Custom Objects encompasses information linked to various entities within your account, such as bookings and other activity-related data. Each entity type has unique attributes and records. For instance, the Bookings entity might contain details about individual reservations, including the booking date, booking type, booking reference number, and associated email address. Every record within an entity type has a unique ID and different properties that store specific data points. These records and properties are managed and can be queried within Force24.


Content:


Glossary

  • Object: The object is the main category for which your data is categorised under. This would be the overall subject matter name.
  • Object ID: This is a unique series of numbers/letters used to identify your Object.
  • Custom Objects Field: The fields are the sub-categories within your object. For example, if your object is called 'Booking', the fields within this may be 'Booking type', 'Booking reference number', 'Booking date' etc.


How to create a new object

  1. In your Force24 account, click the settings icon in the top navigation bar. Selecting 'Account Settings' in the list displayed.
  2. Once viewing the account settings page, you will be met with the option for 'Custom Objects'.
  3. Press the drop down icon on the far right, and then click 'add'.
  4. You can then access your object and add fields following the steps below.


How to manage and view your objects

  1. Follow step 1 & 2 in 'How to create a new object' section.
  2. From this tab you are now able to view all existing objects; click the '...' icon and 'update' to access the settings for your custom object.
  3. Once you have selected 'update' you can change the name of your object by pressing on the object name and adding a new/preferred name. Or alternatively, you can add a new associated field to your object. For example the object could be 'booking' and a field could be 'booking price' or 'booking date'.
  4. To add a field you simply press the '+' icon and you can then replicate the above steps but for your field. This selection however does require you to input your data type. For instance, booking date would be a 'date' field.


How to link your email template with an object

  1. Visit the 'email templates' page via the left hand toggle menu.
  2. Access the template from 'drafts' that you would like to convert to a custom object template by hovering over the template and selecting 'edit'.
  3. Once within the editor, select 'Connect this email to a data object' 
  4. Once selected it will prompt you to choose your custom object from a list of created objects accessible from your settings page.
  5. Choosing the object will mean all associated 'custom object fields' will now be accessible as personalisation options within the template and will be available for the custom object journeys linked to this object.

How to use custom objects in a journey

  • To create a custom objects journey, firstly navigate to the 'Journey Manager' section of the platform and from here press 'New Journey'.
  • After pressing 'New Journey' you will be able to select whether this is a standard journey or a 'custom objects' journey.
  • From this page, you will be prompted to select the object you wish to use for the journey and that will be your reference point/purpose for this journey.

    Please note, you can only select one object per journey and can not change the object selected after creation. You will need to create a new journey if the wrong object is chosen.


  • After you have inputted your required journey settings, you can now begin creating your journey, starting with the start audience component.
  • By dragging and dropping the start audience component into your journey you will now be able to set your journey conditions from which your contacts will start/begin to run through the journey. For example, if they have a vehicle that is an audi and their email address is 'test@force24.com'

This criteria will inform who enters the journey; they cannot be entered via any other component in the journey.


  • You can then start to design your journey as normal using delays/make decisions and email and SMS content.


  • When you add your email component you will notice two options in the template selection list. This is 'standard templates' and 'Object templates'.

    Standard Templates: These are all templates that are not linked to a custom object that can be used within your journey as normal
    Object Templates: These are all templates that are linked specifically to your custom object referenced in the journey settings.



How do I use personalisation within a custom objects email template

  • Once your template is linked to a specific custom object, you can now select the fields within this object to link to your template in the dropdown list for personalisation tokens.
  • These can be added as normal by pressing the personalisation icon, or alternatively using square brackets to introduce that specific token e.g. [First Name]