Labels

Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://documentation.outpost.pub/llms.txt

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Labels are free-form tags you apply to members. They drive segmentation across Outpost and Ghost — email campaigns, email flows, the Rules Engine, CTAs, and member filters all use labels to target the right audience.

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Creating labels

Labels are created the moment you apply them to a member or use them as a filter. There’s no separate “create label” step — just type the label name and it’s created in Ghost. Outpost shows all existing labels via autocomplete as you type, so you don’t accidentally create duplicates.

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Applying labels

Labels can be applied to members in several ways:

• Manually — Type a label name into any label field in Outpost. The autocomplete suggests existing labels as you type, and you can click Add New to create a label that doesn’t exist yet.
• Auto-applied Outpost labels — Outpost applies labels automatically in a number of situations:
  • New members get a Marketing_Okay label so they can receive marketing emails.
  • Donors get a Gave_A_Donation label.
  • Sign-up CTAs, UTM parameters on the link they arrived from, events they RSVP’d to, gift subscription givers and recipients, and group subscription members all get specific labels.
  • See the system label reference for the full list.
• Import — Include a labels column in your CSV import in Ghost to apply labels to members in bulk during import, or use the tool to add a label in Ghost. We recommend making the label first on a test user to make this process easier.
• Email Flows — Include or exclude members from email sequences based on their labels. Flows can also be configured to target members by label.
• CTAs, Events and Gated PDFs — When a member interacts with a CTA or downloads a gated PDF, labels can be applied automatically. You can configure separate labels for new subscribers and existing subscribers.
• Contact Form — Outpost’s theme contact form accepts an optional labels array on submission. Any labels included are applied to the member created (or matched) by the form, so you can tag inbound contacts by topic, source page, or campaign.

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Label-based segmentation

Labels are used throughout Outpost to segment your audience. Anywhere you can target members, you can filter by labels:

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In email flows

Each email flow section has two label filters:

• Only Include Members Labeled — Only members who have one or more of these labels will receive the emails in this flow.
• Exclude Members Labeled — Members who have any of these labels will be skipped, even if they match all other criteria.

These filters work alongside the membership type (free, paid, complimentary) and tier filters to give you precise control over who receives each email sequence.

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In email campaigns

Email campaigns have the same include/exclude label filters as email flows. When you mark a campaign as a marketing email, Outpost automatically adds the Marketing_OptOut label to the exclusion list so members who have opted out of marketing will not receive the campaign.

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In the Rules Engine

The Rules Engine is a Labs feature that subscribes or unsubscribes members from newsletters when a label is added or removed. Labels themselves are the trigger — Rules Engine actions don’t add or remove labels.

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In CTAs

CTA audience targeting supports label-based inclusion and exclusion, letting you show different conversion offers to different segments of your audience.

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Labels as automation triggers

Labels are one of the primary triggers for email flows and campaigns. When a label is added to or removed from a member, it can:

• Start an email sequence
• Remove the member from a sequence
• Send a notification to an external service
• Apply another label

This makes labels a reliable way to automate what happens as members move through different stages. For example, adding an at-risk label to a member could trigger an Advanced retention email flow, and removing it could stop the flow.

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Automatic labeling with CTAs, Events and gated PDFs

When you set up a CTA or gated PDF, you can configure labels to be applied automatically when members interact with the content:

• Label New Subscribers — Labels applied to members who sign up through this CTA (first-time subscribers).
• Label Existing Subscribers — Labels applied to members who are already subscribed when they interact with this CTA.

This lets you track which CTAs and content pieces are driving engagement without any manual work.

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Labels in Ghost

Label sync between Outpost and Ghost works in both directions:

• Outpost to Ghost — Labels applied in Outpost are automatically synced to Ghost, so you can use them for Ghost-native features like newsletter segments.
• Ghost to Outpost — Labels applied in Ghost sync back to Outpost, keeping both systems in alignment.

This means you can apply a label in either system and it will be available in both. You only need to manage labels in one place.

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System labels

Outpost automatically applies labels to members as they move through subscription and conversion events. These system labels track lifecycle milestones like:

• Active_Client — Member has an active paid subscription
• Former_Paid_Subscriber — Member previously had a paid subscription
• Gave_A_Donation — Member made a one-time donation
• Received_Gift_Subscription — Member received a gift subscription
• Marketing_OptOut — Member has opted out of marketing emails

System labels can be used as triggers and filters in email flows, the rules engine, and campaigns just like any label you apply manually. See the System Label Reference for a complete list of automatically applied labels.

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Best practices

• Pair labels with Advanced email flows — Applying a label starts the sequence; removing it stops it. This gives you a simple on/off switch for automations.
• Let CTAs apply labels automatically — Configure your CTAs and gated PDFs to label members on interaction. This builds your segmentation data without manual effort.
• Avoid too many one-off labels — Consolidate into a clean taxonomy over time. It’s easier to manage 20 well-named labels than 200 ad hoc ones.

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Related features

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FAQ