---
title: Guide to Distributed Values
description: This article applies to Pro, Team, and Legacy editions. Distributed Values are helpful in distributing product keys, incentive codes, shipping numbers, and other Values that are either pre-associated
---

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# Guide to Distributed Values

This article applies to **Pro, Team,** and **Legacy** editions.

Distributed Values are helpful in distributing product keys, incentive codes, shipping numbers, and other Values that are either pre-associated or not pre-associated with specific Users.

### Table of Contents

- [How do I add distributed values to my resources?](https://help.centercode.com/en/guide-to-distributed-values#add-values)
- [How do I allow Users to select a Value from a Distributed Value list?](https://help.centercode.com/en/guide-to-distributed-values#select-values)
- [How do I pre-assign values to my users?](https://help.centercode.com/en/guide-to-distributed-values#preassign-values)
- [How do I automatically assign sequential values to my users?](https://help.centercode.com/en/guide-to-distributed-values#sequential-values)
- [Removing a value from a user](https://help.centercode.com/en/guide-to-distributed-values#removing-a-value)
- [How do I turn a Distributed Value into a link?](https://help.centercode.com/en/guide-to-distributed-values#distributed-value-link)
- [Why does a user see more values than the Values Per User setting allows?](https://help.centercode.com/en/guide-to-distributed-values#why-does-a-user-see)

### How do I add distributed values to my resources?

### Community Content

[![Image from Gyazo](https://help.centercode.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Knowledge%20Base%20Resources/Knowledge%20Base%20Import/03af6a18b72d47af739b7d9196d82f97.gif?width=670&name=03af6a18b72d47af739b7d9196d82f97.gif)](https://centercode.gyazo.com/03af6a18b72d47af739b7d9196d82f97)

From the Community Homepage:

1. Click into the **Community (far left Company logo)** section of the navigation bar.
2. Click on the **Community administration** section of the menu.
3. Click the **Content** button in the navigation bar menu.
4. Click the table cell of the desired Content.
5. Click **Create new distributed value type** under the **Distributed values** heading.
6. Add a **Title** and **Values** for the Distributed Value Type and set any other settings as desired.
7. Click the **Submit** button at the bottom of the page.

You have successfully added Distributed Values to Community Content.

### Project Content or Release

[![Image from Gyazo](https://help.centercode.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Knowledge%20Base%20Resources/Knowledge%20Base%20Import/b3ae29d07cbc5a82d1c8c1b67900ac8c.gif?width=670&name=b3ae29d07cbc5a82d1c8c1b67900ac8c.gif)](https://centercode.gyazo.com/b3ae29d07cbc5a82d1c8c1b67900ac8c)

From the Project Homepage:

1. Click on the **Management** section of the navigation bar.
2. Click the **Content** or **Releases** button in the navigation bar menu.
3. Click the table cell of the desired Content or Release.
4. Click **Create a new distributed value type** under the **Distributed values** heading.
5. Add a **Title** and **Values** for the Distributed Value Type and set any other settings as desired.
6. Click the **Submit** button at the bottom of the page.

### How do I allow Users to select a Value from a Distributed Value list?

Self-selected values will be presented to Users as a list, allowing them to make selections of their choosing. This is useful for allowing Users to pick a preferred incentive reward.

[![Image from Gyazo](https://t.gyazo.com/teams/centercode/eef1f0c97456cbdb1b5155d9f261e98a.gif)](https://centercode.gyazo.com/eef1f0c97456cbdb1b5155d9f261e98a)

From the Project or Community Home:

1. Navigate to the **Content** or **Releases** button in the navigation bar menu.
2. Click the table cell of the desired Content or Release.
3. Click **Create a new distributed value type** after checking the **Distributed values** resource element box.
4. Add a **Title** for the Distributed Value Type.
5. Select **Self-selected** or **Self-selected dates and times** from the Distribution Method drop-down menu.
6. **Paste** or **Generate** Values to be distributed to Users in the Values field.
7. Click the **Submit** button at the bottom of the page.

