You will learn
Learn what manual mode is and how to use it to manually send flow messages. There are several instances where you might want to review a flow message before it sends. For instance, if you want to check who gets your messages or if you are testing a flow. In this case, setting flow messages to manual mode is your best option.
About manual modeAbout manual mode
When you are done configuring a new email or SMS and are interested in testing it out, you can place it in manual mode. When a message is in manual, it is active in your flow, but no emails or SMS will send automatically at send time; you will need to review and send all scheduled messages manually.
To change the status of a message:
- Find the flow and click on the specific message you want to update.
- Change the status in the details sidebar that appears on the right.
You can also toggle a message's status on the card itself to change the message status, as shown below.
Sending messages to recipients in Needs Review status
When a message's status is manual, at send time, each recipient will move to the Needs Review tab. This means they will not receive messages automatically and you will need to manually review the emails and SMS before they are sent out.
To review if you have recipients in the Needs Review status:
- Click on the specific flow message.
- Click on Show Analytics in the top toolbar.
- On your message, review the number of recipients currently in Review status.
To view recipients in the Needs Review list:
- Click on a message in your flow.
- Click View details in the Performance section of the right sidebar.
- Click on the Recipient activity tab for the message. When you click Needs Review in the sidebar, you will be taken directly to this list of recipients.
You can individually preview, send, and/or cancel each email and SMS that requires your review. If you have a lot of recipients that need review, you can bulk send and cancel messages with the Send All or Cancel All buttons, as shown below.
If you send an email or SMS to a contact who is in Needs Review status and no longer meets the filters for the flow, they will be skipped and will not receive the message, even if the filters were added after recipients moved into Needs Review.
Turning a message from manual to live
When you turn an email or SMS from manual to live, recipients that are scheduled in the Waiting tab will automatically receive the message at send time. However, recipients who are in the Needs Review tab will remain there until you take action.
When a flow message's sending status is updated from manual to live, recipients in the Needs Review tab will not automatically receive the messages. These messages will still require your manual review in order to send.
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