Glossary

A comprehensive list of terms and concepts used throughout OptiPub.

Many email marketing platforms use different names for the same concepts. Where applicable, AKA notes list equivalent terms you may recognize from other tools.

A

Active (Subscription)

A subscription status indicating the subscriber has opted in and can receive messages from the publication.

AKA: Opted-in, subscribed, enrolled

A piece of content designed to promote a marketing effort. Ads can be standalone or connected to a Campaign. See Ads.

Addon

An additional feature attached to a subscription, such as SMS messaging. See SMS Addon.

Advertorial

A type of landing page that presents promotional content in an editorial style before directing visitors to an order page.

AKA: Presell page, editorial lander, native ad page

Article

A message content type used for standard email newsletters and communications.

AKA: Newsletter, broadcast email, post

Asset

A media file (image, document, etc.) uploaded to OptiPub for use in messages, landing pages, and other content. See Assets.

Auto Responder

An automated email triggered by a specific event — such as a new subscription, unsubscribe, or funnel action. See Auto Responders.

AKA: Triggered email, transactional email, automated email, drip email

Auto Selected Segment

A segment that is automatically included or excluded from a message based on the message type or publication configuration.

Author

A content creator associated with a publication. Authors can be displayed on pages and resources using OptiPub Elements. See Authors.

B

BIMI

Brand Indicators for Message Identification. A DNS-based standard that displays your brand logo next to emails in supported inboxes.

Binding

A grouping of IP addresses used for sending email. Different bindings (e.g., "free" vs. "paid") can be assigned to publications, messages, and auto responders to control which IPs are used for delivery.

AKA: IP pool, sending pool, IP group

Bounce

A failed email delivery attempt. Hard bounces are permanent failures (invalid address), while soft bounces are temporary (mailbox full, server down).

Bump

An add-on product offered at checkout alongside the primary product in a pricing plan.

AKA: Order bump, checkout add-on

C

Calendar

A calendar view for organizing and scheduling events across your publications.

Campaign

The central hub of a marketing effort in OptiPub. Campaigns organize promotions, track subscriber acquisition, and measure revenue through campaign links and efforts. See Campaigns.

AKA: Promotion, marketing initiative, offer

Campaign Link

A trackable URL generated from a campaign. Each link creates an Effort with its own engagement and revenue statistics.

AKA: Tracking link, affiliate link, referral link, UTM link

Channel

The delivery method for a message — either Email or SMS.

Configured (Domain)

A domain status indicating that OptiPub has detected the required TXT record in your DNS. A domain must be both configured and verified before it can be used for sending.

Content Type

The format of an email message: Article (standard newsletter), Lift Letter (cross-promotion), or Free Style (custom layout).

Control

The baseline variant in an A/B or split test, used as the benchmark for measuring the performance of other variations.

Conversion

A completed action by a campaign visitor, such as a purchase or sign-up, tracked at the effort level.

Custom Content

Reusable content blocks that can be inserted into messages and pages using macros. See Custom Content.

AKA: Content snippet, reusable block, saved content, content module

D

Decline Upsell

An alternative offer presented when a customer accepts the primary offer but declines the upsell.

AKA: Downsell, alternative offer

Default Sender

The sender automatically selected for new messages and auto responders in a publication. Only one sender per publication can be marked as default.

DKIM

DomainKeys Identified Mail. An email authentication method that uses cryptographic signatures to verify that a message was sent by the domain it claims to be from.

Domain

An email domain configured in OptiPub for sending messages. Domains must be configured (DNS verified) and verified (admin approved) before use. See Domains.

AKA: Sending domain, mail domain, authenticated domain

Downsell

A lower-priced alternative offer presented when a customer declines a higher-priced offer in a pricing plan.

Dynamic Segment

A segment whose members are automatically determined by query rules and refreshed nightly. See Segments.

AKA: Smart list, smart segment, saved search, dynamic list, auto-updating segment

E

Effort

A single instance of a campaign link. Each effort tracks its own visitors, conversions, and revenue independently. Efforts appear in the Campaign Efforts table on a campaign page.

AKA: Tracking instance, click ID, sub-ID, link variant

Email Match

A query rule in dynamic segments that filters subscribers by email address status (valid, invalid, temporarily invalid, trap/complainer, spam) or string matching.

EPC

Earnings Per Click. A campaign metric calculated as total revenue divided by total clicks on campaign links.

Excluded Segment

A segment whose members are removed from the recipient list when sending a message.

AKA: Suppression list, exclusion list

Exit Condition

A rule that stops a funnel from processing further actions for a subscription when certain criteria are met.

AKA: Exit criteria, goal, stop condition

F

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions content that can be displayed on websites using OptiPub Elements. See FAQs.

FBL

Feedback Loop. A notification from a mailbox provider (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo) indicating that a subscriber reported an email as spam.

AKA: Spam complaint, abuse report

Follow-up Funnel

An automated sequence of communications attached to a campaign that engages visitors who do not convert on the primary offer.

