Store extra details with custom fields

Custom fields hold whatever else you need to know about a person: a patient number at Bright Dental, a goal weight for a fitness coach, or a scent preference at Wick & Ember. A custom field is a name and a value on a contact's record.

Before you start

• Choose a clear name for each field and use exactly the same name on every contact, for example Wedding date. A field is the name you type; there is no list of fields to set up first, and no field types.

Steps

Add a field to one contact

1. Open the contact's record.
2. In the Custom fields panel, press + Add a field.
3. Type the Field name, for example Scent preference.
4. Type the Value, for example Fig and cedar.
5. Press Add (or Enter). Press Cancel or Escape to back out.

Change a value

1. In the Custom fields panel, click the value, type the new one and press Enter.

Bring fields in from a spreadsheet

1. When importing, press Add mapping under Custom fields, pick the CSV column and type the field name.

See which fields your account uses

1. Open Contacts › Custom Fields. The panel Custom fields in use lists every field name found on your contacts, with how many contacts carry it, most used first.

What happens next

• A field appears on a contact only once it has been given a value there. Other contacts don't get it automatically.
• Workflows can use custom fields. The A detail is set trigger can start a workflow when a custom field changes to a value, and the Update a detail step can write one.
• Clearing a value leaves the field name on the contact with no value.

For agencies

Fields are kept per account. A field name used in one client does not appear in another. Open the client first (Sub-accounts › Open).

Troubleshooting

"Field name may only contain letters, numbers, spaces, underscores and hyphens (max 60 chars)." Remove other characters such as ?, / or &, and keep the name to 60 characters.

The same detail shows under two names, like "Region" and "region". Names are kept exactly as typed. Pick one spelling and use it from now on; re-enter the value under that name on contacts that have the other.

The Custom Fields tab says "No custom fields yet". No contact has a custom field value yet. They appear there the first time a record or an import stores one.

The Add button stays grey. The field name is empty or contains a character that isn't allowed.

Related

• Use a contact's record and timeline
• Import contacts from a CSV file
• Every workflow trigger explained