Email Action Trigger Types

What is this for?

Every email action in a journey needs a trigger — the rule that decides when the email is sent. The trigger type determines the timing logic, and the time offset (where applicable) fine-tunes exactly how long before or after the key moment the email fires. This guide explains the three trigger types available and how they affect the journey flow.

The Three Trigger Types

Trigger Type	Code	When It Fires	Time Offset	Position on Canvas
Time Before Event	`time_before_event`	X time before the event start date/time	Required (choose from preset list)	Left of Event marker, sorted by offset descending (longest first)
Time After Event	`time_after_event`	X time after the event end date/time	Required (choose from preset list)	Right of Event marker, sorted by offset ascending (shortest first)
Time Subscribe to Event	`time_subscribe_event`	Immediately when someone registers	None (not applicable)	Far left (before all time-before actions)

1. Time Before Event

Use for: Reminders, pre-event instructions, countdown emails, preparation checklists.

How it works: The system calculates the event's start date/time, subtracts the chosen offset, and schedules the email for that moment.

Example: If your event starts on June 15 at 10:00 AM and you choose 1-day (24h) offset, the email sends on June 14 at 10:00 AM.

Available Offsets:

Label	Code	Exact Duration
30m	`30m`	30 minutes
1h	`1h`	1 hour
2h	`2h`	2 hours
4h	`4h`	4 hours
8h	`8h`	8 hours
1-day	`24h`	24 hours (1 day)
2-days	`48h`	48 hours (2 days)
5-days	`120h`	120 hours (5 days)

Canvas Position: All Time Before Event actions appear to the left of the Event marker. They are ordered from longest offset to shortest (e.g., 5-days → 2-days → 1-day → 8h → 4h → 2h → 1h → 30m). This reflects the natural chronological order — the earliest reminder appears first.

2. Time After Event

Use for: Thank-you emails, feedback surveys, certificate delivery, follow-up resources, replay links.

How it works: The system calculates the event's end date/time, adds the chosen offset, and schedules the email for that moment.

Example: If your event ends on June 15 at 6:00 PM and you choose 2h offset, the email sends on June 15 at 8:00 PM.

Available Offsets: Same list as Time Before Event (30m through 5-days).

Canvas Position: All Time After Event actions appear to the right of the Event marker. They are ordered from shortest offset to longest (e.g., 30m → 1h → 2h → 4h → 8h → 1-day → 2-days → 5-days). This reflects the natural chronological order — the first follow-up appears closest to the event.

3. Time Subscribe to Event

Use for: Confirmation emails, welcome messages, ticket delivery, immediate next steps, calendar invites.

How it works: The email is queued for sending the moment a person submits the registration form. There is no time calculation — it's event-relative, not time-relative.

Example: Someone registers on May 1 at 2:30 PM. The email sends immediately (or within the next processing cycle), regardless of when the event is.

Time Offset: Not applicable. The Time Offset dropdown hides automatically when this trigger is selected.

Canvas Position: These actions always appear first (far left), before any Time Before Event actions. They represent the "moment zero" of the attendee journey.

How Triggers Affect the Journey Flow

The canvas visually represents the timeline:

[Subscribe] → [5d Before] → [2d Before] → [1d Before] → [30m Before] → [EVENT] → [30m After] → [1h After] → [1d After] → [5d After]
    ↑                                                        ↑
 Time Subscribe                                         Time After Event
 Time Before Event (descending)                          Time After Event (ascending)

Key Rules:

Subscribe actions always come first — they are the entry point.
Before-event actions sort by offset descending — furthest-out reminder first.
After-event actions sort by offset ascending — nearest follow-up first.
You cannot drag to reorder — the system auto-sorts based on trigger type + offset.
Multiple actions with same trigger + offset keep their creation order.

Common Questions

Can I have both "Time Before Event" and "Time Subscribe" actions? Yes. Subscribe actions fire at registration. Before-event actions fire later based on the event date. They serve different purposes (immediate confirmation vs. scheduled reminder).

What if someone registers AFTER a "Time Before Event" offset has already passed? The system handles this gracefully: if the calculated send time is in the past (e.g., event is tomorrow, but "5-day" reminder would have been 4 days ago), the email is not sent for that recipient. Only future-scheduled triggers fire.

Can I set a custom offset like "3 days 4 hours"? No. Only the 8 predefined offsets are available. Choose the closest one (e.g., "2-days" or "5-days").

Do Time After Event triggers use the event END time or START time? End time. The offset is calculated from the event's scheduled end date/time.

What happens if I change a trigger type after the journey is live in an event? You cannot edit a journey used in an active event (it's locked). Create a copy, modify the copy, and assign it to the event.

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