When creating a Custom Field, you will need to select the Input Type, which is the space where your supporter will fill out their response.
There are five Input Types:
- Short Answer
- Long Answer
- Multiple Choice
- File Upload
- Calendar Input
1. Short Answer will provide your supporter with a text box to type in their response.
2. Long Answer will provide your supporter with a larger text box to type in their open-ended response.
3. Multiple Choice allows you to pre-set responses. This will create a drop-down menu where they can select their choice. You can add up to 150 multiple choice selections.
You can also give your supporters the option to select more than one pre-defined response, and this will instead create a list of checkboxes. They can check as many of these as are available.
4. If you would like to collect a file digitally; such as a signed form, a copy of an ID, or a business logo; you can use the File Upload option to collect that information. (Files uploaded are accessible in your reports as links which will initiate a download of the file when clicked on).
5. Calendar Input will allow your supporter to select a date as their response.
To create a custom field:
- Go to Custom Fields > Create New Custom Field.
- Enter a unique Field Title this title will appear in your reports
- Field Titles have a 25 character limit and cannot be the same as an already existing custom field
- Note: once you save the Custom Field, Field Title will no longer be editable
- Enter the “Display Prompt”, this is how it will appear to your supporters during the transaction.
- You can make the field required or optional.
- Next, choose the input type:
- Short Answer and Long Answer will present your supporters with a text box where they can type in a response.
- Multiple Choice allows you to have a drop-down menu list of responses, or you can allow your supporters to select multiple answers in the form of check boxes.
- If you require a file to be uploaded, such as a permission form, you can use the File Upload input type to collect that.
- Note: once you save the Custom Field, Input Type will no longer be editable
- Then click “Save Custom Field”.
Once your custom fields are created, you will be able to add them to an order (supporters will be prompted to answer the custom field regardless of how they engage with your campaign) or, if you have the cart setting enabled, you can add your custom field within advanced settings to be displayed when a supporter adds that specific engagement to their cart.
After you create a Custom Field, Field Title and Input Type cannot be edited. If you would like to make changes to these two fields, we recommend you create a new custom field, then merge the two custom fields to make the necessary edits.
What settings can you edit within Custom Fields?
You can edit the Display Prompt, Multiple Choice options, or Calendar Input settings, after you create a Custom Field. You can make these changes within your campaign editor or in the Custom Fields area of your Dashboard. Changes made in either area will automatically update this custom field everywhere it is shown - on all campaigns it was added to, as well as in the main Custom Fields area.
- How to Edit Custom Fields in the Custom Fields are of the Dashboard
- How to edit Custom Field within the campaign editor
Required or Optional Setting
When you create a new Custom Field, you can set whether it is Required or Optional. The setting you choose when in the Custom Field area of your Dashboard will be the preset setting for the Custom Field. However, this can be edited on a campaign by campaign basis within the campaign editor. Changes made to this setting within the Custom Field area will not automatically be applied to all of the associated campaigns.
How to edit Custom Fields in the Custom Fields area of the Dashboard
To make edits from the Custom Fields area of the Dashboard:
- Click on Custom Fields from your Flipcause Dashboard main menu. Navigate to the question you'd like to change and click Edit.
- Make your necessary changes (Note: you will NOT be able to edit Field Title or Input Type)
- The changes you make will automatically update in all of the campaigns this question is included, and no additional steps are necessary to publish the change.
- Changes made to the Required or Optional setting here will NOT automatically update in all of the campaigns which this custom field is included. This setting will need to be updated on a campaign by campaign basis.
How to edit Custom Field within the campaign editor
To make edits from within the campaign editor:
- Go to Campaigns > Edit this Campaign (for the desired campaign)
- Within a campaign, Custom Fields can be added to Order Settings or individual Tools from Advanced Settings (read here to learn how to see where in the campaign your custom field is located)
- Go to where the custom field is added to this campaign. Find the custom field you would like to edit then click Edit.
- Make your necessary changes (Note: you will NOT be able to edit Field Title or Input Type)
- The changes you make will automatically update in all of the campaigns this custom field is included.
- You can also edit if this custom field is Required or Optional. The setting you choose in the campaign editor will ONLY affect this campaign.
To Merge Custom Fields, select the fields you want to merge by clicking the box next to the field. Then click the “Merge Fields” button.
Enter a Field Title and Display Prompt for the merged fields. The Field Title is how it will appear in your reporting, and the Display Prompt is how it will appear to your supporters during the transaction. You can also make the field required or optional.
Next, choose the input type:
- Short Answer and Long Answer will present your supporters with a text box where they can type in a response.
- The Multiple Choice allows you to add pre-determined responses (will display as a drop-down menu). You can also allow your supporters to select more than one answer (will display as checkboxes). Each "selection" will
- If you require a file to be uploaded such as a permission form or a waiver, you can use the File Upload input type to collect that.
Then click “Save Custom Field”.
Please Note: Merging cannot be undone after saving, so make sure that you have selected the correct fields and that you absolutely wish to merge these fields.
This is located in Campaigns > Edit This Campaign > Order Settings > Custom Fields (Applied to Entire Order).
First, be sure you've set your standard Information Collection Settings. If there are any other questions you'd like to ask your supporters during the transaction, or other data you'd like to collect, this is where you can add those questions. Questions added in this area will be asked to all supporters regardless of which action they take in your campaign. If you would like your supporter to only be asked the Custom Field question based on the action they take see Advanced Settings for how to set this up on a tool by tool basis.