AKA: Abandonment flow, retargeting sequence, re-engagement automation

Form

An embeddable form for collecting subscriber information on external websites. See Forms.

AKA: Opt-in form, signup form, lead capture form, embed form

Free Style

A message content type that provides a blank canvas for fully custom email layouts.

AKA: Custom HTML, raw HTML, blank template

Funnel

An automated workflow composed of events and actions that execute logic on subscriptions. Used for triggered sends, re-engagement, and post-conversion sequences. See Funnels.

AKA: Workflow, automation, journey, sequence, flow, drip campaign

Funnel Action

An operation performed after a funnel event fires — such as sending an email, adding a tag, creating a subscription, or posting to an external URL. See Funnel Actions.

AKA: Workflow step, automation action, action node

Funnel Condition

A special funnel action that evaluates to true or false, creating a branch in the funnel flow. Includes Query (checks subscriber data) and Split (random percentage-based routing).

AKA: Branch, decision, conditional split, if/else, yes/no split

Funnel Event

A trigger that starts a funnel — such as a new subscription, email open, link click, or abandonment. See Funnel Events.

AKA: Trigger, workflow trigger, automation trigger, entry point

G

Group

A collection of users with shared permissions. Groups control what actions users can perform in OptiPub. See Users & Permissions.

AKA: Role, user role, permission group, team

H

Hard Bounce

A permanent email delivery failure, typically caused by an invalid or non-existent email address. Hard bounces result in the email being marked as Invalid.

I

Inactive (Subscription)

A subscription status indicating the subscriber was previously active but has since unsubscribed or expired.

AKA: Unsubscribed, opted-out, churned

Included Segment

A segment whose members will receive a message when it is sent.

Invalid

An email status indicating permanent suppression. Messages will not be sent to invalid email addresses. Causes include spam complaints, hard bounces, list unsubscribes, and failed email verification.

AKA: Globally suppressed, permanently bounced, blocklisted

Invalid Reason

The specific cause of an invalid email status: Spam Complaint, List Unsubscribe, Invalid Recipient (hard bounce), Email Verification (failed validation scan), or Repeated Temp Invalid.

L

Landing Page

A page hosted in OptiPub designed to capture visitor interest and drive conversions. Types include Order Pages, Promos, and Advertorials. See Landing Pages.

Lead

A subscription status indicating you have the subscriber's information, but they have not opted in to receive messages.

AKA: Prospect, contact, non-subscribed contact, pending subscriber

Lift Letter

A message content type used to cross-promote one publication to the subscribers of another.

AKA: Cross-promotion, endorsed mailing, solo ad, dedicated send

List Unsubscribe

An email header that allows subscribers to unsubscribe directly from their email client without visiting a web page.

AKA: One-click unsubscribe header, RFC 8058 header

M

Macro

A placeholder in content that is dynamically replaced with subscriber or campaign data at send time. Examples: {$email}, {$first_name}, {$effort_id}.

AKA: Merge tag, personalization tag, merge field, dynamic variable, placeholder

Message

An email or SMS communication sent to subscribers through OptiPub. See Messages.

AKA: Broadcast, campaign email, blast, newsletter, mailing, send

Messaging Service

An SMS sending service (e.g., Twilio) configured in OptiPub for delivering SMS messages.

O

Order Page

A landing page type that hosts an order form or free sign-up — the destination where the campaign's primary offer is presented. See Create an Order Page.

AKA: Checkout page, sales page, offer page, conversion page

P

Partner

A person or organization connected to a marketing effort. Partners are required when creating campaigns and are used for tracking and reporting. See Partners.

AKA: Affiliate, referral source, traffic source, media buyer, publisher

Permission

A specific capability that can be granted to a user group, controlling access to features and data in OptiPub. See Permissions.

Preview Line

Short text that appears next to or below the subject line in a subscriber's inbox. Also called preheader text.

AKA: Preheader, preheader text, preview text, snippet text

Pricing Plan

A billing configuration that defines a product's price, subscription type (one-time, recurring, lifetime, payment plan), and refund terms.

Primary Offer

The first offer presented to visitors in a campaign flow — typically an order page, promo, advertorial, or external URL.

AKA: Front-end offer, main offer, initial offer

Promo

A landing page type designed to build interest before directing visitors to an order page. See Create a Promo.

AKA: Presell page, video sales letter (VSL), squeeze page, warm-up page

Publication

The top-level organizational unit in OptiPub representing a brand or product. Nearly everything — messages, subscribers, campaigns, senders — belongs to a publication. See Publications.

AKA: Brand, property, audience, list, account, newsletter

Prune

A funnel action or subscription operation that cancels unresponsive subscriptions based on inactivity criteria.

AKA: List cleaning, sunset policy, inactive removal, list hygiene

Q

Query

A set of rules that define the membership criteria for a dynamic segment. Queries can filter by email status, domain, variables, engagement, publication, segment membership, tags, and more.

