Hi John,
We have a number of fun updates below! Reply to this email if you have any questions.
Targeting page redesign
That’s right! We (finally) redesigned our targeting page, one of the most important and highly used pages on the site. Some of my favorite updates include:
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New collapsible sections make it easier to navigate the 50+ available filters on the page.
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The addition of a search bar that navigates to the filter you’re looking for.
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As you select filters, the sidebar updates automatically so you can clearly see who you’re targeting.
Tracking machine opens
Last fall Apple implemented Mail Privacy Protection. When enabled it automatically reports that every email in the inbox was opened by the recipient – this is called a machine open. To learn more about MPP and how to adjust your sending practices check out our blog post here.
To combat this change, we’re now tracking machine opens in the interface, which gives you another datapoint to consider when evaluating your deliverability and program health. You won’t be able to target your emails based on machine opens, but you will be able to view this additional stat wherever email stats are displayed. More here.
Ladder updates
Ladders are awesome, you can set up mobile conversations, welcome series and even manage your data using ladders. But, our super flexible automation tool can also get really complicated really fast. To combat the overwhelm we’ve added two new features to make ladders easier to use.
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Ladder decision and randomizer steps are now sticky, so as you scroll you can better track your different branches.
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You can now use “Copy Mode” to copy and paste a series of steps you’ve set up in a different branch of the ladder.
Event campaign redesign
Our oldest feature got a fresh new look! In addition to the traditional mapview for distributed events, we now support a streamlined listview – and we added a new filter! Activists can search for events near them, events this weekend or even virtual events. Note that we are versioning in order to make the transition to the new design as smooth as possible. More here.
New polling place lookup step in Ladders for mobile partners
In partnership with the DNC, we built out a polling place lookup feature using https://iwillvote.com/ – a project of the DNC. Using ladders you can ask activists for their full address via mobile message, lookup their address via the API and then store their polling location and send it to them in a follow up text. All automated through ladders! This feature is only available for US based elections and only for partners signed up for mobile messaging (more info on mobile here).
Get started adding the new polling place lookup wait step in ladders! See an example ladder here.
Other updates worth noting:
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For anyone managing a federated network, you can now download the network report by date to see usage this week or last January instead of just the last 30 days.
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New sources column in step 2 of reports let you download a list of all sources for your activists.
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We’ve added auto complete in the form builder so you can more easily connect questions to the correct custom field.
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You can now syndicate email and page wrappers if you are in a network!
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We’ve added Arabic to our list of languages, and made “Right to Left” language compatible through the system.
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Tags can now be removed over the API
As with all our new features, these were chosen, brainstormed, and paid for by our Development Partners at the AFL-CIO, Daily Kos, the DNC, and the Canadian Labour Congress — read more about our cooperative development process here. Check out our release notes to follow along with what’s new on Action Network.
Have a question or comment? Feel free to reply to this email, and I’ll get back to you.
Take care,
Mari Vangen | The Action Network
Product Director