SharpSpring has system fields (firstName, lastName, email, and the like) that you can use for each lead created in or imported into SharpSpring. However, there will be times where you want to track data that is non-standard, like a preferred time to call, a favorite sports team, and so on. SharpSpring allows you to create custom fields in a variety of formats, enabling you to tailor your instance of SharpSpring to fit your company’s needs. This article will provide information on custom fields.Article Contents |
Available with: | ||||
Marketing Automation | ✓ | ||||
CRM Ultimate | ✓ | ||||
CRM PRO | ✓ | ||||
CRM Free | ✓ | ||||
Toolbar: | |||||
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Users: | |||||
Administrators | ✓ | ||||
Company Managers | |||||
Marketing Managers | |||||
Sales Managers | |||||
Salespersons | |||||
Jr. Salespersons | |||||
Creating Fields
To create a custom field, do the following:
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Note: Certain field types will display a placeholder. Placeholders are what users see when they interact with a field.
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Important: SharpSpring CRM PRO and SharpSpring Free CRM users are limited to 20 custom fields.
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Lead Field Options
The available lead field options are as follows:
Options | Description | |||
Visible in |
Appears on contact pages. |
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Available When Creating Forms |
Available to use a form field. |
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Email Merge |
Available as a merge variable when sending emails. |
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Editable in Contact Manager |
Able to make changes to the field’s content within a contact page. This field is always checked. |
Editing Custom Fields
To edit a custom field, do the following:
For more information on organizing custom fields, refer to Organizing and Reordering Custom Fields and Categories. |
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Important: Custom fields will delete associated data when the custom field type is changed.
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Important: Checkbox custom fields will delete associated data if the value or label is changed.
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Lead Fields
These are custom fields that operate within the Contact Manager and are the only custom fields that are usable within the Task and Workflow feature sections. In addition, forms only collect information from lead fields.
The available custom fields are as follows:
Custom Field | Description | |||
Text Input |
Accepts any alphanumeric data, with a limit of 256 characters. |
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Drop-Down Select |
Standard format, most commonly seen on web forms where you choose one possible option out of multiple choices. |
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Boolean |
True or false representation. Used in basic logic assessment, as well as some web forms. |
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Phone Number |
Accepts most phone number formats. Examples include |
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URL |
Good for tracking pages that contacts or leads may be interacting with outside of sites you are actively tracking. |
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Attachment URL |
Ideal for keeping track of externally hosted attachments pertaining to contacts or leads. |
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Text Area |
Similar to Text Input, but with more space available. Similar to a comments field on a web form with a 2000-character limit. |
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Country |
Already a system field, but could be useful for tracking multiple country interactions with each of your leads, contacts, accounts, or opportunities. |
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Checkbox Group |
Similar to Drop-Down Select, but allows the selection of more than one (or all) of the possible choices in the field. |
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Hidden |
These fields typically are used in web forms, where the form will pass along hidden data from one page to the next. |
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Date Picker |
Ideal for tracking specific days that could pertain to future meetings times, events, and so on. If you want to use time-based workflows utilizing a custom field, only use the DateTime Picker. Under Merge Variable Format, select the format you would like to display the date as a merge variable. |
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Bit |
The only possible values are 1 and 0. Similar usage to Boolean. |
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States | Similar usage to Country, but for states. | |||
Radio Group |
Similar functionality to the Drop-Down Select field, as it only allows one selection from a list of possible choices. |
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DateTime Picker |
This is a field that is usable as a reference point for time-based workflows utilizing a custom field, as it references a specific time as well as data. The Date Picker custom field does not require a specific time, only a day. This is useful to dynamically schedule and send reminder emails to leads/contacts for meetings, events, webinars, and so on. Under Merge Variable Format, select the format you would like to display the date and time. If a lead has filled out a form with a DateTime field, that information will autofill the next time a lead visits a page with that form. |
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File Upload |
This field allows you to upload a file to SharpSpring for later reference. Useful to track proposal documents pertaining to opportunities and leads. Maximum file size limit of 25MB. |
Account Fields
These custom fields pertain to the Account Manager, where the companies that have had an opportunity associated to them are cataloged and tracked.
