How to Build A Custom Widget in Zoho CRM

Photo by Clément H on Unsplash

Introduction

This tutorial focuses on creating a custom widget to add to the top navigation of the Zoho CRM. There are many types of widgets and reasons you would choose to create a custom widget.

Primarily, any function that can not be accomplished within Zoho CRM needs to be done with a custom widget. This includes all types of integrations with external services or company-specific pages.

Further, the form validation and layout rules have limitations even after considering the power of custom functions. If you wish to harness the full abilities of HTML+CSS+JS inside of the Zoho CRM then this is the place to get started.

The final product will look something like this

This article will walk through how to get started and initialize the connected app inside Zoho. The setup is the most difficult part, once you get a hang of it, you should be able to add modifications without too much issue.

The major benefits of Custom App over externally hosted solutions are the continuity of user flow (there’s no need to leave the application and go elsewhere) and custom apps don’t need to be verified with authentication keys (which can be notoriously tricky…