Zoho Developer Community Monthly Digest - March 2024

Zoho Developer Community Monthly Digest - March 2024



Hello everyone,

In this digest, we've brought you a roundup of the highlights, community discussions, resources, and updates from March to keep you in the loop. Let's get right to it!

March Highlights

Zoho Developer Hangout 13

Zoho CRM offers flexibility for businesses to tailor it precisely according to their unique requirements. However, even the best suits may need a few extra accessories. That's where Zoho Creator steps in. When integrated with Zoho CRM, it extends the platform's capabilities, allowing you to build custom applications, forms, and views, transforming them into custom tabs within the CRM interface. Think of it as the stylish pocket square that completes the look. In this session, our MVP @Damien Cregan provided an introduction to Deluge scripting and its role in creating integrations between Zoho Creator and Zoho CRM. He also delved into the intricacies of fetching records from Creator within CRM and vice versa, as well as creating and updating records in both platforms. Watch the recording here.

Zoho Developer Hangout 14

By serving as gateways for accessing and sharing functionalities and data across applications, APIs empower developers to tap into external resources and services that enrich their applications with enhanced features and solutions. Eric, a consistent top contributor in the Zoho Developer Community, says, "Zoho APIs can be fun to use. For core applications like CRM, Desk, and Books, there is an abundance of API endpoints to use and play with. Whether you are developing in or out of Zoho, there is a lot of commonality." In this episode, he discussed the API documentation, limitations, and gotchas, using the API in Deluge, and then demonstrated a use case outside of Zoho with a Ruby application. Watch the recording here.

Upcoming Events

Note: To stay on top of the upcoming developer community events, keep an eye on this page.
  1. Zoho Developer Community Bootcamps - India: We're excited to announce a line-up of Zoho Developer Community Bootcamps in India. These bootcamps focus on empowering developers of all skill levels to learn and build extensions for Zoho products and potentially monetize them by listing them on Zoho Marketplace. This is a great opportunity to network with fellow developers and Zoho users, interact with Zoho experts, share ideas and experiences, and grow together as a community. Read through the details here and register for the meetup in your city.

  2. Zoho QEngine 101: We are happy to announce Zoho QEngine 101 series for the developer community consisting of five sessions in total. 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. Registration and more details here. We also have the Get to know Zoho QEngine webinar series to enhance your understanding of how to leverage QEngine for efficient application testing, particularly through automation. 

  3. 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. Register for this multi-part series and start using developer-centric CRM features like a pro!

  4. Zoho Extensions 101 – Extensions for Zoho Finance Suite: This series offers a comprehensive exploration of developing extensions and widgets for the Zoho Finance suite. 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. Click here for the detailed agenda and registration.

  5. 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 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.

  6. Catalyst Masterclass – Build next-gen bots with NLP capabilities using ConvoKraft: Join us for an exclusive webinar on Catalyst ConvoKraft with industry experts to learn how to build next-gen bots with advanced Natural Language Processing (NLP) capabilities. Catalyst ConvoKraft is an open platform on which third-party, non-AI developers can build chatbots. Developers can easily embed bots built on ConvoKraft into their application's front end for end-users to interact with.

  7. Learning Table Series: We 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 Logistics Industry was a success, and during the upcoming session, we'll be exploring Creator for the Education Industry.

    Title: Creator For the Education Industry
    Date: May 2, 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

  8. Creator Tech Connect Series: Creator'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 recently concluded session focused on customizing mobile applications in Zoho Creator, while the upcoming session in the series will be about Rebranding mobile applications in Zoho Creator.

    Title: Rebranding Mobile Applications in Zoho Creator
    Date: May 9, 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

  • At times, even the tiniest syntax slip-up can be vexing. That's where community support comes through, as members have likely encountered similar challenges. In this instance, @Philip sought assistance on our forum for a WHERE clause issue in a COQL query, and as usual, @Haiku Technical Support swiftly offered helpful tips to guide @Philip and @DataWarehouse.
  • More often than not, minor script glitches can escalate into significant time drains for developers. @Jason's struggle with transferring subform records highlights the frustration such issues can bring. Our MVP @Hugh Marshall's timely intervention not only resolved the problem but also underscored the invaluable support network within the community.
  • @Emmanuel struggled to update a multi-select field in Zoho CRM, prompting other community members to jump into the discussion with similar challenges. @Sunderjan and @Pheranda pitched in with code snippets to help them through their predicaments.
  • Identifying the cause of a problem is key to resolving it, which is precisely what @Hugh Marshall aided in with @Jorge's situation. While attempting to parse an XML file in Zoho CRM, @Jorge Andrés faced challenges in isolating and processing details from the XML, despite exploring different solutions. Go through this conversation to understand how community can be your go-to when you’re stuck in coding conundrums.

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.
  • Does it spark your interest when I say that it's possible to search email ID in Leads and Contacts modules at the same time? Go through this discussion where @Venessa West shares how.
  • @Nhivethasre comes to @Piyush's rescue with the steps involved in publishing his Zoho Creator app on Google Play Store and Apple's App Store. Make sure to bookmark this thread for future reference when you're ready to publish your own app!
  • Our champions Tasha and Puneeth offered step-by-step solution to Fatih in this discussion to fetch data from a website (specifically, YouTube) using Deluge and funnel it into Zoho Desk via an app developed with Zoho Catalyst.
  • Check out this lovely conversation that shows the pros coming together to help each other out with great camaraderie!
  • @Haiku Technical Support helped @Danny save some time by suggesting a more straighforward solution to his requirement, avoiding the need to integrate more products than needed.

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 ninth presenter Christopher Mowers. 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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