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**telecastg** · 01-23-2020, 07:42 PM

Not sure if anyone is interested but I found this PHP package for Inventory Management with Bar Code scanning that could possible be integrated with EspoCRM. I don't need inventory management in our application but others might want to give it a try.

phpclasses.org - Informationen zum Thema phpclasses.

https://www.phpclasses.org/package/11418-PHP-Manage-inventory-stock-using-scanner-application.html

phpclasses.org ist die beste Quelle für alle Informationen die Sie suchen. Von allgemeinen Themen bis hin zu speziellen Sachverhalten, finden Sie auf phpclasses.org alles. Wir hoffen, dass Sie hier das Gesuchte finden!

In my experience, Espo is far more than just a great CRM plarform, the front-end, back-end, metadata integration and the Administration module make it a perfect "application generator" for many possible applications.

**blueprint** · 01-23-2020, 08:35 PM

Originally posted by telecastg View Post

In my experience, Espo is far more than just a great CRM plarform, the front-end, back-end, metadata integration and the Administration module make it a perfect "application generator" for many possible applications.

Wholeheartedly agree, EspoCRM has been a fantastic tool for our business and is now a core part of our operations. We're nearly at a stage (thanks to the customisation capabilities) where EspoCRM is responsible for every aspect of the business - from initial quotes right through to dispatch of products and after-sale support.

If I could add anything it would be the desire to see more front-end and back-end developer examples and support - especially in the Developer Forum where there are a lot of genuine developer questions that just seem to get ignored.

**esforim** · 01-24-2020, 06:40 AM

This Post talk about ID Scanner and Automated Data Entry/Upload.

One of the biggest thing that I always wanted to to save time on is Data Entry basic data. I see a few services that is able to do it automatically but to get into the system you need to sign up for demo, get license key, buy hardware, huge upfront cost, etc, etc.

Over the year sometime I would just start looking for an Android app, a desktop software or anything is make it easier. Trying hours of research and download, email, I still haven't found an all-in-time compliment to EspoCRM (or any type of CRM).

Today I decide to try again expecting another fruitless research but has found one that I considered interesting. This Android app is call MRZ Scanner, a free app (and also got a Pro version which I'm not sure what the difference is). MRZ scanner is a Passport scanner using the "barcode" print on the bottom of the passport. That how Airport terminal read passport quickly.

What is so special about this App? it got a "POST/GET" feature, personally I never delved into using Post/Get yet, but I (albeit only on the surface) know what it purpose is for.

Perhaps starting out I just learn how to Post/Get these information to my website. Then eventually find out how to send a API call to EspoCRM, then eventually Create Data from that API call, then finally Check for Update/Duplicate before Create Data.

Aside from that it also got other feature such as export to CSV, PDF, JSON and it also got History and ability to edit live, most of which is very lacking in other app (unless you paid for some license, log in their website and data is upload onto their website).

The weakness in this app is, it can only read MZR (Passport), it can do OCR such as Driver License, etc. For that I'm currently using another App call BlinkID. This one is really fast for what it does, it support many type of ID and documents (awesome). It also got a Github page which if you are technical enough you can use it as a library and don't need to rely on BlinkID themselves.

---

So do you use some sort of ID Scanner? Or is everything manual for you? Would you like this type of function (integrated within EspoCRM or as Extension)?

**tothewine** · 01-30-2020, 08:12 PM

This thread is about entity transfer between EspoCRM instances
The main show stopper is how to keep all relations when importing manually with php

**yuri** · 01-31-2020, 08:34 AM

> However it seem like I can't just change the Fetch date?

Yes. There are some technical constraints in IMAP protocol, there's no reliable elegant way to do it. I recommend to deactivate an email account record and duplicate it. Then it will be possible to set a new date.

**yuri** · 01-31-2020, 08:35 AM

Barcodes will be available in 5.8.0 version.

