, Essentials, Premium, and Ultimate plans. 

---

Exhibitor categories made better

Give your categories a glow-up.

We’ve upgraded your exhibitor category setup and management in Zoho Backstage. The new design gives you a cleaner interface, more flexibility, and better visibility controls.

With this release, categories are now more customizable. Organizers can group and organize benefits within each category, assign distinct colors for easy identification, and use visibility toggles to decide what's shown. Flexible display options allow each event setup to match its specific requirements, ensuring categories are both functional and clear.

The new creation and management screens make it easier to move between categories and their associated benefits. Benefits can be enabled or disabled whenever required, and their availability, counts, and status are presented in a structured way. This gives organizers a complete view of what's currently active in each category.

Categories can also be linked directly to exhibitor or sponsor packages so that reserved benefits are applied consistently. Assigning unique colors to categories adds another layer of clarity, making it simpler to manage and distinguish them.

On the website, organizers can now decide how categories are displayed to attendees. Categories may be shown or hidden, and exhibitor listings can appear in either a card view or a table view, depending on the style that best suits the event.

To start using it:

• Navigate to Exhibitors > Exhibitor Categories, or configure the display preferences in Design > Website.

With Exhibitor Categories V2, organizers gain more control over how exhibitors are managed and presented, while attendees receive a clearer and more organized view of event participants.

Plan availability: Included in the Essentials, Premium, and Ultimate plans. 

---

New withdrawal flow in Registration Approval

Sometimes “no thanks” deserves its own button.

Event registration just got more flexible. We’ve added a new Withdrawn status to make the ticket request process smoother for both attendees and organizers. From now on, attendees who no longer wish to attend can simply withdraw their registration requests directly from the event website. These requests will be neatly recorded in the system and can be found under the Canceled filter in the Registration Approval tab.

On the website, attendees will see their request clearly marked as Withdrawn, ensuring there’s no confusion about whether their registration is still pending. For event organizers, this new status provides better visibility by separating attendee-initiated withdrawals from organizer-declined requests. This way, you’ll always know which cancelations were voluntary and which were rejected during approval.

To help you stay on top of your workflow, the Registration Approval tab now follows a simple guide. Pending requests are those awaiting review, approved requests are the ones you have confirmed, rejected requests are those you have declined, and withdrawn requests are those attendees have chosen to cancel themselves.

This update not only simplifies your approval process but also gives attendees more control over their registrations, making the overall experience clearer, more transparent, and easier to manage for everyone involved.

Plan availability: Included in the Free, Essentials, Premium, and Ultimate plans. 

---

More flexibility with Transaction ID requests

Ask for details only when you really need them.

We’ve introduced a new level of flexibility to how transaction details are collected during ticket registration. Event organizers can now choose whether to display the Transaction ID pop-up when attendees select an offline payment option.

By default, the Transaction ID request will appear for Bank Transfer, Check, and Other payment modes, ensuring that important reference details are collected upfront. However, if you prefer not to request these details, you now have the option to disable it with a simple setting change. On the other hand, for Pay at Venue, the Transaction ID request will remain disabled by default, but you can easily enable it if your workflow requires attendees to provide transaction details in advance.

To keep things transparent, any changes you make to the offline payment settings will be automatically recorded in the activity logs. This gives you a reliable trail of updates and ensures accountability across your event management team.

With this enhancement, you have greater control over how payments are managed, offering both convenience and flexibility for your attendees while keeping your processes streamlined.

Plan availability: Included in the Essentials, Premium, and Ultimate plans

---

Other updates

New UI in Marketing Plus

A refreshed Zoho Backstage interface has been introduced in the Marketing Plus and CRM Plus bundles. The updated design improves navigation, creates consistency across modules, and helps organizers manage events with greater clarity and ease.

New themes: Velvet and Neo Noir

The Velvet and Neo Noir themes has been added to the website, giving organizers a bold and stylish option to match event branding. These modern designs introduce a darker palette with sleek layouts for professional-looking event pages.

New session card layout

A third layout style has been released for session cards under Design > Website settings. Organizers can select from multiple layouts to better highlight speakers, timings, or details, creating an agenda design tailored to their event.

Publish events without a location

Events can now be published without requiring a location to be entered, giving organizers more flexibility when setting up offline or hybrid events. This change makes publishing faster while accommodating events that may not need a physical address.

Schedule Demo option for Trial plans

Trial plan users are given the option to schedule a demo directly from their account. This addition makes it easier for new users to explore features, understand workflows, and receive guided assistance before moving to a paid plan.

Host parallel sessions

The restriction limiting organizers to a single active session has been lifted. Organizers gain more flexibility to test, manage, and run multiple tracks or parallel sessions without interruption, making event operations more efficient.

