Custom Fields for Contacts

Custom Fields for Contacts

Overview

Custom fields let you store additional data on contacts beyond the built-in first name, last name, email, and phone fields. Go to Customize > Custom Fields to manage them.

Field Types

There are 11 field types available:

• Text — single-line text input (max 255 characters)
• Text Area — multi-line text input for longer content
• Number — numeric input, stored with up to 4 decimal places
• Date — date picker, stored as a date value
• Yes/No — boolean toggle (true/false)
• Dropdown — single-select from predefined options. You define the list of options when creating the field.
• Radio — radio button group, functionally similar to Dropdown but displayed as radio buttons
• Checkbox — multi-select from predefined options. Users can pick multiple values. Stored as a JSON array.
• URL — web address with URL validation
• Email — email address with email format validation
• Relationship — link to other contacts or custom entity records (see the Relationship Fields section below)

Field Properties

• Name — the display label shown in forms and detail pages
• Key — a unique lowercase identifier using only letters, numbers, and underscores (e.g., company_name). Used in imports, exports, filters, and API access. Cannot be changed after creation.
• Required — when enabled, the field must be filled in when creating or editing a contact. Required fields show a red asterisk in forms.
• Options — for Dropdown, Radio, and Checkbox fields, define the list of choices. Each option is a text string up to 255 characters.
• Position — drag and drop to reorder fields. The position determines the order fields appear in forms and detail pages.

Relationship Fields

Relationship fields create links between contacts and other records. When creating a relationship field:

• Targets — choose which types of records this field can link to. Options are "Contacts" (link to other contacts) and any custom entity types you have created (e.g., "Companies", "Projects").
• Cardinality — controls how many links are allowed:
  • One to One — this contact links to exactly one target record, and that target links back to exactly one contact
  • One to Many — this contact links to many target records, but each target links back to only one contact
  • Many to One — this contact links to one target record, but that target can link back to many contacts
  • Many to Many — this contact links to many target records, and each target can link back to many contacts
• Bidirectional — when enabled, an inverse relationship field is automatically created on the target entity type. Changes to either side of the relationship are automatically synced. For example, if you add a "Company" link on a contact, the company record automatically shows that contact in its inverse field.

Relationship Value Storage

Relationship values are stored as reference strings:

• Links to contacts: contact:123
• Links to entity records: entity_type:5:78 (entity type ID : record ID)
• Multiple links are stored as a JSON array of reference strings

In the UI, relationship values are automatically resolved to display the linked record’s name with a clickable link to navigate to it.

Deleting Custom Fields

Deleting a custom field permanently removes all stored values for that field across every contact. Bidirectional relationship fields also remove the inverse field on the target entity. This action cannot be undone.