Zoho CRM has made two improvements to Grid View. The first is support for Client Script, which many users had asked for. The second is Auto Fit, a small change that sizes a column to its content. Client Script lets you add your own code to Zoho CRM for real-time interface customisation and data processing, so the screen can react as people work. It now runs when records are edited from the list as well as from a record's detail page.
Availability: Standard edition and above. At the time of Zoho's announcement it was open to partners in the AU, JP, US, EU, CA, SA, CN, and IN data centres only, with other data centres and users to follow in phases. It may not yet be visible in your account.
Permissions: users need Developer Permissions to create Client Scripts. Administrators have this by default. For other users, an administrator enables it under Setup, then Security Control, then Profile, then Developer Permissions.
Client Script in Grid View
The gap it closes
Until now, Client Script ran on detail views and on create and edit layouts, but not in Grid View. If you had set up a custom action or event for a record and someone edited that record directly from the grid, your script did not run and the change went through unchecked. Many teams worked around this by telling people not to edit from the grid at all.
Now any change made to a record from the grid is subject to the same Client Script setup as anywhere else in CRM.
The events you can use
You can configure page and field events that run while people work in the grid. Each event type is tied to a specific action in the list.
| Event |
When it runs in the grid |
| On Load | As the grid loads. |
| Before Change | Before a change to a field value takes effect, for example an inline edit. |
| On Type | While someone is typing into a cell. |
| Before Update | Before an edited record is saved. |
| Before Mass Update | Before a bulk change to several records runs. |
| Mandatory Form Event | When someone makes a choice for a field that must be filled in. |
| Notes Event | When a note is added. |
| Tag Events | When a tag is added to a record. |
About these descriptions: Zoho's announcement lists the events and illustrates each one with a field masking scenario for a fictional company, but does not define the exact trigger for each. The column above is drawn from the event names and those examples, so check Zoho's Client Script documentation before building on them. In every example Zoho used, the script masks email or phone values so sensitive contact details are hidden from people who should not see them.
Where it helps
- Protecting sensitive data. A healthcare team masks email and phone fields in the Contacts grid, so staff can identify a record without the full details on show.
- Surfacing what matters first. A sales team highlights high-value leads and sorts the grid by highest annual revenue, so the best opportunities sit at the top as soon as the module opens.
- Guarding committed records. A finance team locks the amount field on records that have passed a compliance check, so an inline edit in the grid cannot quietly change an approved figure.
Auto Fit in Grid View
Previously you resized a column by dragging its border. Auto Fit does it for you, sizing the column to its content. There are two ways to use it:
- Click the more option on the column and select Auto fit.
- Double-click the edge line of the column header.
It works in both directions. If a column is too narrow and cuts values off, Auto Fit widens it just enough to show the full content, so you do not have to hover over a cell to read it. If a column is too wide, Auto Fit tightens it, which frees room to show more columns in the grid.
What to do with it
- Review any rule you wrote on the assumption that people would not edit from the grid. It now applies there too, so check it behaves as you intend.
- If your team stopped using inline editing because scripts did not run, you can reconsider it once the feature reaches your data centre.
- Zoho says this is one step on the Grid View roadmap, and more is planned.
Need help? As a Zoho Partner serving the UK and Ireland, we can write and test Client Scripts for your Zoho CRM, including field masking and validation in Grid View.
Book a discovery call with 1 Cloud Consultants.