Campaign cannot be changed, cancelled or deleted: its status, or the template does not fit
Only a Draft or Scheduled campaign can be edited, rebuilt or sent; a campaign that has started sending is kept as the log of what went out; a finished or cancelled one can't be cancelled; and a campaign needs an Email template that renders a contact.
Messages this explains
- “A <status> campaign cannot be changed”
- “A campaign that has sent mail is kept for its log”
- “A <status> campaign cannot be cancelled”
- “Campaigns need an Email template.”
- “The template must render a contact (or no entity).”
- “Choose an email template”
- “Unsaved changes are saved first.”
- “Last error: <text>”
Campaign cannot be changed, cancelled or deleted: its status, or the template does not fit
You opened a campaign and its fields are greyed out, or saving, cancelling or deleting it is refused, or the campaign won't accept the email template you picked.
What you see
On the campaign page:
- The details and audience are greyed out, and Save, Build list and Send are gone, on a Sending, Sent or Cancelled campaign.
- If the campaign moved on while your page was open, Save, Build list / Rebuild list or Send answers "A <status> campaign cannot be changed", for example "A Sent campaign cannot be changed".
- Cancel campaign answers "A <status> campaign cannot be cancelled" when the campaign finished or was cancelled in the meantime.
- A yellow alert "Last error: <text>" shows the last problem the send ran into.
- In the Send dialog, the note "Unsaved changes are saved first." warns that your edits are saved before sending. It is information, not an error.
On the campaign list, the delete icon appears only on Draft, Scheduled and Cancelled rows; a delete of a Sending or Sent campaign is answered with "A campaign that has sent mail is kept for its log".
On New campaign and the campaign page, under Email template:
- "Choose an email template" when none is picked.
- "Campaigns need an Email template." or "The template must render a contact (or no entity)." when the saved template no longer fits, with the page alert "Please correct the highlighted fields."
Why it happens
- A campaign freezes once it starts sending. A campaign can be edited, its list rebuilt and it can be sent only while it is Draft or Scheduled. From Sending on, the recipient list is the record of who was mailed what, so changing the audience or template would make that record wrong. Sent and Cancelled are final: there is no reopen or resend.
- Sent mail is kept for its log. Deleting a campaign deletes its recipient log too, so a campaign that has sent anything (Sending or Sent) can't be deleted. Draft, Scheduled and Cancelled ones can.
- Only a campaign still going can be cancelled. Cancelling stops a Scheduled or Sending campaign before the next recipient. Mail already sent can't be recalled, and a Sent or Cancelled campaign has nothing left to stop.
- The template renders one contact at a time. Each mail is merged for its recipient, a contact, so the template must be on the Email channel and its Record type must be the contact or "Any record". The picker lists only such active templates; the refusals appear when someone changed or replaced the template after it was chosen.
- "Last error" records the last exception while mailing, for example a merge field the template can't render for a contact. That recipient is marked Failed with the same text, and the send carries on with the rest; the campaign still finishes as Sent.
How to fix it
- To change a campaign that has gone out, create a new campaign with New campaign (the Create permission on Campaigns), using the same template and a corrected audience. A new campaign mails everyone its audience matches, so narrow the filters if the people already mailed should not hear from you twice.
- To change a Scheduled campaign, edit it and click Save, then Rebuild list if the audience changed (the Edit permission on Campaigns). Open Send again to pick a new time.
- To stop a campaign, use Cancel campaign while it is Scheduled or Sending (the send permission on Campaigns). A Draft needs no cancelling; delete it from the list.
- To delete, only Draft, Scheduled or Cancelled campaigns can go (the Delete permission on Campaigns). Keep Sent ones; they are the record of what was mailed.
- When the template is refused, pick another from Email template, or fix the template under Message templates: it must be an active Email template whose Record type is the contact or "Any record" (the Edit permission on Message Templates). Then Save the campaign.
- After a "Last error", open the Recipients card, filter Status to Failed and read each reason. Fix the template (use Preview for the first contact and Send test to check it) or ask your administrator about the mail server. To reach the people who were missed, send a new campaign; it mails its whole audience again (see step 1).
Related
Related
- Campaign (editor: <campaign name>)Screen
Finish and send one email campaign: build the recipient list from the audience, preview the merged email, send a test, send now or schedule, cancel, and read the per-recipient log afterwards.
- CampaignsScreen
The list of every email campaign with its status and recipient counts, the way into the campaign editor, and the link to the unsubscribe list.
- New campaignScreen
Create an email campaign: name it, choose the email template, tag a project, set the reply-to address and define who receives the mail, with a live count of the audience.
- Message templatesScreen
The list of your organization's message templates: the wording that Send email actions and campaigns use, with filters and the actions to create, open or delete one.
- Message templateScreen
One message template's page: change its wording, attachments and settings, and preview it filled in for a real record.
- Campaign audiences, recipient lists and unsubscribesConcept
A campaign's audience is a saved filter over contacts or leads; the recipient list is the snapshot built from it, one row per contact, skipping those without a valid email or on the organization's unsubscribe list, which the link in every mail adds to.
- Campaign has no one to send to: the audience matches nobody, or no contact is reachableTroubleshooting
A campaign mails only active contacts that match its audience, have a valid email address and are not on the unsubscribe list. When nobody matches, or everyone matched is skipped, Send stays greyed out or is refused.
- Email shows as logged or refused: the mail server is not configured or rejected the messageTroubleshooting
Outgoing mail is sent through a mail server set up for the installation, not inside the app; while none is configured every email (document, campaign, workflow, invitation, verification) is only logged and reported as not delivered, and when the server refuses a message the recipient is marked failed; the person who runs the installation configures mail, then you resend.