A "preference-management" page is a web-based form that contacts can complete in order to self-manage their communications preferences.

Authorized users in your account can create, edit, and manage the Preference Management Page forms; see Preference Management Page permissions in Manage Your Preference Management Pages to learn how to set the necessary permission.

This article describes the design and configuration options that you need in order to create and edit Preference Management Page forms.

Check out Manage your Preference Management Pages for information on how to manage (edit, rename, set as default) your Preference Management Pages on a single list page.

ACCESSIBILITY: We encourage you to review our Accessibility knowledge base article which has information and guidance on how webpages and web-based forms should be formatted in order to comply with accessibility standards and to improve the experience for those using assistive technologies.

Create a Preference Management Page

You can create multiple Preference Management Pages to use in your account. Having several purpose-built pages makes it easier to manage users' preferences by, for example, chapter or interest.

NOTE: The "edit" options are the same as those encountered during the create process, so use these steps if you want to make changes to an existing Preference Management Page.

1. Click the plus sign to the right of the page title.
2. On the dialog, specify a name for the new Preference Management Page and click Create.

The configuration page opens. It has several tabs (Settings, Page Design, Form, and Preview) on which you build, design, edit, and review your Preference Management Page.

On all four tabs (described individually in the sections that follow) of the editor you can:

• click either the X (upper right) or Cancel (lower right) to discard your changes, close the editor, and return to the list page.
• click Save (lower right) to save your changes, close the editor, and return to the list page.

NOTE: The Page Design tab displays only when the Host on Higher Logic option is selected. Use that tab to customize the page's appearance and content.

Settings tab

Page Name

You can manage the page name in the Page Name field when creating and when editing a page.

TIP: You can also rename a page by selecting it and clicking the Rename button on the list page.

By default, the Publish box is checked and the page will be published (i.e., Live) upon save. Uncheck the box to set the page to Working ("in progress").

IMPORTANT: You cannot edit a Live Preference Management Page and change its status to Working; this checkbox is intentionally disabled. If you want to edit a Live Preference Management Page, see the section Live vs. Working pages in Manage Your Preference Management Pages.

Hosting Options

In this section, choose where the page will be hosted.

Higher Logic

• Host on Higher Logic (the default) - copy and save the link placeholder. Paste it into templates and/or messages so recipients can access the page to manage their preferences.
• The link includes a unique value for each page, such as the 008 shown above.

External site

• Host on external site - copy and save the link placeholder, Page URL, Script code, and Target code. The Script and Target codes have to be added to your external page that will host the Preference Management Page.

NOTE: With this option, Higher Logic provides the form which then has to be designed by your web designer.

Post-Submission Action

In this section, choose what happens after the form has been submitted. If you choose to:

• display a confirmation message on the page, accept the default content or input your own. You can use the formatting options in the toolbar to customize the appearance of the text.

• redirect the user to a different page, specify the address of the preferred page in the Redirect URL field.

Next steps...

If your page is hosted by Higher Logic, you can:

• continue working on the Page Design and Form tabs or
• click Save and return later to complete the page design.

If your page is hosted externally, you can:

• add form elements (sections, Message Categories) on the Form tab or
• click Save and return later to complete the page design.
  • When you edit a published page this button will be Publish.

Page Design tab

TIP: Before you start designing your form, consider reviewing our Accessibility knowledge base article which has information that you might find helpful when setting the properties (such as background colors, fonts, and font sizes) of your design elements.

NOTE: This tab is unique to preference-management pages that are hosted on Higher Logic. If you're self-hosting your preference-management page, you can skip to Form tab, below, for guidance on how to add Message Categories to your form.

The page designer is your tool to customize the colors and the content of your Preference Management Page so that you can ensure it aligns with your association, organization, or company "brand."

TIP: As you set and change design elements (colors, text, and images) on this tab, your changes are immediately saved and applied. Use the Preview tab to regularly check your design work.

1. Choose what you want as the background of the form. You can apply a color, set an image, or do both.

2. Click the Preview tab to see how the form will display; make changes as necessary.
3. Click the section panels to configure the individual segments of the form.

• • Your selections do not display on this page so click the Preview tab to review your selections.