**esforim** · 02-04-2020, 02:25 AM

Didn't want to clog up the EspoCRM 5.8.0 thread with my post so will use this to discuss more Learning EspoCRM.

Like many CRM, compatibility change and server requirement need more.

This post talk about Hosting

I'm currently on a quest to find a new host, been meaning to since last year but never gotten around to it as research tend to take quite long but wanting to invest in EspoCRM we want to make this change.

Currently the new v5.8.0 demand higher version of essential tools: PHP 7.2 (planning to be 7.4 soon in the future I assume with EspoCRM 6.0?). And MySQL 5.7, both of which version my hosting does not have unless it is Delicate or VPS.

This thread will talk about hosting alternative you can use and some information I manage to find out during my research.

Update to be in Edit and a work in progress post.

---

Finally completed my research and did not want to look for any more. Do you have any that you would recommend before we decide on choosing one?

Based on my note it look like I'm leaning toward (undecided). Full table below:

--

Some note: All $ is considered in USD as that what is usually display on their website. Most price will take as Mid-range Shared hosting, as low range is usually restricted. Price round up if it .95 or .99 (e.g $1.99 will be listed as $2). Price is taken as advertised (usually they show price when you sign up long term plan).

PHP version is list highest that we can use.

Host: Fastcomet: https://my.fastcomet.com/order/ssdcloud/
Version: PHP 7.3 and MySQL 5.7
Demo: None. 45 days money back guarantee.
Cost: $15 ($5 per month promo)
Server Migration: Free
Other: Winter sale at the moment (first month only discount) $4.95

Host: https://www.webhostinghub.com/
Version: PHP 7. and MySQL 5. (also have PostgreSQL)
Demo: 90 days back guarantee
Cost: $14
Server Migration:
Other: 1-year contract $10 during discount. Not going to bother asking since server migration cost.

Host: https://www.dreamhost.com/?
Version: PHP 7. and MySQL 5.
Demo:
Cost: $11 monthly
Server Migration: $99 with shared hosting
Other: $10 for Basic VPS? That sound OK. But their FAQ say that MySQL is shared server. Their chat was offline so didn’t find out more.

Host: https://www.a2hosting.com/
Version: PHP 7.4 and MySQL 5.6 only?
Demo:
Cost: $10 ($5 promo)
Server Migration: Free Migration
Other: Live Chat not available (need to be customer?). Only accept Contact form. It have CRM Hosting (EspoCRM is include along with many other). This look good. Server located in USA, Europe and Asia only. OK, you need to choose Technical Support rather than pre-sale. This will let you in for the Live Chat. But When I try Live chat I get this, “You are No.72 in the queue.” I think A2 Hosting will be too busy for me and look like they only got MySQL 5.6

Host: https://www.siteground.com
Version: PHP 7.4 and MySQL 5.6 (5.7 might be only for their Delicated hosting. Information update thanks to telecastg)
Demo:
Cost: $25 (promo $8)
Server Migration: Only 1 free?
Other: Very good with PHP Upgrade (from a Blog post I read of theirs). They got a cool chat system. But just notice their Web Space is very limited in size (20GB). Siteground is not considered by us at this stage. They don’t use CPanel and create their own version. Might be good and bad.

Host: https://www.inmotionhosting.com/
Version: PHP 7.2 and MySQL 5.7
Demo:
Cost: $16 (need Pro for Unlimited website)
Server Migration: Free transfer
Other: Their website look oddly familiar with one of the host above. I wonder if it the same company. Their Livechat is rather ugly. Talked to John Be. Quite a nice guy, go back to him if I choose InMotion- Email: johnbe (@) inmotionhosting (.) com

Host: https://www.bluehost.com
Version: PHP 7.0 and MySQL 5.6
Demo:
Cost: $22 (converted) ($9 promo)
Server Migration: Too expensive. $224 (convert). Out of candidate.
Other: I remember last year I considered them to be a candidate. They convert Currency to my country, well that a first. After I finish the chat I notice it look familiar, it look like my host HostGator, currently that their version support is the same I think BlueHost probably own by same Company.

