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
Presenting 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 deliversGood 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 activitiesCreate and populate a record in an instant: Introducing zero-shot field prompting to Zia's ICR
A couple of months ago, we upgraded our in-house AI image detection and validation tool, Zia Vision, with intelligent character recognition (ICR). By training Zia with sample images, you could create and enrich CRM records with data extracted from standardIn-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 discoverNimble 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 integration
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
How to Track and Manage Schedule Changes in Zoho Projects
Keeping projects on track requires meticulous planning. However, unforeseen circumstances can cause changes to schedules, leading to delays. It becomes important to capture the reason for such changes to avoid them in the future. Zoho Projects acknowledgesIs there a notification API when a new note is addeding
Trying to push to Cliq, or email notification when there's a new note added in module. How to implement this?Collaborate Feature doesn't work
Hello Team. It seems that the collaborate section is broken? I can post something but it all appears in "Discussions". In there is no way how I would mark something as Draft, Approval, post or any of the other filter categories? Also if I draft a postEdit Permission during and after approval?
When a record is sent for approval Can a user request for edit permission from the approver? We don't want to give edit permissions for all the records under approval Only on a case-by-case basis How can we achieve this?Zoho web and mobile application not workingn
Both zoho forms web and mobile application aren't working. I have checked my network connections and they are fine.Bulk Moving Images into Folders in the Library
I can't seem to select multiple images to move into a folder in order to clean up my image library and organize it. Instead, I have to move each individual image into the folder and sometimes it takes MULTIPLE tries to get it to go in there. Am I missingLatest updates in Zoho Meeting | Breakout rooms and End to end encryption
Hello everyone, We’re excited to share a few updates for Zoho Meeting. Here's what we've been working on lately: Introducing Breakout Rooms for enhanced collaboration in your online meetings and End-to-end encryption to ensure that the data is encryptedSystematic SPF alignment issues with Zoho subdomains
Analysis Period: August 19 - September 1, 2025 PROBLEM SUMMARY Multiple Zoho services are causing systematic SPF authentication failures in DMARC reports from major email providers (Google, Microsoft, Zoho). While emails are successfully delivered dueAccidentally deleted a meeting recording -- can it be recovered?
Hi, I accidentally deleted the recording for a meeting I had today. Is there a way I can recover it?How to access email templates using Desk API?
Trying to send an email to the customer associated to the ticket for an after hours notification and can't find the API endpoint to grab the email template. Found an example stating it should be: "https://desk.zoho.com/api/v1/emailtemplates/" + templateID;Update Portal User Name using Deluge?
Hey everyone. I have a basic intake form that gathers some general information. Our team then has a consultation with the person. If the person wants to move forward, the team pushes a CRM button that adds the user to a creator portal. That process isUnable to retrieve Contact_Name field contents using Web API in javascript function
Hello, I've added a field in the Purchase Order form to select and associate a Sales Order (Orden_de_venta, lookup field). I've also created a client script to complete some fields from the Sales Order (and the Quote), when the user specifies the relatedUpdating Woocommerce Variation Products Prices Via Zoho CRM
I can update product prices with this flow: But I can't update variant products. I got a code from Zoho for this, but I couldn't get it to work. It needs to find the product in the CRM from the SKU field and update the variation with the price there.Emails Disappearing From Inbox
I am experiencing the unnerving problem of having some of the messages in my inbox just disappear. It seems to happen to messages that have been in there for longer than a certain amount of time (not sure how long exactly). They are usually messages that I have flagged and know I need to act on, but have not gotten around to doing so yet. I leave them in my inbox so I will see them and be reminded that I still need to do something about them, but at least twice now I have opened my inbox and foundPower of Automation :: Automatic removal of project users once the project status is changed.
