Criteria-based membership lets you describe who is in a group by matching employee attributes, such as office location, business unit, or employee ID, rather than naming each person individually. It is the right approach whenever the people you want in a group share a common attribute, or set of attributes, that you can express as a rule.
You can combine criteria with manual selection and manual exclusion in the same group.
How Criteria Are Structured
The criteria builder has two levels:
Conditions are the smallest unit. Each condition picks an attribute (for example, Office Location), a mode (Any of or All except), and one or more values (for example, UK).
Criteria blocks group conditions together with AND between them. A user has to match every condition inside a block to satisfy that block.
OR condition blocks are alternative criteria blocks. A user only needs to satisfy one block to be included in the group.
In short: conditions inside a block are joined by AND. Blocks are joined to each other by OR.
Each criteria block has a name. By default the field reads "Untitled Criteria". Naming each block after what it captures (for example, "UK staff except ID 1") makes the rule much easier to read later, especially if you or someone else has to make changes.
Setting Criteria for a Group
From the sidebar, under USER MANAGEMENT, click Groups.
Open the group you want to update.
In the Members section, click + Set criteria.
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In the first criteria block, configure the first condition:
Choose the attribute (for example, Office Location).
Choose the mode: Any of to include users whose attribute matches, All except to exclude users whose attribute matches.
Enter one or more values.
To narrow the block further, click + AND condition and configure another condition. The block now only matches users who satisfy both conditions.
To add an alternative, click + OR condition block at the bottom of the page. A new criteria block appears. Users who match the first block OR the new block will be included.
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Click Save.
Every user who satisfies the criteria is added to the Members list with "criteria" indicated in the Method column.
Worked Example
You want a group that includes:
Everyone in the UK office, except the employee with Employee Number 1, OR
Everyone in the US office.
You would set it up like this:
Criteria block 1 ("UK except ID 1")
Office Location, Any of, UK
AND
Employee Number, Any of, Not equal, 1
OR
Criteria block 2 ("US")
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Office Location, Any of, US
Condition Mode: Any of vs. All except
Each condition has a mode in the top right of the row:
Any of: the condition matches users whose attribute is one of the listed values.
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All except: the condition matches users whose attribute is not one of the listed values. Use this to filter a category of users out of the block.
All except inside a condition is not the same as the Excluded users section. All except filters the criteria result by attribute. The Excluded users section keeps specific named individuals out of the group regardless of the criteria, and it is the only place those individual exclusions are visible. See How to Exclude Users from a Group.
Numeric and Other Attribute Operators
Some attributes (such as Employee ID, or any other numeric attribute) include an extra operator next to the value, such as Not equal. Set the operator so the value is compared the way you want.
Uploading Values in Bulk
For attributes that accept multiple values, you can upload a list of values rather than typing them one by one. Use the upload icon at the right of the values field.
Keeping the Group Updated Automatically
By default, Add matching users automatically in the future is on. The group keeps itself in sync as the underlying data changes: new employees who match the criteria are added automatically, and changes in employee attributes are picked up the next time the group is evaluated.
If you want the group to be a one-time snapshot instead, uncheck the box at the bottom of the criteria screen. With it off, the criteria are only evaluated when you save the group. New employees who match the criteria later will not be picked up.
This applies whether you have set specific criteria or are including all employees.
Excluding Specific Users Who Match the Criteria
Use All except inside a condition when you want to filter out a category of users by attribute.
Use + Manual exclude in the Excluded users section when you want to keep specific named individuals out of the group and they don't share a common attribute. See How to Exclude Users from a Group.
A Note on Active Campaigns: If the group is the recipient of an active campaign with a welcome email, anyone added to the group can trigger the welcome email, even users added automatically by Add matching users automatically in the future. If a previously matched user fell out and is added back later, the welcome email can fire again, even if that user has already completed the assigned tasks. Think carefully before attaching an auto-updating criteria group to an active campaign.