Host: hostgator
Version: PHP 7.1 and MySQL 5.6
Demo:
Cost:
Server Migration:
Other: Don’t bother with Hostgator. They don’t support it at this stage, I’m currently with them.

Host: https://www.greengeeks.com/
Version: PHP 7.3 and MySQL 5.6
Demo:
Cost: $15 (promo $6)
Server Migration: Free
Other: They support Green energy. That cool. They were the first I talked with but I didn’t note it down. Thank Meg D.!

Host: https://glowhost.com
Version: PHP 7.3 and MySQL 5.6 (MariaDB 5.7)
Demo:
Cost: $7
Server Migration:
Other: First one I see, “FFmpeg Support”. Does that mean other host can’t do Video conversation and the like?

Host: https://cis.net
Version: PHP 7.3 and MySQL 5.7 (8.0 is for Dedicated server only)
Demo: 91 days money back
Cost: $13 (promo $4)
Server Migration: Free
Other: They use third party. Hard to get an account. Might not be telling the truth reason. NOT RECOMMENDED

Host: https://www.hostinger.com
Version: PHP 7. and MySQL 5.
Demo:
Cost: $11
Server Migration:
Other: No Free SSL Certificate. Disappointing considering there is Let’s Encrypt.

Host: https://www.exabytes.com
Version: PHP 7.2 and MySQL 5.7
Demo:
Cost: $5
Server Migration: Cost (Unknown)
Other: No live chat so have to use their Ticket support system. Server Migration not is additional cost which clearly layout in their /servers/server-migration
page. Probably not going to go with them for now.

[/code]

**esforim** · 02-12-2020, 12:27 AM

This post talk about Relationship.

I still can't warp my head around the idea of Relationship linking, right now to play it safe (might be a very stupid thing for me to do) is to create "Many-to-Many" relationship. Just in case choosing a "One to Many" or "Many to One" prevent me from future problem.

This post explore more details about the relationship as I learn more about it. I was planning to draw a diagram with my interpretation but doing a quick search show very detail article already exist. Instead I link them here so that you can use it as reference.

404 Page not found

https://support.airtable.com/hc/en-us/articles/218734758-A-beginner-s-guide-to-many-to-many-relationships

One-to-Many Relationships for Canvas apps - Microsoft Power Platform Blog

https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/one-to-many-relationships-for-canvas-apps/

Over the summer we made it easy to walk Many-to-One relationships. With a single dot you can walk across a relationship from one entity to another. First(Orders).Customer.Name is all that…

Many-to-Many Relationship in Database Design

https://dzone.com/articles/how-to-handle-a-many-to-many-relationship-in-datab

Learn how to handle many-to-many relationships in database design with an example of creating a database for a university about students and classes.

**esforim** · 02-20-2020, 06:28 AM

This post will talk about EspoCRM 5.8

Recently finally manage to upgrade to EspoCRM 5.8. Long and slow progress when it come to moving host.

There is quite a few feature in this update. This post will explore these setting as I learn how to use it.

Enhancements:

Barcode field
PDF Templates: Date format helper
PDF Templates: Checkbox tag
PDF Templates: Ability to define custom helpers
PDF Templates: imageTag helper
PDF Templates: totalPageNumber footer placeholder
Mass Email: VERP support
Tracking URLs: Ability to show message instead of redirecting to URL
Foreign field: Support 'Array', 'Multi-Enum', 'Checklist' field
Foreign field: Support 'Currency Converted' fields
Foreign field: Support one-to-one relationship
New notification number in title
Multiple dynamic handlers support
Person Name field: Middle name support
Settings: 'Person Name Format' parameter
Portal Users tab
Emails: Sending draft from list view
Link Manager: Children-to-Parent support
Formula: record\relationColumn & record\updateRelationColumn functions
Formula: string\pad function
Link Manager: One-to-One support
Currency Rates API
Opportunities: Primary contact
Iframe dashlet
Address field: Ability to view map in modal dialog
Administration: List of all email addresses stored in system
Administration: List of all phone numbers stored in system

----

Person Name field: Middle name support

To use it, you need to Admin > Settings > Person Format Name > "First Middle Last name".

