blungo - Blog #zoho projects

How to Create a Related Record with a Function in Zoho CRM

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 11:29:14 -0700

What we are going to do

In this tutorial you are going to code a Deluge function that will create a related record in Zoho CRM. Then, we are going to add the function to a workflow, so it creates the record automatically. For this example, we are going to use the Deals module, that will trigger the automation, and a Custom module called Jobs, where the related record is going to be created. Both records are going to be linked.

Pre-requisites

The modules you want to use have to be already built. If you want to learn how to create a custom module, here's a tutorial: https://youtu.be/B-b_5qg1FpI
The child module must already contain the fields to receive information from the main module.

Adding a Lookup field

In the Zoho CRM settings, go to "Modules and Fields", and open the "child" module that you are going to link to the main module. In this case, we are going to open the Jobs module, that will be linked to the Deals module.
Open the layout where you are going to add the lookup field.
Drag and drop the lookup field to the layout.
Configure the lookup field:

Name the field.
Select the lookup module. In our case, it it's the Deals module.
Name the related list. This is going to be displayed on the main module. We are going to call it "Jobs".

Click on "Done".
Save the layout and close it.

Setting up the function

In the Zoho CRM settings, go to "Functions" under "Developer Space".
Create a new function: Add a name and select "Automation" as the category.
Copy the function located below and paste it in the text editor in Zoho CRM.
Edit the arguments: add "deal_id" as a string.
Get the Deal variables to pass to the Job:

Find the API Names in the CRM settings.

Map the variables using the Job module API Names.

Make sure to include the "deal_id", so the records link to each other.

Test the function.
Save the function.

deal_info = zoho.crm.getRecordById("Deals",deal_id);

// get information about the deal

deal_name = deal_info.get("Deal_Name");

deal_estimator = deal_info.get("Estimator").get("id");

deal_type = deal_info.get("Type");

closing_date = deal_info.get("Closing_Date");

//create the record name

job_name = "Job: " + deal_name;

//map fields from the deal to the job

mp = Map();

mp.put("Type",deal_type);

mp.put("Estimator",deal_estimator);

mp.put("Closing_Date",closing_date);

mp.put("Name",job_name);

mp.put("Deal_Related",deal_id);

//create the job

create_job = zoho.crm.createRecord("Jobs",mp);

info create_job;

Creating a workflow

In the setup page, click on workflow rules under automations
Create a new rule, select the Deals module, and name it (we are selecting the Deals instead of the contact because we need to trigger this automation when a Deal stage changes)
Configure your workflow trigger and conditions:

When > on a record action > Edit > Stage is modified to the value of Won
Condition: all Deals

As the instant action, select "function"
Click on "new function" and then select "functions"
Find the function you just created, and click on "configure"
Map the argument "deal_id" as the deal ID, using the # key
Click on "save and associate" and save the workflow
Test the workflow

Case Study - Biosphere Consulting

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 00:08:50 -0700

Biosphere Consulting Inc. is a small business that designs sustainable, environmentally-friendly onsite wastewater and rainwater catchment systems in Northern California.

Before Blungo

Before contacting Blungo, Biosphere did not have a central place to view their project related tasks, as they were all tracked in various applications.

With Blungo

With the help of Blungo they decided that Zoho Projects was the best solution for the challenges that came along with not having a centralized way to view their projects.

For the first few months Blungo implemented Zoho Projects and developed project templates with more than 100 tasks per template. Once Zoho Projects was implemented, everytime a project was created tasks were automatically assigned to each member as each task had dependencies with successors, pre-successors, as well as priorities, due dates, and important information about it.

Part two of Biosphere’s journey with Blungo was to implement Zoho CRM so they could track sales.

Now when they close a sale they move the opportunity to a specific stage in the CRM and a project is created.

Using two Zoho applications means that there is an integration between Zoho CRM and Zoho Projects, allowing the two to seamlessly work together. Two additional applications that Biosphere uses (Gmail and Dropbox) are also integrated within Zoho CRM and Zoho Projects.

Centralizing the tasks in Zoho Projects saved them a lot of time that was otherwise used to track the tasks across different applications. Saving this time has allowed them to focus more on their clients and the services they offer.

Case Study - Moriarty's Roofing

Mon, 26 Sep 2022 22:58:53 -0700

Moriarty’s Roofing is a small family owned business that was started nearly 20 years ago in Santa Cruz, California. They first began working as a small office team of 3 and have since grown to nearly 10 people.

