Contact fields let course providers collect and store information about the people on their contact list, such as phone numbers, dietary requirements, or licence numbers. Contact field values are saved on the contact record, so the same fields can be reused across multiple forms, autofilled for returning customers at checkout, and viewed in contacts, Registrations, exports, and integrations.
This article is for course providers and admins.
Contact fields vs Registration fields
Cademy fields are grouped by what the information is about. The Fields page in Settings has tabs for Contacts, Registrations, Organisations, Courses, Occurrences, and Users. This article covers contact fields.
The most important distinction to understand is between contact fields and Registration fields, because both are often used together on the same checkout form:
Contact fields store information about a person. Values are saved on the contact record and follow that person across bookings. Examples: phone number, passport or licence number, dietary requirements.
Registration fields store information about one specific Registration. Values are saved on the Registration, not the contact.
Use a contact field when the answer is about the person and stays true across bookings. Use a Registration field when the answer only applies to one booking.
Who can use contact fields
Contact fields are available on all plans. There are no plan-specific limits.
Managing fields in Settings requires the Course Owner role or higher.
Facilitators can edit contact details from the Registration side sheet for Registrations they have access to. Wider admin and order areas remain restricted for facilitators.
Customers and learners fill in contact fields during checkout. Learners can also edit their own contact details from their course dashboard after logging in.
Create a contact field
Follow these steps to create a contact field in Settings.
Go to Admin dashboard > Settings > Fields.
Stay on the Contacts tab.
Click New Field.
Pick a field type.
Fill in the field options, such as the label, description, placeholder, and options.
Click Save Field.
Once a field is created, it can be used across any of your forms. Creating a field does not show it at checkout by itself. The field must also be added to a form.
Available field types
Text
Text Area
Date
Number
True/False (Boolean)
Telephone
Email
Website
File Upload
Address
Multiple Choice Checkboxes
Single Choice Options
Dropdown
Statement
Field settings
Label: shown to customers on public forms. Every field must have a label.
Internal name: shown in the Admin dashboard, tables, and exports. If left blank, the public label is used instead. This is useful when the public label is long or customer-facing wording and you want a clearer admin name.
Description and placeholder text.
Allow Autocomplete: controls whether the field autofills at checkout using the value already saved on the contact. This is enabled by default. It is not available for Statement or File Upload fields.
Options: Dropdown, Single Choice Options, and Multiple Choice Checkboxes fields must have at least 1 option.
File Upload field settings
Max files: between 1 and 10. The default is 1.
Max file size per file: a positive whole number of MB, up to 50MB. The default is 10MB.
Max files multiplied by max file size must be 100MB or less. Customers cannot upload more than 100MB in total for a field.
Accepted file types: exact file types, wildcard types such as image/*, or extensions such as .pdf. If no accepted file types are set, any file type is allowed.
System contact fields
Cademy includes built-in system contact fields: First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone, Address, Organisation, Tags, and Marketing Consent. System fields are shown with a lock in the Settings field list and cannot be deleted.
For First Name, Last Name, and Email:
They are always required on checkout forms, and their required setting is locked in the form editor.
For all system fields:
Their labels and descriptions cannot be edited globally from Settings. Their labels can be overridden per form in the form editor.
Organise fields into sections
On the Contact Fields page in Settings, fields can be grouped into sections.
Go to Admin dashboard > Settings > Fields.
On the Contacts tab, click Add Section.
Drag fields into the section.
Good to know:
Fields that are not in a section appear under Unsectioned Fields.
Deleting a section does not delete the fields in it. The fields become unsectioned.
Reordering fields and editing sections is saved automatically to your account settings.
Add a contact field to a form
Follow these steps to add an existing contact field to a form.
Go to Admin dashboard > Settings > Forms and open the form you want to edit.
In the Contact Fields section, click Add Field.
Search under Contact fields.
Select the field.
The field is added to the form.
Create a new contact field from the form editor
Follow these steps to create a contact field without leaving the form editor.
Go to Admin dashboard > Settings > Forms, open the form, and click Add Field in the Contact Fields section.
Under Create new, choose New Contact Field…
Pick a field type under Pick a Field Type.
Configure the field.
Click Create Field.
The field is created globally and added to the current form at the same time, so it can also be reused on other forms.
