The Goal: Block a specific email address or IP address so that incoming Contact Us and Directory Contact forms from that sender are no longer forwarded to your staff or members, while still remaining visible in GrowthZone for reference.
Before You Begin:
- You need staff access to the Communication area to view and manage incoming forms.
- Have the exact email address or IP address you want to block, or know the date/time the form was submitted so you can locate it.
- Blocking affects incoming submissions only — it does not affect your ability to send outgoing emails to that contact.
Overview
This feature allows customers to enter an email address or IP address of someone they want to block from having forms (Contact Us or Directory Contact forms) reach staff or members. These blocked forms will still appear in GrowthZone for visibility, but will not be forwarded to staff or members.
- A page will show in the Communications module, called Incoming Forms (now Spam Blocking in v2).
- All incoming forms will show here in addition to showing under the Browse tab in Communication. Incoming forms include:
- Public Forms submitted via the Forms/Survey module (Contact Us, User-defined, and Inquiry Tracking)
- Directory contact email forms submitted via the “Send Email” address links on a contact’s directory listing
- From the public directory and
- Info Hub (if “Use Form to send Email” is enabled)
- Use the Spam Blocking page (formerly the Incoming Forms tab) to block a specific email address or IP address.
- Public form: Blocks the notification from being sent to staff
- Directory contact form: Blocks members from being sent the message via email
Step-by-Step Instructions
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Go to Marketing & Communication, Communication section, click Settings and select Spam Blocking. Locate the form with the email/IP address you want to block.
Incoming Forms tab - Note: You might need to locate it by knowing the exact date/time it came into the system. Compare with the Browse tab in Communication.
- Click into the Date/Time of the entry on the Spam Blocking page to view the contents of the form.
- The Type column indicates if it came from a Public Form or a Directory Contact Email.
- Click either the Block Email or Block IP address icon in the Actions column of that form.
- A confirmation window will appear asking you to confirm that you wish to block this email or IP address. Click Yes.
- Once blocked:
- A red exclamation will appear next to the blocked email or IP address.
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The Action icon will turn into an “Un-Block Email” or “Un-block IP address”.
Clicking on Block Email address on the form from sarah.kragness@growthzone.testinator.com, you get a confirmation window.
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You can view, add, or remove blocked emails and IP addresses by clicking the “Blocked Email Addresses” or “Blocked IP Addresses” in the menu in the top, right-hand corner above the table.
After confirming you wish to block the email address, the Action column icon changes to a different icon. The new icon can be selected if you wish to “unblock” the email address.
Important Tips
- Blocked email addresses or IP addresses do not affect the ability to send outgoing emails to these contacts. This affects only incoming submissions.
- Blocking an email or IP address affects all incoming locations. For instance, you cannot block a specific form or block only Directory Contact and not Public Forms, or vice versa. It is all or nothing.
- If you want to proactively block an address (and not wait for an incoming form), you can manually enter an email or IP address under “Blocked Email addresses” or “Blocked IP Addresses”.
- A blank Email Address or IP Address column indicates that this information was not available on the submission.
Common Pitfalls
- Blocking the wrong entry: Because submissions are matched by date/time, confirm you have the correct entry — cross-check against the Browse tab in Communication before blocking.
- Expecting partial blocking: Blocking is all-or-nothing across all incoming locations; you cannot block only Public Forms or only Directory Contact forms.