Overview

This guide covers Subscription Management for email, also called Preference Management. It replaces the old all-or-nothing unsubscribe with categories recipients can choose from.

Instead of losing a user completely because they got too many promotions, let them opt out of promotions alone and keep receiving order updates.

Where to find it

On the Netcore CE dashboard, open Settings > Preference Page. You'll find three tabs there: Category, Group, and Preview.

Create subscription categories

Use categories to define the types of email a recipient can subscribe to or opt out of.

Step 1: Open the Category tab

Log in to the Netcore CE dashboard. Go to Settings > Preference Page > Category, then select Create New.

Step 2: Fill in the category details

• Name: an internal name for your own reference.
• Display Name: the name recipients see on the preference page.
• Description (optional): shown on the preference page, under the category name.

Step 3: Save

Select Save. The category appears in your list with an Active badge, and the system automatically creates a matching attribute in Audience.

Limits and defaults

• You can have up to 25 active categories at a time.
• Every category name must be unique.
• Deactivating a category doesn't delete it. It's a soft delete, so your data stays intact.
• Every existing user starts opted in to a new category by default.

If you try to create a 26th active category, the system blocks it. Deactivate an existing category first.

Group categories together

Use groups to present related categories together on the preference page, for a cleaner layout.

Step 1: Open the Group tab

Go to Settings > Preference Page > Group, then select Create New.

Step 2: Name the group and add categories

Enter a Group Name, then select one or more existing active categories from the dropdown.

Step 3: Save

Select Save. The group appears in your list with its categories.

Things to know

• You can create up to 10 groups.
• A category can belong to more than one group.
• A group can exist with no categories in it.
• Categories you haven't added to a group show up under Ungrouped on the preference page.
• If every category in a group is deactivated, the whole group disappears from the end-user page.

Design the preference page

Use the Preview tab to brand the page your recipients land on, and to control which categories and groups appear.

Step 1: Open the page builder

Go to Settings > Preference Page > Preview, then select Edit.

Step 2: Set your brand elements

• Upload your logo.
• Set a background color.
• Choose a font from the supported list.
• Add your body text and headline copy.
• Choose which categories and groups appear on the page.

Step 3: Preview and save

Select Preview to check both the desktop and mobile layout, then select Save. The system generates a unique page URL, or updates the existing one.

Things to know

• The page always includes a mandatory Unsubscribe from All checkbox, shown alongside your categories.
• Selecting Unsubscribe from All shows a reason dropdown.
• If you haven't activated any categories yet, the page shows a message instead: "No communication preferences are currently available."
• Changes to your design go live on the same URL as soon as you save.

What your end users do

When someone clicks the preference or unsubscribe link in one of your emails, this is what they see and do.

1. They land on your branded preference page, with their current choices already checked.
2. They check or uncheck categories, or select Unsubscribe from All.
3. They select Save Preferences and see a confirmation message, with no page reload.

Their choice updates their profile attribute right away. Their segment membership updates within the sync window, up to 12 hours.

Important Things to know

• No login is required. The link uses a secure, encrypted token.
• Unsubscribe from All works like a channel-level blacklist. It suppresses every email, regardless of category, and adds the user to your blacklist contacts.
• If someone submits their preferences twice in a row, only the latest submission counts.
• If someone re-subscribes to even one category after unsubscribing from all, the Unsubscribe from All flag clears automatically.

Build segments from preference data

Once recipients save their preferences, their category choices become a normal attribute you can segment on.

1. Go to Audience > Segments > Create New Segment.
2. Add a filter on User attributes, and select the categories attribute.
3. Choose Include users or Exclude users, then pick one or more categories.
4. Save the segment, then use it as a target or suppression segment in your campaign.

Supported operators: is, contains, starts with, ends with, is one of, is not one of.

Roles and permissions

Limits to know