Notes:
- This article refers to the legacy Automation Center editor. You can make small adjustments to a program regardless of its status in the New Editor. For more information, see Making small adjustments to your program.
- Programs using the legacy editor will be switched to the New Editor in April 2021. For more information on the timeline, see Switching programs to the New Editor.
Once you have activated a program there are a number of ways you can change the content and the workflow, depending on the state of the program. You should always pause a program before making any changes, to make sure that no contacts are being processed at the time.
See also: Editing launched emails.
If you are restricted from making the changes that you want to an active program, you always have the option to copy the program, make changes to the copy and then activate that. This will cause you to lose continuity in the reporting of the original program, but will not affect business-level reporting such as Smart Insight.
Copying an Automation Center program affects certain node types differently:
| Node Type | Result of Copying |
|---|---|
| Form | Selected forms are copied to the new program. No action is needed. |
| Send Email | A copy of the originally selected email campaign is created. |
| Wait | Settings are unchanged. No action is needed. |
| Send SMS | Selected SMS campaigns are copied into the new program. No action is needed. |
| Web channel |
The web channel campaign has to be reselected. If a web channel campaign is already used by another Automation Center program (the source of the copy), it cannot be reused in another program. |
| Mobile Engage push message | Selected Mobile Engage campaigns are copied into the new program. No action is needed. |
| CRM Ads - add to audience | The CRM audience has to be reselected. |
| CRM Ads - Remove from audience |
Selected CRM audiences are copied into the new program. No action is needed. |
| MessengerPeople |
The MessengerPeople campaign has to be reselected. |
| Direct Mail | Selected Direct Mail campaigns are copied into the new program. No action is needed. |
Active programs - what you can and cannot edit
We recommend that you always pause a program before making any changes to it.
When editing active programs take the following into consideration:
- Any validation errors caused by changes you make to a program will cause the save to fail, but not undo the changes, so you will still have to address them.
- A save cannot be undone if you accidentally save unwanted changes, but before saving you do have the option to discard all changes.
- Changing the program may change the customer journey and may make the reporting inconsistent before and after the change. We do encourage you to experiment and optimize your engagement strategies, but always keep in mind that some contacts may be caught by your changes in mid-journey.
| Solution | Active / Paused Transactional (e.g. order confirmation) |
Active / Paused Recurring (e.g. re-activation) |
Active / Paused Ad hoc batch (e.g. product launch) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Change name, description of program |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Add nodes to new path |
Yes | Yes | No |
| Add nodes to existing path | Yes1 | Yes1 | No |
| Choose different forms, segments and/or emails | Yes | Yes | No |
| Edit the content of the form, or the filter conditions of the segment |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Change exit criteria |
Yes | Yes | No |
| Change schedule or end date |
Yes | Yes | No |
| Remove saved nodes |
No |
No |
No |
| Change participation settings |
No | No | No |
| Change the start date in the scheduling |
No |
No |
Yes |
| Change email content (in VCE) | No (Active) | Yes | Yes |
| Yes (Paused)2 |
1We do not recommend inserting new nodes into an existing path because it can distort your program's reporting.
2We do not recommend editing the content of emails used in transactional programs because as a result your program may be put into fail-safe mode. For example, if you change the content of such an email and the Send email node is followed by a Didn't click link node, then the link tracked by this node will be broken.
Node specific limitations
- After activating a program that starts with the Target segment entry point, you cannot modify any of the nodes in it, including disabling or enabling them.
- Editing an Email Campaign that have a Didn't click node may cause the AC program to enter into Fail-safe mode. To avoid this, create a copy of the AC program and edit the Email Campaign only in the program copy. Launch the program only after the edits are finished. The original program can be aborted and deleted.
Editing scheduled programs
When a program is active but scheduled, you can edit it as described above for active programs, and also do the following:
- Change the start date in the scheduling.
- Change the participation settings.
- Edit the content of the email.
Pausing and freezing programs
It is recommended that you always pause a program before you edit it, to minimize the risk of disruption for any of the contacts in it. There are two ways to do this:
- You can pause a program or
- You can freeze a program.
Editing paused programs
When a program has been paused you can change the description and settings of all nodes This includes:
- Changing the Wait settings (this will not affect contacts already queued by the node - see below for details).
- Selecting a different email, segment or event.
- Changing the settings of a quick filter.
In addition to this, if the program was scheduled rather than active when you paused it, you can also edit the settings as described above.
Editing finished programs
Once a program has finished you will not be able to edit any part of it. If you want to reuse the program with some modifications, you will have to copy the program, modify it and then activate the copy.
Editing individual nodes
If you want to change the item selected in a node, such as a form or an email, you can deselect it by opening the properties dialog, clicking Select and then OK without selecting anything. This will clear any previous selection.
The deselected item will only be available for selection elsewhere once you have saved the program.
Editing Wait nodes
When you change the settings on a Wait node, this change will not affect the contacts already waiting; they will be held for the original length of time. All subsequent contacts arriving at the node will be held for the new duration.
Adding new nodes or paths
If a program is active you can only add a new node to it by adding a new path; you cannot add one into an existing path.
Disabling nodes
Wherever you can see the Enabled/Disabled toggle, you can disable a node. This is available in most of the Channels nodes.
When you disable a node, contacts will simply pass straight through it as if it were not there. You can enable it again at any time.