A custom function is a software code that can be used to automate a process and this allows you to automate a notification, call a webhook, or perform logic immediately after a workflow rule is triggered. This feature helps to automate complex tasks andCustomizing Form Questions per Recipient Group in Zoho Campaigns/Forms
Hello everyone, I would like to ask if it’s possible in Zoho Campaigns or Zoho Forms to send out a campaign where the form questions can be customized based on the group of recipients. Use case example: I have prepared 20 questionnaire questions. ForForms - Notification When Response Submitted
How do I set it up to generate an email notification when a response (class request) is submitted?How to disable user entry on Answer Bot in Zobot
Hi, I have an Answer Bot in my Zobot, here is the configuration: I only want the user to choose 1 of the 4 the options I have provided: When no answer found, user chooses 'I'll rephrase the question' or 'Ask a different question When answer is found,More admin control over user profiles
It's important for our company, and I'm sure many others, to keep our users inline with our branding and professional appearance. It would be useful for administrators to have more control over profile aspects such as: Profile image User names Email signaturesPlease Make Zoho CRM Cadences Flexible: Allow Inserting and Reordering Follow-Up Steps
Sales processes are not static. We test, learn, and adapt as customers respond differently than expected. Right now, Zoho Cadences do not support inserting a new step between existing follow-ups or changing the type of an existing primary step. If I realizeClear Tag & Linking Between Quotes and Sales Orders
Hi Zoho Team, In Zoho Books, when a quote is converted into a sales order, it would be extremely useful to have: A clear tag/indicator on the quote showing that it has been converted into a sales order. A direct link in the sales order back to the originatingAdd Direct Ticket Link to Zoho Help Center Portal in Email Replies
Hi Zoho Support Team, We hope you're doing well. We’d like to request a small but valuable improvement to enhance the usability of the Zoho Help Center portal (https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/myarea). Currently, when someone from Zoho replies to a support[Webinar] Deluge Learning Series - AI-Powered Automation using Zoho Deluge and Gemini
We’re excited to invite you to an exclusive 1-hour webinar where we’ll demonstrate how to bring the power of Google’s Gemini AI into your Zoho ecosystem using Deluge scripting. Whether you're looking to automate data extraction from PDFs or dynamicallyConnecting Zoho Inventory to ShipStation
we are looking for someone to help connect via API shipStation with Zoho inventory. Any ideas? Thanks. UriNew in Cadences: Option to Resume or Restart follow-ups when re-enrolling records into a Cadence, and specify custom un-enrollment criteria
Managing follow-ups effectively involves understanding the appropriate timing for reaching out, as well as knowing when to take a break and resume later, or deciding if it's necessary to start the follow-up process anew. With two significant enhancementsIm Stuck in an EDIT ONLY WITH WIZARD issue
So I found Wizards to be a really helpful tool in minimizing the exposure of redundant, superfluous fields to staff that would never otherwise have to edit those fields. My issue is, that when the record (in this case a lead) is created with a wizard,Account upgrade
Good evening, I upgraded my account and paid for it. From standard to professional. Unfortunately after the paiment my account was not upgraded. Please your advise. Best Regards Erik van StaverdenHow to set ALL default dates of my organization to DD-MM-YYYY format?
All replies to this question comes from a time where the UI was different. It's extremely frustrating not being able to find how to do this simple setting change. I want everything and everyone in my organizations to have DD-MM-YYYY date format by default.How can I sync from Zoho Projects into an existing Zoho Sprints project?
Hi I have managed to integrate Zoho Projects with Zoho Sprints and I can see that the integration works as a project was created in Zoho Sprints. But, what I would like to do is to sync into an existing Zoho Sprints project. Is there a way to make thatZoho Subform Workflows onAdd of Row
Suppose I have a form with attached workflows onLoad. If I use the form as a subform, will it inherit the workflows or do I need to create new ones onAdd of row?Super Admin removal
I brought a sub, and I gave the Super admin rights to a person who is no longer with us, so I need to change, and I need to make myself the Super adminBetter Notes Commenting
Hi, I'd like to suggest better collaboration tools for NOTES. The current notes section for Accounts, Contacts and Deals is not ideally suitable for any degree of communication or collaboration. When responding to a note, there is no ability to leaveExporting Templates
I have just spent 2 hours creating a project template for a Netsuite configuration, and want to share it with other Zoho Projects users - who have a different account. Is there any way to do this?Power of Automation:: Streamline Associated Teams based on the Task Owner update.
Hello Everyone, A Custom function is a user-written set of code to achieve a specific requirement. Set the required conditions needed as when to trigger using the Workflow rules (be it Tasks / Project) and associate the custom function to it. Requirement:No Response from Zoho Support in 8 Days - Typical?
I have a couple of issues I'm trying to work through. Initially, I was getting support from support@zohofsm.com, but I have not received a response in 8 days (11 on another question). Is this typical? Can I pay for support? For context, I am not spammingAdd QUOTE OWNER profile image to a Quote Template
I can add their email address.. phone number, DOB. I need to add a users profile picture so when they assign a template to a quote they own it adds their picture to the cover page. I've tried hacking a solution together but there has to be an easier way.Zoho Connections Desk API relative URL PATTERN_NOT_MATCHED
While i am trying to do this: async function fetchTicketsFromDesk(timeFilter = 'current_month') { try { const response = await ZOHO.CRM.CONNECTION.invoke("desk_connection", { url: "/api/v1/tickets", method: "GET", }); const data = response.details ? JSON.parse(response.details)Zoho CRM - Custom Views for Portal Users
I'm looking for an option to customise custom views for portal users in CRM. It would be great if "portal user" was a permission on custom views.【参加無料】10/17(金) 東京 ユーザ交流会 Vol.3 参加登録 受付開始！
ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティチームの藤澤です。 10/17(金)に、東京・新橋で「東京 ユーザー交流会 Vol.3」を開催します！ 今回のユーザー事例セッションのテーマは、「Zoho Flowを活用した他社の決済サービスとの連携事例」です。 さらに、Zoho Flowに限らず、Analytics や Campaigns などの多彩なZohoサービスの活用方法について、豊富なご経験をもとにご紹介いただきます。 また、Zoho社員セッションでは、Zoho CRMを活用して日々の営業業務を効率化する具体的な事例をお話しします。業界を問わず、幅広い方にご参考いただける内容となっています！Zoho Meeting Plug compatibility with newer versions of Outlook
Documentation states that the zoho meeting plug in for outlook is only compatible with versions up to Outlook 2019 What is available to users of more up to date versions of outlook/office 365?Next Page