The available custom fields are as follows:
Custom Field | Description | |||
Text Input |
Accepts any alphanumeric data, with a limit of 256 characters. |
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Drop-Down Select |
Standard format, most commonly seen on web forms where you choose one possible option out of multiple choices. |
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Boolean |
True or false representation. Used in basic logic assessment, as well as some web forms. |
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Phone Number |
Accepts most phone number formats. Examples include |
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URL |
Good for tracking pages that contacts or leads may be interacting with outside of sites you are actively tracking. |
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Attachment URL |
Ideal for keeping track of externally hosted attachments pertaining to contacts or leads. |
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Country |
Already a system field, but could be useful for tracking multiple country interactions with each of your leads, contacts, accounts, or opportunities. |
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Checkbox Group |
Similar to Drop-Down Select, but allows the selection of more than one (or all) of the possible choices in the field. |
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Bit |
The only possible values are 1 and 0. Similar usage to Boolean. |
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States | Similar usage to Country, but for states. | |||
Radio Group |
Similar functionality to the Drop-Down Select field, as it only allows one selection from a list of possible choices. |
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File Upload |
This field allows you to upload a file to SharpSpring for later reference. Useful to track proposal documents pertaining to opportunities and leads. Maximum file size limit of 25MB. |
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Text Area |
Similar to Text Input, but with more space available. Similar to a comments field on a web form with a 2000-character limit. |
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Date Picker |
Ideal for tracking specific days that could pertain to future meetings times, events, and so on. If you want to use time-based workflows utilizing a custom field, only use the DateTime Picker. Under Merge Variable Format, select the format you would like to display the date as a merge variable. |
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DateTime Picker |
This is a field that is usable as a reference point for time-based workflows utilizing a custom field, as it references a specific time as well as data. The Date Picker custom field does not require a specific time, only a day. This is useful to dynamically schedule and send reminder emails to leads/contacts for meetings, events, webinars, and so on. Under Merge Variable Format, select the format you would like to display the date and time. If a lead has filled out a form with a DateTime field, that information will autofill the next time a lead visits a page with that form. |
Opportunity Fields
These custom fields pertain to opportunities only and have a similar functionality to Account fields. You can designate opportunity custom fields as required. These fields can either be required on opportunity creation or opportunity close. When a user attempts to create or close an opportunity without filling out the designated required fields, a notification will appear in the upper right-hand corner of the platform indicating the field requirement.
The available custom fields are as follows:
Custom Field | Description | |||
Text Input |
Accepts any alphanumeric data, with a limit of 256 characters. |
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Drop-Down Select |
Standard format, most commonly seen on web forms where you choose one possible option out of multiple choices. |
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Boolean |
True or false representation. Used in basic logic assessment, as well as some web forms. |
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Phone Number |
Accepts most phone number formats. Examples include |
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URL |
Good for tracking pages that contacts or leads may be interacting with outside of sites you are actively tracking. |
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Attachment URL |
Ideal for keeping track of externally hosted attachments pertaining to contacts or leads. |
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Country |
Already a system field, but could be useful for tracking multiple country interactions with each of your leads, contacts, accounts, or opportunities. |
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Checkbox Group |
Similar to Drop-Down Select, but allows the selection of more than one (or all) of the possible choices in the field. |
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Bit |
The only possible values are 1 and 0. Similar usage to Boolean. |
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States |
Similar usage to Country, but for states. |
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Radio Group |
Similar functionality to the Drop-Down Select field, as it only allows one selection from a list of possible choices. |
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File Upload |
This field allows you to upload a file to SharpSpring for later reference. Useful to track proposal documents pertaining to opportunities and leads. Maximum file size limit of 25MB. |
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Text Area |
Similar to Text Input, but with more space available. Similar to a comments field on a web form with a 2000-character limit. |
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Date Picker |
Ideal for tracking specific days that could pertain to future meetings times, events, and so on. If you want to use time-based workflows utilizing a custom field, only use the DateTime Picker. Under Merge Variable Format, select the format you would like to display the date as a merge variable. |
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DateTime Picker |
This is a field that is usable as a reference point for time-based workflows utilizing a custom field, as it references a specific time as well as data. The Date Picker custom field does not require a specific time, only a day. This is useful to dynamically schedule and send reminder emails to leads/contacts for meetings, events, webinars, and so on. Under Merge Variable Format, select the format you would like to display the date and time. If a lead has filled out a form with a DateTime field, that information will autofill the next time a lead visits a page with that form. |
Regarding Labels and Values
The checkbox, drop-down, and radio group field types allow you to set values and labels within SharpSpring. Values are words or numbers that are attributed to the field. They are separate from one another, which allows for multiple and different selections within the field. Values are stored in the database in your instance of SharpSpring. |
Labels are what are displayed in the application. They provide a way to see what the value is. These can be the value itself, a category name, or something else.
While values and labels can read differently from one another, best practice is to have the fields and values match.
Reordering Fields
You can group specific fields together, as well as reorder them for ease of use. Fields are reordered and moved into category folders.
For more information on reordering custom fields, refer to Organizing and Reordering Custom Fields and Categories.