#### Notes

- **Self-selected date and time** Values will be presented to Users as a list, allowing them to make selections of their choosing. This is useful for scheduling meetings with groups of Users. Note that both a date and time are required for this Value, and they will be adjusted to the User's timezone automatically.
- Increasing the **Values Per User** setting will allow you to have Users receive more than one Value when they view the Content or Release.
- Increasing the **Users Per Value** setting will allow more than one user to select each Value before it is consumed. This would allow a meeting to be scheduled, for example, where each time slot could support three attendees. In this case, you would set Users Per Value to 3.

### How do I pre-assign values to my users?

Preassigned Values will be automatically assigned to the associated User you provide. This is useful for providing preassigned values like a **shipment tracking number**.

[![Image from Gyazo](https://t.gyazo.com/teams/centercode/55fe826a532990af89ed6edafa1a5ec1.gif)](https://centercode.gyazo.com/55fe826a532990af89ed6edafa1a5ec1)

From the Project or Community Home:

1. Navigate to the **Content** or **Releases** button in the navigation bar menu.
2. Click the table cell of the desired Content or Release.
3. Click **Create a new distributed value type** after checking the **Distributed values** resource element box.
4. Select **Preassigned** or **Preassigned dates and times** from the Distribution Method drop-down menu.
5. **Paste** or **Generate** Values to be distributed to Users in the Values field (Email or Username followed by a pipe \[ | or Shift+Backslash\] and the Value to be assigned to that User). For example, user@email.com|123456789
6. Click the **Submit** button at the bottom of the page.

Once completed, you can leverage the Distributed Value as a Dynamic Tag to add to other pieces of Content or Email Templates.

#### Notes

- Users and Values must be separated by a pipe | (Shift+Backslash).
- **Preassigned date and time** Values will be automatically assigned to one or more Users of your choosing. This is useful for pre-assigning set meeting times to groups of Users. Users and Values must be separated by a pipe | (Shift+Backslash). Both date and time are required for this Value and will be adjusted to the User's time zone automatically.

### How do I distribute sequential values to my testers automatically?

Automatically Assigned Values will be assigned sequentially to users who view this resource. This is useful for distributing product keys, incentive codes, and other Values that are not pre-associated with specific users. 

[![Image from Gyazo](https://t.gyazo.com/teams/centercode/dd6aca9292901dc792f6c4d205b7f644.gif)](https://centercode.gyazo.com/dd6aca9292901dc792f6c4d205b7f644)

From the Project or Community Home:

1. Navigate to the **Content** or **Releases** button in the navigation bar menu.
2. Click the table cell of the desired Content or Release.
3. Click **Create a new distributed value type** after checking the **Distributed values** resource element box.
4. Add a **Title** for the Distributed Value.
5. Select **Automatically assigned** from the Distribution method drop-down menu.
6. Click the **Generate for me** link next to the Values heading.
7. Fill in data for the **Number of values** and the **format** of the generated Value.
8. Click the **Submit** button at the bottom of the page.

You have successfully configured Automatically Assigned Distributed Values.

#### Notes

- Increasing the **Values per user** setting will allow you to have Users receive more than one Value when they View the Content or Release.
- **Automatically assigned Distributed Values** can optionally be pushed (distributed) to all Users with access to the Content or Release containing them. Navigate to the Content or Release Modify page (that contains the desired Automatically Assigned distributed Values) and locate the Distributed Values section towards the bottom. The **Assign** button can be used to force (randomly) Values to Users as if they had each already Viewed the Content or Release.
- This will only work if there are enough Values for all of the Users with access to receive one (or in the case of multiple Values Per User, enough for everyone to receive their allotment of Values).

### **Removing a value from a user**

You can take a value back from someone, or clear a duplicate, from their user record.

1. Open the user's summary.
2. Find the distributed value type you want to change and open its assignment page.
3. You will see two lists. *Selected* holds the values this person currently has. *Available* holds the rest.
4. Double-click the value you want to take back to move it out of *Selected*.
5. Click **Submit**.

