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📌 People: Frequently Asked Questions
📌 People: Frequently Asked Questions

This article answers commonly asked questions about People, providing quick solutions and key insights.

Michael Stephenson avatar
Written by Michael Stephenson
Updated this week
Pardon our progress as we actively develop this article.

Deduplication

How can I merge records that aren’t automatically flagged as duplicates?

If Element451 doesn’t flag a duplicate record, you can manually search for and merge it. Use the “See Possible Duplicates” icon in the record header to compare it against your contact list and merge any identified duplicates. If you don’t see this icon, it may need to be added to your profile template.

For detailed steps, check out our help article: Merging Duplicate Records.


Filters + Segments

How can I create a segment to find records with no custom activities?

Because custom fields can either exist with a value, exist but be empty, or not exist at all, filtering for records with no custom activities requires a combination of operators. Using only “Not In” may exclude records where the field doesn’t exist in the database.

To ensure accurate results, you’ll need to combine “Not In” with “Does Not Exist” when building your segment. This approach accounts for both empty and missing values.

For a full breakdown of custom field behavior and step-by-step guidance, visit our help article: Filtering Custom Fields in Segments.

Is there a way to segment students based on issues with name format?

You can use regular expressions (regex) in segment filters to identify name formatting issues in student records.

When adding a First Name or Last Name filter in Element451, select the REGEXP operator and enter a regex pattern to match specific issues.

Here are some common patterns you can use:

  • All caps names: ^[A-Z\s]+$

    • Example Match: "JOHN DOE"

  • Names with numbers: [0-9]

    • Example Match: "J0hn"

  • Names with special characters: [^a-zA-Z'\-\s]

    • Example Match: "J@hn" or "Doe#"

  • Names with leading or trailing spaces: ^\s+|\s+$

    • Example Match: " John" or "Doe "

  • Names with double spaces between words: \s{2,}

    • Example Match: "John Doe"

  • Mixed capitalization (e.g., “jOHN dOE”): \b[a-zA-Z]*[A-Z][a-z]*\b

    • Example Match: "jOHN" or "doE"

  • Names missing vowels (possible typos): \b[b-df-hj-np-tv-z]{3,}\b

    • Example Match: "Jhn" or "Brt"

  • First letter not capitalized: \b[a-z]

    • Example Match: "john" or "doe"

How do I add a person to a segment?

Segments are built using filters, so you cannot manually add individuals. A person will appear in a segment only if they meet the defined segment criteria.

If the segment is non-calculated (meaning it doesn’t update dynamically as student data changes), you can refresh it by:

  1. Open the segment.

  2. Click the "Apply" button to reapply the filters and update the data.

  3. Saving your changes by selecting either:

    • "Save" to overwrite the existing segment.

    • "Save as New Segment" to create a new version without overwriting the original.

Can I segment contacts by conversation tags?

No, the People module does not have a filter for segmenting contacts by conversation tags. However, you can use the conversation tag filter in the Conversations module to refine your inbox view.

Why can't I filter by (or find) a specific custom field?

If your custom field is a text area field, it won’t appear in the filter list because text area fields are not supported for filtering.

I’m using the Date of Inquiry filter, and a student doesn’t appear in my segment even though their date matches. Why?

Date filters in segments use 12:00 PM UTC as the cutoff time—so it’s not just the date that matters, but also the timestamp behind it.

For example, if you’re filtering for “Date of Inquiry on or after 5/2,” and a student’s Date of Inquiry is 5/2 at 9:15 AM UTC, they won’t be included. That’s because their timestamp is before the 12:00 PM UTC threshold applied to the filter.

Try adjusting the filter to “on or after 5/1” to catch records like this.

We know this can be confusing, and we’re exploring ways to improve it.

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