---

That’s everything we have for this month. Every improvement comes from your feedback, ideas, and support. Thank you for being part of this journey and for trusting Backstage to power your events. We'll be back soon with more updates. Until then, here’s to smoother planning, stronger connections, and events that leave lasting memories.

---

All the features and enhancements mentioned in this article are available across all Zoho Backstage-supported data centers.

For additional assistance or questions regarding these new features, contact support@zohobackstage.com. Stay tuned for continued updates designed to enhance your event management capabilities.

• Topic Participants

• Jithan Raghuraj

  

• Recent Topics

• Create Project while winning potentials - Projects v3 api updated code

  Hi all, I've been using the built in function to create a project while a deal is closed won and noticed it had some missing fields when trying to reference the zoho projects v3 api documentation. Specifically the project group had some issues when adding

• [Free Webinar] Zoho RPA - OCR, PDF Automation, & More

  Hello Everyone! Greetings from the Zoho RPA Training Team! We’re excited to invite you to our upcoming webinar on the latest release updates for Zoho RPA, where we’ll unveil powerful new capabilities designed to make your automation journey smarter, faster,

• Merge feature parity with writer

  Hello Zoho team, I have run into a workflow limitation with Zoho Contracts and the lack of merge feature parity with what Writer can do. We have created a fairly complex merge process to create a statement of work based on several fields in our CRM which

• Export option in Contacts is missing

  Hello - I've been clicking around Zoho all morning trying to find the export option. It formerly was in the right hand corner, above the search box, but now I don't see it. I've looked everywhere - Am I missing it somehow? I've attached a screenshot.

• Formatting of cells changing by itself and formulas not always calculating automatically

  I'm new to Sheets and have been setting up a budgeting template that has many linked tabs. It's going fairly well except certain quirky things have been happening from time to time. 1- sometimes when I scroll up or down I lose formatting from a random

• Unable to open iOS Zoho CRM app

  i am unable to open Zoho CRM iOS App in iPhone 14 Pro Max v18.5 and it is crashing immediately after i click to open

• Whatsapp BOT with CRM

  Hello, how do you use Whatsapp integrations in zoho CRM?

• sync two zoho crm

  Hello everyone. Is it possible to sync 2 zoho crm? what would be the easiest way? I am thinking of Flow. I have a Custom Module that I would like to share with my client. We both use zoho crm. Regards.

• Side-by-Side view on Windows 11

  Is there a way to open two notes in a side-by-side view? I'm running Notebook on a Desktop running Windows 11. If this feature doesn't exist, do you have plans for it?

• Value shows in balance sheet for Goods in Transit

  We have transferred goods from one warehouse to another warehouse and accepted the same at another warehouse. Although my balance sheet shows X amount as goods in transit value. I don't understand, how to clear that  Can anyone guide us please?

• Resolution Time Report

  From data to decisions: A deep dive into ticketing system reports What are time-based reports? Time-based reports are valuable tools that help us understand how well things are going by breaking down key metrics over specific periods. By tracking, measuring,

• Ask for a quote to multple vendors

  We are able to send a Purchase order, but How can we Send a quote request to our vendor, once the value changes every time? I didn't see any feature like this in Zoho Books/ Inventory. Send this request with the Items that we want to know the cost, to

• Bigin merge field in email template for subject line to match lead name

  Hello We Are using email in to automatically create leads in our pipelines. When we want to reply from conversations, and apply an email template, it’s not matching the original subject line. It should be lead name to match. But it’s not working. Even

• How to create auto-link between Invoice and Quote in CRM

  It's strange that when you 'convert' a quote into an invoice, it doesn't auto-link the two. How can we develop an auto sync so we don't need to manually link each invoice to their respective quote?

• Why Are Columns Reset When Deleting Entry

  Hello, this is quite annoying. We use forms as a questionnaire for candidates, we filter entries by removing columns, when we delete an entry the columns reset. Every "delete" the columns reset, why!? Thank you

• Pi or Pie? A slice of infinity in customer service

  Hey everyone! While Pi Day is on March 14 (3.14), July 22 marks another special occasion: Pi Approximation Day! On this day, we recognize the mathematical constant π (pi ≈ 22/7); a number that's infinite, irrational, and never-ending. Pi is essential

• Configuración

  Hola acabo de instalar Zoho CRM y quiero configurarlo correctamente. Al respecto me surgen algunas dudas tales como la diferencia entre: Cuentas, posibles Clientes y Contactos. ¿Conceptualmente que son cada uno? ¿Como se se relacionan entre ellos? Si

• Why Can't I add unicode emoji's to my signature?