Submitting rewrites that person's assignments for the type, so whatever is left in *Selected* is what they end up with.

##### **If the same value was assigned twice**

Move one copy out of *Selected* and submit. Then check the distributed value type's *Values* box, because the duplicate arrived as its own separate value and returns to the pool once it is no longer assigned. Clear the extra copy there if you do not want it handed out again.

##### **Why the Values box looks empty**

The *Values* box on a distributed value type lists values that have not been handed out yet. Once every value has gone to someone, the box is empty. That is expected and does not mean your list was lost.

This catches people out, because an empty box reads like missing data and the natural response is to paste the list in again. Preassigned values allow duplicates by design, so pasting a list a second time creates a second copy of every value and assigns it. If you want to confirm what has been handed out, check the user records rather than the *Values* box.

### **Notes**

- Removing a person from your community does not return their distributed values to the pool. Once assigned, a value stays consumed.
- A distributed value used as a dynamic tag in an email arrives as plain text, even when a URL value is set. On the Content or Release page itself it renders as a link.

### How do I turn a Distributed Value into a link?

Sometimes the Value itself isn't what a User needs. A shipment tracking number is only useful once it reaches the carrier's tracking page, and a redemption code is only useful on the page that redeems it. The *URL Value* field turns each User's Value into a link to the right destination.

*URL Value* holds a URL template rather than a fixed address. Put **%VAL%** where that User's Value belongs, and Centercode substitutes the Value assigned to whoever is viewing the page.

For example, a Distributed Value list holding DHL tracking numbers might use:

- `https://www.dhl.com/en/express/tracking.html?AWB=%VAL%`

Each User then sees their own tracking number, linked to their own shipment.

##### Setting a URL Value

From the Project or Community Home:

1. Navigate to the **Content** or **Releases** button in the navigation bar menu.
2. Click the table cell of the desired Content or Release.
3. Under the *Distributed values* heading, click into the Distributed Value type you want to link, or click **Create a new distributed value type** to start a new one. \[VERIFY exact label and position of the URL Value field on this form\]
4. Enter your address in the *URL Value* field, using **%VAL%** in place of the Value.
5. Click the **Submit** button at the bottom of the page.

##### Where the link appears

The link renders where the Value is presented in the platform: on the Content or Release page that distributes the Value, or where a User selects one from a self-selected list. That covers the places a User goes to collect what you've assigned them.

It does not carry into Dynamic Tags. A Distributed Value Dynamic Tag resolves to the text of the Value by itself, so a Distributed Value placed in an email template arrives as plain text rather than as a link, even when *URL Value* is set. If your Users need the link by email, send them to the Content or Release that holds the Value and let the link render there.

##### Best practices for linked Values

- **Test with a real account.** Grant your own account access through a Team and open the Content the way a Participant would. Admin views don't always render the same way.
- **Check the carrier's URL format first.** Paste a real tracking number into the carrier's site, then copy the address bar and replace the number with **%VAL%**. Carriers change their tracking URLs, and a stale format produces a link that loads but finds nothing.
- **Keep special characters out of the Value.** Ampersands and pipes carry meaning in URLs and in the Distributed Value import format, so a Value containing either can produce a broken link.

### Why does a user see more values than the Values Per User setting allows?

*Values Per User* caps how many values get assigned to a user, or how many a user can select, from that point forward. It doesn't limit how many values are displayed.

If a user already holds more values than the setting allows, a Pre-Assigned or Auto-Assigned Distributed Value element on a feedback form or survey shows every value currently assigned to them. For example, if you manually assign two values to a user while *Values Per User* is set to 1, that user sees both values listed. Feedback forms and surveys behave the same way.

User-Selected Distributed Value elements work differently. They present a list for the user to pick from, and *Values Per User* limits how many they can select at the time they make their choice.

To show a user only one value, remove the extra value from their account. The steps are under Removing a value from a user, below.

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