In short: Validation Tasks give you a focused queue of reviewed items, so you can approve takedowns, hold items or exclude them from enforcement before anything is sent.
Understanding validation
Validation is the final approval stage before a takedown starts. In Zeal 2.0, Validation Tasks give you a focused queue of items that have already been reviewed by a Quality Analyst (✓✓), so you can quickly apply brand-specific judgement and authorise enforcement.
Who it's for: clients, Brand Managers and external legal counsel.
The goal: officially sign off on takedown actions, or exclude specific items from enforcement.
What you'll see: once validated, an item receives its third and final check mark (✓✓✓).
Learn more: Understanding the Zeal Workflow
1. Create a Validation Task
A Validation Task gathers exactly the items that are ready for your approval, so nothing slips through.
Go to Validation → Create Task → Validation.
Set your core filters:
Moderation → Posts/Images/Accounts/Websites → Checked (reviewed)
Labels → include all infringing labels, or choose a specific one (for example Phishing)
Enforcement → Enforcement Status → exclude Marked for enforcement
Takedown Status → Post/Accounts/Websites → Up
Give your task a description, due date, assignee, organisation(s) and data type (posts, images, accounts or websites).
Tip: In a Validation Task, the All Items tab automatically filters for reviewed content (✓✓), so you don't waste time on items that aren't ready for your approval.
Learn more: Tasks · Using Filters
2. Validate items in a task
Each decision you make here tells Zeal whether an item should be enforced.
Under Operations, go to Validation and click the Play button on the task assigned to you to start your session.
Review the item, then choose one of the validation actions below.
Action | When to use it |
Validate | You confirm the label applied to the post is correct (not sent to enforcement). |
Validate & Enforce | You confirm the label is correct AND approve the item to be pushed to the enforcement queue. |
On Hold | You need to pause the item while awaiting clarification or next steps. |
No Action | You have reviewed the item and decided no further action is needed. |
Learn more: How to Find & Validate (Review) Posts · Labels
3. Validate in bulk
Bulk validation saves time when you're approving many posts for enforcement at once.
Multi-select all the posts you want to validate for enforcement.
In the footer, click the ellipsis menu → Validate & Enforce.
Learn more: Understanding Enforcement
4. Undo validation
If an item was validated by mistake, you can send it back for validation.
Select Unvalidate from the ellipsis menu. The item reverts to the To validate status (checked, ✓✓).
Note: Only Quality Analysts, Validators and Admins can undo validation.
Learn more: User Roles & Permissions
5. What happens next
Your decision updates the item's place in the workflow straight away.
Once you apply your decision, the page refreshes and the workflow status in the top-right corner updates. You'll now see three check marks (✓✓✓), showing the item is fully validated.
If you selected Validate & Enforce, the item moves instantly to the final stage of the workflow, Enforcement, where takedown notices are prepared and submitted to marketplaces and social platforms.
Learn more: Understanding Enforcement · Enforcement (Notice View)
Quick reference
If you want to know… | Look at… |
Which filters to use for a Validation Task | 1. Create a Validation Task |
What each validation action does | 2. Validate items in a task |
How to approve many posts at once | 3. Validate in bulk |
How to reverse a validation, and who can | 4. Undo validation |
What happens after Validate & Enforce | 5. What happens next |