Documentation Center

Creating and modifying a Dynamic Distribution List

You can create a Dynamic Distribution List directly in a Folder in the Outbound E-mail node. You create a Dynamic Distribution List by defining filters in the same way as you define a Contacts search.

Before you begin

To create a Dynamic Distribution List, you need:

  • Distribution List Management rights and Write permissions for the destination Outbound E-mail Folder
  • Category Management rights and Read permissions—needed to define filters based on Categories and Keywords

About this task

You use Outbound E-mail fields, Contact details, and Keywords as filters. You can modify the filters defining the Dynamic Distribution List, in which case the Contacts it contains will change accordingly to match the changed filters.

Procedure

  1. Open the Content Manager Explorer.
  2. In the Publication in which you want to create or modify a Dynamic Distribution List, select Outbound E-mail.
  3. Select a Folder in which your Dynamic Distribution Lists are stored:
    • To create a new Distribution List, from the Ribbon toolbar Create tab, select New Distribution List.
    • To modify a Distribution List, select the Dynamic Distribution List and choose Properties in the context menu.
  4. In the General tab:
    1. Enter a unique Name.
    2. Enter a Description (optional).
    3. Enter a number in the Priority field to assign an importance value (when a Mailing is sent to several Distribution Lists, the Mailing is sent first to Contacts in Distribution Lists with higher priority, where 1 is the lowest priority)
    4. Select Dynamic from the Type drop-down list.
    5. Create a Dynamic Distribution List Based on a Segment, Address Book or Dynamic Address Book:
      • If you select a Segment, the filters defined in the selected Segment are used in addition to other filters you may define and act on all Contacts within the Publication.
      • If you select a Dynamic Address Book, the filters defined in the selected Dynamic Address Book are used in addition to other filters you may define and act on Contacts within this Address Book.
      • If you select a regular Address Book, the filters you define act on Contacts within this Address Book.
      • If you make no selection, the filters act on all Contacts within the Publication.
  5. In the Outbound E-mail tab, enter:
    • E-mail address—fill in all or part (the first characters) of an e-mail address.
    • E-mail type—specify the Contact’s preferred e-mail format. Select either HTML, Text, or Multi-part.
    • Subscription status—indicates the status of a Contact's subscription:
      • Opted-in—the Contact registered as a subscriber and confirmed the registration.
      • Subscribed—the Contact registered as a subscriber, but did not yet confirm the registration.
      • Unsubscribed—the Contact would not like to receive e-mail.
    • E-mail error status—indicates whether problems have been encountered sending e-mails to the Contact:
      • No problems—e-mails sent to this Contact should arrive without incident.
      • Temporary problems—e-mails sent to this Contact have encountered temporary problems, for example, the Contact’s e-mail Inbox was full.
      • Persistent problems—e-mails sent to this Contact have encountered permanent problems, for example the e-mail address of the Contact does not exist.
    • ActiveYes or No indicating Contacts who can or cannot receive e-mails.
  6. In the Details tab, you can specify Contact extended details to filter on.
  7. In the Categories and Keywords tab, you can specify Keyword criteria to filter Contacts on their assigned Keywords:
    1. Click Add.
    2. Browse to and select a Keyword.
    3. Click Insert.
    4. Repeat the procedure to add more Keywords.
    5. Click Close when you have finished adding Keywords.
    6. To remove a Keyword, select it click the Remove button.
  8. Click Save and Close.

Results

  • Outbound E-mail creates a Dynamic Distribution List based on the specified filter criteria. The Dynamic Distribution List contains Contacts who meet the search criteria specified.
  • By default, a new Distribution List is assigned a priority value of 1 (when a Mailing is sent, e-mails are sent to Contacts in order of Distribution List priority—the higher the value, the higher the priority).
  • Outbound E-mail updates the Dynamic Distribution List. The Dynamic Distribution List contains Contacts who meet the revised search criteria.