Vtiger Application Platform (VTAP)

One of the biggest releases in 2021, VTAP on Cloud, provides tools and runtime capabilities for developers to extend CRM functionality to strengthen their business needs.

VTAP enables developers and administrators to extend the UI behavior of the CRM to achieve in-app customization or define custom REST endpoints for external application integration.

The platform will allow you to convert Vtiger from a tool used within your company to a platform to build on and extend its capabilities. It only requires limited coding knowledge to customize the appearance of your CRM, create new buttons and modules, and even create third-party integrations.

You must have basic knowledge of web development in HTML, CSS, Javascript, and XML to get started.

Low-code Tools Built with VTAP

App Creator

VTAP platform provides an App Creator toolkit to build creative applications that solve business needs beyond CRM configuration. The App Creator runtime allows developers to extend CRM functionality, strengthen business integration or custom needs, and requires limited coding knowledge.

Using the App Creator, you can:

• Build specialized cloud web applications for clients.
• Use rich client-side web applications using any framework.

Module Designer

The Module Designer allows you to create or extend the functionality of an existing module within Vtiger CRM. If you are unaware of what a module is within Vtiger, these are the sections of the CRM where individual record types are segmented, created, and stored. These include Contacts, Organizations, Deals, Invoices, and many more. These modules are called Entity modules, which support out-of-the-box features like Reports, Workflows, Approvals, etc.

API Designer

API Designer provides a workbench for developers to build custom HTTP-based APIs that can be exposed to the VTAP Javascript APIs or the external application for integration. APIs can be defined using Vtiger Application Design Language (VADL) specification. API access needs user authorization and follows standard record access configuration within CRM.

No-code Tools Built with VTAP

Process Designer

Vtiger CRM’s Process Designer module facilitates users with a graphical interface to create systematic business workflows. 

Process Designer offers a convenient flowchart tool that helps in:

• Designing and smoothening your business processes.
• Streamlining your automated business processes.

Insights Designer

If your data is voluminous and distributed across different apps, you need a tool to pull, analyze, and present data in easy-to-understand charts and graphs.  

Vtiger Insights Designer helps you analyze vast amounts of data and build custom reports. The feature provides full control to CRM users to build specific BI reports suited to their needs. 

Apps built with VTAP

Confetti

The Vtiger’s Confetti feature lets you add confetti to the screen to celebrate the professional achievements of your employees whenever they accomplish set goals or targets. The Confetti feature is available in all the modules in Vtiger CRM. 

Weather App

OpenWeather app integration in Vtiger CRM is called the Weather app feature.  The Weather app displays climatic conditions for a given location. 

It helps you in:

• Planning in-person meetings or interactions with your customers at their location.
• Avoid client meetups during bad weather. 

In this document, you will find the latest releases and enhancements in VTAP.

VTAP Release Notes

June 2023

Enhancements 

App Creator 

• App Creator (App Designer) is now available by default for Learning and Developer editions of Vtiger CRM
• You can now set up access to your custom apps based on user profiles.
• This is possible since you can add a list of roles when creating an app. These roles will be displayed in a drop-down list while setting up permissions.

May 2023

Enhancements 

App Creator

• You can embed apps built on VTAP into the CRM iframe.

April 2023

Enhancements 

Insights Designer

• Raw Query support is available on an on-demand basis only. 

Process Designer 

• You cannot link flows in the Process Designer to multiple loops (infinite loops). The CRM displays an error message - Infinite loop detected in flow. Unable to save… if you try to link multiple loops and save the process. 

Feb 2023

Enhancements 

API Designer

• You can now create tables from an API in VTAP and use CRUD operations for these tables.
• The VTAP Tables feature allows you to create, update, and delete tables like any SQL table. You can add, update, and delete data in these tables and use them like spreadsheets. 
• You can use these tables to store data for many use cases, such as:
  • Storing data coming from other applications.
  • Pushing CRM data, like log data or user-specific data.
• You can use these tables with the Insights Designer and visualize the data in charts and pivot tables.
• VTAP Tables can be accessed from our REST APIs and VTAP Javascript APIs.

Jan 2023

Feature

Pipedrive Sync

• A new integration allows you to sync Contacts and Deals between Pipedrive and Vtiger CRM. 

Enhancements 

API Designer

• VTAP now supports APIs for new call requests based on the previous response.

Dec 2022

Enhancements 

API Designer

• While enabling a REST API from API Designer, you can now add @value request parameters (for any parameter value). 
• For example, you can add a @headervalue parameter like @identifier, @managerName, etc.

Nov 2022

Enhancements 

Process Designer

• You can set up a process to send an email to customers at a specific time in email-supported modules.
• Email action is triggered at the time and date you specify.

Oct 2022

Enhancements 

API Designer

• You can now enable APIs to create multiple records with a single REST API. This helps in creating multiple module records at the same time. 

Sep 2022

Enhancements 

Process Designer

• In Process Trigger, the recurrence options are now renamed as below:
  • First Time conditions are met.
  • Every time conditions are met, but only if the record is not already processed.
  • Every time conditions are met.