  Why would Zoho Mail prevent me from adding unicode emojis to my email signature? Every time I try to save the signature, Zoho Mail erases the emoji and any nearby content. Every time I setup something with Zoho, I know I'm going to run into some incredibly

• GL account associated to each supplier for new bill

  Hello I'm facing problem for all items of my bills that are not inventoried. The need is each time I enter new bill and after I select supplier the GL account section is autopopulated with default GL account (that I would like to add in supplier settings)

• LinkedIn verification link and otp not receiving

  For the last 2 to 3 weeks I'm trying to verify my LinkedIn account to access my company's LinkedIn page, Linkedin is sending verification links and codes to this email address but I have not received any codes or links. Please help me here. Looking forward

• Zoho reply to not working. just reply to my self

  Hello. i using on my wordpress website a contact form from Wsform. i can set the reply to email there. normally it works. but since i am using your wordpress plugin zoho mail it doesn`t work. its not using the reply to (email from customer). I just can

• Mail Merge Stuck in Queue

  I am trying to send Mail Merge's and it never sends out to the full list. It always hits a portion and the rest remain in the "Queue" - the emails I am sending are time sensitive, so I need this to be resolved or have a way to push the emails through

• SMTP Email Sending Not Working for My Domains and Apps

  Hello Zoho Support Team, I am experiencing a critical issue with sending emails via Zoho SMTP for my domain humanhup.com. Both of my applications, HumanHup and CheapUI, are unable to send emails using Zoho SMTP, even though the same setup was working

• Receiving too many Spam Leads. Why?

  I am receiving so many junk leads from web forms created by zoho's platform. The junk queries are increasing day by day and are affecting our business. I am continuously following up with zoho team from the past one year but not getting any satisfactory

• Why is Zoho supporting the Proud Boys?

  Hello. This is the only way I can find to contact your company. There is someone in Maine posing as a law enforcement officer, attempting to kidnap immigrants. They are also recruiting for a known hate group. They have an email address hosted by Zoho.com.

• Composite Item - Associated/Component Items

  I am trying to find the Associated Item/Component Item field in the Composite Item Table in Analytics. Has anyone been able to find and utilize this field in Analytics?

• What is a a valid JavaScript Domain URI when creating a client-based application using the Zoho API console?

  No idea what this is. Can't see what it is explained anywhere.

• 🚀 WorkDrive 5.0: Evolving from a file sharing app to an intelligent content management platform: Phase 2

  Hello everyone, WorkDrive's primary focus has always been to provide an intelligent and secure content management platform, simplify collaboration, and be the central repository of files for all Zoho apps. In our previous announcement, we unveiled the

• Use openUrl() to edit a specific record

  I am working on a queue app for my organization. I have a master queue that is a report of meetings with workflow buttons to manipulate the records. One of these buttons I would like to open the record and edit for the purpose of changing the queue lookup

• why i cant access my web without the www

  please help me

• Send Whatsapp with API including custom placeholders

  Is is possible to initiate a session on whatsapp IM channel with a template that includes params (placeholders) that are passed on the API call? This is very usefull to send a Utility message for a transactional notification including an order number

• Help Centre Articles in Desk, Zia and iframe

  Hi, We embed SOP documents into articles from Scribe into using iframe. We are looking at zia indexing articles to present to agents to aid their work. Please advise if zia can view and learn from the content within the iframe?

• Rich Text/WYSIWYG Input Area

  I'd like to have an option on ZoHo creator to create an input text area for HTML/rich text formatting. :)

• How to create a directory report from one-to-many relationship

  Hi all, Newbie here. I'm converting an Access DB to Creator. I've learned Forms are tables and Reports are used to edit table rows, not Forms. I've got the data loaded and can maintain it with the Reports already done. I've done filtering and sorting,

• Change Default Selection for Lookup field

  I have a Lookup field that I have locked, when I unlock it - the user can select the proper Zone but I need it locked, since this may change based on user selection of another field. Example. There are 3 potential zones. User A selects the Hospital Account

• Restrict visibility and user permissions Creator 5

  I don't understand how restrict visibility for reports interacts with the already established role permissions. It seems that the default on restrict visibility has everything checked for all users, but I cannot set up different levels of permission for different individuals.  Right now I have three different ways to manage users and their access and it's confusing because everything has not migrated to Creator 5. Don't the role permissions extend to the reports as well? Are the selections under

• LMS - Why do Trainers have to be Users?

  I'm not sure why the software is set up where trainers must be users (i.e., employees). This should really be changed, as there are many cases (the majority of cases for some companies) where classroom trainers are external or contractors. If this is

• ZOho mail not stopped working with my domain.

  i have changed my name server settings in my domain sigmasquaretec.in . After that my emails are not working with ZOHO.

• Request to Cancel Zoho Mail Subscription

  Hello Zoho Team, I have migrated to Google Workspace and would like to cancel my Zoho Mail subscription for my organization. Organization Name: AR Creators Media Admin Email: roman@arcreatorsmedia.com Subscription ID: RPUS2005901960812 Please cancel the

• zoho smtp limit for free users

  What is Zoho SMTP limit for free users?

• Next Page