Event managers can narrow a private message to registrants whose answers to custom registration form fields match one or more conditions.
Answer filters work alongside the existing registrant type, ticket type, and status filters, and they apply both when the message is viewed on the Event Portal and when it is sent as an email.
Here's a few examples to show you how powerful these filters can be:
Remind only Vendor registrants who have not uploaded a Certificate of Insurance to an optional file upload field.
Welcome only Volunteer registrants who answered a custom question to say this is their first year volunteering.
Before You Begin
The message must use Selected Recipients (Private). Answer filters are not available for messages sent to Everyone, because public messages are visible to Event Portal visitors who are not signed in.
The registration form for the registrant type you want to target must contain the custom input field you want to filter on. See Messages: Message Details for how to choose recipients.
Add Answer Filters To A Message
Go to the Event Manager App > Messages section > Messages tab, then click Edit on an existing message or click + Add to create a new one.
Set Recipients to Selected Recipients (Private) and choose the registrant types you want to reach. Apply any status filters, such as Approved, as usual.
In the recipient filter area, add a filter row.
Choose the registration form field. The field list is grouped by registrant type and only shows custom input fields from the registrant types you selected in step 2. Display-only fields, such as Text blocks and Image fields, cannot be used.
Choose a condition. The conditions offered depend on the type of field (see the table below).
If the condition needs a value, enter it. Fields with predefined options let you pick one of the field's options, and date fields show a date picker. Conditions such as Is Blank, Is Checked, and File Exists do not need a value.
Add more rows to narrow the audience further, or remove a row you no longer need.
Click Save, then publish the message or send it as an email as usual.
The recipient count shown in the message editor and in the Send message email confirmation window reflects your answer filters, so you can check the size of your audience before sending.
Available Conditions By Field Type
Field Type | Conditions |
Text Box | Is Blank, Is Not Blank, Equals, Not Equals, Contains, Starts With, Greater Than, Less Than |
Check Box | Is Checked, Is Not Checked |
Dropdown | Is Blank, Is Not Blank, Equals, Not Equals |
Multiple Choice (one selection) | Is Blank, Is Not Blank, Equals, Not Equals |
Multiple Choice (select many) | Is Blank, Is Not Blank, Includes, Does Not Include |
Date | Is Blank, Is Not Blank, On, Before, After |
File Upload | File Exists, File Does Not Exist |
đĄTIPS:
Includes and Does Not Include match a whole option on a select-many field. Filtering for Food does not match a registrant who only selected Fast Food.
Text comparisons ignore letter case. Greater Than and Less Than compare numbers when both the answer and your value are numeric.
How Answer Filters Choose Recipients
All conditions must match. When a registrant type has more than one filter row, a registration must satisfy every row to be included. To reach registrants who match one condition or another, create a second message.
Filters only affect the registrant type that owns the field. Other selected recipients, including other registrant types and ticket buyers, are not affected. One message can carry separate filters for several registrant types.
Any matching registration counts. If a person has more than one registration, they receive the message when at least one of their registrations matches. For example, a vendor with two booths, one of which is missing a certificate, still gets the reminder.
No answer is treated as blank. A registrant who never answered a field, including one added to the form after they registered or hidden by a display rule, matches Is Blank, Is Not Checked, and File Does Not Exist, and does not match any value comparison.
Filters are checked every time. They apply when the message is listed or opened on the Event Portal, and when it is emailed, including scheduled sends and resends to new recipients only. A registrant who no longer matches cannot open the message on the Event Portal, even from a direct link.
Changed answers do not trigger a new email on their own. A new recipients only resend still goes to people who registered since the last send. To re-send a reminder to everyone who currently matches, choose to resend to all recipients; registrants who have since fixed the issue, such as uploading their certificate, drop out automatically.
When Registration Forms Or Messages Change
Deleting a form field. If you delete a custom field that a message filters on, that filter row is removed from the message. If the message has a scheduled email that has not been sent yet, the schedule is paused so the message is not sent to a wider audience than you intended. The message editor shows a warning so you can review the message and schedule it again.
Copying a message. Answer filters are copied with the message.
Rolling over your event. Filters are carried over to the matching fields in the next event. Any filter whose field cannot be matched is removed, and a scheduled message that lost a filter is paused for you to review.
đNOTES:
Answer filters are saved with the message. Turning Recipients back to Everyone removes them.
Attachments on a message are still available to anyone whose registrant type is a selected recipient, regardless of answer filters.
To learn how to publish a message or send it as an email, see Messages: Publishing Messages & Sending Email Notifications.