The Input component is used as an entry point in the journey. Just like a page or an email, the Input component has an 'anonymous link' and can be 'Previewed' when testing a journey. In sensors in emails and pages (in the Editor) the Input component can be selected to forward a known contact from one journey to another.
In this example the Input
component serves as an entry point of an optout journey. The "Unsubscribe"
sensor in other newsletter journeys link to this input component. This
means that this optout part only has to be created once, in a separate
journey. Instead of creating this in each newsletter journey for the unsubscribe
sensor.
Unsubscribe sensor points to the Input component of the optout journey.
Here a value is passed to the Input component's parameter MESSAGE_CATEGORY.
The value is the email's message category (system variable) set in the
message properties (message category drop-down menu):
Click here for information on the optout example above, step-by-step
Events
One event is triggered by this component: OnInput
Parameters
1. Enter a Name and Description.
2. Next, select the type of input that is used for this component. Two options are available:
- Weblink: The default setting. Think of this as using the Input component as a hyperlink to the journey. Either as a sensor for known contacts (e.g. in an email) or as an anonymous url (see below) on a website page. After the Input component other components handle decisions, validation storage, etc.. But the contact always sees a web page at the end (usually a Page component, can also be a Redirect component). The contact clicks a sensor in an email, or a hyperlink on a website, and will see the resulting page.
-
Note: For 'WebService', "ok" is always returned when the journey has been executed. For instance when a Data component's validation fails and the 'Failed' trigger is executed, the journey will still return "ok", because it has been executed correctly. You cannot distinguish between 'Failed', 'Success' (Data component), 'Found', 'NotFound' (Lookup component), or any other event . If you need to return different results based on journey events, set the Input component to 'WebLink' and use pages to return the results. See the example below and the Individual API documentation.
In The Parameters
section at the bottom you can define parameter names (It is recommended
to create all parameters in capital characters). When entering a journey,
values can be passed for the parameters. These values can be passed from
a sensor in a page or email (in the Editor), behind the anonymous url
as GET parameter values, or passed with the web service call.
In the next steps after the Input component you can use an @, e.g. @PARAMETERNAME,
to retrieve the parameter's value. It is only available during one request.
Until the next page in the journey, after this page the data is gone (just
like a posted value from a form).
When a parameter is defined as ‘required’ and this parameter is not delivered,
an incident is created.
Note: Do NOT set sensitive information, like the contact's email address or ID, as a value in the anonymous URL because these can easily be altered.
The ‘Anonymous link’ field at the bottom is used to link to the Input component. The URL enters the journey without any contact profile data, as if viewed with an anonymous profile. That's why it's referred to as 'Anonymous URL'. This URL can be used as a hyperlink on a website that directs to the Selligent journey.
An example of a journey used with Selligent's individual
API, 'TriggerCampaign' method. This journey is executed by an external
application to update the contact's data (webservice call).
In the 'Settings' a 'gate' is created, pointing to this Input component.
The gate name is used in the webservice call.
Instead of setting the Input component to 'Webservice' and returning a
simple "ok" when the journey is executed, we used 'WebLink'
and return a message on the "01. Webservice NOK" page. Here,
the page only contains ~DATA_ERROR~, returning the Lookup's 'NotFound'
message or the Data component's Failed error messages. When everything
is updated correctly, the journey returns "ok" from the "01.
Webservice OK" page.
A content renderer is set in the journey properties, returning only "ok"
or DATA_ERROR, instead an entire HTML page with the default 'optiextension'
renderer. See Content
rendering for more information.
With the Input component set to 'WebService' the journey is less extensive.
But no distinction is made between an update or insert, the journey will
always return "ok":
Note: The journey example above is not to do bulk updates, because each time a web request is made (web service). To do bulk updates create a scheduled Task under 'Processes'
