Creating and Managing Fields

Fields are the essential building blocks for creating standardized Conventions. Each field represents a single piece of information, like a dropdown menu, a date, or a fixed text value.

This article provides a complete reference for all field parameters and walks you through creating, editing, and deleting fields with a practical example.

1. Understanding Field Parameters

Before creating a field, it’s important to understand the settings that are available. When you create or edit a field, you’ll see several parameters that define how the field behaves.

A. Navigate to the Fields Section

This is where you’ll manage and create all your fields.

1. Navigate to Tools > Conventions > Fields.
2. Click the Create a New Field button to start creating a field.

B. Field Parameters Explained

When you create or edit a field, you will see the following parameters:

• Name: Give your field a descriptive name that is easy to understand (e.g., "Campaign Type," "Publish Date").
• Description: Add a short description to explain the field's purpose. This helps your team understand what to enter.
• Show description as help text: Check this box to display the description as a helpful tooltip next to the field in the URL builder.
• Required: Check this box to make the field mandatory. Users will not be able to build a URL without completing this field.

• Only applicable when: This allows you to create dependent fields. You can make a field appear only when a specific option is chosen in another field. For example, a "Lead Magnet Name" field could appear only when the "Email Source" is set to "leads." Leave this blank if there is no dependency.

• Type: This defines how the field functions. There are four types to choose from.
  • Option
  • Date
  • Text
  • Constant
• Prefix: Enter text that will be automatically added to the beginning of any value a user enters (e.g., date_, ad_).
• Suffix: Enter text that will be automatically added to the end of any value a user enters (e.g., _date, _us).

Field Types and Their Specific Options

1. Option: Use this type to create a dropdown menu with a predefined list of choices.

• Option values: Add the items you want to appear in the dropdown menu. You can add a name and a description for each option to provide extra guidance for your team.
• Free text allowed: Check this box to allow users to type a custom value that is not in the list (only if required).
• Maximum no. of characters: If free text is allowed, you can set a character limit for the custom entry.
• Allowed characters: If free text is allowed, you can restrict which characters users can type (e.g., only letters and numbers).

2. Date: Use this type to add a date picker.

• Date Format: Choose from a list of available date formats (e.g., YYYY-MM-DD, MM_DD_YY, YYYY_MM).

3. Text: Use this type to create a simple text input field for custom values.

• Maximum no. of characters: Set a character limit to keep inputs within a specific length.
• Allowed characters: Specify which characters can be used. You can select a predefined group (like letters or numbers) or type individual allowed characters (like _ or -). If nothing is specified, all characters are allowed.

4. Constant: Use this type when the value should always be the same and cannot be changed by the user.

• Value: Enter the fixed text that will always be used for this field (e.g., cpc, social).

2. How to Create a Field?

Let's create the fields needed for a paid social media campaign. Suppose your UTM parameters need to look like this:

Step 1: Identify the Underlying Fields 

First, we generalize the parameters into field components:

Step 2: Define the Fields 

Based on the breakdown, we need to create five distinct fields:

• Campaign Type: A dropdown with options like productlaunch, retargeting, etc.
• MonthYear: A date field with a YYYY_MM format.
• Ad Medium: A constant field with the value cpc.
• Platform: A dropdown with options like facebook, linkedin, etc.
• Ad Variation: A text field for entering ad names like ad1, ad_A.

Step 3: Create the Fields

Now that you understand the available parameters, it’s time to create the fields you’ll need for this convention.

1. Navigate to Tools > Conventions > Fields.
2. Click the Create a New Field button to create each of the five fields above.

A. Create the 'Campaign Type' Field

This field will let users choose between productlaunch, retargeting, and brandawareness.

• Name: Campaign Type
• Description: Type of campaign (launch, retargeting, brand)
• Show description as help text: Check this box.
• Type: Select Option.
• Option values: Add productlaunch, retargeting, and brandawareness.
• Click Save.

B. Create the 'MonthYear' Field

This field will be a date picker.

• Name: MonthYear
• Type: Select Date.
• Date Format: Choose a format that shows year and month, such as YYYY_MM.
• Click Save.

C. Create the 'Ad Medium' Field

This field will always be cpc, so we will set it as a constant value.

• Name: Ad Medium
• Type: Select Constant.
• Value: cpc
• Click Save.

D. Create the 'Platform' Field

• Name: Platform
• Type: Select Option.
• Option values: Add facebook, linkedin, and twitter.
• Click Save.

E. Create the 'Ad Variation' Field

• Name: Ad Variation
• Type: Select Text.
• Description: Enter the ad variation (e.g., ad1, ad2, ad_launch).
• Maximum no. of characters: 10
• Allowed characters: Select a group like Letters (A-Z, a-z) and Numbers (0-9), or manually add _, -, etc to the characters box.
• Click Save.

3. How to Edit a Field?

You can easily edit fields from the Fields list page.

1. Navigate to Tools > Conventions > Fields.
2. Find the field you wish to change in the list.
3. Click the Edit (pencil) icon next to it.
4. Make your desired changes to the parameters and click Save.

4. How to Delete a Field?

If a field is no longer needed, you can permanently remove it from the Fields list page.

1. Navigate to Tools > Conventions > Fields.
2. Find the field you wish to delete.
3. Click the Delete (trash bin) icon next to it.

4. A confirmation dialog will appear. Click the Delete field to permanently remove it.

Best Practices for Managing Fields

• Prefer Dropdowns for Consistency: To avoid typos and variations (linkedin vs. LinkedIn), use the Option (dropdown) field type whenever you have a standard set of values. Use the Text type only when values are truly unique.
• Use Clear, Descriptive Names: Name fields based on their purpose (e.g., "Email Audience" instead of "source_list"). This makes them easier to find and reuse.
• Leverage Help Text: Always add a clear Description and check the Show description as help text box. This provides inline guidance for your team directly in the URL builder, reducing mistakes.
• Create Smart Dependencies: Use the Only applicable when setting to hide irrelevant fields and simplify the builder for your users. For example, an "Ad Set Name" field should only appear when the "Channel" field is set to "PPC."
• Keep Your Fields Tidy: Periodically review your list of fields. If a field was for a one-time project or is no longer in use, delete it to keep your workspace clean and easy to navigate.