Gain control over record sharing with portal users through our new enhancement: criteria-based data exposure

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.

Match with field: Here, the relationship between the related module and the primary module is established by mapping their fields. That is, the relationships between records in primary and related modules are established by fields with the same values.

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:
  1. Create a mutual lookup field called "Contact name" between the Contacts and Quotes modules.
  2. To control who can access this information, use the match by value criterion and add two conditions:
    1. Quote stage is approved
    2. 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. 
This way, both the agents directly hired by the contact and those agents that are from a desired location are displayed for portal users' reference.

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 CRM

Thanks and kind regards, 
Saranya Balasubramanian

    • Recent Topics

    • Cliq iOS can't see shared screen

      Hello, I had this morning a video call with a colleague. She is using Cliq Desktop MacOS and wanted to share her screen with me. I'm on iPad. I noticed, while she shared her screen, I could only see her video, but not the shared screen... Does Cliq iOS is able to display shared screen, or is it somewhere else to be found ? Regards

    • Zoho Books | Product updates | May 2026

      Hello users, We're back with the latest updates and enhancements we've rolled out in Zoho Books. From sales tax automation to scanning receipts for free, explore the updates designed to upgrade your bookkeeping experience. Sales Tax Automation [US & Canada

    • Blueprint Not Triggering When Lead Status Is Updated by Workflow (IndiaMART Integration)

      I have set up a blueprint that triggers when a lead’s status is “New Lead.” Our CRM is integrated with IndiaMART, and when leads are created from IndiaMART, their Lead Status is initially set to None. To handle this, I created a workflow that automatically

    • Zoho Books | Product updates | June 2026

      Hello users, Welcome to this month's roundup of what's new in Zoho Books! We have an exciting line-up this time. The highlight is the launch of the all-new France Edition with full ISCA compliance. We're also introducing features such as Layout Rules

    • Cloning a View

      When I clone a View, it doesn't make a copy; it only creates a new copy with the same default fields as if I were creating a new view. What is the purpose of cloning if it doesn't bring in the same fields? Thanks Rudy

    • Does Zoho Learn integrate with Zoho Connect,People,Workdrive,Project,Desk?

      Can we propose Zoho LEarn as a centralised Knowledge Portal tool that can get synched with the other Zoho products and serve as a central Knowledge repository?

    • Request to Update Billing Information and Payment Method

      Hello, I’m using Zoho and I would like to update the billing information and change the payment card to our company card. Could you please let me know how I can do this? Thank you in advance for your help.

    • Zoho Analytics "Esc" key problem

      I frequently use the Escape (Esc) key while building dashboards, reports, and writing SQL queries. Since the recent updates to Zoho Analytics, the Esc key no longer behaves as expected. When writing SQL queries, pressing Esc to dismiss a suggestion now

    • Zoho Analytics Filter Bug

      I encountered a bug where typing the letter "A" in the drop-down filter of a table or query table causes the drop-down to close unexpectedly. For example, when typing "Today", the drop-down list closes as soon as "a" is entered. I tested this on another

    • Zoho CRM Kiosk question – Passing Screen Fields to a Function

      I am building a Kiosk in Zoho CRM to create new Supplier (Vendors) records. Current setup: Screen 1 contains user input fields: Supplier Name (Vendor_Name) First Name (First_Name) I created a Deluge function: createSupplier(vendor_name, first_name) The

    • Using Email Triggers on Zoho Flow

      Hello, I'm sending the email to create the variables as this article says: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/flow/user-guide/create-a-flow/articles/email-trigger#How_email_trigger_works But the collection of the variables only seems to work when the

    • Number of Reopn

      Hi Zoho, Is there any appropriate API call for This URL "http://support.zoho.com/api/v1/dashboards/reopenedTickets?...." what I thought is the resulting output of this call has data for number of reopen... "https://desk.zoho.com/api/v1/tickets/" + Ticket_ID

    • How to customize the "Placeholder Text" separately from the "Field Label" on the Booking Form?

      Hi, I am currently customizing the Booking Form for one of my Workspaces in Zoho Bookings, and I need some help adjusting a custom text field. Right now, when I create a custom text field, the gray "placeholder text" inside the text box automatically

    • What's New in Zoho Inventory | April & May 2026

      Hello users, We're excited to roll out the latest Zoho Inventory updates for April and May 2026. These enhancements are designed to make your daily operations smoother and more efficient, from advanced inventory management and flexible pricing to automated

    • Introducing Spotlight Forms

      Hey form builders! If someone opens your form, sees the wall of fields ahead, and quietly closes the tab. It may not be because the questions were hard. It could be because the experience felt like too much. Which is why we have now introduced a new form

    • Workflow Assistance in Zoho CRM

      Our client's sales team visits customers on-site and currently fills a physical paper form to capture customer details, and then separately re-enters the same data into Zoho CRM via the mobile app — resulting in double data entry. We want the salesperson

    • Related products & AI product recommendations through commerce API.

      Hello Zoho team I’m looking to add related products and AI product recommendations to my Zoho Commerce webshop with custom storefront. Is this supported through the API? And if not, is this on your roadmap? Thanks in advance David

    • Why don't Zia agents support file uploads?

      I am trying to build a Zia Agent that allows uploading of a PDF file and uses the GLM5 model to process it and extract information. But agents.zoho.com has no way to enable file uploads on the agent. Additionally, GLM5 based agents keep outputting their

    • Pasting Images in Zoho Desk ignores cursor location

      My team has reported an issue which started recently where when we paste an image into a new or existing reply or comment, the pasted image seems to ignore the current cursor location instead paste itself at the last character present in the reply/comment,

    • 'Pinned' notes feature of a pipeline record

      Hi team, Could you please implement a feature which will allow users to pin different notes so that they will appear at the very top of the notes tab in a pipeline record. Sometimes we have a wide range of notes on a record which means more important

    • Canvas Detail View Related List Sorting

      Hello, I am having an issue finding a way to sort a related list within a canvas detail view. I have sorted the related list on the page layout associated with the canvas view, but that does not transfer to the canvas view. What am I missing?

