Campaign Builder: Pausing and Resuming Campaigns

Applies to: All ONTRAPORT accounts.

When you publish a Campaign it is in Live mode. There is no need to pause a Campaign to edit it, as Edit Mode creates a new version of the Campaign that you can work on across several saved sessions and publish when completed.

ONTRAPORT does give you the ability to pause and resume a Campaign. Pausing a Campaign can have undesired side effects explained below, so use this feature with caution.

You can pause a Campaign by selecting it in the Campaigns collection and clicking Pause in the Action drawer menu across the top.

Campaigns can also be paused from inside the Campaign Map by clicking the Paused radio button. Rules and even action elements in a Campaign can pause other Campaigns.

When paused all automation stops, including all actions taken by Triggers to add people to the Campaign, and Goals that are waiting for an action to occur, etc. A pop up dialog box will warn you and ask for confirmation.

Adding Contacts to a paused campaign from the Contacts collection will not add them to the Campaign, and forms with "Add to Campaign" in the Settings will not add the Contact to the Campaign while it is paused.

NOTE: While you can still select and "add" a contact to a paused Campaign in Form settings, Rules, Group Actions, and the Contacts collection, the contact will not be added. No error message is generated. We strongly recommend pausing a Campaign only if absolutely necessary.

However, Wait elements set for a number of days will continue to count the days. When the Campaign is resumed the Contacts will flow through the Wait just as if it was active all the time. Pay particular attention to any Wait elements with a specific Date; if the Campaign is paused past that date none of the contacts upstream from it will ever progress past it.

You can resume a Campaign by selecting it in the Campaigns collection and clicking Resume in the Action drawer menu across the top.

Campaigns can also be resumed from inside the Campaign Map by clicking the Live radio button. Rules and even action elements in a Campaign can resume Campaigns.

While all automation has been paused with the Campaign, and no Contacts have been added, no emails sent, no Goals achieved, etc., the Wait elements do keep track of the total days, including while paused. When the Campaign is resumed the Contacts will flow through the Wait just as if it was active all the time.

Pay particular attention to any Wait elements with a specific Date; if the Campaign is paused past that date none of the contacts upstream from it will ever progress past it.