Creating an Auto-Populating Communication List
When a Communication List is auto-populated, the system searches through all of your contacts and adds or removes email addresses to the list based on the conditions that you have set for that communication list.
Note: This can take a few minutes to populate the list correctly, depending on how many contacts are in your database. The system has to search through them one by one to see if the list conditions are met.
Admins have the ability to create a set of conditions (similar to form conditions) on Communication/Subscription Lists that will automatically add users to those lists. If the user matches the conditions, the specified email addresses will be automatically added to the list (if they aren’t already on the list.)
- Go to Communications / Communication Lists / Add List or Select an Existing List.
Some Notes About Automatic Add Conditions:
- The set conditions will be evaluated/applied when...
- the communication list is either created or edited. When editing, the Admin will be asked if they want to "Update List Addresses?" They can choose, "Yes, apply them now" or "No, just save."
- an Admin edits a user's contact information.
- users edit their own contact information.
Note: In some cases if you do a mass update to contacts or a contact upload, it may take few minutes for their inclusion in the list to be reflected.
- When a user changes their email address in the system, the old address is automatically removed from the communication list and updated with the new one.
- Contacts with a Cancelled Status will NOT be included in an auto-populated communication list unless that is chosen as a list condition.
- Automatically remove if conditions no longer match? Admins can choose to have email addresses automatically removed from the communication list when the conditions are no longer met OR they can choose to only remove email addresses from the list manually.
- If ALL of the conditions are removed on a subscription list, auto-removal of email addresses will not be done. Whatever auto-added addresses are on the list at the time will be retained.
- Admins can still add or remove email addresses manually, and users can manage their own inclusion in the list via subscribe/unsubscribe.
Best Practice Tip: Consider Contact Status when setting up your lists. Active and Outdated are automatically included, while Inactive and Cancelled are excluded. Depending on the purpose of your list, you may need to add Contact Status as a condition to include a different set of addresses.
Also, using the "not equal to" condition is complicated and you should always test to be sure you get the results you expect.
Updating Your Auto-Populating Communication Lists
"Smart" Communication Lists are continually being evaluated by the system based on changes made to contact information. If ever a list doesn't "look" right, appears to be missing addresses, or has duplicate addresses we recommend updating the list manually instead of creating a new list.
Resetting Your Communication List:
- Whenever changes are made to the settings of a communication list, the list is automatically re-evaluated when you Save.
- To reload a list without changing the settings, go to Communications / Communication Lists and click on the "Subscribed" number for the correct list.
- Select to re-load the list where it says, "This list is set up to automatically add addresses based on rules. To re-load this list from your contacts, click here."
- Clear List First? Select "Yes" to remove all addresses and re-apply the conditions to the list. Select "No" to only add new addresses to the list based on the conditions.
Example - If you have duplicate contacts and emails on your auto-populating communication lists, there is no need to delete and re-create the list. Instead, we recommend the following:
- Update Duplicate Contact's Status
- Clear and Reload your Communications List
When a Communication List is auto-populated, the system searches through all of your contacts and adds or removes email addresses to the list based on the conditions that you have set for that newsletter list. This happens when the list is created and if a contact card is edited.
Contacts with either Inactive or Cancelled Status will not be included in an auto-populated communication list when the system reviews which email addresses should be added or removed to the list. Active and Outdated Status will always be considered unless you specify a condition to include a particular Contact Status.
EXAMPLE: You create a communication list that is set to generate an auto-populated list for:
- student grade = 3rd grade
A family with a 3rd grader has two contact cards - one is Active and one is Inactive. Previously, the family's emails were subscribed to the list (based on the Active contact card) and then immediately unsubscribed from the list (based on the Inactive contact card). Now, the Inactive record will not be reviewed by the system when deciding if the email addresses belong on that list.
*If you have duplicate contacts and emails on your auto-populating communication/subscription lists, there is no need to delete and re-create the list. We recommend Updating Your Auto-Populating Communication Lists.