- Automated email
- Lists / employee data
- Creating a journey
- Creating multiple paths in a journey with conditional split
- Managing a journey
- Permissions / sharing
- Analytics
Automated email
What is the difference between an automated vs. regular email?
A few reasons:
- They can be reused across multiple journeys
- You can send them more than once
- The analytics are all rolled up so you get the full picture in one place
- You do not select recipients on the automated email nor a scheduled date / time
What differences should I expect when building an automated email?
They’re built the same way, but you don’t set a send time or audience — the journey handles that. Automated emails can be used in multiple journeys and can be sent more than once, too.
Note: You do not have to publish an email to tie it to a Journey. You can tie drafts or published automated emails in a Journey. Just be sure to fully publish those emails when they are ready for use!
Can other users edit an automated email? Do I need to give them access to both the email and journey?
Yes! You can now edit a published email — whether it’s part of a Journey or a standalone automated message.
Here’s how it works in Workshop:
- When you make and publish edits, Workshop automatically creates a new version of that email.
- Anyone who has already received the email will keep the original version.
- Anyone who hasn’t reached that step yet (or receives the email in the future) will get the new version instead.
- In your analytics, you can even see engagement per version, allowing teams to compare performance over time.
This gives users control to keep improving their communication — from adjusting tone or visuals to updating details — all without having to rebuild the Journeys.
Can I send a test of my automated email?
Yes! You can send a test of your automated email, just as you would a regular email! We recommend doing so to ensure your email looks great once it lands in an employee's inbox!
Do I have to publish my automated email before adding it to a journey?
Nope! You can keep them in draft form and publish everything at once when the journey is ready to go.
If you tie a drafted email to a Journey and try to publish the Journey, you will get a prompt letting you know that an email is still in draft form and needs to be published first.
What do you mean aggregate analytics on the automated email?
Automated emails can be used across multiple journeys and sent more than once — and all the performance data rolls up into one view. So instead of digging through individual sends, you get a clear picture of how that message is performing over time.
Under the Recipients tab, you can see the sent date per recipient for that automated email.
Lists/employee data
I don't have automatic lists. Can I still upload attributes to use in Journeys?
For automating journeys, attributes only work with automatic lists — they’re what trigger someone to be added to a journey. Without an automatic list, those attributes won’t have any impact on how members are added to a journey.
Attributes can be powerful in personalizing the emails within your journey via merge tags. For a lot of journeys we recommend including merge tags like first name, birth date / anniversary, role, etc within your email to add that special touch!
What type of lists can I use to create a Journey? If I don’t have automatic lists, can I still see the value?
You can use any list type to create a Journey! While automatic lists allow the Journey to be fully automated, you can easily set up a Journey with a manually created or CSV uploaded list, or with a synced list (like Azure AD, Google, or Okta). Check out the tutorials to see how!
How do I upload the appropriate attributes to use in journeys?
You can get attributes into your Workshop account in various ways:
- Uploaded manually via a CSV upload
- Synced over from AD/Okta/Google, etc
- Synced over from your HRIS system
I am using a manual CSV list in a Journey that has started. If I go in and remove someone from the list (via the lists page) will they be removed from the Journey, or will they stay in the Journey until its complete?
Removing someone from the list will not unenroll them from the Journey, but you can manage enrollment on an active Journey from the Actions menu. This allows you to manually add or remove members from your Journey.
What occurs if I change the rules of an automatic list that is actively being used by a journey?
If you change the rules of an automatic list that is being used in the active journey, it will change how new members are added to that list and thus, how they are enrolled in the journey. It will not impact any recipients already enrolled in the journey.
Our SFTP sync is scheduled to happen at midnight and most likely that's when new employees would be brought over to Workshop. How can I make sure they do not receive an email that shows midnight on their first day?
Wait steps let you control exactly when an email goes out. We recommend setting a specific send time after someone is added to the Journey, so it aligns with when you desire that email to land in your employee's inbox.
For this example, you would want to:
- Create your journey
- Set the Trigger to be list membership and apply the appropriate settings
- Choose a wait time for your first step - this will give you control on when the first email is received by your employees once joining the journey
Our SFTP file/sync is scheduled to send to Workshop at midnight and employees typically are not added to the HRIS system until 10am the day they start. With that in mind, they would not sync to Workshop until the day after they start/at the next midnight sync. What would be the recommended workflow here?
