Create a preference center for list subscriptions

A preference center is a secure place you create that lets subscribers update their consent and email communication preferences with you. With ActiveCampaign, you can create a preference center using our Forms feature, and then link out to the preference center from any campaign.

In this article, you’ll learn how to create a preference center.

Take note

• List subscription fields are prefilled based on your subscriber’s previous preferences
• For compliance reasons, you cannot remove the “Unsubscribe from all" option from a preference center
• You need to update your direct and automated campaigns to include your preference center link

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Create a preference center

1. Click Website > Forms on the left menu.
2. Click “Create a new form.”
3. A modal window will appear:
   • Enter the name of the preference center into the field provided
   • Select the “Preference Center” option
   • Click “Create form”
4. The form builder will load a default template of a preference center. This includes:
   • Header
   • Email identifier
   • HTML block with default text that you can customize
   • Subscription field that displays all of your lists
   • An “Unsubscribe from all” option. When clicked, the contact will be unsubscribed from all current and future lists. The only emails they will receive will be transactional, such as invoices, password resets, or account-related information
   • A “Save Preferences” button
5. Optional: Drag contact fields located on the right pane to your form.
6. To remove or add lists to your preference center:
   • Click the Lists subscription block on the preference center builder
   • Click the “Selected Lists” dropdown on the right pane
   • Select or unselect lists
7. To change the name of the lists as they appear in the preference center:
   • Select the list on the right pane, under “Customize lists”
   • Click the “Edit” (pencil) icon
   • A modal window will appear. Enter the updated list name and description into the fields provided. Note that this only affects how the lists appear in the preference center - it does not change the name or description of lists in your account
   • Click “Save changes”
8. We provide default text for the field header. You can change this default text by entering text that will inspire your subscribers to update their preferences in the field on the right pane.
9. List descriptions are enabled by default, which means subscribers can see them in your preference center. To turn them off, click the “List Descriptions” toggle on the right pane to set it to the “Off” position. List descriptions provide a brief overview of the content subscribers can expect and how often they will receive it.

Design and customize your preference center

You can customize the preference center to match your brand’s colors, add images, change the font, and more under the “Option” tab. For more information, please read our Design and customize your ActiveCampaign form help article.

Edit the confirmation message

The “Options” tab on the form builder provides default text you can use as a confirmation message. This message appears when a subscriber submits your preference center form. This message serves as a confirmation when a subscriber submits your preference center form and also allows them to go back and edit their selection.

To update the text displayed:

1. Click the “Options” tab on the right pane from the form builder.
2. Enter the updated text into the fields provided.
3. When finished, click “Save and exit.”

Next steps

Now that you created a preference center form, you can add it to any direct or automated campaign. To learn more about this process, read the Add your preference center to a campaign help article.