# Understand email automation

> How automations work in MailMachine: triggers, conditions, actions, the editor, and reading your stats.

Source: https://www.kualo.com/knowledgebase/mailmachine-automations/understand-email-automation
Updated: 2026-06-10

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Automation links something a contact does - subscribing to a list, clicking a link, reaching a date - to a sequence of steps that MailMachine carries out for you, automatically. Set it up once and it runs in the background: a welcome email moments after someone subscribes, a follow-up a few days later, a reminder if they haven't opened. This guide explains how to find your automations and how the editor works.

## Why automation is worth your time

Automation handles the repetitive, time-sensitive jobs that are easy to forget and tedious to do by hand. Done well, it saves you time, cuts mistakes, and gives every new subscriber a consistent, timely experience - all while you get on with something else.

## Create an automation

1. Click **Automations**.
2. Click the **+** sign at the top right of the page. You can also start one from the **Create** button.

Any automations you've already built appear here too, ready to open, rename or delete.

![The automations list, with the menu to open, rename or delete an automation](https://kb-cdn.kualo.com/34/51/34510a8ac4c2cee2442bc911db92dbecee5ed8a9.png)

## The automation editor

The editor lays your automation out top to bottom, each step shown as a connected block so you can follow the flow at a glance.

![The automation workflow editor, showing the subscribe trigger and connected steps down to the end of the workflow](https://kb-cdn.kualo.com/ea/0c/ea0c924359e48fd0fffdc143fe314ea3dc923570.png)

From here you can:

- manually add contacts to the automation
- view statistics for a chosen period
- edit the workflow itself

## Conditions and actions

Every step you add is either a **condition** or an **action**.

**Conditions** decide who goes where:

- **Delay** - wait a set time (seconds, minutes, hours, days or weeks) before the next step.
- **If / Else** - contacts who match a rule take the Yes path; everyone else takes the No path.
- **Path split** - divide your subscribers down different routes.

**Actions** do something. The default action is to send an automated email, which you build in the email designer and configure - subject line and so on - in the deployment settings.

## Activate your automation

When you're happy, review and activate it. MailMachine will tell you if anything still needs fixing before it can go live.

## Read your automation's statistics

Use the period dropdown to choose a date range and see how your automation is performing. Click any email in the flow to open a side panel with its open, click, unsubscribe, delivery and bounce rates - exactly what you need to refine the sequence over time.

## Duplicate an automation to edit it

Active automations can't be edited directly - you duplicate them and edit the copy:

1. Click the down arrow at the top right.
2. Choose **Rename**, **Delete** or **Duplicate**.

Duplicating gives you an editable copy to change as you like, leaving the original running until you're ready to switch.

## Troubleshooting

**The automation doesn't start** - check the toggle is set to ON, the trigger conditions are configured, and the connected list actually has active subscribers.

**You can't edit an active automation** - duplicate it, edit the copy, then deactivate the original and activate the new version. Test with a small segment first.

**Statistics don't show** - allow 24-48 hours for figures to populate, and make sure the selected period covers when the emails actually went out.

**The email designer won't load** - clear your browser cache, switch to Chrome or Firefox, and save often.

**Workflow validation errors** - every email block needs content, every branch needs an endpoint, and every condition needs its required fields filled in.

If an automation still won't behave, [open a support ticket](/knowledgebase/getting-started/how-to-create-a-support-ticket-in-mykualo) and we'll help you trace it.

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_Source: Kualo Knowledgebase — https://www.kualo.com/knowledgebase/mailmachine-automations/understand-email-automation · © Kualo Ltd._