The many ways to use the new Date field options in Writer!

The many ways to use the new Date field options in Writer!

With the all-new date field options, you can forget about manually calculating your past, present and future dates and leave it all to Writer to automatically calculate it for you.

1. To insert today's date:
If you're writing a letter, you'll likely want to include the current date to show the day it was sent. However, since you could be drafting the letter today but sending it a week later, it's important that your date field updates automatically to the current date.  To do this go to Fields > Date > Dynamic Today's Date. 




2. To display a future or past date:

Future date
Say you're drafting a payment reminder letter to let your subscribers know that the payment deadline has been extended 25 days from the original due date. Instead of calculating the extended due date manually, you can simply input +25 and Writer will automatically input the date into your letter.

To do this, go to Create Custom Date Field. In the Preset date value field, enter your original due date (let's say it's 06/29/2021). 
Now to convert this due date to the extended date, all you have to do is add 25 days in the (+)Add days option below. Writer will then automatically calculate this date for you.



Past date

Similarly, if you wanted to include a past date from your original due date, you can just enter the days you want to subtract from your original due date. To do this, go to Create Custom Date Field. In the Preset date value field, enter your original due date (we'll use 06/29/2021 again).

Now to convert this due date to the past date, all you have to do is enter the number of days or month(s) you want in the (-)Subtract days option below. In this case say it's 25 days. Writer will then automatically calculate this date for you.



3. To create a named date field and reuse it
throughout the document:
Now let's say you want to use the extended date field from example 1 in multiple places in a document, so that if you changed the settings for one of these extended date fields it would affect all the other fields as well.

To do this, go to Create Custom Date Field and create the extended date field like how it's shown in example 1. After you've created the field, go to Date >  Custom Autofields > Extended due date and place the fields wherever necessary in the document. Now if you were to change the settings for one of these fields (if perhaps you want to change the extended date field from 25 to 30 days), then this change would be reflected in every other field in the document as well. 




4 (a). To add business dates during document merge:
Payment due dates, submission deadlines, and meeting dates often take place on business days and exclude weekends. To calculate only business dates during document merge, click the settings icon next to Manage Fields and click Configure next to the Date merge field. Now add or subtract the number of days you want, then check the Exclude option and select Weekends.




4 (b). To add business dates for new merge date fields:
If you wanted to create a new merge date field (like an extended date field which is 25 days from your original date) that excludes weekends, go to Create Field.




Now, add the name of the field and choose the format as Date. Click Configure under the Value option.




Select the field value as your original date (as your extended date will be 25 days after). Now enter 25 in the (+) Add days option, then check the Exclude option and select Weekends.




4 (c). To add business dates for particular date fields: 
To add business dates for particular date fields, click on the date field in the template you want to change and the choose the Change for this instance alone option.



Select the Configure option and add or subtract the days you want, then check the Exclude option and select Weekends. 







Like the update? Let us know what you think of this feature in the comments below, and follow us on Twitter to catch all the latest Writer news first.

    Access your files securely from anywhere







                        Zoho Developer Community





                                              Use cases

                                              Make the most of Zoho Desk with the use cases.

                                               
                                                

                                              eBooks

                                              Download free eBooks and access a range of topics to get deeper insight on successfully using Zoho Desk.

                                               
                                                

                                              Videos

                                              Watch comprehensive videos on features and other important topics that will help you master Zoho Desk.

                                               
                                                

                                              Webinar

                                              Sign up for our webinars and learn the Zoho Desk basics, from customization to automation and more

                                               
                                                
                                              • Desk Community Learning Series


                                              • Meetups


                                              • Ask the Experts


                                              • Kbase


                                              • Resources


                                              • Glossary


                                              • Desk Marketplace


                                              • MVP Corner


                                                        • Sticky Posts

                                                        • Free webinar! Close deals faster with Zoho Sign from Zoho CRM

                                                          Hello, Are you tired of chasing down signatures and getting stuck with paperwork delays in your sales process? With the seamless integration between Zoho Sign and Zoho CRM, you can create and send documents for signing online, close deals faster, and
                                                        • Free Webinar - Overview of Zoho Sign and latest updates- May 2025

                                                          Hello there! What's the digital alternative to endless paperwork? Zoho Sign. Designed for digital-first businesses, Zoho Sign is a complete digital signature solution with powerful features and seamless integrations that streamline your entire workflow.
                                                        • Free webinar: Zoho Sign in Q1 2025 - A quick walkthrough

