This article...

Introduces Campaign Designer and provides an overview of its layout, tabs, and other features.
Describes the buttons in the header area of the designer, as well as their functions and notable behaviors.
Discusses the four Campaign Designer tabs and provides links to more information.
Explains the navigation tools in the designer and how to maximize their functionality.
Describes the options in the Campaign Designer toolbar.

Campaigns are built on a collection of strategically placed and connected steps. The steps dictate the flow of a campaign by sending a series of email messages to the campaign's participants. Which message gets sent, when, and to whom is based on:

each individual participant's actions (opens a message; clicks a link) as they progress through the campaign and
the preset time intervals (Wait steps).

This means that different campaign participants could be in different phases of the same campaign, based on their individual engagement.

Watch the video

Click the image to link to a HUG Education Library video that is related to the content in this article.

Campaign Designer layout

This high-level view of Campaign Designer shows the variety of components that make up the designer. The most prominent feature is the grid-lined area; this is your work canvas — where you create and edit campaigns.

NOTE: This article intentionally does not describe the campaign steps that are available in the palette (the vertical "menu" to the left of the canvas). Campaign steps are detailed in Campaign Steps and Connectors.

TIP: Click the image below to open a larger view of Campaign Designer in a new tab.

The sections that follow detail the other aspects of Campaign Designer and describe what you can do in each.

Campaign Designer header features

The header (the page-title area) of the designer displays the name of the campaign and has three buttons which function as described below.

TIP: It's a good idea to take a quick glance at the campaign name (e.g., Doc Test1) before you make changes to a campaign.

Click the:

Save button to save your current work. Refer to Button behaviors, below.
Gear icon button to open the Save Campaign dialog to manage the campaign properties. Refer to Button behaviors, below.
Back to campaigns button to leave the designer and return to the Campaigns list. The page will prompt you if there are unsaved changes. You can click:
- Cancel to return to the designer to save your work or
- Leave to leave without saving your work.

Button behaviors

The Save button and gear icon button have the following notable behaviors.

Save button

The Save button is grayed out (inactive) if there is nothing to save. The button "activates" (it displays as solid orange) when there are unsaved changes.
When the button is clicked to save a campaign for the first time, the campaign is saved AND the Save Campaign dialog opens. Use this dialog to set the campaign's properties, as described in the section, Campaign properties, in Create a Campaign.
After the initial save, clicking Save only saves changes you make to the campaign steps and flow; it does not open the Save Campaign dialog.

Gear icon

The gear icon button does not display until after the initial save.
After the initial save (and when editing a campaign), click the gear icon button to access the Save Campaign dialog to manage the properties.

Campaign Designer tabs

You create and manage campaigns across four tabs in Campaign Designer.

Design - The primary feature of Campaign Designer; where you add and configure the campaign steps and use connectors to create the flow of the campaign.
Mailings - All of the messages that are associated with the campaign are listed on this tab.

Test - This is where you select the individuals and/or groups of testers who will test the campaign.
- This tab is activated only if the campaign has no errors.
- If there are errors, learn how to fix them in Campaign Errors.

See Test a Campaign to learn more.

Activate - This is where you activate your campaign so it can begin processing contacts.
- This tab is activated only if the campaign has no errors.
- If there are errors, learn how to fix them in Campaign Errors.

See Activate a Campaign to learn more.

Campaign Designer navigation tools

Sometimes, the complexity of a campaign requires a large number of steps in order to create the flow that is necessary to achieve the campaign goal. However, this can make it challenging to have the entire campaign viewable on the canvas.

This section looks at the navigation tools that assist you in moving around through a large, multi-step campaign in Campaign Designer.

Navigate the campaign

There are several tools that you can use to navigate a campaign.

Scroll bars

Campaign Designer automatically displays horizontal and vertical scroll bars for all campaigns. These might "disappear" when you start to edit a "small" campaign because they aren't needed for navigation.

Mouse wheel

The canvas reacts to mouse functionality. For example, roll the mouse wheel up and down to move the canvas up and down to display different areas of the campaign. Press the mouse wheel to change it a "zoom in/zoom out" tool.

Pan

Click in a blank spot on the canvas to enable the "click-&-drag" functionality; the border of the designer thickens. Now, click and hold your mouse button and move in any direction; the cursor becomes a four-pointed arrow icon and you can "drag" the canvas in any direction. The designer remains in this state until you click off the canvas, e.g., in the header area.

If you accidentally click on and move a step, right click it and select Undo.

NAVIGATOR tab

This blue tab automatically displays on the right side of your browser in Campaign Designer. Click it to open a high-level view of the campaign.

The black rectangle indicates which part of the campaign currently displays on the canvas. When you hover on that boxed area, the cursor becomes a four-pointed arrow icon which you can click to "drag" the campaign in any direction on the canvas.

This is an easy way to navigate a large campaign.
Click the tab to close the window.

NOTE: The red ERRORS tab displays below the NAVIGATOR tab and is described in Campaign Errors.

Learn about the Zoom feature in the next section.

Campaign Designer toolbar

At the top right of the canvas are a few notable features (discussed from left to right):

Zoom

Click and hold the slider and move it left (zoom out) or right (zoom in). The "zoom" increases and decreases the size of the campaign on the canvas, making it easier to work on your campaigns, especially those with a lot of steps. You can also click directly in the slider channel to zoom.

Print

Click the Print button to print the canvas view of your campaign or to choose one of the options from your system print dialog.

Take a Tour

Click this button to open an on-screen tour of the Campaign Designer interface. This is particularly useful for new Admins.

Align

Click the Align button to reorganize the steps into a straight line on the canvas.

The steps retain their left-to-right order, but the spacing between them is adjusted to be as equal as possible and the connecting lines are straightened as much as possible.
This could really "widen" a large campaign and require more horizontal scrolling.
Comments will be grouped in the lower-right corner of the canvas.

This feature is more useful for some campaigns than others; it might not necessarily offer a better or more useful view of a campaign.

To undo an alignment, press Ctrl Z (Windows) or command Z (Mac) on your keyboard or right-click on a step and select Undo.

Campaigns are complex and multi-faceted: planning, designing, creating, configuring, testing, and activating!

All of the articles in this Campaigns section of the knowledge base have information that is designed to make the process easier for you, from start to finish!

Campaign Designer Overview