When viewing recipients in your ContactMonkey reports, you may notice that distribution list (DL) names sometimes appear correctly, while other times only individual recipient email addresses are shown. This behavior depends on how you add the distribution list in Outlook Desktop.
How Distribution Lists Display in Reports
ContactMonkey reports show recipient information based on how Outlook's Microsoft Office.js API processes your distribution list entry:
Distribution list name appears: When you add a DL using the To button (contact picker) in Outlook Desktop, the DL name displays in both Outlook and in your ContactMonkey reports.
Individual recipients appear: When you manually type a distribution list email address in Outlook Desktop, only the individual recipient email addresses appear in your reports, not the DL name.
Why This Happens
This isn't a ContactMonkey bug—it's how Microsoft's Office.js API works. When you manually type a distribution list email address, Office.js treats it as plain text and doesn't recognize it as a distribution list. Without that recognition, ContactMonkey can only see the expanded individual recipients, not the original DL name.
How to Ensure DL Names Appear in Reports
To display the distribution list name instead of individual recipients in your reports:
- Open Outlook Desktop and create a new message
- Click the To button (contact picker) instead of typing in the To field
- Search for and select your distribution list from the contact picker
- Click Save to add it to your email
- Complete and send your email as normal
When you view your report, the distribution list name will appear in the Recipients column.
Where This Affects Your Reporting
This DL display behavior impacts information across any report view that displays recipient details. The underlying analytics data (open rates, click rates, total recipients) remains accurate regardless of whether the DL name or individual recipients display.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Does this affect my email delivery?
A: No, emails will deliver successfully regardless of whether you type the DL address or use the contact picker. This only affects how recipient information displays in reports.
Q: Can I change how recipients display after I've already sent an email?
A: No, the recipient display format is set at send time based on how you entered the distribution list. Future sends can use the contact picker method to show DL names.
Q: Does this happen in Outlook on the Web or other email clients?
A: This behavior is specific to Outlook Desktop because it relates to how the Office.js API processes distribution lists. Other sending methods may display recipient information differently.
Q: Will ContactMonkey fix this in the future?
A: This behavior is determined by Microsoft's Office.js API, not by ContactMonkey's application. Any changes would need to come from Microsoft's API functionality.