Find answers to frequently asked questions about Centercode's automation tools & their capabilities
This article applies to Team and Legacy editions.
What Is a Macro?
A macro in Centercode is a singular object which performs a sequence of predetermined outputs or actions. Macros can be used to automate repetitive tasks and save time by performing those tasks at a click, on a schedule, or on certain events. For example, you can create a macro that adds users to a participant team, removes them from all applicants teams, and emails an acceptance letter all in one command. Note that macros don't run by themselves. They need something to tell them when to run, like a schedule, trigger, notice, or other event.
Macro Types
Centercode gives you the ability to create and execute macros based on the target of their action - user macros and feedback macros. Based on the target, these macros provide you the tools to enable automation relevant to those records (ex: score or email users; change status or add a comment to feedback).
- User Macros
User macros give you the ability to impact individual users in your community or project in a variety of ways. Some common user macros use cases are emailing users, adding a user rank or comment, adjusting user teams, or even removing users.
- Feedback Macros
Feedback macros give you the ability to impact individual feedback tickets and/or the user account that submitted that ticket. Some common feedback macros use cases are scoring users for submitting feedback, modifying the public/private status of a ticket, or adjusting the workflow (Status) of a ticket.
- Notice Macros
A notice macro is a way to automate user macros. It's part of the notice chain and will perform its actions when users are accessing your community (in the case of community notices) or project (in the case of project notices).
You can create a notice macro by accessing your community or project menu, then selecting Notices. Note that creating a notice macro is the same as creating a user macro, and injecting it into the notice chain - it will be triggered upon login, and run conditionally based on any aspect of the user's record (ex: survey responses, email domain, etc.)
- Webhooks and External Automation
Webhooks are available to customers with the appropriate licensing - Enterprise, Unlimited, or have otherwise acquired the Enhanced Integrations package. Located within user or feedback macros, webhooks are conceptually similar to an email, but typically communicate messages or data from system to system, instead of to a person.
How Do I Create User Macros?
User macros allow you to define a set of actions to be taken on individual user accounts within your community or project. These macros are created and managed through the User Resources section within the Community/Project users tool. From here, you can build automation to adjust team assignments, apply ranks or scores, send emails, and more. User macros are accessible from both the community and project levels.
Navigate to:
-
Community management > Users > User resources (for Community Notices)
-
Management > Users > User resources (for Project Notices)
- Click Create a macro
How Do I Create Feedback Macros?
Feedback macros let you define actions for feedback tickets, such as updating status, scoring users, or modifying access. Since each feedback type has its own form, workflow, access, etc., creating and editing feedback macros is done by modifying the chosen feedback type and selecting Resources.
Navigate to:
-
Management > Project configuration > Feedback types
- Mouse over a feedback type and click the Modify (pencil icon) button
- Click Resources
- Click Create a macro
I’ve Created a Macro, How Can I Run It Manually?
Save a macro and select Show as project user/feedback action. This enables the macro to show:
- In the user or feedback advanced view in the Action drop-down (screenshot below)
- In the user or feedback results page, in the Action drop-down (similar to #1, but allows you to make individual selections)
- On the User summary page
- When viewing feedback
How Can I Make Sure a Macro Only Runs Once per User/Feedback?
Often, you’ll want to automate certain activities or actions that should only affect a user or feedback ticket once. Hitting particular milestones can and should be automated, but it’s possible that the milestone automation could trigger more than once when it shouldn’t. (Read More about Limiting Macro Triggers)
How Can I Trigger a Macro When Submitting a User Profile or Survey?
In the survey’s advanced options, you can include a macro trigger (always or conditionally) as the form is submitted. Further, this macro trigger may take place during the notice chain and will then re-evaluate the submitter’s notices possibly displaying new or incomplete notices they subsequently qualify for. (Read More about Triggering a macro when submitting a User Profile or Survey)
Can I Schedule Macros to Run at a Later Time or Date?
After creating feedback macros or user macros, you can set those based on your schedule schedules (Users -> User automation or Feedback type -> Feedback automation). These schedules allow you to set a recurring filter and time-frame for a particular macro to execute automatically. You can set a macro to run hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly.
Can I Set Macros to Trigger Based on an Event?
That depends on the event.
User macros are typically triggered manually or on a schedule. However, you can use notices to trigger them upon login / site access, or attach a user macro to completing a survey (described above).
Feedback macros allow for the option to trigger a macro based either On submission, triggering only on the initial creation of the feedback, or On modify, only when a user (typically an admin) modifies an already-existing feedback.
How Can I Automatically Segment My Users into Teams via a Macro?
You can utilize either a notice macro or a user macro associated with the submission of a user profile or survey to adjust user teams. Users can be sorted into specific teams based on any data you've captured about them. (Read More about automatically segmenting users)