Rock's communication tools provide powerful functionality not only to senders but also those receiving communications. Recipients can control not only which communications they receive but also how they receive them. Let's look at how Rock handles communication preferences.

Communication List Subscribe Block

Rock ships with the Communication List Subscribe block ready for you to use on your external website under Connect > Subscribe. This block will display the communication lists a person is subscribed to or can be subscribed to. Pictured below is an example of this block on the external website.

In this example, the block shows the three communication lists that ship with Rock under the Public category: Parents of Children, Parents of Youth and Sports Ministry. Additional lists unique to your organization would be displayed here as well if the person is subscribed or is able to subscribe to them.

You can further configure the Communication List Subscribe block in the block settings. This is one area where Communication List Categories come into play. You can specify a category in the block settings if you want the Communication List Subscribe block to target only a particular segment of the communication lists. By default, this is set to display lists in the Public category.

1. Communication List Categories - Whichever categories you select here will affect the functionality of the Communication List Subscribe block. For example, you could select Staff Only to display lists only available to staff members. If you don't select a category, Rock will display all of the lists the person is authorized to view.
2. Show Medium Preference - For instance, the person could choose SMS or Email as their preferred medium.
3. Filter Groups By Campus Context - Communication lists associated with a campus can be filtered using campus context.
4. Always Include Subscribed Lists - If the campus context would normally filter out a list the person is subscribed to, this setting keeps it in place.

Remember, the "Public" category ships with Rock, but you can create as many categories as you want. Whichever categories you select here will affect the functionality of the Communication List Subscribe block. For example, you could select Staff Only to display lists only available to staff members. If you don't select a category, Rock will display all of the lists the person is authorized to view.

Now let's look at how a person interacts with the Communication List Subscribe block to set their communication preferences.

Set Subscription Preferences

There are two ways a person can access and set their communication preferences: by logging in and navigating to a subscribe page, or by clicking the unsubscribe link that takes them to an email preferences page. Let's look at the subscribe page option first.

Setting Preferences in a Subscribe Page

When a person logs in, the Communication List Subscribe block is made available for them to set their communication preferences. If that block is placed on a Subscribe page, as shown in the earlier screenshot, they can select which lists they want to subscribe to, and choose which format they want the messages they receive to be in. To subscribe to a list, simply check the box beside the list's name. To unsubscribe, uncheck the box. To set a delivery preference, simply click which you want to receive: email or SMS. Super easy, right?

The Communication List Subscribe block works the same way for the internal pages of your organization's site as well. You can create subscribe pages available only to staff members or others where they can set their communication preferences. For example, you can set up an employee resources page with an email preferences zone containing the Communication List Subscribe block.

Setting Preferences from an Unsubscribe Link

The other way a person can access and set their communication preferences is by clicking on an unsubscribe link in an email or SMS message.

The Email Preference Entry block on this page allows you to customize the wording for each of the options on the page. If you want to add more reasons for the "I am no longer involved" option, you can do that under Admin Tools > Settings > Defined Types > Inactive Record Reason.The block also allows you to suppress any reasons that might be awkward in this context (e.g., Deceased, No Activity).

See the Unsubscribing section above, in the Configuring Email chapter for more information on this page and the unsubscribe process.