1. While setting up the webform, if you had enabled manual approval, all submissions from that webform will be awaiting under the Awaiting [Records] page under the respective category—this also applies to records that are not likely to be spam.
   
   
2. All possible spam records that fall within the specified spam possibility score range will await approval on the Awaiting [Records] page.
   
   

Approval of records

Note: The Awaiting Leads option will adjust for each module, such as Awaiting Contacts or Awaiting Vendors based on the webform setup.

Navigate to the [Module] tab, say, Leads → Click on the ellipses icon (···) → Awaiting Leads → Awaiting Approval.

1. Green: 0% - 20%
2. Orange: 21% - 70% 
3. Red: 71% - 100%
   

Note: Total Records refers to the number of records present in the category upon applying the filter.

Awaiting Approval

All records prepared for import with enabled manual approval processes are displayed here.

1. All records sourced from webforms with enabled approval processes and those with spam possibility scores within the specified tolerance level, along with their scores, are listed here.
2. On the Awaiting Approval page, the Source column lets you know if the record is from a webform or import. If the source is Webform, the tooltip shows the following information about the record when hovered on: Webform name, IP address, and the URL where the webform is attached.
   
   

If the record is potential spam, the tooltip️ icon displays possible reasons when hovered on. Some of the important reasons are listed below:

1. Invisible field (Honeypot) submission
   Honeypot is a cybersecurity mechanism that will identify bots that mimic real data by reading and filling in different values on hidden fields that have default values set. These bots unusually attack invisible fields and trigger values which cannot be attempted by a normal user. Honeypot security mechanism acts as an advanced protection to unveil this behavior in records as possible spam submissions.
2. Junk email address
   Emails from these email addresses usually clutter inboxes with spams and unwanted messages both malicious and harmless. Submissions from these email addresses are flagged as possible spam.
3. Submission with toll free number
   Submissions with invalid phone number in a Phone field are flagged as possible spam.

On clicking on an individual record, the following options appear: 

1. Approve: The user can directly approve the record by just clicking on the Approve button. This takes the record to the respective CRM module.
2. Block IP: This button appears only when the record has a spam possibility score. If you decide not to receive any further submissions from the IP of the record, click Block IP.
3. Delete: Click Delete if you want to delete the awaiting record permanently.
4. Edit and Approve: You can use this option to update an awaiting record and then approve it. This button takes you to the record editor page where you can make the required changes and click Save and Approve. The record moves to the respective module.
5. Change Owner and Approve: If the record can be approved but has to be assigned to another user, you can change the owner of the record with the Change Owner and Approve button.
   

Duplicate

Duplicate records are detected by verifying unique fields, those that have Do not allow duplicate values on. The system looks for duplication of these entries across the CRM module and the awaiting records.

1. Under Duplicate, you will see the Group by option above the list of records. The grouping happens based on the unique fields of the module.
   
   

1. When you click on an individual record, the record details with following buttons will appear: Merge, Block IP, and Delete.
   
   

Note: The Block IP option appears if the record has a spam possibility score.

Let's look at the functions of the buttons in detail.

1. Merge:
   The Merge button is also available beside every record when hovered. The Merge option takes the user to a new tab where the fields of the duplicate record and the other similar records are displayed together. This allows the user to compare the field values and select the best values to merge the records as one. There are four possible cases of a record to be merged.
   
1. Merge Records pop-up: A record can be merged either with the existing record in the CRM module or another awaiting record. If the duplicate record has both an existing record and another duplicate in the CRM, then, clicking on that record will display two options.
   
1. Select Merge with Existing Record if you want to merge the duplicate record with the existing CRM record in the respective module.
   
2. Select Merge with Awaiting Record if you want to merge the duplicate record with the secondly-generated duplicate record, which is awaiting approval.
   
2. Merge Records: You will be redirected to a new page where you can directly merge records when only either of the above two cases exists. Here, you can compare the similar records' fields with each other and set the preferred value for each field. 
   
1. When you click Merge, all these records are combined as one record with the chosen field values. When all the other duplicate records are also awaiting approval, you can select the record that you want to maintain as the Master Record in order to compare the other records.
   
