Is it possible to set a date field to blank in a sequence? I can’t set it ready without a valid date.
Update: Set ANY field to blank and are there any that can be set to BLANK/Null etc.
Thanks
I need to run a test on this… I know that it can be done via a mass action to mass update contacts… I will run a couple tests when I get back into the office though to see if there is a way to handle this within a sequence…
Yes, it is possible using an Action Set. You can’t do it with the “Set Field Value” feature in the sequence though. 
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Here’s a video on a slightly different topic, but at 1:50 it starts talking about how you can do this with an Action Set:
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Hey Monkey Man! and James, I haven’t watched the video because I’m anxious to say what I found. When creating a date field it has to have a valid date 1/1/1000 works. AFTER it’s created 0/0/0000 can be entered but not before and the field is BLANK when used in a sequence. So there’s that. Pain when creating a sequence and needing to flood out 8 of them or so.
Gonna watch the video now!
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Ok, interesting none the less, thanks Greg! I’m not sure how to describe where this is being used. As I’ve stated before in another thread I spent quite some time looking for something out there that would allow me to send emails on certain months. Every month is simple enough, especially using PlusThis to calculate the date however. Only on the Odd -or- Even months, or only on Quarterly Months Jan Apr Jul Oct -or- Feb May Aug Nov -or- Mar Jun Sep Dec was a completely different matter. I’m using PlusThis to take my clients orderdate and calculate the 1st of the month of the order date. So for a client that’s using our product Monthly, I take that date and copy it into a datefield called FREQ-M. Then I send an email 23days AFTER that FREQ-M date and again 27days past that FREQ-M date. Then after the emails go out, I have PlusThis add 1 month to the FREQ-M field based on the FREQ-M field and since the email is looped to happen 5 days later the FREQ-M field is updated well before the 23rd day AFTER the new 1st of the month date in FREQ-M. Through the clever use of pullies, wires and mirrors, I adjust all the loop times accordingly and everything seems to be working. Here’s the outer skin of the campaign. I sat there on Sunday with nothing, no ideas, a good deal of stress and a strong will. By Sunday early evening, this was the result.! here’s a screen cap link too - https://screencast.com/t/vAhKQ6U8wc
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I almost forgot, I setup 18 test records and I also setup a utility sequence to clear out all the dates, clear off all the tags, etc etc etc and I really wanted those date fields emptied. The way I’m doing it works but I can see that the messaging thing will come in handy for promotions. This campaign to get the emails right was tough man. It really got me intimately close to the “work” that goes into some of these things. I might laugh at it later when I’m better and have a better grasp of the API and such but in the meantime, it’s workin and goes live in a couple days. WooHoo!
Keith
I can’t tell if I’m being punked or if this is really as complicated in the real world as it was for me to come up with it. It was a headache, that’s for sure.
@Keith_Shapiro, I’m just recollecting the initial conversations that @James_Mefford and I had about how we can help you from a “beginner” perspective compared to the creative/advanced solutions that you’ve put together on your own since then to solve your problems. I do apologize if my enthusiasm didn’t translate well in the video clip 
But, the point remains…my mind is blown.
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Right arm! And the use of the word Punked didn’t have ankst or offense attached to it. You know how text posts can be. Like I said, I wasn’t sure if I was being… It’s all good my skin is VERY thick in eitehr case. @martinc, you and @James_Mefford have been so helpful. Finally coming to the community has been a blessing, believe me! Also, I’ve grown addicted to the use of Infusionsoft. It’s an amazing tool. If you remember, that issue I had with chat support, well, they threw me bone and I’m coming out to the university in November to “hang with the cats” and learn some stuff. I’m just hoping it’s intense usage and concept rather than icon description and sermons on WHY marketing automation is important.
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That’s awesome! Let me and @James_Mefford know the date you are arriving and we will make sure to be “on call” for you. I’m also going to ping @sean.warner to make sure we have an advanced support rep for you to work with during that time.
I freaking love conversations like this. @Keith_Shapiro - it’s exciting to see you diggin in like this. Kudos for that.
I’ll share a little nerdy video I recorded a few weeks ago - your campaign screenshot reminded me of this with the month/day field setting stuff. Anyway, this was a rough cut video reply for a small group - but at some point I think I’ll turn this into a blog post about the important of refining your campaigns over time or something.
Enjoy! 
https://monkeypodmarketing.wistia.com/medias/fwul95k5p8
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Aw @Keith_Shapiro! Nice. Glad to hear you are coming around for University. Like Marty said, let us know when you are going to be getting in!
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I forgot about that dynamic holiday content challenge, @Greg_Jenkins! Such great ideas that can be used so many ways! Thanks for sharing this here!
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Ok, so I realized I left out the scenario where a customer might want to Change their frequency. Got it all setup and now it looks like this. The interesting thing is, there is literally no process available INSIDE infusionsoft, or outside for that matter that will allow for emails to be sent on ALL, Even, Odd and the 3 sets of Quarterly months without going in and changing the dates in a sequence every year. Maybe my business is the only one that needs to do that but if anyone you know needs to do it, I figured it out. This picture doesn’t say much in terms of deeper explanation and that brings me to the following question so @martinc, @James_Mefford, @Greg_Jenkins, @John_Borelli any best practices when documenting a campaign other than K.I.S.S?
Hi Greg, thank you, but it doesn’t work for me.
What if i want to set the custom date field to blank only in some circumstances?
For example in a sequance after a task is completed i want to get back the custom date field to the value blank as it was.
I also believe that action sets don’t do nothing unless they’re linked to a “something” (form submission, opt in etc…)
Thank you.
No, action sets can be run without being “linked to something” and automation links often can trigger action sets as well but action sets usually are in connection with something. With action sets you can make the field blanking conditional and often they can be used as a “new contact process” in a campaign that tags or does anything else you might want with new contacts…it really depends on your process/needs.
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Hey Fabrizio, respectfully, I think it will work for you.
Both the objections you mentioned can be resolved, as John indicated as well.
You can design rules in the action set so that the field is only set to blank if the rules are met, or not met. Furthermore, the rules available in action sets are much more robust than those available in decision diamonds.
The second objection you mention is that action sets need to be tied to another thing (a form, or opt-in, etc), and that’s not actually the case. You might be thinking that because when you first go to the Action Sets part of the software there are a BUNCH of action sets that are created automatically (from the examples you mentioned, and a few other methods also), however, you can ALSO set up an action set manually.
And then you can select it and process it against an individual contact, or against a group of contacts.
OR, you can “call” that action set as an automated step within a sequence or within a campaign.
So, I’m hopeful that this’ll do what you need. Good luck!
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