Preference Centers
Define preferences, group them into purposes, and publish a preference center where data subjects sign in and manage their own choices.
A preference center is a hosted page where individuals review and change the consents and preferences they have given you. Unlike a cookie banner, it is built for known data subjects: they identify themselves by email, see every choice grouped by purpose, and can return at any time to update it.
It is built from three objects under Consent Management > Preference Centers:
| Object | Menu | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Preference | Preferences | One choice an individual can make: a yes or no consent, or a pick from a list of options. |
| Purpose | Purposes | A group of preferences with a name and a description that explains why you process the data. |
| Preference center | Manage Centers | The page itself: which purposes it shows, in what order, with what text, colours, languages, and sign-in options. |
Build them in that order. A purpose only offers published preferences, and a center only offers published purposes.
Preference centers are a plan feature. Without it the menu is hidden and the Preference Center page of a collection point shows an upgrade notice. Your plan also sets how many centers you can create; at the limit Add New is disabled and a tooltip asks you to contact the Neostra team.
Preferences
Open Preference Centers > Preferences. The table lists Name, Type, GPC Applies, Created At, and Updated At. Click Add New:
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Name | Required. Shown to the individual. |
| Key | Required. Generated from the name, for example marketing_emails, and editable until you save. Identifies the preference in outbound webhooks. |
| Description | Optional, shown under the name. |
| Type | Consent or Preference. Cannot be changed after creation. |
| Required | Marks the preference as required. |
A Consent preference is a two-way choice. You provide an Opt In Label and an Opt Out Label, for example "Yes" and "No". Switch on GPC Applies if the browser's Global Privacy Control signal should preselect this preference, and choose the GPC Default Value, Opt Out or Opt In. The signal is honoured only when the individual's browser sends it and the regulation that applies to their region recognises GPC.
A Preference type offers a list of options. Choose a Display Type, Checkbox or Button, and a Selection Type, Single or Multiple. Click Add Option for each choice and enter a label of up to 50 characters. Switch on Set a default option and tick the option that should be preselected.
Click the edit icon on a row to open the preference page. Overview holds Details and Language Settings; tick the languages the preference should support. With more than one language a Translation Table tab appears with a Translation Progress bar and a row per field. Preferences are not versioned: Save Changes takes effect immediately.
Purposes
Open Preference Centers > Purposes. The table lists Name, Version, Status (Published or Draft), Brands, Created At, and Updated At. Click Add New and fill in Name, Description, the Preferences it groups, and the Brands it belongs to, then click Add.
Click the edit icon to open the purpose page. Overview shows Details and Language Settings; the Translation Table tab appears once you select more than one language. Purposes follow the draft model: Save Changes stores a draft, Discard Draft returns to the published version, and Publish asks you to confirm before it goes live. Publishing fails with a message if a translation is empty or if a selected preference does not support every language of the purpose.
Write the description in plain language: it is the individual's explanation of why you process their data.
Manage Centers
Open Preference Centers > Manage Centers. The table lists Name, Version, Status, Purpose, Brand, and Last Updated. Click Add New and enter Name, Description, one or more published Purpose entries, and the Brand. Click Add, then click the gear icon to open the builder.
The builder has a form on the left and a Live Preview on the right that renders the current draft in the language you select under Language Settings.
Overview
Edit the Name and Description shown at the top of the public page, and the Brands selection.
Welcome Page
The welcome page is the first screen an individual sees. Write the Welcome Page Text in the rich text editor, then arrange the Welcome Page Blocks by dragging. Three method blocks are always present and cannot be removed, only relabelled and reordered:
- Without Email: opens the preferences anonymously.
- Sign Up: asks for first name, last name, and email, then verifies the email with a one time code.
- Sign In: asks for the email of an existing account, then verifies it with a one time code.
Click Add Text Block or Add Divider to insert content between the methods. Under Method Display Style, choose Button for card-style entries with icons or Link for plain text links.
