BUG: Contacts get stuck at Tag Applied goal
There is a bug in FCRM where a contact can get stuck in an automation at a Tag Applied goal step.
This bug has been extensively documented and discussed in support tickets 96875 and 97229. Support has agreed that this is a fundamental design flaw in FCRM and the way this goal works, but there is no solution. The bug report was reported a year ago with various promises of getting dev to fix it, but the problem still exists.
I don't know how to get action on this bug. I'm very frustrated. It's ridiculous that any bug - especially a significant bug - still exists in the platform with no resolution in sight.
I'll guarantee you that if you have an automation with a Tag Applied goal, and a contact that reaches that goal step and they previously had the tag existing, they are stuck at that step in the automation (probably unexpectedly) and there is no way you can move them past that goal step short of removing the tag from the contact and then reapplying it (which could cause other problems.)
Here's the bug as described in this simple one-step automation flow:
- Trigger an automation by some means (or manually add contact to automation)
- Have a goal of Tag Applied and look for some tag such as "Test Tag". Goal should be marked as Essential.
Narrative: Take a contact that does not have the tag "Test Tag" and add them to the automation. The contact will enter the automation and be waiting at the Tag Applied step. Then add the tag to the contact and the contact will proceed through the automation.
Now take a contact that currently has the tag "Test Tag" and add them to the automation. Even though they currently have the tag they will get stuck at the Tag Applied step and there is no way to move them past that step. They should pass through that goal because they do have the tag "Test Applied".
Further discussion: In the simple automation above it might seem to be a simple solution to remove the tag and then reapply it. That may work in the above simple scenario but it simply doesn't work in more complex automations or when there are other automations that may trigger off of the tag being added.
Believe me, I've gone through so many proposed work-arounds for this bug but none of the work-arounds actually work.
Possible simple fix: To me the simplest solution would be to add a checkbox to the goal that says something like "Existing tags satisfy goal". This would allow the current behavior of the goal to continue to work as it currently does (though why anyone would want that I don't know). And it would also allow us to set the goal to specify that if a contact currently has the tag, the goal is satisfied and the contact can move through to the next step.
#bug
Maybe we should do something like if the tag already exists, then we should keep passing it to the next step. Or maybe give a checkbox as you suggested.
We are trying to recreate the issue. Will get back to you soon.
Shahjahan Jewel Any update on this??? It's now another month with zero updates or communication on this bug that was reported over a year ago.
A you test with the latest version please. I believe it’s being fixed in the last version. So now it’s check all the available tags of the contact.
Shahjahan Jewel Thanks!! I did some testing with the latest version (2.9.6) and it's working much better! It's a relief to have that bug fixed. I'll do some additional testing but as of now things look good.
Thanks for the reply and for checking into this issue. There's plenty of information in the tickets to replicate the issue, and it actually already has been replicated by tech support earlier.
As I see it there are two possible solutions (or some variant of these two):
- If the tag already exists count it as satisfying the goal and directly pass to the next step. This is the way that ActiveCampaign works for a similar tag check. This does change the current behavior of the FCRM Tag Applied goal step.
- Add a checkbox to state "Existing tags satisfy goal". By default is would unchecked. This keeps the current behavior of the Tag Applied goal, but adds an additional setup parameter.
Not entirely sure but it seems i have the same issue as just struggle to understand, why an e-mail sequence is not triggered and mails got sent by applying a certain tag as it defined in automation.
Alexander Sieg If you can send me a screenshot of your automation flow or share it with me, I can look to see if this issue could be affecting you.
I'm still waiting for a fix from Fluent. I don't know why this is taking so long to fix.
Alexander Sieg I've been testing v2.9.6 and the bug seems to be fixed, though I haven't seen any documentation on it. Also unknown is what happens to contacts that got stuck at an "Tag Applied" step before the fix was implemented in v2.9.6. Are they still stuck at that step? More investigation needed...