Automations

Automations let you say "when X happens, do Y, and maybe Z if a condition is met." You build them on a visual canvas by adding steps — a trigger, an email to send, a branch, a wait — and connecting them in order. Once you publish, TribeNest runs the whole thing for you in the background.

Automations are how you wake up to "the welcome series sent itself", "buyers got tagged after their order", and "new donors got a personalized thank-you the moment they gave."

Where to find automations

Open Operations -> Automations in the sidebar.

The list shows each automation's name, what triggers it, and its status (draft, active, paused). Click any row to open it.

Creating an automation

1. Click New automation.
2. Optionally choose a Quick start to scaffold a common flow, or leave it on Build from scratch.
3. Under Trigger, pick what starts it (Order, Contact, Donation, Email subscriber, and so on) and then when it fires. (See triggers below.)
4. Give it a Name — TribeNest suggests one from the trigger, and you can edit it freely.
5. Click Create & build. You'll land on the canvas to wire up the steps.

New automations start as a draft — they don't run until you publish them.

Triggers

A trigger is the event that starts a run. You choose it in two steps: first pick what it's about, then pick when it fires.

• Order -- when an order is placed, paid, or updated
• Contact -- when a new contact is created
• Membership -- when a membership starts
• Product stock -- when a product's stock changes
• Donation -- when a donation is received
• Event ticket -- when a ticket is purchased
• Email subscriber -- when a new subscriber joins — someone signs up to one of your email lists
• Your collections -- when an entry in one of your collections is created or updated

You can also filter a trigger so it only fires in the cases you want — see Only run when… below.

The canvas

Creating an automation drops you straight onto the visual builder.

• The canvas is a flow diagram. The Trigger step is placed for you at the top — it's the entry point, and it can't be removed.
• The Add step list on the left adds new steps to the canvas. Click a step type to drop it on.
• Drag from the dot at the bottom of one step to the top of another to connect them. The connections define the order things happen in.
• Click any step to open its settings on the right.
• Along the top: a badge shows the automation's name and whether it's Draft, Live, or Paused, plus a live check that says compiles when everything's wired up or lists the issues to fix.
• Test, Save, and Publish sit in the top-right. Once it's live, Publish becomes Unpublish.

Steps

You can add these steps to an automation:

Trigger

The starting point. Its settings let you add a filter so the automation only runs in the right cases (see Only run when…). Everything about the record that triggered it — the order, the donation, the new subscriber — flows into the steps below, so later steps can use its details.

Send email

Send an email to a resolved address. See Send email below.

Tag contact

Add a tag to a contact.

Get referenced record

Follow a link on the triggering record to load the full linked record — for example, load the contact behind an order — so later steps can use its details.

Send to another app

For more advanced setups, connect your automation to another app or service. Paste the web address it gave you into Webhook URL, and TribeNest sends the current details there whenever the automation reaches this step — handy for wiring an automation into a tool you already use.

If / else

A branching check. In its settings, set up a condition under Continue when…:

1. Pick the field to check from the list — it offers the details available from earlier steps.
2. Pick a comparison (equals, is not, contains, greater than, and so on).
3. Set the value to compare against. When the field points at another record (like an event or a donation), you get a searchable picker — start typing and choose the record by name instead of pasting an identifier.

Add more than one check and choose whether all must match or any can match.

The If / else step has two clearly labelled outputs — a green Yes branch (the condition matched) and a red No branch. Connect each branch to the steps you want for that path.

Wait a while

Pause the run for a fixed length of time before continuing.

Wait until a date

Pause until a date drawn from the record — for example, until 24 hours before an event starts.

Wait for an action

Pause until the contact does something — opens an email or clicks a link in it — or until a timeout you set elapses. This step has Matched and Timed out branches so the next steps can react to each.

Only run when…

On the Trigger step you can add a filter so the automation only starts in the cases you care about. Under Only run when…, pick a field from the record, a comparison, and a value — the same way you set up an If / else condition, including the searchable picker for fields that point at another record. Add more than one check and choose whether all or any must match. If a trigger fires but the filter doesn't match, the automation simply doesn't start.

Publishing, pausing, and testing

Right in the top of the canvas:

• Test -- do a trial run against a sample record before going live (see below).
• Save -- save your work in progress without going live.
• Publish -- go live. Publishing only succeeds once the automation compiles — that is, once every required setting is filled in. Fix any listed issues first. Click an issue to jump straight to the step that needs attention.
• Unpublish -- take a live automation back to draft. It stops firing but keeps everything you built.

A draft or paused automation stays silent. A live one runs on its own every time a matching trigger happens — TribeNest handles that for you in the background.

Testing before you publish

Want to make sure it behaves before you turn it on? Click Test and give it a sample record to run against. TribeNest walks the automation through and tells you how many steps ran, without actually sending anything or waiting on any delays.

Send email

The Send email step is where most automations do their most visible work. In its settings:

1. Choose an Email template you've built, or leave it on write inline to type the email right here.
2. Set Send to — usually the person the automation is about (their email is filled in for you), or a specific address you type.
3. Write the Subject (always required, even with a template).
4. If you're writing inline, fill in the Body with the rich editor. Optionally set a Reply-to and a Recipient name.

Personalizing with merge variables

You can drop the contact's own details into the subject and body so every email reads like it was written for that person. TribeNest fills these in automatically wherever you type them:

• {{firstName}} -- the contact's first name
• {{name}} -- their full name
• {{email}} -- their email address

Under Personalization variables you can add your own tags too — for example a {{amount}} tag on a donation thank-you. Give the tag a name, then point it at a value from an earlier step (like the donation amount) or a fixed value. Type the tag anywhere in the subject or body and TribeNest swaps in the value when it sends.

Tips and patterns

• Welcome new subscribers. Trigger on Email subscriber → New subscriber joined, send a welcome email that greets them by {{firstName}}, wait a while, then send a follow-up.
• Welcome series. Trigger on Contact created, send a welcome email right away, wait 2 days, send a follow-up.
• Tag your buyers. Trigger on Order paid, add an If / else check, then tag contact on the Yes branch.
• Thank your donors. Trigger on Donation received, then send a thank-you email with a {{amount}} personalization variable pointed at the donation amount.
• Nudge the quiet ones. After a Send email step, add a Wait for an action step — send a reminder on the Timed out branch, and skip it on Matched.

Related

• Emails -- the templates the Send email step uses
• Mira -- can propose entire automations and apply them with your approval