Segments and Lists are Communities that can be used for outreach. Segments are dynamic groups which change over time and Lists are static. This article defines “Segment” and “List” and explains the actions you can take.
For related information, also see:
Communities Overview
Create a Community (List/Segment)
All Profiles Page Overview
Record vs. Profile
Segment Definition
Segments consist of dynamic sets of Profiles defined by filters based on attributes and criteria. Profile data can change, so some profiles may no longer fit the filters that define a Segment, and other profiles may newly fit that filter. Simply, the profiles included in the Segment can change.
For example, a segment is created to Include Profiles based on a filter with the attribute of zip code and the criteria of specific zip codes. If a person moves to a new zip code and their address is updated in Organizer, the person no longer meets the filter’s attribute and criteria for the Segment, so that person’s profile will automatically be removed from the Segment.
Once a segment is created, the filters used to build the segment cannot be edited, and you cannot manually add a profile to a segment.
There is no limit to how many Profiles can be included in a Segment, although limits to Canvassing, Phone Banking, and Email Outreach types remain in effect. In addition, once a segment and its profiles are added to an outreach effort and the effort is launched (for Canvassing during Turf cutting), the profiles associated with the outreach do not change.
List Definition
A List is a static Community of Profiles that meet the selected filters at the time the list is created. Lists are initially defined by a set of filters applied at a given point in time or a user-uploaded set of specific records. Lists only change when a user takes direct action to add or remove individual Profiles from the List. Unlike Segments, when changes occur to the underlying data to which a List’s filters are applied, the Profiles included in the List do not change.
Therefore, if a profile included in a list has a change to an attribute that originally resulted in the profile being included in the list, the profile will remain in the list even though the person no longer meets the criteria. In this case, you have the option to manually remove that individual from the list.
For example, a list was created to Include Profiles based on a filter with the attribute of Age and Criteria of between 18 and 35 years. The list will remain the same years later even though there may be profiles in the account whose ages have changed to 18 or 36.
A list is a snapshot in time of which profiles fit the filter criteria at that moment. Lists can be changed by adding and removing profiles.
Lists are limited to 500,000 Profiles. Note that this limit is specific to the max size of a List you can save and export; limits to Canvassing, Phone Banking, and Email Outreach types remain in effect.
Create a Segment or List
For instructions on creating a Segment or List, see Create a Community (List/Segment). When you create a segment, it will be ready for use right away. When you create a List, there will be some processing time, which will be reflected as the status on the Lists tab within the Communities page. Status types are: Processing, Complete, and Failed.
View a Segment or List
Up to 500 Lists or Segments can be found within Communities; they are separated into a tab for Segments and a tab for Lists. Information in the table includes name/description, creator, and creation timestamp. You can search all of the segments and lists to which you have access, not just the 500 shown in the table. Alerts may populate the segments tab when the segment contains unsupported data which has been removed or the segment data has been updated due to redistricting. Hovering your mouse above the alert will provide more information.
When you click into the name of a segment or list, you’ll see the title, description, and you can click on Community Filters to see the filters used to build the community. When viewing the filter criteria for a segment with unsupported data, filters with unsupported data will be highlighted with an alert symbol. Statistics about your community are available in the Overview Tab. The Profiles tab contains a list of profiles within the community. Use the search field to find a specific profile within the segment or list. For additional details, see All Profiles Page Overview.
Actions for a Segment or List
Each Segment or List has an Actions Menu which allows you to perform several actions: Duplicate Filters, Delete, and Save as Consolidated List.
- Duplicate Filters creates a new community with the same filter criteria as the one you started with. This feature is available for segments and lists and not currently available for consolidated lists.
- Delete will remove your segment or list, and this can’t be undone. After selecting Delete, a popup will ask you to confirm your choice.
- Save as Consolidated List creates a list with only one profile per contact method based on filters you select. Community Consolidation is further described along with other options in Householding.
You can edit the name and description of your Segment or List by clicking into the Segment or List and clicking the pen icon.
For Lists, you can add or remove profiles one at a time in the Profiles Tab or you can add a profile to a list from a Single Profile. The ability to manually add and remove profiles is not available for Segments or Consolidated Lists.
In addition to specific actions you can take for a segment or list, you may see alert symbols next to your lists or segments. Hovering your mouse above the symbol will provide more information. Currently, alerts will display if:
- Filters in your segment includes data impacted by redistricting
- Filters in your segment includes unsupported data which is no longer available.