Tags appear on the right side of the Dashboard tab on a record and are designed to identify populations at a high-visibility level. For example, setting the Test Record tag provides an easy way to identify records created to test your processes. Tags should be used sparingly. A custom field should be used to capture detailed information about a record. Two tags are automatically included in the database:
- Opt Out
- Test Record
Creating a Custom Tag
- Select Database on the Slate navigation bar and select Tags.
- Select Insert.
- Enter the following configurations:
- Status: Set the status to Active.
- ID: Create an ID that is all lowercase letters with no spaces (for example, "legacy").
- Name: This is the name of the tag that will appear on the Dashboard tab.
- Dataset: Leave the Dataset field blank.
- Warning: (optional) Enter a warning message that will appear when a tag is administratively set or unset.
- Type: Select Scope of Person.
- Order: By default, tags appear in alphabetical order. Add an order to override this behavior.
- Show in Reader: Set to Active (this allows for tags to be visible when reading application.)
- Select Save.
Click the Slate Scholar Lightbulb in the top left corner for a complete listing of all setting descriptions.
The Opt Out Tag
The "Opt Out" tag in Slate is a unique tag with several complex behaviors that, on occasion, led to confusion about its purpose and role. These behaviors have been carefully formulated to provide standardization across all Slate databases.
How the Opt Out Tag is Set and Unset
The tag can be set through any of five ways - four universal and one specific to a combined advancement and admissions database:
- The tag is manually set by an administrative user on the records dashboard tab.
- The tag is manually set by a dataset upload. (This tag is never set by default as part of any standard format.)
- The tag is set by the record selecting to unsubscribe from "all future communications (including postal communications) from this organization" by following an unsubscribe link and selecting this box. If a student selects to unsubscribe from the "emails from the group" option, the tag will not be set.
- Certain email clients (such as Yahoo and Gmail) will issue an unsubscribe request if the message is marked as spam, which will, in turn, cause the tag to be set.
In a combined advancement and admissions database:
- The student receives a decision set up in the admin tool as a decision that should "opt-out" the student. The admin tool setting is routinely used for "terminating" decisions like deny decisions, where further outreach communications with the student should cease. It is often also used for final decisions like "enroll" or "admit/decline", because any further communications with the student at that stage will likely be transactional.
The tag can be unset through any of four ways, three universally, and one specific to a combined advancement and admissions database:
- The record submits a form (such as an online giving form or an event registration).
- The tag is manually unset by an administrative user on the records dashboard tab.
- The tag is manually unset by a dataset upload. (This tag is never unset by default as part of any standard format.)
In a combined advancement and admissions database:
- The student starts an application.
Effects of an Opt Out Tag Being Set
The legacy Slate Template Library Prospects query base will not return any record with an opt-out tag. In the Deliver tool, mailings will not send to records that have an opt out tag if the mailing is set up to Allow Unsubscribe. Mailings with the No Unsubscribe option will send an email regardless of the set opt-out tag.
Alternatives to the Opt Out Tag
When a record follows an unsubscribe link and does not select the "All future communications" option, the record is only unsubscribed from emails sent to that email address where the specified unsubscribe group is selected. The described behavior is the default option for records, and records are warned if they choose the "All future communications" option, as this can have effects beyond emails.