Before Blungo

Before contacting Blungo, they had been using:

Self hosted email
Copper CRM
Dropbox for storage

With Blungo

To start, Blungo helped Moriarty’s Roofing make the switch from Dropbox and a self hosted email to the Google Suite applications. They now use Google Workspace (gmail, google calendar, and google drive, google forms etc), which resolved their storage challenges.

After Blungo’s evaluation of the current sales process and what administrative applications Moriarty’s Roofing was using they decided the next step was to switch to Zoho CRM. They selected Zoho as there were a lot of features that they needed such as sending emails from the CRM, using webforms to get leads from the website to the CRM, and tracking visitors from the website. Blungo also implemented other applications like Zoho Desk to manage all of the incoming customer emails. Now that everything is in the same place, all the teams at Moriarty’s Roofing can access those emails and nothing gets lost in an individual mailbox.

Additionally, Sales IQ was implemented to support chat on the website so visitors could message with the sales team directly and ask questions when they were on the website. Zoho Projects is used to track all of the different projects so when a deal is closed all the information gets sent to the CRM. From here it is moved to Zoho Projects so the production part of the process can be tracked. Zoho Campaigns has also been helpful for Moriarty’s Roofing to send email marketing campaigns, such as monthly newsletters.

Lastly, Blungo created automations in the CRM, campaigns, and salesIQ, using Zoho Flow to connect and automate other apps like Google Drive and Quickbooks.

Thanks to the software and automations implemented, the productivity at the office increased, and more than 1K tasks/week are completed automatically, saving the employees approximately 40 hours/week.

Applications implemented

Google Workspaces

Zoho CRM

Zoho Desk

Zoho Sites

Zoho Analytics

Zoho Flow

Google Campaigns

Zoho Cliq

Zoho Sales IQ

Zoho Social

Zoho Survey

Zoho Projects

Zoho One Top 10 Most Useful Apps

Sun, 10 Apr 2022 09:10:10 -0700

Zoho One is a suite of 40 plus apps that you can use to run your business, but today we are going to focus on the 10 most useful ones in my opinion.

I've been using Zoho One for 2 years now, and helped 7 different companies to implement Zoho One from scratch, so in this list I'm sharing the apps that most of my clients want to use.

Try out Zoho One using our affiliate link:

Zoho One Trial

#1 Zoho CRM or Zoho Bigin

We have two apps but the category is CRM. Depending on what business you have, you can either use Zoho CRM or Begin. Zoho CRM is more advanced and can do a lot, but Begin has the basis covered. You can use this to keep your leads, contacts, accounts and deals in the same place, as well as manage your sales process, track your leads, keep conversations with your contacts in one place, and a lot more. If you are not using a CRM yet, this could be a game changer for your business. Apps similar to zoho CRM are hubspot, salesforce and pipedrive.

#2 Zoho Books

This app lets you manage your finances in one place. It's similar to apps like Quickbooks or Xero. You can have all your clients in one place, and send them invoices, create estimates, track expenses, register payments, and it integrates with a lot of banks and electronic payments like paypall or stripe. It's very customizable, allowing you to add your own branding to the invoices or any other document you send, as well as creating email templates, editing the document layout, and a lot more. It also integrates really well with other zoho apps, like Zoho CRM and Zoho Projects.

#3 Zoho Projects

You will use this app if you want to track any projects that you do for your company. It can be an internal project, like moving to a new office, or a work project, for example, if you work for a construction company, you can plan how to build a house for a client. You can add milestones, tasks and subtasks, and they will have start dates, due dates, priority, and a lot more relevant information that will help you track all you need to do to complete the project. Another feature is budget and time tracking. You can set up a budget for each project, and also track time against each task, so you can see when you're approaching to the budget limit. Apps similar to Projects are Asana, ClickUp and Monday.com.

#4 Zoho Sign

With Zoho Sign you can send documents that require a signature, like contracts, agreements, proposals, etc. You can upload your own documents and add the signature area to them. You can also add fields that you can manually complete when signing the document, or automatically populate if you use Zoho CRM and have the integration set up. Zoho Sign is similar to DocuSign, but it's not a proposal management software like PandaDoc. The difference is that with PandaDoc you can add dynamic content, like optional items on the price table, and the signer can interact with the table before signing. When you send a Document with Zoho Sign, the signer can only fill out the required fields, if any, and sign the document.

