Customers and inbox overview
What a client, a contact and a community member are in Zanfia, where the client list, tags, segments, history and the inbox live, and which article covers each task.
Every person who buys from you, signs up through a form or is imported by you becomes a client in one shared list. From that list you filter, tag and group people, open a full profile for each of them, and answer their messages in one inbox.
Clients, contacts and community members
| Term | What it means | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|
| Client | One record per email address in your account. It is created by a purchase, a signup form or free checkout, an import, or Add customer. | Customers → All customers (/customers) |
| Contact | A client who has no product access yet, for example an imported address or a newsletter signup. | The same list, filter Has no access at all |
| Active client | A client with access to at least one product. Only active clients count toward the active-customer limit of your plan. | The same list, filter Has access to anything |
| Community member | A client who is inside one of your communities, through a product that includes it or added there directly. Members are managed in the community, not in the client list. | The client's Access tab, rows of type Community membership, and the community |
The interface labels the list Customers; this help center says "client" for a single person. One person is one client even with several products, and a client keeps their orders and history when their access ends.
Where things live
The Customers group in the left sidebar has four entries:
| Sidebar entry | Route | What it opens |
|---|---|---|
| All customers | /customers | The client list with search, filters, sorting, bulk actions, import and export |
| Segments | /customers/segments | Saved audiences built from conditions |
| Inbox | /communication | Conversations with clients: Direct messages, E-mail, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram |
| Certificates | /certificates | Course certificates, described in Course certificates |
Next to the Customers page title, four pills switch between views of the same module: List (/customers), Tags (/customers/tags), Segments (/customers/segments) and History (/customers/history). Clicking a row in the list opens the client profile at /customers/<clientId>.
Plan limits
Two limits of your Zanfia plan touch this module:
- Active customers: counts clients with access to at least one product. See Client limits.
- Contacts: counts every client in the list. When it is reached, Add customer answers "You've reached your plan's contacts limit. Upgrade your plan to add more contacts." and an import skips the new addresses above the limit. Purchases and form signups are never refused because of this limit.
Both meters are in Settings → Usage (/settings/usage), rows Active customers and Contacts.
Team access
What a team member sees here depends on their role. Adding, importing and editing clients, exporting them and deleting them are separate permissions, so a member may see the list without the Import customers, Export CSV or Delete buttons. Roles are described in Team members and roles.
Articles in this category
- Find and filter clients: search, the filter panel, tags, sorting and filter chips.
- The client profile: what each tab shows and which actions it offers.
- Limit how many devices a client can use: account sharing protection and freeing a device.
- Add, import and export clients: one client by hand, a CSV or pasted list, and the CSV export.
- Tags and segments: label clients and save reusable audiences.
- Bulk actions on clients: grant or revoke access, change tags and marketing consent, export or delete many clients at once.
- Change a client's email address: move a client to a new address, including their login.
- Merge or delete a client: combine duplicates and remove a client from your list.
- Email and login history: check whether an email was delivered and when clients signed in.
- The inbox: direct messages: conversations, messages to all clients, personal emails and inbox settings.
- Instagram inbox: read and answer Instagram messages.
- WhatsApp inbox: connect a WhatsApp Business number and reply to messages.
- Telegram inbox: share your invite link and answer Telegram messages.
- Troubleshooting clients and the inbox: the most common problems, with causes and fixes.
Related topics in other categories: Grant access manually, Orders and transactions, email campaigns to segments in Send an email campaign, and member management in Manage members.
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