In this case, we recommend connecting with your HRIS or IT team to adjust the timing of when your SFTP file is sent to Workshop!
Creating a journey
When should I use the various trigger options?
Think of triggers as “how people enter the journey.” Each option fits a different kind of send.
- Enroll Recipients (one-time snapshot): enrolls everyone currently on the list at the moment the journey starts (i.e., when the first email is sent).
Best for: all-company reminders, one-time announcements, time-bound campaigns
Use when: you want a fixed audience and don’t want late joiners automatically included
- List Membership (dynamic): continuously enrolls people as they’re added to the list, even after the journey has started.
Best for: onboarding, ongoing nurture, anniversaries, “always-on” programs
Use when: the list represents an eligibility state (e.g., “New hires”, “Trial users”, “Customers”)
- Schedule (time-based trigger): enrolls recipients based on a specific schedule (e.g., daily at 9am, weekly on Mondays, monthly on the 1st). Each run enrolls whoever qualifies at that time.
Best for: recurring reminders, weekly digests, monthly check-ins, routine compliance nudges
Use when: entry should be driven by a calendar cadence, not by list changes
Practical mental model: “At each scheduled run, grab the people who should receive this now.”
When should I use the 'Enroll current and new members', and when should I use the 'Only enroll new members' option?
The key question is: Should the people who are already on the list right now go through the Journey?
- Enroll current and new members - use this when yes, you want to include everyone currently on the list, plus anyone added later.
Best for: one-time launches of an ongoing Journey where the existing audience should also receive it (e.g., “Customer education series,” “Policy update reminders,” “Re-engagement for all active users”)
Works well with: manual lists (you control membership, and it’s expected that current members should be included)
- Only enroll new members - ise this when no, you want the Journey to apply only going forward, and you don’t want to pull in people who are already on the list.
Best for: “from now on” programs (e.g., onboarding moving forward, new trial users, new subscribers), or when the list already contains a backlog you don’t want to message
Works well with: automatic lists (membership is criteria-based, so you typically only want newly qualifying people enrolled as they meet the criteria)
Rule of thumb:
If existing list members should get the Journey → Enroll current and new members.
If the Journey is only for people added from this point forward → Only enroll new members.
When should I apply a wait step?
We recommend always setting a wait step before each email communication that is sent within a journey. This ensures that you can choose the exact time in which an email should land in your employee's inbox.
Can I test a journey?
Yes — use Test journey from the Actions menu.
Open your Journey, click Actions, then select Test journey.
Select the date for which you want to test
We will provide you the dates for which your communications will be sent in relation to the start / enrollment date you have selected.
We will also alert you if a communication will not send on the specified date due to your weekend send configuration
Can I exclude specific recipients or lists from being added to a journey?
Yes — you can do this either through your list or via the new Do not enroll option in the Journey settings drawer.
Option 1: Exclude via lists (recommended when exclusion is list-logic based)
Automatic lists: add exclusion logic like “does not equal” or “does not contain” to exclude specific segments/attributes.
Manual / synced lists: simply leave those recipients off the list (or remove them if they’re already included).
Option 2: Exclude via Journey settings (“Do not enroll”)
If you want to keep your list broad but prevent certain people or groups from entering the Journey:
Open the Journey settings drawer
Use Do not enroll to exclude specific recipients or entire lists from enrollment
This is especially useful when the same list powers multiple Journeys, or when exclusions are Journey-specific (e.g., internal teammates, VIPs, contracted employees).
Can I add SMS to my journey?
Not yet — Journeys only support emails right now. But we’re planning to expand that in the future.
Why would I do reminder campaigns via a Journey?
Journey's are a great way to reduce the number of steps you take when sending out reminders! Using journeys, you can:
- Create a birds eye view of all comms in one place
- View analytics across all comms in your email series/sequence
- Schedule your audience once
- Watch your audience move through the scheduled communications and easily answer the question of “where are we at on the upcoming all hands communications?!”
