With Side Effects, you can set up actions which occur automatically when an event is activated. They also enable you to set up actions when recipients, for example, enter a data step in a Flow.
When you use a Side Effect, the prescribed action will occur when a recipient completes the chosen activity. You can also set a correct number of times the recipient should complete the activity before the action occurs.
For example, you could use a Side Effect in the following scenarios:
- A recipient clicks on a link with an Event attached. The Side Effect results in a Flow being executed.
- A recipient goes through a Flow which has a Data Step with a Side Effect attached. This leads to one of the recipient's Person Data field being updated.
In this article, you'll find information about:
Elements Side Effects Work With
Side effects can be used in multiple places in Agillic:
- Flow Steps
- Promotions and Propositions
- Events
- Person Data when changed
- Portal Pages when visited by a known recipient.
Actions Side Effects Can Trigger
Execute Flows
When you execute a Flow by using a Side Effect, it's referred to as a triggered Flow. This means that only the individual recipients triggering the Event will go through the Flow, not the whole Target Group. You can read more about triggered Flows here.
Change Existing Person Data
You can also change Person Data by using Side Effects. This could be useful to, for example, update a recipient's EMAIL_PERMISSION to TRUE when a recipient fills in a signup form.
If you import Person Data and want to trigger a Side Effect from the import, the recipient will already have to exist in Agillic. If you create the recipient with an API call, on the other hand, the recipient doesn't need to exist already. You can trigger the event with the Side Effect when creating the recipient.
Change Existing Global Data
You can change Global Data through a Side Effect on a Flow Step. This could be used to, for example, update the custom-made Global Data field PRIZES_LEFT to decrease by 1 every time a recipient finishes a Flow sending a prize email.
Change or Update Existing One-to-Many Data
You can change One-to-Many data by using a Side Effect on a Flow Step. This could be useful for setting up an abandoned basket Flow. As you might not want to keep all One-to-Many data rows for all abandoned basket items, the Side Effects could be used to delete the One-to-Many rows of abandoned basket items after the email has been sent to the recipient. You could do this by using a Data Step with Side Effects added after the Email Step.
How to Set Up a Side Effect
- Open an item you'd like to add a Side Effect to, such as an Event or a Flow Step.
- Open the 'Side Effect' panel. By default, the Side Effect counter will be set to 1. Change the counter if necessary.
- Click on the plus icon.
- Select the type of Side Effect you want to add from the drop-down. You can add more than one Side Effect if you'd like.
An Event showing possible Side Effects that can be applied
- Select which action should occur in the Operator drop-down based on the Side Effect you selected.
- If you're using Person Data or Global Data, set a change that should occur when the Side Effect is triggered, based on the action you have selected in the Operator drop-down.
- Click the 'Save' button.
The Event 'agillic candy' set up to change the Person Data WANTS_CANDY to TRUE when a recipient gets '1' in the Event. This happens by clicking on a link with the Event attached.