Custom fields add your own information to events, such as a dress code, a parking note or a list of speakers. They can also add your own questions to the sign-up form, such as a T-shirt size or a dietary need.
Custom fields are part of HappenBoard Pro. See what Pro adds.
Add a field
Fields are defined under HappenBoard → Settings → Custom fields. This screen needs the Manage settings permission, which administrators have (see roles and permissions). Anyone who can edit an event can fill in its fields.
- Click Add field.
- Type a Label: the name people see next to the value, or the question visitors read.
- Check the Key. It is filled in from the label, with lowercase letters, numbers and underscores. Do not type the
_happenboard_cf_prefix shown in front of it: HappenBoard adds it. - Choose a Type (see the table below).
- If the field needs a word of explanation, write it in Help text (optional). It appears under the field.
- Choose Collected from: Event details or Attendee registration (explained below).
- Turn on Required if an answer is compulsory.
- For a dropdown or radio buttons, click Add option for each choice and fill in its Value (what is stored) and its Label (what people read).
- Click Save field.
Every change saves at once: the list has no other save button. Each row has Move up, Move down, Edit and Delete actions. The order of the list is the order of the fields everywhere.
Do not change the key of a field you already use. Values are stored under the key: with a new key the field shows empty, and the answers you collected stay behind under the old one. Each key must also be unique: if two fields share a key, only the first one in the list is kept.
Deleting a field does not erase the values stored on your events. Nothing shows them any more, and creating a field with the same key brings them back.
Choose a field type
| Type | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Text (single line) | A short answer, such as a level or a room number. |
| Text (multi-line) | A longer text. Bold, italics, links and line breaks are kept. |
| Number | A whole or decimal number, shown in your site’s number format. |
| URL | A web address, shown as a link. |
| An email address, shown as a link that opens a new message. | |
| Checkbox | A yes or no answer. |
| Select (dropdown) | One choice from a list. |
| Radio buttons | One choice from a list, with every choice visible. |
| Date | A calendar date, shown in your site’s date format. |
| File (Media Library) | A file from your Media Library, such as a programme in PDF. Event details only: never asked on public forms. |
| Repeater (list of text rows) | A list of short lines, such as the speakers. Event details only: never asked on public forms. |
A dropdown or radio field needs at least one option before it can be saved. Keep option values short and stable. You can change the labels at any time.
Event field or sign-up question
Collected from decides who fills the field in and where the answer is kept. A field is one or the other: if you need the same question in both places, create two fields.
- Event details: you fill the field in, in the Custom fields panel of the event editor sidebar. The value belongs to the event and is the same for every visitor. Show it with the Event custom fields block.
- Attendee registration: each visitor answers when signing up with the RSVP Form block, and when booking with the Ticket Picker. The answer belongs to that attendee. Appointment bookings do not ask these questions.
The Attendees screen does not show visitors’ answers. You find them in the attendee CSV export, where each field has its own column, named cf: followed by the key (see managing attendees). When you import attendees from a CSV file, a column named after a field’s key fills that field in.
WhatsApp notifications also read these answers: they take the phone number from the field keyed phone, unless you pick another key in their settings.
Make an answer required
On the sign-up form and in the Ticket Picker, a required question must be answered: the form stops and names the missing field. A required checkbox must be ticked, which suits a line such as “I accept the house rules”.
For event fields, the rule applies when the event goes live. Drafts and events pending review save as they are, so you can finish them later. Publishing or scheduling is refused while a required field is empty, with a message that names it: This field is required: Dress code.
- The rule applies however you publish. Bulk edit leaves the event as it was and reports it as skipped.
- An event published before the field became required still accepts other changes. It is only refused if a save empties the field.
- A required checkbox never blocks an event: unticked is an answer too.
- A field hidden by its conditions, or limited to other categories, is not required on that event.
Show a field only when it applies
Two parts of the field window limit where a field appears.
Under Scope, keep All events or choose Only events in specific categories and tick the categories. The field then appears only on events with at least one of those categories: in the editor, on the sign-up form and on the page.
Under Show this field only when…, click Add condition, pick the Field to watch, then an Operator: equals, does not equal or has a value. For the first two, give the Value to compare with. With two rules or more, choose ALL rules pass (AND) or ANY rule passes (OR). A rule can only watch a field collected in the same place, so an event field cannot depend on a visitor’s answer.
The editor panel reacts as you type. On the sign-up form, a hidden question is neither required nor saved. On the event page, a field hidden by its conditions is left out.
Translate fields on a multilingual site
With WPML or Polylang, HappenBoard Pro tells the translation plugin what to do with each event field. Text (single line), Text (multi-line) and Repeater (list of text rows) values are translated with the event. Every other type is copied from the original event to its translations.
Labels, help texts and option labels can be translated too: in WPML’s String Translation screen, or in Polylang under Languages → Translations. A text you leave untranslated shows as you typed it. See multilingual sites with WPML and Polylang.
Keep an event field private
Event field values are public, like the rest of the event. Anyone can read them through the WordPress REST API (the data feed that apps and other sites use), even when no block shows them.
For a value that must stay private, such as a door code, switch off Show on the event page in the field’s window. It is on by default and only offered for event fields. Off, the value stays in the event editor: the Event custom fields block does not print it and the public REST API does not send it. Visitors’ answers to sign-up questions are never public.
Next steps
- Displaying custom fields: show your event fields on the event page.
- Setting up an RSVP form: the form that asks your sign-up questions.
- Managing attendees: export the answers visitors gave.
- Migrating from another plugin: fields from The Events Calendar become custom fields.