After that there will be a "Middle Name" box display when you edit/create contact.

**esforim** · 04-21-2020, 07:36 AM

THIS IS AN TUTORIAL/GUIDE - Send Email Invitation

Today I'm learning how to use the "Send Invitation" feature in my Meeting entity.

First thing I wanted to change was the date formatting. The default date look weird and did not suit readability for my country. Thanks to the guide here: https://github.com/espocrm/documenta...-formatting.md
and https://github.com/espocrm/documenta...ime-formatting
I figure it out how to update it.

Second thing I find is extremely important is the Location of the meeting. I first create a new "Address" field and add the field to the Layout Manager.

Initially my location is not working! After trying a few method I figured out how (by shear luck).

Below is the code I use in my Template Manager: Please note don't use my Accept, Decline, Tenative link. Be sure to use your correct URL or keep your Meeting Template when you do copy/paste.

Code:

[B]Subject:[/B] {{name}}

[B]Date & Time[/B]: {{#if isAllDay}}{{dateStartDate}}{{else}}{{dateFormat dateStart_RAW format='DD MMM YYYY - h:mmA'}}{{/if}}

[B]Location[/B]: {{{meetingLocationStreet}}} {{meetingLocationCity}} {{meetingLocationState}} {{meetingLocationPostalCode}}

{{#if isUser}} {{#if description}}

{{{description}}}

{{/if}} {{/if}}
Click below to confirm your attendance.

[URL="https://demo.espocrm.com/%7B%7BacceptLink%7D%7D"]Accept[/URL], [URL="https://demo.espocrm.com//%7B%7BdeclineLink%7D%7D"]Decline[/URL], [URL="https://forum.espocrm.com/core/demo.espocrm.com//%7B%7BtentativeLink%7D%7D"]Tentative[/URL]

{{#if isUser}}

[URL="https://demo.espocrm.com//%7B%7BrecordUrl%7D%7D"]View record[/URL]

{{/if}}

Nothing much has change aside from a few Bold text. Secondly more important is the formatting of the date (I need to format the isAllDay part in the future). Second bit is the Location section (I name my field Meeting Location).

If you use the PDF Template manager, these code will be provide: {{{meeting.meetingLocationStreet}}}
If you use this code then it won't work, you need to remove the first "meeting" section. So it become {{{meetingLocationStreet}}}
Secondly, notice how it is {{{ and }}}. This is only use for Street section (multiple lines). The City, State and Postal just need {{ }}

Lastly from what I notice is, the "Send Invitation" will only send to the main email of that contact (the star button). So adjust that contact email if necessary.

----
https://forum.espocrm.com/forum/gene...7740#post57740

See attachment for the meeting.ics. As you can see it manage to grab my email address, the Meeting name, the time and date, the description. However the Location is currently blank.

**esforim** · 05-08-2020, 12:02 AM

This might be more of a rant rather than a guide. It about the amazing email system.

Slowly sorting out my email. It quite annoying it not sync via POP of read status, delete, trash folder etc. That might be a good thing or a bad thing, depend on the occasion.

The more interesting is how the email linking system work. I have yet to work it out but it could possibly be an email body content scan system via CRON.

We have ads posted on a various different website, contact would fill out their basic detail such as Name, email and phone and an enquiry.

This detail is then get send to our email as an enquiry. From these detail sent via email we create a Contact record for them and then start contacting them.

