Create a custom group when you need a more finely honed group than the prepackaged ones automatically created for you. Build a custom group either by using filters to specify criteria or by specifying users individually.

• filters: You can define group membership by selecting criteria to specify which users should be included in the group. As users meet those criteria, they will be automatically added to the group. When a user no longer meets the criteria, they will be automatically removed. You can select up to 1,000 filters for each group. 
• individual users: You can define group membership by adding individual users. Defining a group by users gives you refined control over the membership, but results in a group that will only update when a Program Manager edits the users. Users must be added or removed from this type of group by an Administrator or Program Manager.

Create a Group

Your new group will only be saved once you have named it and clicked Save.

1. Open the Groups page by clicking the stack icon in the upper left corner and navigating to Manage → Groups.
2. From the Groups page, select Create Group in the top right. The new group has no name and automatically includes a filter for 'Not Blocked' users. You can edit or remove the 'Not Blocked' filter.
   
   
   
   
3. In the open Filters/Users window, define the group’s membership. 
   
   You can add members either by applying filters to the criteria that describe user attributes, or by adding individual users by name. At this time, you can only define a group by one or the other. If you start to define a group one way and then switch tabs, your work in the first tab will be lost (for example, if you start to apply filters and switch to the Users tab, all filters will be lost, and vice versa). Each option is explained in detail below.
   
   
4. Once you have defined the group’s members in either the Filters or Users tab, click Apply Filters. 
5. Click into the Unnamed Group field to name your group. You can always edit the group’s title later. Note: the Save Group button is greyed out until the name field is filled out. 
   
   
6. Optional: type a description for the group. You can use this field to communicate with other studio users about your group - what is the group, why it exists, who created it, etc.
7. Optional: add tags. Use numbers and letters, and separate multiple tags with a comma. Consider using tags to find event-specific groups, groups that belong to you (use your own name!), or even add an initiative or campaign.
8. After the group has been named, the save button will be clickable. Click Save Group. 
   
9. After saving, you can also create a snapshot of the group. 

Define Group Membership Using Filters

Entering Criteria

Depending on the selected filter, the attributes may be a dropdown or a text field.

The dropdown will only have certain options available for selection. 

A text field will require that you begin typing to show available options. You can enter partial strings, or use a wildcard '*'.

Basic Operations Using the Query Builder

In the Filters tab, select a filter on the left to add the filter to the Query Builder window on the right. The available filters are standard to all programs, except the list under "Custom" which includes attributes that are unique to your program. Custom attributes can appear in your program due to your authentication set-up (SSO or User Verification), program questions, or even imported files (the file name itself is a value).

Under Query Builder, you can use a dropdown or start typing the name of a value to define that filter.

You can apply multiple filters by using the following operators:

• ‘AND’
• ‘AND NOT’
• ‘OR’
• ‘OR NOT’

The bottom of the window, "Filters users: x%," displays how many users will be in the group based on the current filters and operators. Click Apply Filters to save and see the list of users that are pulled in by the filter definition. 

Using the ‘AND’, ‘AND NOT’, ‘OR’, and ‘OR NOT’ Operators

Sample Table of Users and Attributes

The ‘AND’ operator means that all the users in the group must meet each criterion you list. For example, if your query is: 

Status = ‘registered’
AND
Role = ‘member’ 

then, referring to the sample table of users above, Sonali would belong to the group. 

Using ‘AND’ together with ‘AND NOT’ still means that both criteria must be true. For example, if your query is: 

Status = ‘registered’
AND
Role = ‘member’
AND NOT
Last_active = ‘yesterday’ 

then Sonali would not belong to the group because she meets only the first two criteria.

The ‘OR’ operator means that users that meet any one of the criteria are eligible. For example, if your query is:

Registered = ‘this_month’
OR
Last_active = ‘yesterday’ 

then Mei, Francisco, and Sonali would all three qualify.

Using the ‘OR NOT’ operator like this: 

Registered = ‘this_month’
OR NOT
Last_active = ‘yesterday’ 

would return anyone who registered this month plus anyone who was not active yesterday; namely, Bob, Mei, and Francisco.

Keeping it Simple: Stick to One Type of Operator

The query builder is designed for simple queries, and works best if you stick to only one type of operator within the query. For example, this query 

Status = ‘not_blocked’
AND
Role = ‘member’
AND
Registered = ‘this_month’
AND
Last_active = ‘yesterday’ 

uses several operators, but sticks to only the ‘AND’ operator type. 

If you use multiple types of operators in one query, the results are unpredictable, because you cannot dictate the order in which they are applied. For example, this query 

Role = ‘Publisher’
AND
Last_active = ‘This_month’
OR
Shares > 1 
# INVALID

mixes two different types of operators, ‘AND’ and ‘OR’. If you do want to mix up the operators this way, refer to the section on advanced querying. In an advanced query, you can nest your searches. Nesting lets you dictate the order in which the operators are applied. 

Advanced Querying

If you are an advanced technical user and want to create more complex queries, refer to our article on Query Language.

Define Group Membership by Adding Users

In the Users tab, search by each user's name or email address and click the circle next to a user to add or remove them from the group. Names of included users appear on the right.

Then follow steps 4-6 above to save your group.