                                                          Hi, The first quarter of 2025 has flown by, and the Zoho Sign team has been hard at work releasing enterprise-grade features to enhance overall collaboration. Join us for our upcoming webinar, where we'll discuss what's new and what's to come. What will


                                                        Manage your brands on social media



                                                              Zoho TeamInbox Resources



                                                                  Zoho CRM Plus Resources

                                                                    Zoho Books Resources


                                                                      Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                                                                        Zoho Projects Resources


                                                                          Zoho Sprints Resources


                                                                            Qntrl Resources


                                                                              Zoho Creator Resources



                                                                                  Zoho CRM Resources

                                                                                  • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                                    CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                                  • Kaizen

                                                                                    Kaizen

                                                                                  • Functions

                                                                                    Functions

                                                                                  • Meetups

                                                                                    Meetups

                                                                                  • Kbase

                                                                                    Kbase

                                                                                  • Resources

                                                                                    Resources

                                                                                  • Digest

                                                                                    Digest

                                                                                  • CRM Marketplace

                                                                                    CRM Marketplace

                                                                                  • MVP Corner

                                                                                    MVP Corner







                                                                                      Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                      Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                      Get Started Now


                                                                                        Zoho Show Resources


                                                                                          Zoho Writer Writer

                                                                                          Get Started. Write Away!

                                                                                          Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                                                                                            Zoho CRM コンテンツ




                                                                                              Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                                  ご検討中の方




                                                                                                        • Recent Topics

                                                                                                        • Again about the backlighting of the search query when searching in a client for Linux

                                                                                                          Some time passed, I installed a client for Linux version 3.4.0, but I still did not receive the promised search with the backlighting of the search query how it was implemented in the client for android. In the previous topic, you told me that this function
                                                                                                        • CRM Custom function updating a module record shows the Super Admin user as the record modifier

                                                                                                          Dear Zoho CRM Team, Is there any way to update this so that when a custom function has updated a record the Super Admin user doesn't become the modifier? This happens on the record as a modifier and shows up in the audit logs. It would be more useful
                                                                                                        • Workdrive Upload Notification

                                                                                                          Is there a way to be notified when someone externally has uploaded files to a folder? The "Unread" tab is really worthless because it shows all files from every directory on the system. I just need an email (or bell at worst) that says "someone has uploaded into <foldername>".
                                                                                                        • Experience effortless record management in CRM For Everyone with the all-new Grid View!

                                                                                                          Hello Everyone, Hope you are well! As part of our ongoing series of feature announcements for Zoho CRM For Everyone, we’re excited to bring you another type of module view : Grid View. In addition to Kanban view, List view, Canvas view, Chart view and
                                                                                                        • Zoho Mail not working. Constant OTP

                                                                                                          Firstly, my emails have been playing up for over a year. They are struggling to send and I have to press Send a few time to make them going. They mostly hover with a loading note saying Sending. I emailed Zoho and they got it working, but now it is doing
                                                                                                        • How do I edit the Calendar Invite notifications for Interviews in Recruit?

                                                                                                          I'm setting up the Zoho Recruit Interview Calendar system but there's some notifications I don't have any control over. I've turned off all Workflows and Automations related to the Calendar Scheduling and it seems that it's the notification that is sent
                                                                                                        • Marketer's Space: Bookmarks by Zoho Campaigns

                                                                                                          Hello Marketers, In this week's Marketer's Space, we'll look at a simple yet powerful feature that makes a big difference in your workflow: Bookmarks. Bookmarks is a built-in feature in Zoho Campaigns that enables you to create a personalized library
                                                                                                        • Workflow for "Expenses" module?

                                                                                                          Hi there, over the last 2 years, Zoho Expense has seen tremendous growth and we are happy with it. But, sometimes it is frustrating to see things are being implemented halfheartedly, or so it seems. For example, There is the possibility to create workflows
                                                                                                        • on submit of creator form then record is create in Zoho crm purchase module then on automatically task want to create in the crm

                                                                                                          on submit of creator form then record is create in Zoho crm purchase module then on automatically task want to create in the crm
                                                                                                        • Allow Mapping of Zoho Desk Knowledge Base Categories to Multiple Departments in Zoho SalesIQ

                                                                                                          Hello Zoho Team, We hope you're doing well. We would like to request an enhancement to the Zoho SalesIQ integration with Zoho Desk, specifically regarding the way Knowledge Base (KB) articles are mapped and displayed across departments. Current Limitation
                                                                                                        • Recurring Events Not Appearing in "My Events" and therefore not syncing with Google Apps