2. In another case, if the unique record already exists in the CRM, by default, it becomes the master record for the duplicate record that is pending approval. In this case, you cannot choose the master record.
   
3. Redirection to Find and Merge Duplicate for [Records] page: If the record has been duplicated (considering both CRM records and awaiting records) more than thrice, then this redirection to choose any 3 records to compare the fields with each other and choose the ideal value for each field.
   
4. Approve Records pop-up: This pop-up lets you know that the master record is not available anymore and confirms if you want to proceed with approving the record.
   
1. Delete: This option deletes the duplicate record permanently from the records awaiting page.
2. Block IP: This option blocks any submissions from that IP and passes them to the User-Blocked category.
   
   

Note:

1. Merging multiple selections of (non-identical) records is not possible since each record selected will have its original version in the CRM, potentially causing confusion during the merging process.
2. For the Cases module, since merging of records is not allowed, on clicking on an individual record, the following options will appear: Delete, and Edit and Approve.

Validation Failed

When a validation rule is activated, and the webform record does not comply with the validation criteria, it will be categorized as Validation Failed. If the system detects spam in this entry, the spam score of the record will also be displayed.

On clicking the record, the Resolve and Delete buttons will be displayed.

1. The Resolve button is also available beside every record when hovered on. It takes the user to the Edit [Record] page. Here, the user can update the data according to the validation criteria and proceed to approve the records. After the changes are made, clicking on Save and Approve will save the edited field values and approve the record.
2. The Delete option deletes the validation failed record permanently from the records awaiting page.
3. If the record has a spam possibility score, the Block IP option will also appear.

Email Parser Records

In this category, all the email parser records for which you had chosen for manual approval during the creation of the parser rule are listed. You can approve them under this section. Learn more about email parser records.

Blocked

In this section, all records that were blocked either by users or the system are listed, categorized as System-blocked and User-blocked.

1. User-blocked:
   Based on the spam possibility score and reason, the user can choose to block an IP address, which will prevent any further submissions from that same IP address. When a blocked record is clicked on, the user-blocked IPs will have the options to Delete or Unblock IP.
   If you unblock the IP, all records from that IP will be moved to their respective category across CRM. It also permits further records submissions from the IP.
2. System-blocked:
   The Zoho system has a set of blacklisted IPs. All records submitted from those IPs will be blocked and listed under this category. Users cannot proceed with these records any further.

To view any of the blocked IPs, click on View Blocked IPs button. You can switch between the User-blocked and System-blocked to view the corresponding IPs. You can also unblock IPs here.

Blocked records are valid for 90 days. After this time, they will be deleted.

When a user-blocked record is clicked on, there will be two options: 

1. Delete: This option deletes the duplicate record permanently from the records awaiting page.
2. Unblock IP: This option unblocks that IP and puts back the records to the respective categories.
   

Filters under Awaiting [Records]

In the Awaiting records page, the left panel will feature the following filters based on the category chosen. Users can filter records by source, spam possibilities, fields, and IP. 

1. Filter By Source: Users can filter the spam records based on the source of the records: Import or Webform. This filter is accessible for the Awaiting Approval and Duplicate categories.
   

1. Filter By Spam Possibilities: If the user chooses Webform from the previous filter, this sub-filter Filter By Spam Possibilities is enabled with three options: All, Possible Spam, and Not Spam.
   
1. Possible Spam: Filters the records that have a spam possibility score
2. Not Spam: Filters the records that do not have a spam possibility score
3. All: Lists all records that come from webform submissions and await approval. This filter is accessible for the Awaiting Approval, Duplicate, and Validation Failed categories.

1. Filter By Fields: Users can use this filter, available under all categories, to search for records based on Created Time and Record Owner.
2. Filter By IP - Webform: With this filter, users can look for potentially spam entries that are blocked by the system and users separately. This filter is only available under the Blocked category.
   
   
1. User-blocked: These records were blocked by the user based on the spam possibility score and reasons, and further submissions from that IP address are listed here.
2. System-blocked: These records that have been blocked by the Zoho system are moved to the Blocked category. These records cannot be unblocked.