All pools are always created by the system in the main folder Profiles. Customer profiles can be located in each pool. Usually, one pool containing all customer profiles is sufficient for each client. Profiles are entered either by importing existing address data, by manual entry, or using web forms. In addition to the standard fields - such as name, address and e-mail address - which are already predefined, you can create further fields for your own purposes and define them freely. For each of these fields you determine a data type to store the desired information. With a click on the pool a page with the profile list opens. To edit individual entries, click on Edit at the profile. You can access the pool configuration by clicking on the Configuration tab. Then a page with the currently configured fields and field names of the pool opens. You can edit the pool fields by clicking on Edit and save the changed data by clicking on Save.
Profile list
You can display the profile list grouped into 10, 25, 30, 50, 100, 250 or 500 profiles and scroll through them page by page. Alternatively, you can search the list using a search field above the profile list. If the search is successful, the entries found that contain the search term are displayed as a list. By deleting the search entry and clicking on search again, you can return to the entire profile list. You can delete profiles from the pool by clicking the checkbox on the left and then clicking Delete. Furthermore, you can edit each profile in the list manually or enter a new profile via an input mask by clicking on New entry. You can also view the history (entry, confirmation, cancellation, etc.) of each profile in the editing mask. In the profile history you can see the last actions of a profile, e.g. whether a newsletter was opened or a form was filled out.
Each profile in the profile list is divided into two areas, the Details area with the activity and history of a profile and the Edit area with the saved data of a profile.
Pool configuration
On the Configuration tab, you can divide all fields of the pool into groups (categories). This grouping can be customized. You can see the already existing categories (Basic Data, Internal, No Assignment) and can create new categories here as well as rename or delete existing categories.
To create a new category or change the order of the categories, click on the "+". To change the order of the categories, hold down the stylized lines on the far right and drag the line to the desired position. After changes to the categories, the pool must be saved for the changes to take effect.
The field configuration can be partially changed by clicking on Edit. By clicking on New Field you create another field in your pool, a dialog for the configuration of the field will appear.
Here you can specify a name, data type, category, profile matching and a default value. The name of the field is used as field label in forms. When the field is created, the field name is proposed as the internal name. This internal name can be adjusted manually (the internal name can only contain uppercase letters and numbers) and will serve as a replacement variable in the future.
You can define a separate type for each field. This determines which options (contents) are entered at the position. It also presets to a certain extent the later input options in the form.
In a pool you can create 100 pool fields. If you need more pool fields, please contact the support.
Elements of the pool configuration
- Name of the pool (can be changed later).
- Categories of the pool fields.
- Label of the pool field, appears in the form.
- Data type of the field, cannot be changed afterwards.
- Internal name of the field, this also serves as a replacement variable, cannot be changed afterwards.
- Category in which the field appears, can be changed afterwards.
- Profile Matching adds the field to Profile Matching so that an item can be assigned different profile properties from very suitable to very unsuitable under Profiling. In addition, the Persona Matching field is added to the article to indicate the relevance of the article to the respective persona. You can find a detailed description of this under Profile Matching and Profile Tagging.
- Default value, a pre-filled value can be specified here.
The following field types are provided in the pool:
Single-line entry: One line of text can be entered.
Multi-line entry: Several lines of text can be entered.
Single selection: An option can be selected from a list of options.
Multiple selection: Several options can be selected from a list of options.
Salutation, country, state, mobile phone code: Default single selections.
Date, Date with time: Fields for entering a date (with time). As an alternative to the static date entry, a dynamic date can also be entered in the form of text-to-date (e.g. "today - 5 days" for: "today five days ago").
eMail: Text input with validation to a valid e-mail address.
True/false: An input field with a yes/no option.
Integer: Number that can be compared in target groups with the operators < >.
Postcode: An input field for numbers.
IP address: Field for IP addresses from form request (the field is always filled in automatically).
For fields of the type multiple selection, single selection and true/false, the following functions can be used additionally:
- Content Profiling: Assignment of profile characteristics for articles for automatic sorting in e-mail slots and for determining the hit rate for personas.
- Profile Tagging: Options of this field can be set automatically by the opening behavior of the recipient of articles.
Existing fields can be removed with the - (minus) character at the end of the line - but only if this field is not yet used in any form. If this field is used in a form, a list of objects where the field is used appears when the field is deleted. Then the field must first be removed from the objects. Standard fields of a pool cannot be deleted.
Mandatory fields determine that this field must be included in every form or must always be specified when a profile is entered manually via the profile list. Fields that are already included in forms and are not marked as mandatory fields there cannot be subsequently marked as mandatory fields in the pool. To do this, a field must first be marked as a mandatory field in all forms before it can be declared a mandatory field in the pool.
When using single or multiple selections, you can determine the options for the entries in addition to the type. To do this, you must expand the options by entering one or more options (one for each line) and append them by clicking on "+". Existing options can be removed with - if no forms or target groups currently exist that use this option. You can also determine the default order by entering a number before the option.
Default values can also be assigned, so that every newly created profile is given this value.
To move the fields within the group, hold down the field at the right end of the row and move the row to the desired position. The sort sequence is saved immediately in the system.
Internal fields
Part of each pool are the internal fields. These fields are always created and cannot be deleted. The system stores profile information here (partly automatically) that is important for internal processes.
Field Configuration
- Data type: A data type can be specified here. Depending on the data type, various options are available. The data type cannot be changed afterwards.
