Append Codes

Append Codes are identifiers that get added to the URLs within your Email Campaign content. Append Codes are typically used for link tracking and reporting services, such as Google Analytics or Omniture. Append Codes are defined as a Key and a Value (commonly referred to as a "Key Value Pair," or KVP). An Append Code appears within the URL with both the Key and the Value. For example: "&appendcodekey=value."

The Append Codes screen allows you to define your Append Codes as a reusable asset that can be assigned to one or more Email Campaigns. Append Codes can be grouped together into a set, which allows you to collectively assign the entire set to a Campaign. In addition, Append Code sets can be denoted as a "Default" set, meaning they will automatically be assigned to every Email Campaign.

Note: New Default Append Code sets will be applied only to new Campaigns going forward; they will not be appended retroactively to existing Campaigns.

Please note that the functionality provided by Append Code sets is not available from the classic, or "legacy," Advanced Editor. If you want to utilize repeatable Append Codes sets, you must use the current version of the Campaigns screen to build your Email Campaign.

Access

The Append Codes screen is accessible by the following method:

From the Main menu, select Assets > Links > Append Codes

Features

Create a New Append Code Set

Click here

An Append Code consists of a name and a value (often referred to as a "Key Value Pair," or KVP). You can optionally group multiple Append Codes into a single set, so that all of the Append Codes within the set get appended onto the URLs within an Email Campaign.

To create a new Append Code set:

Above the list of existing Append Code sets, click +New button.
A "New Append Codes" pop-up window is displayed. In the "Name" field, enter a name for the new Append Code set.
From the "Data Source" drop-down menu, select the source table.
Click Create. The Workspace is refreshed to show a blank Append Code details screen.
Optionally, if you want to a make this Append Code Set a default set, place a check mark in the "Default" check box. Append Code sets marked as "default" will get appended automatically to every new Email Campaign. You can have as many default Append Code sets as you want. Default Append Codes are marked with an orange star icon within the list of existing Append Code sets.

Note: Default Append Code sets will be applied only to new Campaigns going forward; they will not be appended retroactively to existing Campaigns.

The "Append Codes" section is used to define the Key Value Pairs for this Append Code set. In the "New Append Code Key" text field, enter the name of the Append Code key.
In the "New Value" text field, you can define either a static or a dynamic value for this Append Code Key:

Static
Static values will be appended to every URL.
1. 1. In the "New Value" text field, enter the static value.
Dynamic
Dynamically-generated Append Codes will get populated by pulling values from a specified field in your database. You can optionally also define a default value that gets used if the specified field is blank.
1. 1. Click the blue "Personalization & Library" bar along the right-hand side of the screen to expand the Personalization Pane. Within this panel, the available fields are organized into different expandable / collapsible groups. For example, you'll see a section for your source table, a section called "System Fields" that contains system-generated fields, and a section called "Metadata Fields" that contains any custom Metadata fields.
  2. Within the Personalization Pane, expand the desired group to find the personalization field you want to use. Optionally, you can sort the personalization fields alphabetically (by default, the fields are sorted based on the field sequence defined for this table on the Tables screen). You can also use the search function within the Personalization Pane to search for a particular text string within the field name.
  3. Double-click on the personalization field name (or, optionally, you can drag the desired personalization field from the Personalization Pane, and drop it into the "New Value" field). An "Insert Field Value" pop-up window is displayed.
  4. Optionally, enter a default value for this field in the "Default" text box. The default value is used if a record doesn't have a valid value in the field being used.
  5. Optionally select a formatting mask from the "Formatter" drop-down menu. The formatting mask is used to control the appearance of the text in the URL. You can also use a formatting mask to truncate or encode the value.
  6. Click ok. The system creates a new Merge Symbol for this field, and displays it within the "New Value" text field. A Merge Symbol is a textual representation of the selected field, consisting of the field name enclosed in double-brackets. For example: {(first_name)}. If you defined a default value above in step 4, this value is also displayed within the Merge Symbol. For example: {(first_name|Customer)}

Click the add button (plus-sign icon) to add this Key Value Pair to the Append Code set.
Repeat steps 6 through 8 as needed to define additional Key Value Pairs. To remove a Key Value Pair, click the remove button ("X" icon) next to the Key Value Pair. To rearrange the order, click on the gray rectangle to the left of the Append Code Key, and drag-and-drop the Key Value Pair into its new location. The Key Value Pairs will be displayed in the URL in the order they are shown, from top to bottom.
When finished, click save.

