Custom fields

Custom fields hold whatever a contact has no built-in place for — a renewal date, a lead source, an account tier. Once you add one, it appears on every contact’s record, in the contacts table, in segments, imports and exports, and in automations.

The custom fields screen

Go to Contacts → Custom Fields. Each field shows its Label, Slug, Group, Type and when it was Created. A red asterisk marks a required field. Search with Search fields….

When Companies is on, a switch at the top chooses whether you are looking at the fields for Contacts or for Companies. Each has its own set.

The order here is the order fields appear in on a record. Drag a row by its handle to move it, or use Move up and Move down in its menu.

You can also manage fields without leaving a contact: choose Configure in the custom fields section of the contact’s Overview tab.

Adding a field

1. Choose New field.
2. Enter a Label — what people see, such as Renewal date.
3. Check the Slug. It is made from the label and cannot be changed after saving. It cannot be the name of a field the CRM already has, such as first_name or email.
4. Choose a Type (below).
5. Optionally choose a Group — pick an existing one, or type a new name and choose Create group.
6. Add Help text if the field needs explaining; it is shown under the field.
7. For a type with choices, fill in the Options — one box per option, with Add option for another.
8. Tick Required to mark the field as required in the contact form.
9. Choose Add.

Field types

Type	Holds
Single line text	A short piece of text
Paragraph	Longer text over several lines
Number	A number
Date	A date
Dropdown	One choice from a list of options
Multi-select	Several choices from a list of options
Radio buttons	One choice, shown as buttons
Checkboxes	Several choices, shown as checkboxes
Yes / no	A single tick box
Email	An email address
URL	A web address
Phone	A phone number

Groups

Groups gather related fields under a heading — Sales, Support — on a contact’s record and in the New contact form. A group exists while at least one field uses it; there is nothing else to create or delete.

Where custom fields appear

• A contact’s record — in the Overview tab, under their group headings. Choose Edit there to change the values in place.
• The New contact and Edit forms — under Add custom fields.
• The contacts table — add any custom field as a column with the column picker.
• Segments — every custom field can be used as a rule, with comparisons that suit its type. See Segments.
• Import — map a CSV column to a custom field. See Import.
• Export — choose custom fields as columns. See Export.
• Automations — the Update contact fields step can set a custom field’s value, and a Date field can start the A date on the contact trigger, such as a renewal reminder a few days before the date.

Note

Custom fields are not available as merge tags in emails today.

Editing, duplicating and deleting

Edit changes everything except the slug. Duplicate makes a copy with (copy) added to the label.

Delete removes the field and every value stored against it, from all contacts. This cannot be undone. Check any segment or automation that used the field.