Subscribers FAQ

1. What are “unconfirmed” subscribers?
   
2. Are some bounce types, such as user unknowns, automatically blacklisted? Is yes, are there any other bounce types that are auto blacklisted?
   
3. What do you suggest clients do for data hygiene?
4. Is there a way to import files larger than 30MB?
   
5. What is a delivery cap?
   
6. Can I use custom confirmation pages for confirmed opt-in lists, opting out and saving changes in a preference center?
   
7. Is it possible to customize the confirmation emails for confirmed opt-in lists?
   
8. How can I upload suppression lists via FTP?
9. How does an address get added to a blacklist?
10. How can I set a default first name for subscribers?
11. Am I able to add a subscriber to the list from which they already unsubscribed (e.g. by mistake)?
    
12. What are the value ranges for different types of custom fields?

1) What are “unconfirmed” subscribers?

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An unconfirmed link appears in the Subscribers > Lists section only for the lists set up as double opt-in. Adding subscribers to these lists means a confirmation email will be sent to them first. If a subscriber clicks on the confirmation link, they are then added to the list. Subscribers who don't click the link are not added to the list.

However, if a client wishes to view these unconfirmed subscribers, they can click on the Unconfirmed icon in Subscribers > Lists to browse and/or export these email addresses.

2) Are some bounce types, such as user unknowns, automatically blacklisted? If yes, are there any other bounce types that are auto blacklisted?

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Yes, all email addresses that bounce back as user unknown are automatically added to the ExpertSender global blacklist. No other bounce types are added to the blacklist.

3) What do you suggest clients do for data hygiene?

First of all, one should audit and strengthen their signup procedures. Subscription forms should explicitly state which types of emails will be sent and their frequency. There always has to be a direct link to the privacy policy as well. Switching to confirmed opt-in is always an advantage, in this way no mistyped or spam trap emails can join the list. There are also services providing tools for live email verification at the point of subscription.

As for the legacy single opt-in lists, we advise our clients to use list cleaning services, such as ImpressionWise or SiftLogic. These companies provide both: simple matching against a database of the “bad” email addresses as well as heuristic pattern recognition.

4) Is there a way to import files larger than 30MB?

Yes, simply store your files at an external server and then set the task in the Scheduled tasks section to automatically upload a file to the selected list. Remember that you need to provide a direct URI including the file name and its extension. If the server requires login credentials to access the file, you also need to provide them.

5) What is a delivery cap?

A delivery cap is a feature designed to avoid overwhelming subscribers with too many messages. It can be enabled in the settings of each list (Subscriber > Lists > Subscriber lists tab > List actions column > Settings icon) and is expressed by the number of hours that should pass between sending the first and next message to each recipient on the list.

Example: If you set the delivery cap time to 24 hours, then each recipient from this list who was sent a message will be suppressed from the next send for the next 24 hours. This is a handy tool if you send multiple email messages the same day to multiple overlapping segments.

6) Can I use custom confirmation pages for confirmed opt-in lists, opting out and saving changes in a preference center?

Yes. You can customize four different confirmation pages in each lists’ settings (Subscriber > Lists > Subscriber lists tab > List actions column > Settings icon > Landing Pages tab). These include: the subscription confirm URL (appears after signing up to a confirmed opt-in list), the subscription thank you URL (after subscribing to single opt-in lists or clicking on a confirmation link for confirmed opt-in lists), the removal URL (after opting out from a list) and the preferences change URL (after saving changes in the preference center). Simply paste your custom URLs into the correct fields and click the Save button.

7) Is it possible to customize the confirmation emails for confirmed opt-in lists?

Yes. To edit the content of confirmation emails you need to go to the Confirmation Email tab in your double opt-in list settings (Subscriber > Lists > Subscriber lists tab > List actions column > Settings icon > Confirmation email tab).

8) How can I upload suppression lists via FTP?

1. Create a suppression list (Subscribers > Suppressions > Create new suppression list button)
2. Upload your file to a FTP server (if you do not have your own FTP server, please ask your Account Manager to set one up)
3. Use the Scheduled Tasks > Imports to Suppression Lists section to create a one-time or recurring import:
   • click the Import to suppression list button
   • enter the file’s full pathname (Uri:) and provide the login and password, if these are required to access the file on the server
   • choose the name of the task, and select the suppression list that you will be importing to
   • specify which column from the file contains the email addresses which will be imported
   • set the date range, specify the exact days (days of the month and/or days of the week) within the date range and the hour when the import task should launch; when scheduling a one-time import, please set the date range for a specific day only
     

9) How does an address get added to a blacklist?

An email address is added to the current unit’s blacklist, if the subscriber issues a spam complaint or exceeds the soft/hard bounce limit. It is also possible to add an email address, domain or domain family to the blacklist manually. In the case of user unknown bounces – these email addresses get added to the global blacklist instead. Blacklisted and globally blacklisted subscribers are suppressed for each send, and will never be sent a message nor be allowed to get re-added unless they get removed from the blacklist/global blacklist.

10) How can I set a default first name for subscribers?

You can set one default first name for all subscribers and a default first name for a specific list.

In order to set a default first name for all subscribers go to Settings > Business Unit > Subscribers tab. The first name set in this tab will apply to all addresses with blank first name fields in all lists. It also has lower priority than the list-specific setting for the default first name.

To set a default first name for one list only go to Subscriber > Lists > Subscriber lists tab > List actions column and click the Settings button next to the list you want to set the default first name for. The first name set in this tab will apply to all addresses with blank first name fields in this list only. It will be used regardless of the unit’s default first name settings.

11) Am I able to add a subscriber to the list from which they already unsubscribed (e.g. by mistake)?

Yes, you can do that. Either create a new import to the list where you have to select the Allow importing unsubscribes option (in the Import settings step) or use the Add subscriber API call which ignores the unsubscribe status of all email addresses.

12) What are the value ranges for different types of custom fields?

The Number and Money custom field types accept values from -2 147 483 648 and 2 147 483 647 range. Text and URL types can have a maximum length of 128 characters.

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