2 - CRM Configuration

The native Contact record in the CRM is the link that ties everything to a user in the client portal.

All Zoho apps (except for Zoho Vault) to be displayed in the portal need to be integrated with the CRM. This will ensure that the Contact record in the CRM is synced throughout the Zoho ecosystem.

In your Zoho CRM, navigate to Settings - Marketplace - Zoho to review or setup integrations:

The Zoho Desk and Zoho CRM integration:

The Zoho Projects and Zoho CRM integration:

The Zoho Finance (including Subscriptions and Inventory) and Zoho CRM integration:

Zoho Sign and Zoho Workdrive need to be installed in the Marketplace section of the CRM (not in the Zoho section of Marketplace).

The extension for Zoho Sign:

This extension adds or edits the following modules in the CRM to show Zoho signed documents as they relate to Contacts and Accounts.

Click on the highlighted icon to view the fields added in each module:

The extension for Zoho Workdrive:

This extension automatically creates a root folder in the Workdrive for each new account and contact created in the CRM. This ensures that the correct root folder is synced for each of your users in the portal.

The final step is to install the Client Portal Plugin for WordPress extension.

The extension is going to prompt a portal registration URL but it can be populated later with the website and portal page parameters and will look something like this: https://EDITTHISURL.com/client-portal/?ppage=sign-up&email=${Contacts.Email}&first_name=${Contacts.First Name}&last_name=${Contacts.Last Name}

A few different components are installed in the Contacts module- fields including the Last Login Date and a Portal Invitation Sent date field, a button in the Contact record to invite a user and an email template invite. The plugin also installs a couple of web tabs, one is set up instructions and the other is a dashboard for monitoring API calls.

When the button "Invite to portal" is selected two fields are updated- an Auto Approved check box and the Portal Invitation Sent date field. A workflow rule is triggered on update to "Portal Invitation Sent" to send an email template (called New User Registration) to the user inviting them to the portal. The email template can be found in Customization > Templates > Email tab.

A custom template email invite can be used in place of the standard one and a custom workflow that triggers on field update "Portal Invitation Sent."

Here's a quick overview of the CRM extension configuration: