Gain control over record sharing with portal users through our new enhancement: criteria-based data exposure
Dear Customers,
We hope you're well!
Portals is a self-service avenue through which your clients can access and manage their direct and related data in Zoho CRM. This empowers them to be more independent and enables them to experience a sense of transparency with your business.
Here, the key term to notice is direct and related data. The current portal setup serves clients only with their own primary and related data via a lookup field. Here's a pictorial representation of the current setup:
While having access only to their records gives customers authority over their information, it presents some notable challenges.
Challenge #1: Lack of control
A record undergoes two types of processes: customer-driven processes like conversion, negotiation, winning a deal, and more, and internal processes like approvals, discussions, and rejections. While the former keeps customers informed about the progress of their deals, the latter reveals the business' internal decision-making process. Administrative information isn't necessarily meant to be seen, but the current portal setup exposes each stage a record goes through, unconditionally. This poses a problem: The business lacks control over the kind of information that's shared.Imagine this scenario: Patricia is your customer. She has access to her profile, deals, and quotes. She can manage data all by herself and track records as they progress. While having access to her own records empower her with independence, witnessing all the process changes—including approvals and rejections of discounts that aren't yet final—might cause her some anxiety. It also violates the business's privacy policies.
Challenge #2: Lack of flexibility
The portals you have now only enable you to share clients' personal and transactional records. Clients can only see their own data. But what if they want to access information other than their own? Or what if they want to view records with a particular trait?
Say, for example, your business sells multiple products across Canada, and you want your portal users to see only the products available in their regions. This is a specific request that's based on the location of the customer. The current setup limits this requirement and fails to preserve context for the customer.Thus, to give the admins control over any exposed information and simultaneously provide portal users with both flexibility and independence, we've developed an exciting addition to portals' data-sharing functionality: criteria-based data exposure.
Introducing criteria-based data exposure
Criteria-based data exposure is the ability to expose modules and data based on conditions that you use to control what data should be exposed and when, or to render contextual results for portal users.Technically speaking, in addition to linking a primary module and a related module using lookup fields, admins can now define two types of criteria to expose other records with a particular trait in the module: match with fields and match with values.
Match with value: This criterion should be familiar to you as a seasoned Zoho CRM user. You can determine record eligibility by defining a field, operator, and qualifying value.
Example: Deal type is new business. All those deals that are new businesses will be displayed to the portal user.
Example: Implementation agent servicing area is the client's billing city.
Let's understand these criteria by addressing our initial challenges:
Solution for challenge #1 (lack of control)
By matching with value, we can allow Patricia to view her quote only after it reaches the approved stage. This way, your business's internal correspondence stays internal, and Patricia can track her quotes without any impact on her experience.
Below is how you can configure this feature. Again, let's suppose Patricia is your customer and that you want her to have access to her transactional data:
- Create a mutual lookup field called "Contact name" between the Contacts and Quotes modules.
- To control who can access this information, use the match by value criterion and add two conditions:
- Quote stage is approved
- Quote stage is not negotiating
This way, Patricia's quote is visible only when it reaches the approved stage.
Solution for challenge #2 (lack of flexibility)
With the match with field criterion, your portal user can view all products that are available in Canada.
Let's look at how you can configure this functionality.
The Products module is a public module, accessible to all portal users, irrespective of their relationship to that module. To bring context to this setup, add a condition using the match by field criterion:
- Available area is mailing country
Note:
In addition to configuring criteria, you can also use an "and/or" conditional to follow these criteria. That is, you can use both criteria and lookup, or either of the three (criteria, or match with values, or match with fields), or one of the criteria and lookup.
For example, let's say your Implementation Specialist module has an exhaustive list of agents that implement servers in different areas, with varying levels and types of expertise. To display the agents the user hired as well as other agents for reference, we can configure conditions, as shown below:
- The primary module and the related module can be linked using the native lookup field to bring up agent records that users have hired directly.
- To display other agents in the location, let's use conditions:
- If the record matches with values, the customer can see all agents who belong to Michigan, Ohio, Chicago, Washington, and Indianapolis will be displayed.
- If the record matches with fields, the customer can see all agents whose service region matches the contact's mailing state.
Thanks to these new criteria, we've updated the UI of the configuration page as well. What used to be called Filter by column (where the lookup value is selected) has been renamed to Linked as and conditions.
To understand the scope and impact of this enhancement, let's look at a couple more examples.
Example 1: Match with value
Let's say you sell electronics and accessories in bulk for large enterprise organizations. You've extended the following modules in portals for enterprise customers:
- Primary module: Contacts
- Related modules: Products, Invoices, Cases, Appointments
- Public module: Channel partners
So that customers can look at all the products applicable for enterprise customers, you've formulated some criteria: Lookup and Match by value. Customer type is Enterprise.
Now clients can see their contact records, their products (thanks to the lookup connection), and products for enterprise customers (thanks to the match by value criterion), as well as invoices, cases, and appointments related to them, and, finally, all channel partners.
Example 2: Match by field
Saint Laurent Hospital is a multi-specialty hospital in Iowa. They let their patients manage their profiles, view their prescriptions, order medicines from the pharmacy, view lab results, and book appointments with doctors using a dedicated portal.
This is their setup:
- Primary module: Patient's profile
- Related modules: The Prescriptions module, Lab Results module, and Appointments module are related with the primary module via lookup fields, and the Doctors module via the Match by field criterion.
- Public modules: Medicines
As you can see, records with personal data (prescriptions, lab results, appointments) are directly linked to the patient's profile using lookup fields, and to map the doctors to the patients' ailments, the complaint field from the patient's profile is linked to doctors whose specialization is also the same as the ailment. This means that the patient can see all the doctors whose specialization matches their complaint.
(i.e.) Specialization contains Complaint. IBS specialist contains IBS
That's all for this enhancement to the Portals configuration.
We hope these criteria will enhance your clients' experiences with your business. If you have any questions or concerns, please drop a comment. Let's connect!
Release plan: This enhancement is available for users in all DCs.
Resources: Portals in Zoho CRMThanks and kind regards,
Saranya Balasubramanian
Access your files securely from anywhere
New to Zoho Recruit?
Zoho Developer Community
New to Zoho LandingPage?
Zoho LandingPage Resources
New to Zoho Survey?
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Bigin?
Topic Participants
Saranya Balasubramanian
Yaali Bizappln Solutions
Sticky Posts
In-person ZUG Meetups for Real Estate Professionals - US Q1 2026
The Real Estate Zoho User Group is going on a multi-city, in-person meetup tour across the US, and we’d love to see you there! These meetups are a great opportunity to: Connect with fellow real estate professionals using Zoho Share challenges and discoverGood news! Calendar in Zoho CRM gets a face lift
Dear Customers, We are delighted to unveil the revamped calendar UI in Zoho CRM. With a complete visual overhaul aligned with CRM for Everyone, the calendar now offers a more intuitive and flexible scheduling experience. What’s new? Distinguish activitiesNimble enhancements to WhatsApp for Business integration in Zoho CRM: Enjoy context and clarity in business messaging
Dear Customers, We hope you're well! WhatsApp for business is a renowned business messaging platform that takes your business closer to your customers; it gives your business the power of personalized outreach. Using the WhatsApp for Business integrationTwo new enhancements in Zoho CRM: Introducing new criteria for user fields and displaying group information in users page
Announcement moderated on 14th June, 2023. Dear All, These enhancements are opened for all users in all DCs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear All, Hope you're well! We are here with two usefulPresenting ABM for Zoho CRM: Expand and retain your customers with precision
Picture this scenario: You're a growing SaaS company ready to launch a powerful business suite, and are looking to gain traction and momentum. But as a business with a tight budget, you know acquiring new customers is slow, expensive, and often delivers
New to Zoho TeamInbox?
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
Design. Discuss. Deliver.
Zoho Show Resources
Get Started. Write Away!
Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.
Zoho CRM コンテンツ
-
オンラインヘルプ
-
Webセミナー
-
機能活用動画
-
よくある質問
-
Ebook
-
-
Zoho Campaigns
- Zoho サービスのWebセミナー
その他のサービス コンテンツ
Nederlandse Hulpbronnen
ご検討中の方
Recent Topics
The Social Wall: October 2025
Hello everyone, As we head toward the end of the year, we’re bringing you a few updates to help give your social media efforts a strong finish. This month, we’re rolling out new enhancements across both the web and mobile app. Post Preview Have you everClient Script | Update - Support for List Page (Canvas) and Notes
Hello everyone! We are glad to announce two exciting updates in Client Script. Client Script support for List Page (Canvas) Client Script support for Notes These open the door to more dynamic and interactive customizations! 1. Client Script support forPincode Based Pricing
We want to give extra discount to customers within city limits because our shipping and packing costs are less. My proposal is assign list of pincodes to price list and assign the price list to customers whenever they sign up with pincodes. Also showfeature question: lookup field in Projects task layout
Hello, Below we have interface to configure a custom task layout, however, we need a lookup field to let pickup data from other apps, such as Zoho CRM Products module, is that possible or already in your roadmap? or a workaround to achieve it? Thanks in advance.Plan change from Zoho One to Zoho Workplace
Hello Zoho, Following the recent pricing update for Zoho One, we are interested in transitioning to Zoho Workplace products. Please inform us about the necessary steps for this process so we can proceed promptly. Kind regards,Can we do Image swatches for color variants?
We want to do something like the attached screenshot on our new zoho store. We need image swatches instead of normal text selection. We want to user to select an image as color option. Is this doable? I don't see any option on zoho backend. Please hWhat's New in Zoho Analytics - October 2025
Hello Users! We're are back with a fresh set of updates and enhancements to make data analysis faster and more insightful. Take a quick look at what’s new and see how these updates can power up your reports and dashboards. Explore What's New! ExtremeZoho Analytics & SQL Server - Live connect
Below are the steps I did Created a fresh database and table in my own virtual server Created a new data source connection with live connect I was able to select the tables and created the data source successfully I am getting the error when I try toExplore the Redesigned Quotes Module in Zoho Billing
Dear users, We’re excited to introduce a refreshed look for the Quotes details page in Zoho Billing! This update brings you a more efficient user interface experience without changing your existing workflow. We've enhanced layouts with organized tabs,Latest updates in Zoho Meeting | Create departments, Share PDF files
Hello all, You can now create departments to group team members within your organization. This will make it easier for you to organize department-level meetings and invite members. In webinars, use the Share material feature to share PDF files directlyUnify All Zoho Video Meeting Experiences into One Standardized Platform
Hi Zoho Team, We would like to share an important user experience concern regarding the current state of video meeting functionality across the Zoho ecosystem. The Problem Within Zoho, there are multiple ways to initiate or schedule a video meeting: Zoho[Free Webinar] Product Updates: Quick Catch-Up Session - Part I - Creator Tech Connect
Hello Everyone! We welcome you all to the upcoming free webinar on the Creator Tech Connect Series. The Creator Tech Connect series is a free monthly webinar featuring deep-dive technical sessions designed for developers, administrators, and app builders.Project expenses in Zoho Books
Just the way timesheet is used to calculate labour cost for a particular project, how do i record other expenses against a project such as materials and consumables used for the project? So that under report, I can view the total amount expended on eachBlueprint status change
I want to change the Blueprint status of a workflow. The status is completed automatically when I added the record through API call. But I want to make it active, I don't see any options for this. Even if I draw transition from any stage , it is not visibleWhat is going on with GMail extension.
Suddenly, it is popping up and saying "Please wait while we work our magic... 10%" and it sits there. Yesterday I waited for an entire hour call and it never got further. Today, it's not resolved. Is there a fix I can do? I've tried all the typicalMarketing Tip #6: Cross-sell with related products
Don’t let customers stop at just one product. Suggesting related or complementary items improves the shopping experience and increases order value. Try this today: Use the Item Recommendations feature in Zoho Commerce and add two to three suggested itemsi cannot use <b></b> to bold the message in Creator C6!!!!???What?
Dear experts and friends, Now Creator 6 blocking us from using <b></b> Anyone facing this issue? I faced it on Creator C6 Previously, it used to work. Now failed to work. Faint~ Seek guidance from everyone on how to bold the message. The super simpleZoho Writer - Option to Export as .zdoc format
I've noticed that it's not possible to export a Zoho Writer Document in the .zdoc format. Isn't zdoc, Zoho Writer's own format? My use case is that I sometimes need to create quite complex documents with floating elements, which sometimes need to become[Announcement] Enhanced Merge APIs of Zoho Writer for automating document generation using Zoho Apps data
Hi users, With the record_id parameter in Zoho Writer's Merge APIs, fields related to the given record id is automatically fetched from the Zoho app. You don't have to spend time manually mapping the records and fields in the Deluge code. Here is a samplePin multiple columns and adjust column widths in CRM subforms
Hello all, Subforms act as secondary forms or tables in which you can associate multiple line items to a primary record and thereby ensure more structured and comprehensive data organization. We've made some recent enhancements to subforms. Here's what's[Webinar] Automate sales and presales workflows with Writer
Sales involves sharing a wide range of documents with customers across the presales, sales, and post-sales stages: NDAs, quotes, invoices, sales orders, and delivery paperwork. Generating and managing these documents manually slows down the overall salesAutomate insurance document workflows with Zoho Writer
Insurance companies have to deal with creating and managing complex documents and forms, such as policy applications, explanation of benefits documents, brochures, renewals, and claim forms. Handling all of this manually is hugely time and effort intensive,Latest updates in Zoho Meeting | New End of session notification to remind everyone about the session end time
Hello everyone, We’re excited to share a new feature for Zoho Meeting ; End of session notification. With this new setting, you can choose to remind all participants or only the host about the scheduled end time of a meeting. You can also choose when[Webinar] Zoho Writer for SCM and logistics
Creating, sharing, and distributing complex documents are constant challenges in the SCM and logistics industry. That's why our next webinar is focused on how to simplify these document workflows. Join us on Jul 10, 2025 for a Zoho Writer webinar designed[Webinar] Zoho Writer for the manufacturing industry
Creating, sharing, and distributing complex documents are constant challenges in the manufacturing services industry. That's why our next webinar is focused on how to simplify these document workflows. Join us on May 8, 2025, for a Zoho Writer webinarAdd Comprehensive Accessibility Features to Zoho Writer
Hello Zoho Writer Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to submit a feature request to enhance Zoho Writer with a full set of accessibility tools, similar to the accessibility options already available in the Zoho Desk agent interface. 🚧 Current[Webinar] Simplifying document workflows in financial services with Zoho Writer
Creating, sharing, and distributing complex documents are constant challenges in the financial services industry. That's why our next webinar is focused on how to simplify these document workflows. Join us on April 10, 2025, for a Zoho Writer webinar[Zoho Writer Webinar] Learn how to simplify your HR operations: Part 2
Hi Zoho Writer users, We're excited to announce the Zoho Writer webinar for July 2024: Learn how Zoho Writer can simplify your HR operations: Part 2. This webinar will focus on how Zoho Writer can help HR teams streamline and automate their entire hiring[Zoho Writer Webinar] Learn how to simplify your day-to-day HR operations
Hi Zoho Writer users, We're excited to announce the Zoho Writer webinar for June 2024: Learn how Zoho Writer can simplify your day-to-day HR operations. This webinar will focus on how to automate your entire hiring process and generate various types ofBranding of native system emails
Make system emails adjustable in terms of branding. We want our system to be completely white label, because it is not a CRM anymore, it's way more than that. We are following the strategy of "CRM for everyone" to use the CRM in all departments, not onlySupport “Never End” Option for Recurring Meetings in Zoho Meeting
Hello Zoho Meeting Team, Hope you are doing well. We would like to request support for creating recurring meetings with no end date in Zoho Meeting. Currently, when scheduling a recurring meeting, Zoho Meeting requires us to select a specific end date.Add Custom Field Inside Parts Section
How to Add Custom Field Inside Parts Section in Workorder like Category and Sub- Category[Important announcement] Removal of Zoho Writer's DocuFiller Add-on
Hi users, Effective 21st Feb. 2025, we will be removing the DocuFiller add-on for Zoho Writer's Fillable Templates. From that point on, the add-on's functionalities, such as sharing or publishing fillable forms for data collection and receiving submissionsSend Automated WhatsApp Messages and Leverage the Improved WhatsApp Templates
Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're excited to announce a major upgrade to Bigin's WhatsApp integration that brings more flexibility, interactivity, and automation to your customer messaging. WhatsApp message automation You can now useWeekly Tips: Manage External Images in Zoho Mail
When you receive emails every day, whether from clients, newsletters, or services, many of them contain external images that automatically load when you open the message. While this can make emails look more engaging, it can also impact your privacy andImplementing a Self-Invoicing/Vendor Portal in Zoho Creator
Hello Zoho Community / Creator Experts, We would like to build a Self-Invoicing Portal (Vendor Portal) in Zoho Creator for our external contractors. Our goal is to allow approved contractors to log in, submit their invoice details (hours worked, projectFunction #32: Schedule low stock notifications on a timely basis to specific users of the organization
Hello everyone and welcome back to our series! For a business that heavily relies on inventory, monitoring the stock levels and getting timely notifications of low stock items will ensure a smooth sail. Zoho Books allows you to always keep a check onIs it really true that I can't set the default 'deposit to' account in 2025?
I've been using Books for 7 years and the default account has never been a problem. I usually manually reconcile invoices and have never had a thought about which account. It has always been my account. However, I recently noticed that for the past 4SINCH HUB MESSAGEMEDIA with ZOHO DESK
1) what I need from MessageMedia, 2) what I want to confirm on the Zoho Desk Dev Forum. MessageMedia – needs and requirements Goal: Send SMS from a Zoho Desk widget for EU users. Auth: HTTP Basic (API Key + Secret). Keys must not live in the browser.Function #46: Auto-Calculate Sales Margin on a Quote
Welcome back everyone! Last week's function was about displaying the discount amount in words. This week, it's going to be about automatically calculating the sales margin for a particular quote, sales order or an invoice. Business scenario Where there is sales, there's also evaluation and competition between sales reps. A healthy rivalry helps to better motivate your employees to do smart work and close deals faster and more efficiently. But how does a sales rep get evaluated? 90% of the time, it'sNext Page