Builder
Select the Purpose entries to show; each becomes a block. Click Add Text Block or Add Divider and drag blocks under Blocks into the order you want. A text block has a Title, used only to identify it in the builder and the translation table, and rich Text that is shown on the page.
Under Buttons, set the Undo Button Text and Save Button Text. Under Links, set a Label and Link for the Privacy Policy, which is required, and optionally for a Help Page. Both appear as links at the bottom of the page.
Theme
Pick a Primary Color, Background Color, and Text Color with the colour picker or by typing a hex value. The primary colour is used for buttons, selected options, and the avatar of a signed-in individual.
Language Settings
The list shows the languages enabled for your account. Tick Select for each language the center should offer and choose the Default language. Click a selected language to switch the live preview to it. A Translation is incomplete warning appears under any language with empty fields. Every purpose you add must support every language of the center, otherwise publishing is refused.
Translation Table
Shown once more than one language is selected. A Translation Progress bar summarises completion. Pick a target language on the left, then translate each field beside its default language text: name, description, button texts, link labels, welcome page text, method labels, and each text block.
Save, Publish, and Discard Draft
Save Changes stores a draft; individuals keep seeing the last published version. Publish asks you to confirm, saves any pending changes, and goes live. It is refused if a translation is missing or a purpose lacks one of the center's languages. Discard Draft returns the center to its published state. The table shows the current Version and whether the center is Published or Draft.
When you publish a center, every collection point that uses it picks up the new content at once. You do not need to publish the collection points again.
Attach a center to a collection point
A center reaches individuals through a collection point. Open Collection Points, click Customize on the collection point, and open Preference Center in the left menu. Click Edit, search for the published center, and under Determine Regulation decide how the applicable privacy regulation is found:
- Geolocation: detect the individual's region from their IP address.
- User Choice: ask the individual to select their region from a list before the preferences load.
You can enable either, both, or neither. The regulation matters for consent preferences with GPC Applies: the browser signal is only honoured when the matched regulation recognises it.
The Webhooks entry under the same heading lists Webhook Rules that fire when an individual saves preferences. Click Add Rule, join conditions with All or Any, and add actions. The condition is Specific Preference with Opted-In or Opted-Out. Actions are Call API, using an API configuration from Settings > API Configuration, and Send Email, which can also go to the data subject. Variables: {{tenantId}}, {{subjectId}}, {{email}}, {{collectionPointId}}, {{receiptId}}, {{cpId}}, {{brandId}}, {{source}}, {{submittedAt}}, and {{consentChoices}}, a list of preference keys with ACCEPT or REJECT. Webhooks require the API Integration plan feature; see Webhooks.
Publish the collection point, then open Integration > Scripts. Under Preference Center, copy the public URL and link it from your website, emails, or account pages. The rest of the setup is in Collection Points.
What the individual sees
Welcome
The welcome text and the methods you arranged. Anyone can continue Without Email. If User Choice is enabled, a Select Region dialog appears first.
Sign in or sign up
The individual enters an email, or first name, last name, and email for a new account, and clicks Send Access Code. A six digit One Time Access Code arrives by email. They enter it and click Sign In or Sign Up. Resend Code becomes available after 60 seconds.
Manage preferences
Each purpose shows its name, description, and preferences. Consents appear as an opt-in and opt-out toggle; preference lists appear as checkboxes or buttons. Defaults and GPC preselections are applied on load. The undo button resets every choice to its default; the save button submits.
Confirmation and history
A Preferences Saved screen offers Update Preferences. Signed-in individuals also get My Submissions, reachable from the avatar menu too, which lists My Submission History: each submission with its date and the ACCEPT or REJECT value of every consent. The avatar menu also offers Sign out.
Withdrawal works by returning to the page, switching a consent to its opt-out option, and saving. For signed-in individuals a new submission updates their existing consent record, so the latest choice is always the one on file. Anonymous submissions are recorded as new, unlinked records. Every submission becomes a receipt under Consent Records. A language selector in the top bar lets the individual switch between the languages you enabled.