In this area, toggle "Add Custom Fields to Entire Order" to Yes. Select your existing Custom Fields from the drop down to add them to your campaign. They will be listed in the order in which you add them here, and you can rearrange them by clicking the up- and down-facing arrows to move them up or down.
If you'd like to add a custom question for which you don't already have a Custom Field yet, you can choose "Create New Custom Field" from the dropdown. This will give you a shortcut to add a new Custom Field and insert it directly into this campaign in a single step.
Once your custom fields are created, you'll go into the campaign you want to add them to.
Custom fields can be added to an entire transaction using Order Settings or added to any individual tool (Donations, Registrations, Volunteer, Online Store, or Sponsorships) within your campaign using Advanced Settings.
Add Custom Fields to an Entire Order
If you want to collect responses from all of your supporters, regardless of the actions they take, you'll want to add your custom questions using Order Settings.
To add custom fields at the order level:
- Navigate to Campaigns > Edit This Campaign > Order Settings > Custom Fields (Applied to Entire Order).
- First, be sure you've set your standard Information Collection Settings. If there are any other questions you'd like to ask your supporters during the transaction, or other data you'd like to collect, this is where you can add those questions.
- In this area, toggle "Add Custom Fields to Entire Order" to Yes. Select your existing Custom Fields from the drop down to add them to your campaign. They will be listed in the order in which you add them here, and you can rearrange them by clicking the up- and down-facing arrows to move them up or down.
- If you'd like to add a custom question for which you don't already have a Custom Field yet, you can choose "Create New Custom Field" from the dropdown. This will give you a shortcut to add a new Custom Field and insert it directly into this campaign in a single step.
- Make sure to hit Save when done!
Add Custom Fields to Specific Engagement Tools
If you want supporters to answer a custom question only if they take a specific action, you'll want to set up your Custom Fields for using the Advanced Settings for that particular tool. For example, if you want to ask about dietary restrictions only from those who buy tickets to your event using the Registration tool, you'll want to add them within the Registration tool Advanced Settings. Adding Custom Fields and within Advanced Settings ensures that they only display when a supporter selects that particular item type within your campaign. You can add custom questions to:
- One-Time and Recurring Donation levels
- Registration group types
- Sponsorship item types
- Online Store item types
- and Volunteer position shifts
To add custom fields to an individual tool in your campaign:
- Navigate to Campaigns > Edit This Campaign > Manage Settings / Add or Edit > Show Advanced Settings > Custom Fields and Waivers.
- Toggle add custom fields for this type to "Yes"
- For Online Store, Registration, and Volunteer tools, you'll need to decide how you want to collect responses to this custom question. Use the dropdown menu to select either:
- Collect data for each individual quantity of this item type added by my supporter
Selecting this option means that your supporter will need to fill out the custom fields you add for each individual quantity of an item type in their purchase. - OR Collect information only ONCE per type
Select this second option if you want to collect responses to custom field questions only once for a particular item type in your Online Store (and not for each individual quantity of that item).
- Collect data for each individual quantity of this item type added by my supporter
- Next, select your desired question from the dropdown menu. You can also select "Create a New Custom Field" from the dropdown menu and create one on the spot.
- Use the Add Custom Field button to add multiple custom questions as desired.
Note: With the shopping cart activated, these fields will display at the end of the checkout process (after your supporter has entered their personal information and before the transaction is submitted). - Hit Save when you're all done!
Moving the Custom Field to “Archive” puts it in the Archive section and removes field from your reports. You can add the field back to report by moving it to “Active”. From the Archive section, you can permanently delete a field - this deletes it forever and removes it from reports.
Archive Custom Fields
To Archive Custom Fields, go to the Custom Fields section of your dashboard and select the field you want to archive by clicking the box next to the Custom Field. Then click the Archive button.
To view your archived Custom Fields, click on the “Archive” section. From here, you can re-activate your custom fields or delete them forever.
Reactivating Custom Fields
To reactivate an archived custom field, select the field you want to reactivate by clicking the box next to the field. Then click the “Save as Active” button.
Deleting Custom Fields
To delete a custom field, select the field you want to delete by clicking the box next to the field. Then click the “Delete Forever” button.
Please Note: Deleting a custom field means it will be forever deleted from the database, never to return again. So, before you delete a custom field, be sure that you absolutely want to delete it, because there is no turning back. We always recommend to avoid deleting anything altogether, since it is generally always helpful to be able to either resurrect something or just to refer to it again. You also won't be able to pull reports off of this field once it is deleted.
The same Custom Field can be added to multiple campaigns. In the Custom Fields area of the Dashboard, you can view which campaigns each Custom Field is associated with.
To view this information:
- Click Custom Fields from the sidebar navigation
- Search for the Custom Field you are looking for
- Click on View next to Associated Campaign(s) (Note: if this Custom Field is not being used in any campaigns the View link will not appear)
- An overlay will display all of the campaigns the custom field is associated with
- Activity Level Custom Field means this Custom Field is applied in Tool Settings using Advanced Settings
- Order Level Custom Fields mean this Custom Field is added at Order Settings
- A Custom Field can be applied in both areas in a single campaign
Depending on where the Custom Field is applied you will need to pull different types of reports. See here for more details on Custom Fields reporting.