Contact fields and deleting people in bulk

Two pages under Settings → Data keep your contact data tidy: Contact fields and Profile maintenance.

#Contact fields

Your contacts can carry more than a name and an address. A shop sends an order count, a file import brings extra columns, and you can type your own on a contact page. Each extra piece of information is a field. The fields turn up on Settings → Data → Contact fields by themselves.

Under the heading Extra fields, each row has:

Field. The name as it is stored, such as favourite_product.
The friendly name (the second column, an editable box). This is the name segments and the email editor show.
What it holds. Text, A number, A date or Yes or no.
On how many. How many contacts have a value. This separates a field you use from one an old import left behind.

#Change a field

Edit the friendly name, or change What it holds.
A Save button appears at the end of the row. Press it. The row says Saved.

The type only changes what the segment builder can ask:

A number can be asked is more than, is at least, is less than, is at most or is between.
A date can be asked is in the last (days), is today, falls in this month (any year), is today or in the next (days) or comes round in the next (days), any year. The last two suit birthdays and renewals.
Text can be asked contains, does not contain or starts with.
Yes or no can only be asked is or is not.

All types can also be asked is filled in or is empty.

Nothing on your contacts is rewritten. If you pick the wrong type, pick another. Nothing is lost.

#Take a field off the list

Press the ⋮ button on the row and choose Take off the list. This deletes nothing from any contact. The field comes back on the next sweep if your contacts still have it.

#Typing a value by hand

On a contact page, press Edit and use Custom fields. If the field is typed as a number, date or yes/no, a value that does not fit is refused with a message such as "has to be a number". Dates are stored as year-month-day.

Only an owner or admin can change fields.

#Delete people in bulk

Go to Settings → Data → Profile maintenance. The card Delete people in bulk deletes everyone in one list or one segment, which suits a data request that arrives as a list, or cleaning up after a bad import.

Under List or segment, choose Choose one… and pick a list or a segment. Each shows its name and its count.
A box appears: Type 2,300 to confirm (your own number). Type the number.
Press Delete these people.

The button stays off until the number you typed matches how many people are in the group right now. If the group changed in the meantime, the page says that the number does not match and tells you the current count.

The card says: "This cannot be undone and removes them from every list, flow and report."

#What delete means

Each person is erased the same way as the Erase button on the Contacts page. Their name, address, phone number, custom fields and notes are destroyed. The delivery record stays with no name on it, and a one-way code keeps the address from ever being mailed again if somebody imports it later. Someone who said stop does not become mailable by being deleted.

#How long it takes

The page starts the job and then shows how far it has got. Look at the card Already deleted, which lists What, People, When and a progress note while it runs, such as "800 of 2,300". It also shows how many failed, if any.

One press can delete up to 25,000 people. For a bigger group, split it into smaller lists and delete them one at a time.

Only an owner or admin can do this. Everyone else sees "Only an owner or admin can delete contacts."

#If it didn't work

A field I expected is missing. Fields appear when a contact holds a value for them. Import the file or sync the shop, then reload.
"That number does not match". The group changed. Type the new count shown.
"There is nobody in it to delete." The list or segment is empty.
"That is more than 25,000 people." Split the group.
I deleted the wrong group. It cannot be undone. Email support@aminoengine.com right away.