An automation does follow-up work for you. It starts with a trigger, something that happens in your platform such as a new member, a purchase or a finished course, and then runs one or more steps on its own: add a tag, set a field, send an email, wait a few days, check a condition. This article covers the automations list, where you create, find, organise and switch your automations on and off.
Who can use automations
Automations need the permission Manage Automations. Owner and Admin have it, and you can add it to a custom role. With it, the entry Automations appears in the admin menu. Without it, the menu entry is missing and the pages stay closed.
Reading the list
The top of the page shows how many of your automations are switched on, for example "3 of 5 active." Archived automations are not counted.
The list opens as a Table. The view switch also offers List and Grid, which show each automation as a card with the number of triggers and actions, the success rate or a Failed badge, and a pencil when there are unpublished changes.
The table has these columns:
- Name: the name, and below it a short summary of the flow, such as the trigger followed by the first action. A new automation without a trigger reads No trigger yet.
- Triggers: icons for up to three triggers, plus a count for more.
- Actions: how many action steps the automation has.
- Last run: how long ago the automation last ran, or Never. A red badge marks a last run that failed.
- Success (7d): the share of finished runs in the last seven days that completed. Runs still in progress do not count, cancelled runs count as not successful. A dash means there was no finished run.
- Updated at: when the automation was last changed.
- Status: the switch that turns the automation on or off.
Runs (7d) and Created at are hidden at first. Show them with Columns. Test runs and replays from the editor never count in Last run, Runs (7d) or Success (7d), so testing does not spoil your numbers.
Switching an automation on and off
The switch in the Status column turns an automation on or off right away. While it is on, the automation reacts to its trigger. While it is off, nothing starts.
The live version is always the published one. When you save changes in the editor after the first save, they stay a draft until you publish them, and a yellow pencil next to the switch marks Unpublished changes. How saving and publishing work is explained in Building an automation.
When you switch an automation on, the platform checks that every integration it uses is connected. If one is missing, the switch flips back and a message names it, for example "Connect these integrations first: GetResponse". An archived automation cannot be switched on: restore it from the archive first.
Finding an automation
- The search field above the list finds automations by name.
- In the table, click the Name, Updated at or Created at heading to sort by it. In List and Grid, Sort offers A-Z, Z-A, Newest and Oldest.
- Filter narrows the list by Status, Trigger, Folder, Last run status, Last run, Runs (7d), Success (7d) in percent, the number of Triggers or Actions, Unpublished changes, Favorite, Created at and Updated at. Trigger and Folder only offer what your automations actually use. Last run status set to Never finds automations that have not run yet.
Search, sorting and filters work the same way as in other lists.
Smart views
The bar above the list holds chips that switch what the list shows. Each one has a count.
- Home shows all automations that are not archived.
- Unfiled shows the automations that are not in a folder. It appears once you have at least one folder.
- Favorites shows the automations you starred.
- Failed shows the automations whose last run failed. Test runs do not put an automation here.
- Archived shows only archived automations. They appear nowhere else.
Click an active chip a second time to go back to Home. When a view is empty, it says so, for example No failed automations. An empty Home offers Start with a template.
Folders
Folders keep a long list tidy. They sit as chips in the same bar, each with the number of automations directly inside it.
- New folder adds a folder. Type the name, up to 120 characters, and press Enter. Escape cancels.
- Click a folder to open it. The list then shows only the automations in that folder, and the folder bar shows its subfolders. New folder inside a folder creates a subfolder. The chip on the left takes you back up one level.
- Hover over a folder and open its menu for Rename and Delete.
- Drag a folder sideways to change the order. Drop it onto another folder to put it inside, or onto the back chip to move it up one level. A folder cannot go into one of its own subfolders.
Deleting a folder never deletes automations. The dialog asks Delete folder "{name}"? Its automations move to Unfiled and its subfolders move up one level., which is exactly what happens.
To move an automation, drag its row onto a folder chip, the Unfiled chip or the back chip. Or choose Move to folder in the row menu, pick a folder or Unfiled and click Move. The current folder is marked Current.
Creating an automation
Click Add at the top of the list. You choose between two starting points:
- Blank canvas opens the editor with an empty flow, and you build the automation yourself.
- From a template opens the template gallery.
The template gallery
The gallery offers ready-made flows grouped by topic: Members, Payments, Courses, Events, Community, Integrations and Schedule. Each card names the flow and says what it does. Search the gallery by name or description, or pick a group on the left.
Preview on a card shows the flow as a read-only diagram. Click the card itself, or use the template from the preview, and the platform creates a new automation from it and opens it in the editor.
Every automation made from a template starts switched off. Open its steps, pick your own tag, field or email where the template asks for one, then switch it on. A trigger that reacts to a tag or a member field reacts to every tag or field until you pick one. A template that uses an integration, such as Stripe or GetResponse, also needs that integration connected.
The row menu
The pencil at the end of a row opens the automation in the editor. The menu next to it holds everything else:
- Edit opens the editor as well.
- Favorite stars the automation so it shows up under Favorites. Remove favorite takes the star away.
- Test run runs the current draft once, and its actions really execute. See Testing and run history.
- Duplicate creates a copy named with "(Copy)" in the same folder. The copy starts switched off and takes over the current draft of the original as its published version. A copy with an Incoming webhook trigger gets its own webhook address and a new secret. A message with Open copy takes you straight to it.
- Move to folder moves the automation, as described above.
- Activity opens a side panel with the latest changes: who did what and when, for example Created, Saved, Published, Enabled, Disabled, Archived or Rolled back. Starring and moving are not recorded. The full list is in Testing and run history.
- Archive and Unarchive, see below.
- Delete, see below.
Archive or delete
Archive takes an automation out of the way without deleting it. It is switched off and moves to Archived, and its run history stays. Unarchive brings it back to the list. It stays off until you switch it on again.
Delete asks Delete automation? and moves the automation to the trash. Its run history stays. Under Settings > Trash, the Automations tab lists deleted automations, where you can restore them or delete them for good.
Archive automations you might need again, such as a seasonal campaign. Delete the ones you are sure about.
Working with several automations at once
Tick the boxes at the left of the rows, or the box in the table header to take every automation the list currently shows, across all pages. A bar appears at the bottom with:
- Enable switches the selection on. Automations with a missing integration are skipped, and so are archived ones. A short note says how many were skipped and why.
- Disable switches the selection off.
- Move to folder moves the selection into one folder.
- Delete moves the selection to the trash after you confirm.
Clear selection closes the bar.
For organisations
If your platform belongs to an organisation with several businesses, the row menu can show Copy to another business. You see it when you are an owner or admin of the organisation, or have the organisation permission Transfer content between instances, and you have access to at least one other business.
Pick the target business and click Copy. The copy keeps the name, is not in a folder and starts switched off, so you can review it before switching it on. It takes over the current draft as its published version. Tags, custom fields, forums, badges, groups and courses are matched by name in the target business. An Incoming webhook trigger gets a new secret there. Anything the target does not have is cleared, and the result lists it under These references do not exist in the target business and were cleared:. Open the copy there and fill in the cleared steps before you switch it on.