View or Edit an Append Code Set

Click here

To view or edit an existing Append Code set:

When the screen is displayed, a list of all the current Append Code sets is displayed in the left-hand side of the Workspace. An orange star icon next to an Append Code set means that this set has been marked as a Default. Optionally, you can filter this list by typing in all or part of an Append Code set name in the "Search by Name" field.
Click on the Append Code set that you want to view. The Workspace is refreshed to show the details of the selected Append Code set.
Make any necessary changes to the Append Code set:
1. 1. - To rename the set, enter a new name in the "Append Code Set Name" field.
    - Check or uncheck the "Default" check box to change this Append Code set's default status.

Note: Default Append Code sets will be applied only to new Campaigns going forward; they will not be appended retroactively to existing Campaigns.

1. 1. - Modify any of the Keys or Values for the existing Key Value Pairs defined for this set.
    - Add or remove Key Value Pairs from this Append Code set.
    - To rearrange the order of Key Value Pairs within this set, click on the gray rectangle to the left of the Append Code Key, and drag-and-drop the Key Value Pair into its new location. The Key Value Pairs will be displayed in the URL in the order they are shown, from top to bottom

To save your changes, click save.

Delete an Append Code Set

Click here

To delete an Append Code set:

When the screen is displayed, a list of all the current Append Code sets is displayed in the left-hand side of the Workspace. An orange star icon next to an Append Code set means that this set has been marked as a Default. Optionally, you can filter this list by typing in all or part of an Append Code set name in the "Search by Name" field.
Click on the desired Append Code set. The Workspace is refreshed to show the details of the selected Append Code set.
Click delete. In the confirmation dialog box, click delete.

Assign an Append Code Set to a Campaign

Click here

When you assign an Append Code set to an Email Campaign, the platform appends all of the Key Value Pairs within that set to all of the URLs within the email content. Append Code sets that have been tagged as "Default" will be appended automatically to every Email Campaign.

To assign an Append Code set to a Campaign:

Navigate to the Campaign screen (see Campaigns for more details).
Click the "Content" tab.
Click "Link Tracking." The system displays a list of all the links that were found within your message content.
Click append codes. The Append Codes menu is displayed, showing all of your options for assigning Append Codes to this Campaign. All the Append Code sets that were defined as "Default," will automatically appear within this menu (Default sets are marked with an orange star icon).

To manually assign a new Append Code, enter the Key Value Pair(s) in the "Append Codes" field. It's not necessary to enter the query string delimiter ("?"); the platform will add that automatically for you. If entering multiple Append Codes, be sure to separate each Key Value Pair with an ampersand ("&"). Please note that any Key Value Pairs you enter here will be displayed on the Campaign details screen within the "Responses" section (and conversely, any Key Value Pairs you enter back on the Campaign details screen will be reflected here within the "Append Codes" field).

Sample Append Code

Append Codes consist of two parts -- a key and the value (thus, they are often referred to as a "Key Value Pair"). The Append Codes are written as a query string, and are separated from the URL by means of a question mark (?). If assigning multiple Append Codes, each Key Value Pair must be separated by an ampersand (&).

The following example URL contains two Append Codes. The first one is named "src" and has a value of "eml." The second one is named "email" and has a value of "myemail@cheetahdigital.com."

- - - www.cheetahdigital.com?src=eml&email=myemail@cheetahdigital.com

Append Code values can be static values, as in the above example, or they can be dynamically populated by pulling values from a field in your database. For example, if you wanted to populate the "email" parameter with the value found in the "email_address" field in your database, you would use a Merge Symbol within the Key Value Pair:

- - - www.cheetahdigital.com?src=eml&email={(email_address)}

Anchor tags (#), or "fragment identifiers," can optionally be added to a URL to identify a subordinate portion of a web page. If using both a query string and a fragment identifier, the query string portion should come first. For example:

- - - www.cheetahdigital.com?src=eml&email=myemail@cheetahdigital.com#test

To assign an Append Code set, select the desired set from the "Append Code Sets" drop-down menu, then click the add button (plus-sign icon). The system adds this Append Code set to the bottom of the list of assigned Append Code sets.
To remove an Append Code set, click the remove button ("X" icon) to the right of the set's name. You can also remove Default sets that were assigned automatically.
To rearrange the sequence of Append Code sets, click on the gray rectangle to the left of the Append Code set name, and drag-and-drop the set into its new location. Append Code sets will be displayed in the URL in the order they are shown, from top to bottom.

Note: Within the list of assigned Append Code sets, the manually-entered Append Codes appear as the item labelled "Append Codes." You can rearrange this item, just like an Append Code set; however, you can't remove this item. If you don't want to assign any manually-entered Append Codes to this Campaign, simply leave the "Append Codes" field blank.

Click save.