- Category: Category in which the field should appear.
- Mandatory field: If a field is marked as mandatory, this field must be queried in all forms.
The following fields are available:
Language: Language of the profile (form language at registration).
Profile ID: Internal ID of the profile. This ID is unique for all profiles in a pool and is assigned automatically when the pool is created.
External ID: Free field for storing an ID from an external system. The external system must ensure that the ID is unique.
Original form: Form in which the profile is entered.
Time of entry: Time at which the profile was created.
Time of last change: Time at which the profile was last changed in a form.
Permission: Current permission of the profile.
Discontinued: Boolean field whether the profile has been discontinued.
Time at which the profile was deregistered: Time at which the profile changed from
has unsubscribed from a newsletter.
Number of hardbounces (HARDBOUNCES): Number of failed delivery attempts of e-mails in a row.
Status (USERSTATE): Status field for your own use (please do not confuse with the HARDBOUNCES status).
Change (IP): IP address of the last change.
Permission (IP): IP address of the permission collection.
Deregistered (IP): IP address of the logoff.
Persona: Makes the profile a persona (test profile) for article matching and preview individualization.
Tracking deactivated: Deactivates personal data storage for the profile. This means that no more activity data of the profile is collected (neither personalized nor pseudonymised). This may affect tracking statistics.
Important!
The Persona field has a special meaning. Profiles that are marked with this flag are automatically offered for tests. These tests are for example: Article relevancies or e-mail test dispatch.
Integration
Under the tab Integration you will find once again a list of all fields with their unique IDs. This list is mainly used by developers to get information for using the TAL functions or the XML-RPC interface.
Under the "Integration" navigation tab, you can see the internal field names from which the replacement variables are derived.
Statistics
Shows the development of the pool in different time periods. Here you can also see a statistical evaluation of the fields within the pool. You can also display this evaluation in a report by appending the pool.
Under the tab Statistics you will find an overview of all profiles in the pool, as well as their profile status.
Field evaluation
Here you will find a list of the single and multiple selection fields in the pool with their characteristic values and the distribution to the profiles in the pool.
The field evaluation shows all single and multiple selection fields in the pool and the distribution of the values.
Map
By clicking on the Map tab, above the profile list, you can visualize the geographical location of individual or all profiles on a map. A zoom function down to house number level is possible. The geographical information is generated from the address data, if available. If no address data is available, the IP address of the registration is used, provided that the profile has been entered using a form.
The map view can show you exactly where the specified addresses of the profiles are located, if they have been entered.
Important!
For the map view you need a separate right in your role. If you do not see the Map tab, you do not have this right.
Scoring
In activity scoring, information about interest, activity, main areas of interest and click behaviour is determined and evaluated in a freely definable scheme. A detailed description can be found in the chapter Scoring.
Import
Under the tab Import you can import profiles into the system. The system can import different types of files, but these files should have a clean data structure. For a detailed description, see the chapter Importing Profiles.
The system can read different types of files for an import. When importing, please make sure that only necessary columns and fields are imported, this speeds up the import.
Important!
Manually imported profiles always receive an opt-out as default permission. This means that the permission of the profile is stored outside the system. If the profiles already exist and are updated manually, no modification date is set and these profiles cannot be reported with a request manager.
Backup
The Backup Center offers you the possibility to restore deleted profiles mostly on your own. A detailed description can be found in the chapter on the pool and its profiles.
Deleted profiles can be restored via a backup, but the complete pool will be restored.
What data is backed up?
Profile imports: If a profile import is performed, the entire pool concerned is created as a backup before the actual import.
Profile deletions via target groups: Before deleting profiles for a target group, a backup of the affected profiles is created (not the entire pool is backed up here)
Important!
Manually deleted profiles (via the profile list) cannot be restored via an automatic backup!
Manual Backup
It is possible to create a maximum of three manual backups of your pools. Since most delete operations/data manipulations are automatically backed up by the Backup Center or basically a backup of your
data from the previous day exists, but it is only useful to create regular manual backups in exceptional cases. If the limit of a maximum of three manual backups per pool is reached, an old backup must be deleted via the list view before a new backup can be created.
Recovery / Retention time
It is basically possible to restore automatically created backups. Manual backups can only be restored via our support team. The retention period for automatic backups is 14 days or 90 days for manual backups.
Restoring backups: Before restoring a backup, all affected profiles are backed up again (not the entire pool is backed up here). Manual profile deletions via the profile list are currently not considered.
Deleting backups
Existing backups (whether manual or automatic) can be deleted in the Backup Center. If manual backups are deleted, the counter for manual backups is increasing again. If a backup is deleted, this is final and the backup cannot be restored.
Logging off profiles
When a pool is restored, logouts are not considered. This means: If a pool is reset and a profile has in the meantime unsubscribed from the newsletter, the profile will be re-entered. This means that before restoring a pool, all cancellations must first be exported, in order to be imported again after the restoration. Thus, the unsubscriptions are properly present in the pool again.
Important!
When a backup is restored, all profiles that were in the pool at the time of the backup are reset to the old status. New profiles that have been imported in the meantime or entered via forms are not deleted. If you want to delete these profiles, please first empty the pool completely and then import the backup. This will give you the status of the pool at the time of the backup.
Deletion dependencies
Pool fields used in forms, target groups or pool data miners cannot be deleted. A corresponding note can be found in the field configuration, including a list of the objects in which the corresponding field is used. The same applies to single/multiple selection options.