AKA: Filter, search criteria, conditions, rules, segmentation criteria

R

Reactive Split

A split test where OptiPub automatically selects the winning variant based on real-time performance metrics.

AKA: Auto-winner, smart send, send time optimization, automatic A/B

Redirect

A URL redirect managed in OptiPub that forwards one URL to another. See Redirects.

Reply Only

A sender designation indicating the address is used only as a reply-to address, not as a "from" address. Reply-only senders do not require a verified domain.

Resource

A content asset (article, PDF, etc.) that can be used in messages and displayed on websites via the API or OptiPub Elements. See Resources.

RPM

Revenue Per Mille. A campaign metric representing revenue per thousand impressions or sends.

S

Secondary Offer

An offer displayed when a visitor navigates away from (or exits) the primary offer in a campaign.

AKA: Exit offer, exit pop, downsell, back-button offer

Segment

A list of subscribers that can be targeted when sending messages. Segments can be static (manually maintained) or dynamic (automatically populated by query rules). See Segments.

AKA: List, audience, group, contact list, mailing list

Sender

The "from" identity that subscribers see when they receive a message — consisting of a display name and email address. See Senders.

AKA: From address, sending identity, from name, sender profile

Soft Bounce

A temporary email delivery failure (e.g., mailbox full, server unavailable). Results in a Temporarily Invalid status.

Split Test

A message sent with multiple content variants to compare performance. OptiPub supports manual and reactive splits with configurable win metrics (opens, clicks, orders, revenue).

AKA: A/B test, multivariate test, subject line test, content test

Static Segment

A segment with a fixed list of subscribers, maintained through manual imports or API calls. See Segments.

AKA: Manual list, uploaded list, imported list, fixed list

Stop on Unsubscribe

A funnel setting that halts all pending actions for a subscription when the subscriber unsubscribes.

Subscriber

A person identified by one or more email addresses in OptiPub. A subscriber can have multiple subscriptions across different publications.

AKA: Contact, recipient, member, user

Subscription

The relationship between a subscriber and a publication. Subscriptions have a status (Active, Inactive, or Lead) and track engagement data like opens, clicks, and sign-up date. See Subscriptions.

AKA: Opt-in, list membership, enrollment, consent record

Suppression Segment

A static segment used to exclude specific email addresses from sends. Suppression segments can store emails as plain text or hashed (MD5, SHA-256, SHA-512).

AKA: Suppression list, exclusion list, blocklist, do-not-mail list

T

Tag

A label used to categorize and group items across OptiPub — including messages, auto responders, campaigns, funnels, subscribers, and more. Tags also enable aggregated statistics. See Tags.

AKA: Label, category, attribute, marker

Template

A reusable layout applied to messages, auto responders, and pages. Templates define the outer structure; content is injected into a predefined location within the template. See Templates.

AKA: Email template, layout, design, master template, wrapper

Temporarily Invalid

An email status indicating a temporary delivery issue (soft bounce). Messages are suspended for 5 days. The status is cleared when a message is successfully delivered. Three consecutive temp invalid statuses within 3 weeks result in a permanent Invalid status.

AKA: Soft bounced, temporarily suppressed, deferred

Test Message

A message sent to specific email addresses (or a test list) for preview and QA purposes, rather than to segments of subscribers.

AKA: Proof, test send, preview email, seed send

Testimonial

A customer quote used to add credibility to landing pages and marketing materials. See Testimonials.

Triggered Send

A strategy using funnels to send automated messages in response to subscriber engagement (opens, clicks), creating a "waterfall" of timely follow-up content. See Triggered Sends.

AKA: Behavioral email, engagement-based automation, responsive send, event-driven email

U

Upsell

An additional offer presented after a customer accepts the primary offer in a campaign. Upsells can be chained together in sequence.

AKA: Cross-sell, post-purchase offer, one-click upsell, order upgrade

User

A person with login access to the OptiPub application. Users belong to groups that define their permissions. See Users & Permissions.

V

Variable

A custom subscriber attribute (e.g., first_name, phone) that can be used for personalization in messages, queried in dynamic segments, and collected through forms and API calls. See Variables.

AKA: Custom field, merge field, subscriber attribute, contact property, custom property

Variation

An alternative version of an auto responder or message used in A/B testing. See Control.

Verified (Domain)

A domain status indicating that an administrator has confirmed domain ownership. A domain must be both configured and verified before it can be used for sending.

Version History

A log of changes to a dynamic segment's query rules over time, allowing you to review and compare previous configurations.

W

Webhook

An HTTP POST request sent from OptiPub to an external URL when a funnel event fires, delivering subscriber and event data in JSON format. See Funnel Webhooks.

AKA: Postback, callback, HTTP notification, server-to-server notification

Win Metric

The performance metric used to determine the winner of a split test. Options include Opens, Clicks, Orders, Revenue, Unsubscribes, and Spam Complaints.

A