June 2022

Enhancements 

Process Designer - Phase 5

• An Add Record button is added to the Manual Process in the record section. A maximum of 150 records can be selected and added to the process. 
• A new column - Last Action Title is added to the Summary view of the Running Process block to track the last performed action.  
• You can now select multiple records in the List View and submit them to the Process Option. 
• You can now see the action title in the record updates section. 
• There are two Options - Immediate and Listener. 
  • Under Listener, when you set the condition and the time limit, and when the record is triggered, it will check if the condition is met within that time limit. The process stops if the condition is met within that time limit.
  • When you have multiple elements, it will check for other conditions parallelly within the time limit set for each condition. 

May 2022

Feature

Vtiger CRM Integration with Weather App

• You can now integrate Vtiger CRM with openweathermap.org and display the weather details of a contact in the Detail View. 
• This integration is available only in the Contacts and Leads modules.

Enhancements 

Process Designer - Phase 4

• You can now configure Approvals for records from the Process Designer. 
• You now have the option to export or import a process flow or workflow from and to the Vtiger Process Designer. 
• Non-admin users can now access the Process Designer. 
• You can now choose the days of the week to send auto emails from the Process Designer. 
• The 7-Step Prospecting Sequence name is now changed to ‘Sample 7-Step Prospecting Sequence’. The status is now changed to Draft. 
• The Running Process tab now shows up only if a  module has been processed. The message ‘No Running Process’ will be displayed if the processes are absent. 
• You can now see a condition ‘has changed to’ while creating a record.                
• Allowing users to select and add a dynamic appointment page link to Process Designer emails and workflow emails will enable them to select a merge tag to automate sending out their unique Appointment Page links.
• Link to Appointment Pages: 
  • You can select and add dynamic Appointment Page links to Process Designer emails and workflow emails. This will enable you to select merge tags and automate sending out your unique Appointment Page links.
  • You can now use a checkbox on the Add Meet Me page.

April 2022

Enhancements 

Process Designer - Phase 3

• The Process Designer Summary View now includes a Records section that displays a list of records run under a particular process. 
• The Process Designer now supports all actions that are required in workflows.
  • The option is available under Add Actions. 
  • All available tags will appear under the Select Tags section and display the selected tags (separated by commas). 
  • The Process Designer now supports Triggers for record creation and updation. 
  • You can choose the new Trigger under Process> Trigger Properties.
• Allow Conditions on Previous Actions: Vtiger has now added a condition block using which you can add conditions to previous actions in the process flow. 
• The Running Process tab is now available in the Summary view of a Process Designer record. It displays the count of running processes for the record.

Module Designer

• Vtiger now supports sync connectors from the Module Designer. You can sync the data to and from third-party apps once the sync is enabled.  

March 2022

Enhancements 

API Designer

• The Record field is added in the Logs window displaying the record_id. 

Feb 2022

Feature

Process Designer

• Add a condition block to the process design flow. You can now add the following two rows automatically: 
  • Rows to the right - actions to run when the condition is satisfied.
  • Rows flowing down - actions to run when the condition is not satisfied.

Jan 2022

Feature

Process Designer 

• The Process Designer module provides a graphical interface to design business workflows. It provides a well-equipped flowchart tool designer to create systematic workflows.

Enhancement

Process Designer 

• The Email Templates field is added for an Email Task type. 

Oct 2021

Enhancement

API Designer

• You can create and link records to the parent records using Vtiger Application Design Language (VADL) in the API Designer tool. 

Sep 2021

Enhancement

Module Designer

• VTAP provides you the ability to build WhatsApp connectors. 
• You can use these connectors and connect with different service providers. 
• These connectors support various functions such as sending text messages, audio, video, PDF, PPT, Doc, Excel, Text files, and Print templates from Inventory modules.
• WhatsApp files can be added as documents and linked to the messages. 
• Two-way auto-sync of data is enabled for Google and Office 365. 

API Designer

• Enabled Inbound custom webhooks using the API designer. 

Aug 2021

Feature

Confetti

Once you install the Celebrate Success extension, you can add module names, field names, and values. Whenever a record in a module is set to the specified values, a confetti shower happens on the screen. To know more about Confetti, click here. 

Jul 2021

Enhancements

Voice commands

• VTAP now supports voice commands. To view the list of all the commands, press CTRL+SHIFT+V.

Keyboard shortcuts

• VTAP also supports keyboard shortcuts. To view the list of all the shortcuts, press CTRL+SHIFT+K.

June 2021

Enhancements

Module Designers

• With the help of SMS Connectors in Module Designer, you can introduce new SMS Providers in the SMS Notifier module. 
• The configured OAuth details from a custom module will be encrypted.
• Export and Import modules consider OAuth credentials and Designer white-listed modules. 

May 2021

Feature

Vtiger Application Platform

• VTAP on Cloud provides tools and runtime capabilities for developers to extend CRM functionality to strengthen their business needs.
• VTAP enables developers and administrators to extend the UI behavior of the CRM to achieve in-app customization or define custom REST endpoints for external application integration.
• You must have basic knowledge of web development in HTML, CSS, Javascript, and XML to get started.