Custom fields

Every business tracks something the standard contact and deal forms do not: a store wants a birthday or a preferred channel, a clinic the requested service and arrival date, an agency the budget and preferred area. Custom fields let you add these details yourself, on contacts and on deals.

Before you start

• Custom fields are available when your plan includes Custom fields.
• Owners and administrators add and archive fields. Owners, administrators and members fill in the values on a contact or a deal. Viewers see the values but cannot change them.
• Your company can have up to 100 active fields across contacts and deals, or fewer if your plan sets a lower number. Archived fields do not count.

Do not use custom fields for medical, card or other sensitive details.

Add a field

1. Open Contacts in the sidebar, then Tools, then Custom fields.
2. Under Add a field, type the Field name, up to 80 characters. This is the label your team sees.
3. In Used on, choose Contacts or Deals.
4. In Type, choose one of the types below.
5. For a List, write the Choices, one per line.
6. Select Save.

The new field appears at the end of the More details card on every contact or deal.

The name, type and choices of a field cannot be changed after it is saved. To change them, archive the field and add a new one.

Fill in the values

1. Open a contact or a deal.
2. Find the More details card.
3. Fill in or change the values. To clear a value, empty the box or pick the blank choice.
4. Select Save.

Only the fields you change are saved. A value that does not fit its type is refused with a message naming the field, for example a letter in a number field. The change appears in the record's activity without the value itself.

The More details card is hidden on an archived contact, and it only appears once your company has at least one active field for that kind of record.

Archive a field

1. Open Custom fields.
2. Select Archive beside the field.

An archived field disappears from the More details card, from the choices for new segment rules and from exports. Its values are kept, but there is no button to bring the field back. Fields are never deleted.

Where custom fields are used

• Segments: a segment can match contacts whose contact field equals a value. See Segments and search.
• Exports: the contact export and segment exports add one column for each active contact field. See Contacts.
• Merging contacts: values move to the contact that stays only for fields it has left empty. See Import and duplicates.
• Privacy: downloading a contact's data includes their custom values and those of their deals, and erasing a contact removes them. See Data and privacy.
• Business templates: choosing a template can add suitable fields, such as City, Preferred channel and Birthday for an online store, when your plan includes custom fields and there is room under its limit. See First steps.

What custom fields do not do

• A field cannot be made required.
• Fields cannot be added to website forms or filled in by an import.
• The global search and the contact search do not look inside custom values.
• Fields are not shown in the contact list as columns.

Troubleshooting

• I cannot find Custom fields under Tools. Your plan does not include Custom fields, or your role is not owner or administrator.
• "This company has too many fields." or a plan limit message. Archive a field you no longer use, or see Plans and billing.
• "Enter up to 30 choices of up to 60 characters." A list needs at least one choice, at most 30, each up to 60 characters.
• "… is not valid." The value does not fit the field's type. Check the format, for example a dot rather than a comma in numbers.
• I cannot change a value. Your role is viewer, or the contact is archived.