Introduction to recipient lists

  • Updated

To create a new recipient list or change properties and data fields of existing recipient lists, you can use Recipient list management (Beta).

In the Optimizely Campaign menu under Recipients > Recipient Lists you can copy, edit or clear recipient lists. The overview area shows recipient lists for your client, and the number of recipients in each list. If you select a recipient list, the Recipient list details area provides additional information about the included recipient list fields.

Image: Recipient list overview

Copying recipient lists

Creates a new recipient list that contains the same data fields as the selected source list. Only the list structure is copied, not the entries.

To copy a recipient list, select a recipient list and click Copy.

Editing recipient lists

Change the name or description of a list. You can also set any recipient list as a test list. Use test lists only for sending test emails, not regular sending.

Do not use real customer data for test lists.

To edit a recipient list, select a recipient list and click Edit.

Clearing recipient lists

Deletes entries from a recipient list. The list itself is not deleted and can be used again.

To clear a recipient list, select a recipient list and click Clear.

To delete and/or unsubscribe multiple recipients from multiple recipient lists, use Cleanup.

Displaying recipient list details

If Separate data storage is activated in your client, you can use Details to access the settings to hide or display recipient list fields (data fields) with personal data for users of your client.

  1. Click Details. The Show recipient list details opens.
  2. In the list, select the recipient list field you want to hide or display for users of your client.
  3. Click Edit. In the Shown data column, a drop-down list opens.
  4. In the drop-down list, select:
    • Master data. Display the recipient list field only to users with appropriate permissions.
    • Properties. Display the recipient list field to all users.
  5. Click Submit.
  6. If necessary, repeat these steps for additional recipient list fields.
  7. To save the changes for recipient lists, click Apply changes to all lists. To save the changes only for the selected recipient list, click Apply changes.

Separate data storage supports three user permissions for displaying personal recipient data:

  • View Properties fields only
  • View Master data fields and Properties fields separately (so a user cannot associate properties with a recipient)
  • View Master data and Properties fields

For details about Separate data storage and individual user permissions, contact customer support.

Data fields

Every recipient list contains an unlimited number of data fields. One data field is reserved for the recipient ID, usually the email address. You cannot edit the recipient ID field. Instead of the email address, you can use any other ID, such as a customer ID.

Data types

Each data field can store a certain data type, which is selected when the recipient list is created. According to the data type, you can perform mathematical and/or logical operations with the value of a data field. For example:

  • Numbered fields. Numbers can be integers (32-bit/64-bit) or floating decimals. Compare the value of a field with a given value (equals/is less than/is greater than).
  • Date fields. Compares date and time (is older than/is younger than/is prior a given time/date/is past a given time/date/is exactly ... old).
  • Boolean fields. Perform is true or is false operations.
  • String fields. Congruity or incongruity of strings and characters (begins with, end with, does not begin with, does not end with, contains, does not contain).

The following data types and range of values are permitted for recipient list data fields:

Data type Range Example
Boolean true/false Registration via website, interested in promotional newsletters
Date date

Registration date. Supported date formats:

Programming interfaces (APIs) only support date formats according to ISO 8601.

Date format Description Example
yyyy-MM-dd Date with separator 2017-05-07
yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss Date and time 2017-05-23 09:50:04
yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss Date and time according to ISO 8601 2017-05-23T09:50:04
yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss,SSS Date and time with milliseconds 2017-05-24T08:03:59,123
yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ssXXX Date and time with time zone offset 2017-05-07T12:18:54+02:002017-05-07T08:18:54-02:00
Float single-precision 32-bit IEEE 754 floating point Conversion volume, customer score
Integer 32-bit-signed; -2,147,483,648 - 2,147,483,647 Customer's year of birth
Long 64-bit-signed; -9,223,372,036,854,775,808 - 9,223,372,036,854,775,807 Customer ID
String up to 255 characters Email address, first name, last name, city, postal code
Text up to 65,535 characters Email address, first name, last name, city, postal code