You can pause and edit your Automated Programs to update steps, messages, source lists or segments, Early Exits, and program settings. This guide explains how to safely make changes, how contacts behave when steps are updated or removed, and how to keep reporting consistent.

Instructions

Edit a running program

You need to pause your program before editing steps or changing program settings. To make changes to a running program:

1. Pause your program in the Automated Programs Dashboard.
   Go to Automation → Automated Programs, hover over the running program (with a green dot), and click Pause program:

2. Edit your program in the Automated Journey Builder.
   Hover over the paused program (with a yellow dot) and click Edit:

3. The Automated Journey Builder opens. You can now update any part of your program.

If the program is running, you can view the Program Flow but cannot make changes.

Edit program steps

If you attempt to delete a step that contacts are currently in, such as a wait step, you will see a warning that contacts are still in that step.

If you see this warning, you have a few options.

Option 1

Manually move contacts from the impacted step to the next step in the program flow. This keeps contacts in the program and is a good option when there are many contacts in the step.

To do this:

1. Reactivate the program.
2. Navigate to Report → Steps.
3. Find the impacted step, expand it, and use the Move Contacts to Next Step option:

4. After contacts have moved to the next step, pause the program and delete the original step.

• This is the most efficient option if there are many contacts in the impacted step.
• This option allows you to keep the contacts in the program.

Option 2

Manually exit contacts from the Automated Program. Since this requires more manual work, it is typically a better option if there are fewer contacts in the step.

To do this:

1. With the Automated Program either paused or active, navigate to Report → Steps.
2. Click the count of contacts waiting in the step you are attempting to delete:

3. Hover over each contact record and use the Exit Contact action to exit the contact from the program:

4. After contacts have exited the step and the program, you can delete the step.

• This is a good option when only a small number of contacts are in the impacted step.
• This option removes those contacts from the program entirely.

Option 3

Allow contacts to move on from the step at the normal program pace. After the step is clear (no contacts remain), you can safely delete it.

This can be useful when contacts already move through the step quickly and you do not need to manage them manually.

Remove or change your program’s list

You can remove or replace a list or segment within the Automated Journey Builder. If a list or segment is removed from the account, it must be removed from all programs where it is in use before you can fully delete it from Act-On.

Other best practices

While there are many ways to build Automated Programs in Act-On, here are a few strategies that may help keep things organized and efficient:

• Always stage and test your program, including changes, in a safe testing version before publishing or saving updates to your final program.
• If your Program Flow is getting too long or contains many branches, consider splitting it into a set of smaller, simpler programs.
• Keep up-to-date documentation about the programs in your account, including a short description of each program and notes about any changes made over time.