Section	Purpose
Header	Styles - upload a logo file and set its horizontal position. You can also set the colors and/or background images for the header and the minimum height of the header. Content - provide the text of the form header. Use the toolbar options to format and apply a style to the text.
Title & Intro	Provide the text of the form title and introduction. Use the toolbar options to apply formatting and styles.
Form	Set the background color for the main portion of the form. TIP: This is the user-interaction portion of the form. Your Message Category checkboxes, as configured on the Form tab, display here.
Footer	Styles - set the colors and/or background images for the footer. You can also set the minimum height of the footer. Content - provide the text of the footer. Use the toolbar options to format and apply a style to the text.

Next steps...

If your page is hosted by Higher Logic or hosted externally, you can:

• add form elements (sections, Message Categories) on the Form tab or
• click Save and return later to complete the page design.

Form tab

This is where you populate the form with Message Categories in your account.

NOTE: All of your account's Message Categories are available but your contacts can opt out of only those that you add to the form on this tab.

There are several design settings for the form elements.

Save button

After adding either a Section or Message Category to the design canvas, a Save button is automatically added.

• This button does not save your design work. It is the "submit" button for users to click when they are ready to submit the form.
• You cannot move or reposition this button on the canvas. If you want it at the bottom of the page, drag the other elements above it.
• Click the button to customize its label, fill color, and text color.

Page elements

There are four dropdowns on the right of the editor: Content, Sections, Message Categories, and Styles. These are described in the table that follows.

• Expand these dropdowns to add elements (sections and Message Categories) to the form and to customize their appearance and content (font properties, text, labels).

Format the text

To customize the appearance of the text (font, weight, size, and color) for the Content and Styles sections, click the text-settings information to open the panel, as shown below.

• Click the dropdowns to set the various properties.

Add the elements

Use the sections to build the form as described in the following table.

NOTE: You can add and remove elements on the form as described below. If you customize an element (e.g., relabel it, provide a description) and then remove it, the customizations are not preserved.

TIP: Periodically click the Preview tab to review the form as you build it. You can click Save to preserve your work, but this closes the editor and returns you to the list page.

Section	Purpose
Content	Accept the default text or specify your own. Click the font properties to format the text. NOTE: Make sure that the {email_address} placeholder remains because this has each recipient's email address and is used for the value of recipient_id which ensures that the correct user's preferences are managed.
Sections	Click and drag the Header and Unsubscribe All elements to the canvas. You can add multiple Header elements, but only one Unsubscribe All element. Use Header elements to group Message Categories and/or enhance the layout of the form. When the element is on the canvas: Click it to customize its text. Click its "handle" to drag it to a different position. Hover on it to display its trash can icon, and click the icon to remove the element. (The Unsubscribe All element returns to the right panel.) Format the text of these elements in the Styles section. NOTE: Recipients who select Unsubscribe from All are suppressed. To unsuppress, they have to resubmit the page, uncheck Unsubscribe from All, and pick a Message Category.
Message Categories	Click and drag Message Category elements to the canvas. You can add as many as you want. Type letters, numerals, and/or characters in the Search field to filter the list; click the X to clear the search. When a Message Category is on the canvas: Click it to customize its text and to add a description which will display below it's name. Check the box for the 50% width option in order to maximize the display on desktop devices. Click its "handle" to drag it to a different position. Hover on it to display its trash can icon. Click the icon to remove the element; it returns to the right panel. Format the text of these elements in the Styles section. Enterprise feature notes: If the Enterprise feature is enabled in your account, the Filter by Enterprise Team dropdown displays. The default, All Teams, displays all of the Message Categories in your account. Click the dropdown and choose a Team in order to display only the Message Categories that belong to that team. Type in the text field to locate an Enterprise Team by name.
Styles	Click the font properties to format the text (font, weight, size, and color) of the Header, Message Category label, and Message Category description. You can also add a thin underline (i.e., a divider) below the Header.

Preview tab

This tab displays your form in its current state.

TIP: Periodically preview your form as you build it so that you can make changes as they occur to you and to avoid having to revisit the form to edit it.

You can:

• Click the "device" icons in the upper right to preview how the page renders on desktop, tablet, and mobile devices; examples are provided in the next section.
• Click Save to preserve your work, close the editor, and return to the list page.
• Click one of the other tabs to continue working.

Preference Management Page examples

Below are two examples of a Preference Management Page viewed on the Preview tab.

Desktop preview

Mobile preview

Related articles

• See Manage Your Preference Management Pages to learn how to:
  • access your Preference Management Pages,
  • manage create and edit permissions, and
  • manage the list of pages.
• Learn how to create and manage Message Categories.
• Learn how to hide a Preference Management Page in Manage Enterprise Assets.