Best of all, you can use any list type when creating a journey (csv uploads, synced lists, or automatic lists)! Be sure to check out the Journeys section on our tutorials page to see a few examples in action.
Can I apply timezone settings when creating a Journey?
Not yet, but that’s a feature we want to bring in down the line! In the meantime, you can create a journey for each region and add the appropriate wait steps so the emails are received at the appropriate times in their region/timezone.
Do journeys respect blackout dates?
Coming soon! By default, Workshop does not send Journey messages on blackout dates. If a scheduled step falls within a blackout period, the message is held and sent after the blackout period ends. Within the Journey settings, an Admin can override this functionality so that the Journey ignores blackout dates, and the Journey's communications will send as scheduled even if they coincide with a blackout date.
Creating multiple paths in a journey using conditional split
What is a conditional split and when should I use them in a journey?
Use a conditional split when a single message path isn't the right fit for everyone in your Journey. A conditional split lets you route recipients into one of two paths based on their behavior or who they are — so the right follow-up reaches the right person automatically.
A few common scenarios:
- Opens vs Non-opens based follow-ups — Send a deeper follow-up to people who opened your email or a re-engagement nudge to those who didn't.
- Click-based follow-ups — Ensure your recipients interact with your emails or follow up with those who did not.
- List membership — Route recipients into different paths based on list membership, such as department, location, or role.
- Percentage split — Use a percentage split to randomly divide your audience and test different messaging approaches.
If everyone in your Journey should receive the same communications on the same schedule, a linear Journey without a conditional split is all you need.
Can I add a conditional split to an existing Journey?
You cannot edit a Journey once it's published. Any Journeys in draft could be modified to use a conditional split or any journeys scheduled could be unscheduled to modify and add a conditional split.
If you have an existing Journey you’d like to change, we’d recommend cloning it, and within the clone, you can remove steps or add in conditional splits where needed.
Once the clone is ready, you can turn off the existing and turn on the new one!
Can I incorporate text messages? And do text message actions reflect the journey? Could I include a branch after a text message if they opened a text/clicked on the link/or responded to the text?
SMS is not available as a Journey action in the current release but we're working to bring SMS into Journeys in a future update!
GDPR - if we have GDPR enabled for our account (ie analytics are anonymized), can we still use branches in any way?
You can use conditional splits in two ways! Because GDPR mode anonymizes individual engagement data, branching on open events or click events won't be available for accounts with GDPR mode enabled (as those branch types require individual-level tracking to function)
You can still use:
- List membership — branch based on whether a recipient belongs to a specific list
- Percentage split — randomly divide your audience into two group
Can branches reconnect into a single path after splitting?
Once a Journey splits into two paths, those paths remain separate through the end of the Journey. The ability to converge branches back into a single path is something we're considering for a future update.
Can I follow up with unopeners from a regular email?
Not automatically from a regular email — but Journeys makes this easy. Create a Journey, add your original email as the first step, then use a Conditional Split to route employees who didn't open into a follow-up path. The re-engagement happens automatically, no manual list-pulling or second send required. Check out the tutorials to learn more.
Can I perform an a/b test from a regular email?
Not using a regular email but you can use Journeys to run an A/B-style test! Add a Conditional Split with a 50/50 percentage split, then send a different version of your email down each path. It's probabilistic, so enrollees are randomly assigned giving you a clean way to test subject lines, content, or calls to action without any manual segmentation.
If I follow up with unopeners from a regular email, how can I see combined engagement on the two communications?
The best way to see the combined engagement for regular emails is to add both emails to the same campaign, that way you can view performance together at the campaign level!
Do you have any video tutorials?
Yes, you can find them here! Be sure to check out the "Conditional splits" and "Creating an onboarding journey".
Managing a journey
What editing can I do to an active journey? For example, I decide I want to add a delay in-between two actions. Can I do that while keeping the journey active? What else can I edit?
You are able to edit the content of emails within an active Journey (think: fixing typos, updating messaging, or swapping an image) without stopping or rebuilding the Journey.
However, structural changes — like adding new steps, delays, or reordering actions — is not supported today. We recommend turning off the Journey, cloning it and making those changes in a new Journey.
Can I un-enroll a recipient within a journey? What if I removed the recipient from the list?