    • Announcing new features in Trident for Mac (1.37.0)

      Hello everyone! We’re excited to introduce the latest updates to Trident, which are designed to take workplace communication to the next level. Let’s dive into the details. Import EML archives directly into Trident. You can now import EML archives into

    • Zia Agent activation in Zoho Desk forces new Organization creation instead of deploying to existing one

      While attempting to complete the deployment and activation sequence of a new Zia Agent within our existing Zoho Desk environment, the activation process failed on the user interface, throwing a generic error (see print). However, despite the activation

    • #10 Bill While You Sleep

      A consultant is reviewing last month's work. Client meetings? Done. Deliverables? Sent. Support requests? Resolved. Then they realize something. "I have completed the work... but I haven't billed the client yet." The work was completed. The client was

    • Team Module Issues?

      We are testing Team Licenses for use by our Customer Service staff. I created a Teamspace called CSR and only assigned two users to this space: Administrator (me) and “Team License Test.” Team License Test is assigned to the Team User profile, with a

    • Access images from form submission in power automate

      Images from form submission show up as links in power automate. How do I access the image data?

    • Forms cannot be accessed.

      https://forms.zoho.com/ is not available, please help to fix

    • Associate records via the Multi-select lookup RELATED LIST via API

      In the REST API, is there a way to associate records for a multi-select lookup related list other than via the linking module? There are two methods for the lookup: 1. via insert records API 2. via the linking module ...as described in https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/kaizen-125-manipulating-multi-select-lookup-fields-mxn-using-zoho-crm-apis

    • Problem with CRM Connection not Refreshing Token

      I've setup a connection with Zoom in the CRM. I'm using this connection to automate some registrations, so my team doesn't have to manually create them in both the CRM and Zoom. Connection works great in my function until the token expires. It does not refresh and I have to manually revoke the connection and connect it again. I've chatted with Zoho about this and after emailing me that it couldn't be done I asked for specifics on why and they responded. "The connection is CRM is not a feature to

    • How do I post a new question in Zoho Community forums?

      Hi everyone, I’m new to the Zoho Community and I’m trying to figure out how to properly create and publish a new topic in the forum. When I visit the community page, I can’t clearly find the option like “Add Topic” or “Post Question.” Could someone guide

    • Kaizen #245 - Real Time Signal Alerts for High-Value Abandoned Checkouts

      Howdy, Tech Wizards! Welcome back to another week of Kaizen. In this post, we will build a real-time abandoned checkout notification system using Stripe, Zoho CRM Functions, Sales Signals, and Widgets. When a customer abandons a high-value purchase, Zoho

    • Unable to attach Fillable File Upload field to Merge Template ever since UI update

      Ever since the new UI update, the field for Attachments for sending document for Signing in Writer has had an issue where trying to add a Fillable item in the Attachment field ends up always becoming a "Choose a File From Drive" option instead. No matter

    • Latest updates in Zoho Meeting | An improved Analytics tab and user interface, an invite pop-up revamp, an enhanced Zoho Meeting iOS app, a recording feature in the Android app, and more

      Hello everyone, We’re excited to share a few updates and enhancements in Zoho Meeting. Here's what we've been working on lately: Improved analytics for meetings, an invite pop-up revamp, a multi-video feed interface in the iOS app, a recording feature

    • Inquiry Regarding Automated Assignment of Zoho TeamInbox Messages using Zoho Flow and Deluge

      Hello, Our company is currently using Zoho TeamInbox, and we are interested in automating the assignment of responsible parties using tools such as ZOHO Flow and Deluge. Is it possible to achieve this? Allow me to provide more details. Currently, when

    • Kaizen #125 Manipulating Multi-Select Lookup fields (MxN) using Zoho CRM APIs

      Hello everyone! Welcome back to another week of Kaizen. In last week's post in the Kaizen series, we discussed how subforms work in Zoho CRM and how to manipulate subform data using Zoho CRM APIs. In this post, we will discuss how to manipulate a multi-select

    • [Bug] WebAuthn passkey registration blocked on rpIds with TLDs longer than 6 characters (.accountant, .technology, etc.) — isValidDomain regex too strict

      Hi, Filing on behalf of an enterprise customer where Zoho Vault is deployed across the company. The Chrome extension blocks WebAuthn passkey registration on legitimate sites whose Relying Party ID (rpId) has a TLD longer than 6 letters. This affects every

    • Celebrating the businesses behind Bigin: Customer Awards 2026

      Hello Biginners, We're excited to announce the very first Bigin Customer Awards! If Bigin has played a role in your organization's journey, we'd love to hear about it. Share your story for a chance to be recognized among the best Bigin users across industries.

    • Client Script Button in Related List become invalid

      Hi, I am the admin of our organization. And I setup a client script button in related list to raise payment refund request While this button become non selectable recently. I believe there is something wrong from zoho as this button had run for a year.

    • Send Email Directly to Channel

      Hi, We are coming from Slack. In Slack each channel has a unique Email address that you can send emails too. I currently forward a specific type of email from my Gmail InBox directly do this channel for Verification Codes so my team doesn't have to ask

    • Zoho Desk: Auto-resizing of the "Description" textarea when creating a ticket.

      I would like to suggest an improvement for Zoho Desk regarding the Auto-Height-Resizing for Description field on the “Create a Ticket” page. It would be highly beneficial if the editor supported auto-resize functionality, allowing it to adjust dynamically

    • Next Page