Every Automated Program needs to start and finish. This article covers what you need to know when you are ready to start your program, and how to stop it you are ready to finish.
Start a Program and Add Contacts
- To run your program, go to Automation > Automated Programs
- Find your Automated Program, hover over the title, and click on the Dashboard .
- Click on Actions > Start Program.
- If your program is missing anything required, such as a source list, the Start button will not be available. Click on the error notification
to see the missing requirements.
- If your program is missing anything required, such as a source list, the Start button will not be available. Click on the error notification
- Add Contacts?
- Yes: All contacts from the source lists enter the first step of your program.
- No: All contacts on your source list will exit them from the program. New contacts on your program source lists will enter based on the schedule you have set.
Once you have started your program, contacts will enter the program based on the schedule.
| Schedule | When New Contacts Enter |
| Manually | Only when you go to the program dashboard and choose Actions > Add New Contacts Now |
| Immediately |
As soon as they enter the program source list For example: If your program source is a Form Submission List, contacts will enter the program when they submit the form. |
| Schedule | At the frequency and times specified. Daily/Weekly/Monthly etc. |
Stop a Program
Stop it immediately
Sometimes you will need to stop a running program so that it immediately stops sending emails. You may need to do this while you are making changes to the program, or because you have decided not to continue with the campaign.
To stop a program:
- Go to Automation > Automated Programs and find your running program.
- Click on more options and choose Stop.
Stop adding new contacts (let existing contacts finish the campaign)
To stop the program from entering new contacts, yet allow the existing contacts to continue the program until it is completed, you must edit the program and change the schedule for when contacts are added.
- Go to Automation > Automated Programs and find your running program.
- Go to the program dashboard and go to Actions > Stop Program
- Next, go to Actions again and choose Edit Program
- Change the schedule to add contacts Manually
- Click Done to save.
- Next, restart the program for the existing contacts. They will continue at the same step.
- Go to the program dashboard and go to Actions > Start Program
- When prompted to add new contacts, answer No.
The program will continue running but will not add new contacts unless you do so manually. Monitor the program until it has run out of contacts in steps and remember to stop it when it is finished.