Yes - you can manage enrollment on an active Journey allowing you to have full control over who stays in or is removed from a Journey.
From the Actions menu on the Journey, you can manage enrollment. This allows you to manually add or remove members from you Journey. New members will always start at the top of the Journey; members removed will be un-enrolled from where they are currently at in the Journey.
How do I pause/stop a journey?
Journeys can be turned off and on at any time, giving you the flexibility to either stop a journey completely or temporarily. To note, enrollees in the journey will continue to move through the journey but will not receive any email communications while the journey is off.
Will automated emails/journeys show on the calendar?
Not yet. For now, the best way to get a full view of your journey is to go into the journey itself. We’re being thoughtful about how to display these in the calendar so it doesn’t get overwhelming — especially with recurring events like birthdays.
I want to add another list/remove one specific list to a journey that is already active, how can I do that?
You do have the ability to manage enrollment on a live Journey - allowing you to add or remove members. If you added a list that you now want to remove, you can select that list when un-enrolling members.
Permissions/sharing
Can any user create journeys?
Yep! Any user can create a Journey, similar to emails.
With the Limited Access role, you can:
1. Limit who can publish a journey
2. Limit which lists one can select to be used in a journey
To set up permissions, you will navigate to:
- Manage > Users
- Hover over user & click on 3dot menu
- Select Assign user permissions
Reminder only Admin users can assign permissions on other users.
Will I have the ability to determine if Limited users can create journeys? (will there be a toggle in limited permissions).
Any user can create a Journey, similar to emails.
With the Limited Access role, you can:
1. Limit who can publish a journey
2. Limit which lists one can select to be used in a journey
To set up permissions, you will navigate to:
- Manage > Users
- Hover over user & click on 3dot menu
- Select Assign user permissions
Reminder only Admin users can assign permissions on other users.
If I share access to a journey with another user, do they have the ability to delete or edit the journey?
Sharing & privacy does apply to journeys! Any journey you create within your Workshop account is not shared by default with other users.
Anyone the journey has been shared with has access to view, edit, and publish the journey (if they have publishing permission). Once published, they will have access to view the journey’s analytics, including who has been enrolled in the journey.
To share a journey:
- In the journey builder, click Share in the top actions bar.
- After publishing, you share via the Share option within the actions dropdown.
- In your journeys list, hover over the journey, click the 3-dot menu, and select Share journey.
Sharing a journey does grant the user access to the automated emails but it does not, grant the user access to the campaign that the journey is associated with.
Do I need to give a user access to an automated email, to the journey, and also to a Campaign?
Through sharing & privacy, you grant other users access to the various content that makes up your journey.
Automated email
- Grants access only to the specific automated email.
- Collaborate on creating, editing, and managing the automated email.
Journey
- Grants access to the specific journey plus, any automated emails within that journey.
- Collaborate on building and managing the journey.
Campaign
- Grants access only to the specific campaign. Unlike regular emails, campaign access does not include access to the automated emails within it.
- Share journey analytics with others without granting them access to create or manage the automated emails or journeys.
Analytics
Can you explain the analytics around a journey?
Journeys show high-level analytics like opens, clicks, and where each recipient is in the process. For more detailed insights, click into the automated email or the associated campaign for your journey.
Will journey analytics show on the main dashboard page?
Yes! Each individual send of an automated email will be aggregated into the overall engagement overview data on your dashboard. As an admin, upon exporting data from your dashboard, the provided CSV will contain analytics for each individual send of an automated email as well.
What is the best way to digest Journey analytics?
We recommend assigning a journey to it's own campaign. This will allow you to see comprehensive analytics across all emails within the journey.
If you want to export data around a Journey, how would you recommend I do so?
You can export enrollment data from the Journey (recipients that have already received a specific email from the Journey), but not engagement data (opens, clicks, etc.) from the Journey export.
To capture engagement data, we recommend these options:
Add your Journey to a Campaign if you want engagement reporting/export across the Journey — then export engagement data from the Campaign.
If you need engagement data for one specific email in the Journey, you can export it directly from the individual automated email.
Can an automated email be assigned to a campaign or just the overall journey?
Not directly — campaigns are tied to the journey, not the individual automated email (since those emails can appear in multiple journeys).