#5 Zoho Desk

With Zoho Desk you will be able to set up a ticket system that lets you centralize and solve any open tickets that your customers generate. For example, if you offer IT services, your clients can use your portal to submit issues or questions that they have, and your technicians will be able to tackle the incoming tickets one by one. You can also create a knowledge database where you can create articles that show solutions to the most common issues, so your customers can troubleshoot those issues on their own. Apps similar to Desk are ZenDesk and Freshdesk.

#6 Zoho WorkDrive and Writer, Sheets and Show

This is a cloud storage solution where you can upload any files you want, so you can access them using the internet, either from your computer, tablet or phone. Here you can create personal folders as well as tam folders, so you can easily share files with your coworkers. Similar apps are Dropbox or Google Drive. Also in Zoho WorkDrive you can create word documents, spreadsheets and presentations using the Zoho Office suite apps that are included with WorkDrive. It has a windows and mac client if you want to sync your files with the computer.

#7 Zoho Flow

This is a connector app that allows you to connect other apps to each other so they can share data and perform different actions. For example, you can automatically add a lead to Zoho CRM when a person registers to an event in Calendly. A new invitee in calendly would be the trigger of the workflow, and the lead creation in Zoho CRM is the action. You can add multiple steps to the workflows you create, as well as connecting different apps. So far it works with more than 600 apps and they keep adding more and more. Zoho Flow is really helpful when there's no native integration available between two apps that you need to connect.

#8 Zoho Campaigns

With Zoho Campaigns you can automate your email marketing campaigns as well as create email workflows so you can send the right emails to your customers or leads. If you send emails to your contacts database, you can automate the entire process using Zoho Campaigns. Create your email templates, create your contact list or segment, and send the campaign that will track when someone opens or clicks on an email you sent. It integrates with Zoho CRM so you can see what customers interacted with your emails and take action in the CRM. Also with workflows you can perform different actions depending on the user behavior. For example, if the user clicks on a link about shoes, the next email to be sent is going to be about shoes, or if the user clicks on a shirt, the next email should be about shirts. Similar apps are ActiveCampaign and Hubspot Marketing Hub.

#9 Zoho Cliq

This is a great chat app that you can use to chat with your team, as well as creating group chats, organization channels, start voice calls, video calls and screen sharing sessions. You can even do broadcasts. It's very flexible and customizable, and you can do a lot at a chat level, like sending gifs, emojis, pictures and files, and even add chat bots that will help you with automations or getting information from them. This app is being adopted by users more and more, and it integrates with a lot of other Zoho apps, so you can access your chats while you are using the CRM or Projects. Similar apps are Slack or Microsoft Teams.

#10 Zoho Bookings

With Bookings you can create a booking page that your clients or contacts can use to schedule meetings or phone calls with you. The app will make sure there are no double bookings, and that you have enough time between your meetings. You can customize it a lot, creating different pages based on the type of meeting, as well as the meeting length, and you can even process payments if you use the app for consultations. It integrates with other Zoho apps like CRM and Zoho Meetings, as well as with some video conferencing apps like Zoom or Google Meet.

Assign task automatically to user field in Zoho CRM

Sun, 18 Jul 2021 11:53:55 -0700

In this tutorial we are going to create a workflow that will assign a task to a user that is not the record owner. In the example we will work on the Opportunities module (deals), and will create a function that is going to create and assign a task to the user that is selected in the Sales Support field.

Part 1: Add a user field to your layout

In CRM, open the set up page, then go to modules and fields under customization
Open your deals module, in my case it's called opportunities
Open the layout you want to edit
Add a user field and name it
Save and close the module
Then, on the setup, go to developer space and click on APIs
On the top, go to APIs names and open "opportunities"
On the list, find the field you just created, and take note of the API name

Part 2: Creating the function

In the set up, click on "functions" under "developer space"
Click on the "new function" button
Name the function and select automation as the category
Copy the code down below and paste it in the function body

You will see that some texts are grey; they are clarifications that explain each part of the function in case you need to edit it

Replace "Sales_Support1" for the API name that you found on step one
Replace "Task name - " with the name of the task you prefer

The second part of this like is going to add the deal name to the task name, but you can removed this if you prefer [+ ifnull(dealDetails.get("Deal_Name"),"")]

Replace the due date number with the number you want the task to be created at
Replace the reminder number with the number you want the system sends a reminder