                                                                                                          We use the Google Sync functionality for our events, and it appears to have been working fine except: I've created a set of recurring events that I noticed were missing from my Google Apps calendar. Upon further research, it appears this is occurring
                                                                                                        • CRM x WorkDrive: File storage for new CRM signups is now powered by WorkDrive

                                                                                                          Availability Editions: All DCs: All Release plan: Released for new signups in all DCs. It will be enabled for existing users in a phased manner in the upcoming months. Help documentation: Documents in Zoho CRM Manage folders in Documents tab Manage files
                                                                                                        • [Important announcement] Zoho Writer will mandate DKIM configuration for automation users

                                                                                                          Hi all, Effective Dec. 31, 2024, configuring DKIM for From addresses will be mandatory to send emails via Zoho Writer. DKIM configuration allows recipient email servers to identify your emails as valid and not spam. Emails sent from domains without DKIM
                                                                                                        • Desk - CRM Integration: SPAM Contacts (Auto Delete)

                                                                                                          SPAM contacts is a useful feature, but when the CRM sync is used, it is very frustrating. When a contact is marked as SPAM on Desk, I wish to do the same on CRM. When a SPAM contact is deleted, I would like it deleted from CRM. The feature looks half-baked.
                                                                                                        • View Audit Trail field

                                                                                                          The Audit Trail feature is great, but its data is only available to admin users. It would be really great to have a system field "Audit trail" that we can add to the detailed view of a record. This would allow supervisors, directors and etc. to quickly track what changes have been done by whom for each record. It is a current feature from a client of mine and while it's probably possible to hard code it, since this data is already available in Zoho, I would be surprised to hear how hard it would
                                                                                                        • Creator roadmap for the rest of 2022

                                                                                                          Hi everyone, Hope you're all good! Thanks for continuing to make this community engaging and informative. Today we'd like to share with you our plans for the near future of Creator. We always strive to strike a good balance of features and enhancements
                                                                                                        • How do I modify the the incoming/current call popup? I can modify other call pages but not that one.

                                                                                                          I want to modify the incoming and active call popup on the crm to include customer relevant information, such as purchase history or length of relationship. Under modules and fields, I don't seem to see active call as a choice to modify, only the main
                                                                                                        • Announcing new features in Trident for Windows (v.1.27.4.0)

                                                                                                          Hello Community, Trident for Windows is here with exciting new features to elevate your communication and enhance productivity. Let’s dive into what’s new! Smart Sign-in. You can now sign in to Trident with Smart Sign-in. With this new addition, you can
                                                                                                        • Add Lookup Field in Tasks Module

                                                                                                          Hello, I have a need to add a Lookup field in addition to the ones that are already there in the Tasks module. I've seen this thread and so understand that the reason lookup fields may not be part of it is that there are already links to the tables (https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/custom-fields-on-task-module).
                                                                                                        • Global Sets for Multi-Select pick lists

                                                                                                          When is this feature coming to Zoho CRM? It would be very useful now we have got used to having it for the normal pick lists.
                                                                                                        • Time Entry : Auto fill fields Hours minutes seconds

                                                                                                          Hello world, Do someone know a script (for workflow rules) which fill automatically fields hours spent, minutes spent, seconds spent when we fill Executed time and End time Formula should start from (End time - Executed time) Thx in advance
                                                                                                        • MULTI-SELECT LOOKUP - MAIL TEMPLATE

                                                                                                          Dear all how are you? We need to insert data from MULTI-SELECT LOOKUP in a email template, but I can't do that, when I'm creating the template I can't find the field to insert it. is there any solution? PVU
                                                                                                        • Create Encrypted Zoho Forms URL for SMS Pre-Population forms using zfcrm_entity=

                                                                                                          Hello Zoho Forms Community and Zoho Team, I’m trying to send a Zoho Forms URL via SMS with pre-populated CRM contact data, inspired by a post from four years ago by GlennP (https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/passing-the-crm). Our form is
                                                                                                        • Tracking Emails sent through Outlook

                                                                                                          All of our sales team have their Outlook 365 accounts setup with IMAP integration. We're trying to track their email activity that occurs outside the CRM. I can see the email exchanges between the sales people and the clients in the contact module. But
                                                                                                        • Zoho Forms - edit the settings of the Zoho CRM field to change the integration with CRM

