What is list generate time vs send time?
When setting up an email trigger, you will be asked to specify a recipients list "generate time" and "send time" on the Controls page.
The "generate time" indicates when a list of recipients would be generated according to the trigger rule defined.
The "send time" indicates when the email would be sent to the list of recipients generated above.
Natero would generate the list first and then send them next.
Generate Time is different from Send Time
When the "generate time" is different from the "send time", you can preview a list of recipients targeted for the next send at the bottom of the trigger details page.
These recipients would become available for review after it passes the list "generate time" each day and they matched the trigger rules specifically at the generate time. Any users that would match the trigger rules in between the generate time and next send time won't be included in the emails that go out next.
Generate Time is the same as Send Time
When both times are the same, you won't be able to preview the next trigger details as Natero would pull the list of matching recipients at the specified generate/send time and send the email out immediately.
When to set them differently?
You'd like to set the email trigger list "generate time" different from the "send time" if one of the following scenarios applies:
1. You'd like to review the recipient list before Natero send it out so if anything looks suspicious you can stop the trigger before it goes out of control. This is useful to help verify the email trigger behavior when setting up new triggers.
2. If you have a situation where you want to check the recipients' behavior at a specific time but you want the email to land in their inbox at a different specific time.