Make sure the due date is after the reminder date, otherwise the reminder will not work
If you don't want to set a reminder, you can remove the line completely, as well as the section marked in blue in the code

Now click on edit arguments and map the argument "yourDealid" as an "int"
Finally save the arguments and save the function

dealDetails = zoho.crm.getRecordById("Deals",yourDealid);

//find the sales support id related to the deal

SalesSupport = ifnull(dealDetails.get("Sales_Support1"),"").get("id");

//name the task combining get colors plus dial name

taskSubject = "Task name - " + ifnull(dealDetails.get("Deal_Name"),"");

//due date is 6 day after the task is created

dueDate = today.addDay(6);

//reminder 5 days after the task is created

reminderTime = today.addDay(5).toTime();

//creating the task

taskMap = Map();

taskMap.put("$se_module","Deals");

taskMap.put("What_Id",yourDealid);

taskMap.put("Owner",SalesSupport);

taskMap.put("Subject",taskSubject);

taskMap.put("Due_Date",dueDate);

//reminder via email

taskMap.put("Remind_At",{"ALARM":"FREQ=NONE;ACTION=EMAIL;TRIGGER=DATE-TIME:" + reminderTime.toString("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss'+05:30'")});

taskMap.put("Status","Not Started");

taskMap.put("Send_Notification_Email",true);

createResp = zoho.crm.createRecord("Tasks",taskMap);

info taskMap;

info createResp;

Part 3: Creating the workflow

In the setup page, click on workflow rules under automations
Create a new rule, select the deals module, and name it
Configure your workflow trigger and conditions:

In my case we are going to do it on a record action > when the stage is modified to any value
Condition: stage is "scheduled estimate"

As the instant action, select "function"
Click on "new function" and then select "functions"
Find the function you just created, and click on "configure"
Map the argument "yourDealid" as the deal ID, using the # key
Test the workflow

Automatically create a project when deal is won (Zoho Projects and CRM)

Mon, 05 Jul 2021 15:51:00 -0700

How it works

In this tutorial we are going to set up a workflow and a function that will create a project in Zoho Project, after a deal was modified in Zoho CRM. When a user makes specific changes in Zoho CRM, like updating the deal stage, this will trigger a workflow that will call a function, and this function will create the project, as well as transferring information from the deal.

Pre-requisites

The deals layout has to be ready, with all fields matching the ones in Zoho Projects. Video: https://youtu.be/UK_MpUnYWvg
The project layout has to be ready as well, matching Zoho CRM fields. Video: https://youtu.be/Dy6K_fwARGw?t=14
A template in Zoho Projects has to be created. Video: https://youtu.be/Dy6K_fwARGw?t=126

Optional

This automation will NOT work if the account field on the Deal is empty. You can manually assign an Account, before wining the Deal, or you can create a workflow to do it. If you choose to create a workflow, here are the steps: https://www.blungo.com/blogs/post/workflow-assign-account-to-a-deal-automatically-zoho-crm

Creating the automation

Part 1: Adding a new connection

In CRM, go to developer space and the to connections
Click on Add new connection, and select ZohoOAuth
Connection name: relateproject
Connection Link name: relateproject
Scope: choose these two variables: ZohoCRM.modules.ALL, ZohoProjects.projects.ALL, and ZohoProjects.projects.CREATE
Click on "create and connect", and when a new window pops up, click on "accept"

Part 2: Adding a new function

In the CRM, go to developers and then functions, and add a new function
Name it "Create Project" and select automation as the category
Copy the function listed below and paste in the function window
Click on "edit arguments", and map the the arguments as shown in the image below the function

You need to map: ProjName, Description, TemplateID, PortalName as string and id as int

createMap = Map();

createMap.put("name",ProjName);

createMap.put("description",Description);

createMap.put("template_id",TemplateID);

//custom fields

//end of custom fields

response = zoho.projects.createProject(PortalName,createMap,"relateproject");

info response;

mp = Map();

mp.put("name",ProjName);

datalist = List();

datalist.add(mp);

datamp = Map();

datamp.put("data",datalist);

resp2 = invokeurl

[

url :"https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v2/Deals/" + id + "/Zoho_Projects/" + response.getJSON("projects").getJSON("id")

type :POST

parameters:datamp.toString()

connection:"relateproject"

];

info resp2;

Part 3: Testing the function

Click on "save and execute"
In the new dialog, add your parameters:

ProjName: Any name you want for the project
Description: Any description
TemplateID: Open the Zoho Projects template and copy the ID from the URL (ie: https://projects.zoho.com/portal/blungo#todomilestones/1600615000000748888/)
PortalName: Open Zoho Projects and find it in the URL (ie: https://projects.zoho.com/portal/blungo#todomilestones/1600615000000748888/)
id: Open a Deal in CRM and copy the Deal ID from the URL

Click on save

If everything went well, you will get a long dialog box on the right, and at the end it will say that the function was successfully executed. If you get any errors, even if the function was successfully executed, you must have missed a step. Please remember that the Deal you are using to test this out has to have an Account related.

Part 4: Adding custom fields

To find custom fields API names from Zoho Projects, please follow this tutorial: LINK

You can reuse the connection you already created earlier on, or you can create a new connection.

A) Once you have the custom field API names:

Right after "//custom fields", paste the following function:

createMap.put("ZOHO_PROJECT_FIELD_API",CRM_FIELD_API);

Replace "ZOHO_PROJECT_FIELD_API" with the Zoho Project Field API name of the field you want to map
In the CRM setup, go to "developer space" and the to "APIs"

Click on "APIs names", and then click on Deals
Find the field that you want to map, and copy the API name

Go back to the function, and replace "CRM_FIELD_API" with the API name you just found
Repeat the same steps for as many fields as you want to map

Note: to map a date field, you have to use the following function:

createMap.put("ZOHO_PROJECT_FIELD_API",CRM_FIELD_API.toString("MM-dd-yyyy"));

B) Map the arguments

Click on "edit arguments"
For each field you want to map, add one argument line
Copy the "CRM API names" and paste them on the lines you added

ie: createMap.put("UDF_CHAR1",Zoho_Drive_Folder);

Select "string" as type, for all of them
Click on "save"

Finally, save the function by clicking on "Save" on the top right corner.

Part 5: Creating the workflow

Go to the workflows section and create a new one
Name it and relate it to the deals module
When: stage is modified
Condition: stage is Signed (select any stage you want to trigger this workflow)
Instant Action: Function
Click on "functions" and select the function "create project"
Now click on "configure", and map all the fields (press # for merge field)

PortalName: find it in the ZohoProjects URL (ie: https://projects.zoho.com/portal/blungo#todomilestones/1600615000000748888/)
TemplateID: find it in the template URL (ie: https://projects.zoho.com/portal/blungo#todomilestones/160061500000008888/)
The rest of the fields are merge fields from the CRM, including id, which is the Deal ID

Click on "save and associate"
Finally click on Save

Now refresh the deal you want to test this automation on and move it to the signed stage. The new project should be created automatically in Zoho Projects, and all the fields from the CRM should be copied to the fields in Projects. Also the project should be linked to the CRM in the projects section.

How to find Zoho Project APIs names using Zoho CRM

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 11:55:22 -0700

This tutorial will show you how to use Zoho CRM to find Zoho Project's APIs names, for system fields and custom fields. This has been tested using Zoho One, and Zoho CRM+.

Part 1: Adding a new connection

In CRM, go to developer space and the to connections
Click on Add new connection, and select ZohoOAuth
Connection name: relateproject
Connection Link name: relateproject
Scope: choose these two variables: ZohoCRM.modules.ALL and ZohoProjects.projects.ALL
Click on "create and connect", and when a new window pops up, click on "accept"

Part 2: Creating a new function and finding custom fields

In CRM, add a new function, name it and select automation as the category
Paste the code listed below in the function body
Make sure the connection name matched the one you created
Replace the portal name in the function with yours
Click on "Save and Execute"
In the new panel you will be able to see the custom field IDs, one per line (ie: UDF_CHAR1)

resp = invokeurl

[

url :"https://projectsapi.zoho.com/restapi/portal/blungo/projects/customfields/"

type :GET

connection:"relateproject"

];

info resp;

Part 3: Find system fields

Go to Zoho Projects and open a project
Copy the Project ID that you can find on the URL (ie: https://projects.zoho.com/portal/blungo#project/1600615000000678899)
In the function, replace "customfields" with the Project ID
Save and execute

resp = invokeurl

[

url :"https://projectsapi.zoho.com/restapi/portal/blungo/projects/1600615000000670007/"

type :GET

connection:"relateproject"

];

info resp;