Custom fields

What custom fields are

A custom field is a piece of information you choose to keep about each subscriber, such as "Favourite topic", "Company" or "Role". You create the field once, and each subscriber can then have their own value for it.

Values are text. A subscriber who hasn't been given a value simply has none.

Custom fields are under Tools, Custom fields.

The Custom fields page

The table lists every field with its:

• Name: click the column header to sort by name.
• Status: the survey the field is attached to, or "No attachments added".
• Type: what the field is attached to, such as a survey.

Use Search custom fields to find a field by name. The filter next to it shows All fields, only fields With attachments, or only fields Without attachments.

Creating and editing fields

Click Create custom field, enter a Name (up to 100 characters) and click Save. Each name can only be used once in your publication.

To rename a field, choose Edit from its menu. Renaming keeps every subscriber's value.

You can also create a field while building a survey: under a question's Custom field box, click Create a new one.

How fields get their values

There are three ways to fill a field.

From a survey

Before a survey can be published, every question must be linked to a custom field. When a reader submits the survey, each answer is saved into the linked field on their profile. If they submit again later, the new answer replaces the old one. When a question allows several choices, all the choices they picked are saved and shown on their profile. Segments can't match these answers yet (see below).

A field can be attached to one survey at a time, and the Status column shows which. If you link a field that another survey uses, it moves to the new survey. Use a separate field for each survey question so answers from different surveys don't overwrite each other.

With an automation

Add an Update Subscription Data step and, under Set custom fields, choose a field and type the value to save. Each time someone passes this step, the value is saved on their profile, replacing any value they had.

By hand

On a subscriber's profile, open the Custom fields section. Every field is listed with that person's value. Use the menu on a field to Edit the value, or Delete to clear it for that one person.

Using fields in segments

In a segment, add a Custom Field condition (under Subscriber Data > Attribute), pick the field, then choose a comparison and a value:

• is or is not
• contains or does not contain
• ends with
• exists or does not exist, to find people who do or don't have a value

Segments can't yet match answers to survey questions that allow several choices. To a segment, those readers' field looks empty: exists won't find them, does not exist will, and is or contains won't match any choice they picked, even though their profile shows the choices.

For example, "Role is Editor" finds everyone whose Role value is Editor. See the Segments guide.

Deleting a field

Choose Delete from a field's menu. Deleting a field also deletes every subscriber's value for it. This can't be undone.

Troubleshooting

"A custom field with this name already exists": pick a different name, or use the existing field.

I can't delete a field: it is linked to a survey question. Link that question to a different field, or delete the survey, then try again. A live survey's questions can't be changed, so unpublish it first, change the question, and publish it again.

Answers from two surveys are overwriting each other: questions in both surveys are linked to the same field, so each new answer replaces the last. Check the Status column, and give each survey its own fields.

A dynamic segment hasn't picked up a new value: dynamic segments update once a day. Open the segment and click Recalculate to update it now.

A profile shows a dash for a field: that subscriber has no value for it yet.