What I discover is amazingly, after I create the Contact (copy paste name, email and phone). View/Open the contact we just recently created, you can see the Email history has been linked to them. And I notice multiple email that I haven't view yet (they make multiple enquries on different website).

Obviously the "From" to "To" email field don't list their email yet EspoCRM (the From email is from the Website email not the Contact) manage to capture those data, that save a bit of time having to link the email to the Contact as a Parent.

Aside from the complain above (Read/Delete and Trash Status), I guess the next hopeful feature is to be able to "Right Click" these detail and it generate a Contact/Account for creating new record.

From the look of it, it seem that it use a "Reply-to" field? This field is hidden from EspoCRM and we can't see it on the interface but can see it in Entity Manager. But once you click "Reply" it will fill in the "Email To" section. I believe this is how EspoCRM is linking email to Contact/Account.

**esforim** · 05-08-2020, 05:04 AM

Second new discover is the "Auto Complete" and "Trim" feature. The Auto-Complete, it doesn't work with all field unfortunately. It work best with varchar field type. It call "Option" Man, I'm so stupid. Finally understood what the "Trim" option for. I thought it was to "hide long text" but it to remove extra space at the front and back, I used this command in Excel but didn't think about it in relation to EspoCRM See: https://docs.espocrm.com/user-guide/...ressions/#trim

The second feature is "Auto Complete", in your varchar field you may see a field (Entity Manager) call "Option", if you fill out this field with a list of frequently use text, when you click on the field during Creating or Editing it will pop up as a "Auto Complete" or "History". No need for tutorial for either of these two as it quite straight forward.

**esforim** · 05-25-2020, 05:19 AM

A new feature that manage to fast track its way into EspoCRM 5.9.2! I could not wait for it to be release so I decide to manually patched the update. Please read this to learn more on how to use the Print2PDF Maps.

Print Maps (Google Map) in PrintPDF - EspoCRM Open Source Community Forum

https://forum.espocrm.com/forum/general/58576-print-maps-google-map-in-printpdf?p=58700#post58700

Want to print the Map in my PDF, is it possible? I don't quite see it as a field and Document docs.espocrm.com/ make no mention of it either. (PS: Purposely used Maps and PrintPDF because forum can't search 3 letter words)

---

After that I delve into the PDF printing further. Here is my result from trial and error for those that interested in an in-sight to my "problem solving".

I'm trying to PDF multiple attachment field through PDF template but having no luck with it. Tried a various different code but still fail. Was about to post if anyone know if it possible and how to?

I have tried variation of these code, there even more code that I deleted or didn't keep it saved:

Test 1 - fail
{{#each imagesNames}}
{{imagesIds}}
{{imagesNames}}
{{/each}}

Test 2 - fail
{{imageTag imagesIds width=50 height=50}}
{{imageTag imagesNames width=50 height=50}}

Test 3 - working, can get name. This mean that these Multiple file attachment field is an array.
{{#each imagesNames}}
{{./this}}
{{/each}}

Test 4 - working, can give ID.
{{#each imageTag imagesIds}}
{{./this}}
{{/each}}

Test 5 - fail
{{imageTag
{{#each imagesIds}}
{{./this}}
{{/each}} }}

Test 6 - fail
{{#each imageTag imagesIds}}
{{./this}}
{{/each}} }}

Test 7 - fail. So I thought but amazingly it worked!!!
{{#each imagesIds}}
{{imageTag ./this}}
{{/each}} }}

**esforim** · 05-29-2020, 01:56 AM

Today I learn how to use the "ifThenElse" and "ifThen" formula code. Full insight is found here: https://forum.espocrm.com/forum/gene...8865#post58865

**esforim** · 06-01-2020, 04:01 AM

How to use CRM. There are plenty of guide out there on how to use, but since I wrote down on how I used CRM system (partially written), I thought it might be useful for new comer that may have the same question.

https://forum.espocrm.com/forum/gene...8948#post58948

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Learning EspoCRM and Design

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