                                                                                                          I've created a Zoho CRM field in my form to pre-populate selected CRM details into the form, following the instructions here https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/crm/integrations/zoho/zoho-forms/articles/zoho-forms-crm-integration#Step_2_-_Add_Zoho_CRM_Field_in_the_form
                                                                                                        • Data Integration Platform

                                                                                                          Hi,  Is anyone aware about a data integration platform like Dell Boomi that can work with Zoho Support? Any help will be higghly appreciated.  Thanks Kunal
                                                                                                        • Zoho CRM Webinar – Automate everything across Customer Journeys in CommandCenter 2.0

                                                                                                          How efficient is your current CRM automation setup? As customer journeys become more dynamic, it's common for data and actions to get scattered across teams and modules. This leads to broken processes and inconsistent customer experiences—especially across
                                                                                                        • Ability to add notes to an appointment and add notes/attach docs to a consultation

                                                                                                          As an idea for the future, it would be helpful to be able to add notes to an existing appointment--there is a place to add notes for the customer, but I don't see one for the appointment. It would also be helpful to be able to add notes or attach documents
                                                                                                        • How to query Deal "Stage" "Is Open" in Analytics SQL?

                                                                                                          How do I query this "field" in Analytics? What is going on? It seems like there is another 'mapping' somewhere but that it is inaccessible with raw sql??? If I query "Stage" Like '%Won%' I get a wildly different number than I do when I manually filter
                                                                                                        • Im trying to white list domain dynamically in zoho desk extension

                                                                                                          Im trying to white list domain dynamically in zoho desk extension. But it show error Error: {errMsg: 'No entry found in plugin-manifest whiteListedDomains for requested URL'} syntax "config": [ { "displayName":"Shopify Admin API access token ", "name":
                                                                                                        • Backorder For Composite Items

                                                                                                          Hello If i released SO for composite item and use backorder feature of zoho inventory then it should backorder child item items of composite and not composite item.This is basic of backordering.I conveyed this to zoho call center but no solution yet.
                                                                                                        • Passing the CRM

                                                                                                          Hi, I am hoping someone can help. I have a zoho form that has a CRM lookup field. I was hoping to send this to my publicly to clients via a text message and the form then attaches the signed form back to the custom module. This work absolutely fine when
                                                                                                        • Zoho Payroll: Product Updates for India - May 2025

                                                                                                          This May, we are glad to unveil new capabilities in Zoho Payroll that simplify your payroll activities. Here's the list: Let Employees Choose Their Tax Deduction Method for One-Time Payments Calculate variable earnings based on percentage of CTC Carry
                                                                                                        • Enhance Zoho One Conditional Assignment to Fully Reassign App Settings When Changing Departments

                                                                                                          Hi Zoho Team, We’d like to submit a feature request regarding the current behavior of Zoho One’s conditional assignment logic when moving a user between departments. 🔧 Current Limitation As it stands, Zoho One’s conditional assignment does not remove
                                                                                                        • Sync failed: Invalid Date value

                                                                                                          Hi, I have a local .sqlite database. After importing one table through the Databridge, and produced my dashboards, I cannot sync. I get an error regarding the date column: [Line: 2 Field: 4] (2018-07-12) -ERROR: Invalid Date value The data found at the
                                                                                                        • Office 365 is marking us as "bulk"

                                                                                                          All of a sudden (like a couple of days ago) all of our customers who are on Office 365 are getting our mails in their junk email. This is not the case with Gmail or other random mail servers, nor between us. We got a 10/10 score on mail-tester.com. Also,
                                                                                                        • Zoho Assist

                                                                                                          Hi, We are using zoho assist unattended access in some windows server 2012 and recently the agent lets you connect but not let you do anything on the remote machine. Sometimes you can click on something but nothing happens. There's a issue with this new
                                                                                                        • Modify workflow from "ON CREATE & EDIT" to "ON CREATE" only

                                                                                                          Salut, Is there a way to easilly change my choice of trigger of workflow from on create & edit to on create only, or do I have to re-do the whole worklow from scratch ? Sylvain
                                                                                                        • Access custom modules via API?

                                                                                                          Is it possible to access a custom module in Zoho Inventory via the API? I can not find any reference to this in the API docs.
                                                                                                        • Welcome to the Zoho Service Plus community

                                                                                                          Hey everyone, We are excited to welcome you to be a part of the Zoho Service Plus community. Here's a quick overview of what Service Plus is all about and how the community can help us work together. What's Zoho Service Plus? Zoho Service Plus is a unified
                                                                                                        • Next Page