A custom field can be compared to a column in Excel. If we imagine that the image below represents your file, the fields Email, Phone Number, First Name, Last Name, and Language each correspond to a column, and these are custom fields in Rule.
What is a Custom field group?
To organize your customer data efficiently and easily, you can create different groups with specific custom fields and customer information.
For example, you can create a group called Subscribers, where the custom fields include first name and last name. You can also create a group for Orders, where all order-related data is collected with different custom fields than those in Subscribers.
How do I add a group and custom fields?
Name the group.
Select whether you want the group’s data to be stored historically or not.
Click "+ New Field."
Name the custom field.
Choose the field format: text, multiple choice, date & time, or date. We chose date & time because we want to see the exact day and time a new member signed up. In the fields above, we selected text because first name, last name, and city will contain standard text-based information. Multiple choice means you can have several values in the same field, which will be separated by a comma (",") in Rule.
This will be the name of the field that developers can use for API integrations. It is named groupname.fieldname.
Types of Custom Fields
To use custom fields to their full potential, the correct type needs to be applied to each value.
This ensures that you can use your fields for Segmentation, Scheduling, and for displaying data points in your communications.
TEXT
Text is the default type applied if nothing else is specified. These fields can be used, for example, to segment based on partial or exact words/terms or numbers.
They can also be displayed directly in your messages if you want to show the recipient’s name or other values in your communication.
DATE/DATE & TIME
Date or Date & Time fields can be used for segmentation based on date ranges or for custom delays in Automations if you want an email to be automatically sent to a member based on a specific date value.
Multiple
Multiple is used to create predefined values instead of relying on free text. This is very useful if you want to sort or segment based on fixed categories, product names, or SKUs.
JSON
JSON is a data string used to send multiple instances of different data points. For example, product information for several products in an order request.
It is important to note that JSON cannot be used for segmentation, but it works well for displaying member-specific product information in your communications.
TIME, NUMBER & BOOLEAN
These are new values that you will soon be able to use in your segmentation and communication.
Time allows you to add a time of day.
Number allows you to use specific numbers instead of text.
Boolean is used for true/false values, allowing you to base segments on whether the value is A or B.
Important to note;
The field type cannot be changed afterwards, so it is important to apply the correct type when the field is first created.
How to manage groups:
Click on Subscribers.
Select Custom Fields.
Here, you will see your groups.
Here, you can see how many custom fields are included in each group.
Here, you can choose whether a specific group and its data should be stored historically or overwritten with new data.
When the group was created.
What Does It Mean to Store a Member Group Historically?
When you enable historical data, a copy is saved every time a custom field is updated. For example, in the Orders group, you would want to store each specific order that a customer makes.