What's New in Zoho Projects: July 2023
Working with complex and multi-faceted projects requires a highly flexible and practical management tool. Recent improvements in Zoho Projects bring us closer than ever to that adaptability.
Zoho Projects is a cloud-based tool that's used to plan, track, collaborate and achieve a project goal. This results in increased productivity, improved teamwork and the ability to track work efficiently.
Over the past few months, Zoho has introduced a variety of enhancements to Zoho Projects. The application now allows for more customization and flexibility than ever before.
Last month AspenTech presented a Webinar titled, What's New in Zoho Projects. In case you missed it, I've included the webinar recording below!
For some of the most outstanding details, continue on with this blog...
Feature improvements revolve around three key aspects of the application:
User Interface
There have been multiple updates to the User Interface in Zoho Projects. New features allow for more robust tracking, better organization, straightforward communication and the ability to customize the application to best suit your needs. Below are some highlights...
Improved Home Screen
The Home Screen has been refreshed with new widgets to track projects associated with your Client Companies and/or categorized into Project Groups. The Gantt Chart widget has been added to show active projects and their current status.
Recent Projects Customization Tool
This tool allows a user to better organize projects by enabling a view of the Prefix & ID and/or the Full Project Title in the Recent Projects List. Also included is a Search Tool used to search and find projects by name, prefix or ID.
Custom Views
Users now have the ability to create a sub-set of Projects, Tasks or Issues based on a custom-defined set of criteria. This is helpful for viewing items that meet more than one criteria. The example below shows how to create a group of tasks based on specific values for Due Date, Task Owner and Status.
List View Updates
Two new elements added to the Task list include:
- an update to the Customize Column feature that allows a user to add and remove columns as necessary to the list. It can be accessed via this icon in the upper-left corner of the task list:
- project users now have the ability to add and modify dependencies by adding Predecessors and Successors as columns in the Task List. In the past, dependency changes required the user to open a Task to modify it. It can now be added right on the list view.
Mass Updating Fields
It is now possible to update several tasks at one time in Zoho Projects! Similar to mass updating records in the CRM, a user can now select several tasks and make updates in bulk using the actions in the toolbar.
Customization Enhancments
Timesheet Settings
Timesheets can now be restricted based on the number of work hours allotted for a task. In the past, if a task was allocated 4 hours, the task owner could log as much time as necessary to complete the task. When enabling the restriction setting, a task owner can log only 4 hours to that task.
Timesheet Approval Settings
Project Managers can now require specific time log approvals. They can dictate which time logs an approver can process (all time logs or only time logs associated with the approver). The time log approval process can now be disabled for users assigned time log approval status.
New Project/Task Layout Features
Additional field types:
- User Picklist can now be used to limit the user values in the list based on All Users, Roles or selected Users.
- Integration field allows you to establish a relationship between Zoho Projects and records in the CRM.
Task Layout Rules provide the option to show fields based on values entered into another field. For instance, in a retail organization you may be required to order stock from several vendors. On the Task layout you can add a custom field for vendor and a layout rule that shows the Order Date and Confirmation Number fields when the Vendor is selected.
Private Task Layouts have been added to limit access to sensitive project data. These layouts can only be accessed by users who are part of a project associated with the private layout. Consider a project in the healthcare industry which tracks PHI data. Limiting access to only those who are active on the project supports HIPAA Compliance policies.
Automation Upgrades
Workflow Rules
The incorporation of Workflow Rules is a game changer in Zoho Projects. Workflow Rules allow you to organize projects and tasks efficiently by adding automated actions based on project or task specific criteria. Workflow Rules for tasks can be associated with one or more task layouts. Workflow Rules for projects can be associated with one or more project layouts. Both can be used to automate task functions, update fields, send email notifications or associate Webhooks.
Blueprint
In a Blueprint, transition refers to a connection between two states. In other words, what needs to be completed to move from one state to another. Often, this transition requires more than one action before being completed and moving to the next state.
In the past, it was necessary to map these actions separately. With the addition of Parallel Transitions, it's now possible to execute up to four transitions at the same time between two states.
In the example below, we have three people who need to approve blog content, the Team Lead, Marketing Manager and Director of Operations. All these approvals must be completed in parallel in order to move to the next state, which is Approve Content.
This blog includes several of the more prominent Zoho Project updates, but WAIT! There's more! Using this link review all of the new features introduced in the past 9 months.
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