Managing System and Custom Contact Attributes

Attributes represent different characteristics that you can measure about your customers. They serve as custom data fields that allow your business to gather structured data beyond standard contact entries, which can later be used to build precise audience segments. This lesson covers how to navigate system-default fields, create tailored single-select variables with internal descriptions, and populate these fields manually inside a contact card.

Key Takeaways

• Understanding Default System Attributes: Every new workspace auto-generates eight foundational contact attributes. These default fields include the user's avatar, email address, first name, last name, birth date, age, phone number, and physical address.

• The Unique Account Identifier: Within the default attribute set, the email address serves as the primary unique identifier for each customer. Because the platform uses it to index and track distinct profiles, it is strictly required for every customer account created on the dashboard.

• Selecting Custom Data Types: When creating a custom attribute, you can choose from a broad variety of data formats depending on your business model. Available types include URLs, colors, dates, or specialized metrics like license plates. For example, a car wash or vehicle detailing brand can use the license plate attribute type as an alternative unique identifier in place of a standard email.

• Documenting via Internal Descriptions: When building a custom attribute (e.g., labeling it "Favorite dish" to track menu preferences), you can add an optional description. This text is purely for internal purposes to provide clear context for other colleagues or staff members who share access to the dashboard. By default, all contact attributes are housed under the "Profiles" attribute group.

• Structuring Menu Options and Default Values: For single-select attributes, you must input the individual choices your customers can select (e.g., Burger, French fries, or Milkshake). The interface allows you to check a box to set any option as a pre-selected default. While a default midpoint selection is helpful for numerical rating scales to fill in blanks if a user skips a question, leaving defaults turned off is highly recommended for menu preferences to ensure an unbiased, completely accurate data response.

• Data Transparency Ledger: The bottom of each attribute's profile page features an activity log and a summary of recent asset versions. This ledger maps structural profile edits, documents exactly which team member created or modified the field, and houses a deletion module to safely remove obsolete tracking lines.

• Two Paths for Profile Capture: Gathering attribute responses can be accomplished through two distinct administrative pathways:

  • Forms Integration (Highly Efficient): You can drag your custom attribute blocks directly into your public forms to capture structured customer data automatically.

  • Manual Profile Entries: Staff can manually adjust an individual's custom metrics at any time by navigating to CRM > Contacts, opening a member's unique profile, clicking All attributes, and updating their preference values directly.

Dashboard Checklist

1. Navigate to your global Settings screen and select Attributes from the navigation menu.

2. Click Add attribute in the top right-hand corner.

3. Input a clear, customer-facing tracking name into the Label field and select your preferred format (such as Select) from the data type menu.

4. Type an internal workflow overview into the Description field to give your colleagues operational context.

5. Add your individual criteria response rows one by one, ensuring the default option selection boxes remain unchecked to preserve clean, unbiased customer results.

6. Click Create to initialize the live data tracking field.

7. (Alternative Manual Entry) Go to CRM > Contacts, click an individual contact row, open their All attributes pane, scroll to find your newly made field, select their specific preference, and hit Submit.