Editing a field affects all forms
A contact field's definition is shared. Changes to a field apply across all forms that use it. The form editor shows this warning when editing an existing field: "Remember, changes made here will affect all forms using this field."
Per-form settings
The field itself is global and reusable, but some behaviour is set per form from the field's card in the form editor:
Required: available for all field types except Statement.
Additional validation rules:
Pattern (regex) validation for Text, Text Area, Website, Email, and Telephone fields.
Minimum and maximum values for Number and Date fields. For example, a Date field can show "Please enter a date between <min> and <max>" if the customer's answer is outside the range.
Hide if booker not attending: hides the field when the person booking is not attending. Hidden fields are also skipped in validation.
Label override for system fields.
Field width.
These settings only apply to the form they are set on. The same field can be required on one form and optional on another.
How contact fields work at checkout
Contact fields appear on the Your Details step of checkout, on custom checkout forms, and on guest or attendee forms when guest details are collected.
Autofill for returning customers
If Cademy already has data for the contact, eligible fields are filled in automatically. A saved value is not used to prefill a field when:
the field is a File Upload field
Allow Autocomplete is turned off for the field
the field is a Registration field
Organisation details at checkout
Organisation details have their own autofill behaviour, separate from contact fields:
If the contact is already linked to an organisation, that organisation's details can be filled in on the form.
If linking organisations by email domain is enabled, the customer's email domain can be used to select or fill in the organisation automatically. This is also used as a fallback if a previously linked organisation has been deleted.
If an organisation must be selected and the customer has not selected one, the customer sees "Please select or create an organisation".
Duplicate email addresses
Each participant in a checkout must have a unique email address. If the same email is entered twice, the customer sees "The email address <email> is duplicated." on the field and "All participants must have unique email addresses" on the form, and cannot submit until it is fixed.
File uploads at checkout
If an uploaded file does not meet the field's settings, the customer sees a message explaining the problem, such as "Upload no more than X file(s)", "<filename> must be XMB or smaller", "Upload no more than 100MB in total", or "<filename> is not allowed" for a file type that is not accepted.
How values are saved
If the person does not exist as a contact yet, a contact is created.
If the contact already exists, it is updated. Empty answers do not blank existing values: if a contact already has a value saved for a field and the customer leaves that field empty, the saved value is kept.
Learners can edit their own contact details
After booking, learners can update their own contact details:
The learner logs in to their learner account.
The learner opens their course. Their contact details are shown on that course dashboard.
The learner clicks the three dots button on their contact and edits their contact details.
View and edit contact field values in the Admin dashboard
Contact field values can be viewed and edited from these places:
The contact page and the Contact Details side sheet.
The Registration side sheet, where contact fields appear under All Contact Fields and Registration fields appear under All Registration Fields.
The Create Contact flow when creating a new contact from a contact picker.
Good to know:
Edits save directly to the contact record. A "Contact details updated" message confirms the save. If the save fails, the value changes back to what it was before and an error message is shown.
The email field cannot be edited from the Registration side sheet. To change a contact's email address, go to the contact's page and change the email on the contact. Cademy checks the consequences of the change first, and a merge confirmation step may appear if the email belongs to another contact.
To merge a contact with a different contact, click the three dots button on the contact's page and select the merge option.
A Manage contact fields link is available from some admin surfaces to jump to field settings. This link is restricted by role.
Contact fields in imports, exports, and integrations
Imports
Custom contact fields are available as columns in contact imports, alongside built-in fields such as first name, last name, email, phone, tags, organisation, and address parts.
Address fields expand into multiple import columns.
File Upload and Statement fields cannot be imported.
Exports
Contact fields are included in Registration exports and order exports.
Export column headers use the field's internal name. If no internal name is set, the public label is used.
Zapier
Order and Registration Zapier triggers include the contact's field values as labelled fields with a contact_field prefix, so they can be mapped in Zaps.
Good to know
Contact field values belong to the contact, not to one booking. The same value appears wherever that contact is shown.
Editing a field changes it on every form that uses it.
Creating a field alone does not show it at checkout. Add it to a form first.
Organisation details collected at checkout are handled separately from contact fields and are saved to the organisation, not the contact.
Frequently asked questions
If a customer fills in a contact field, does the answer apply to just that booking?
No. Contact field values are saved on the contact record and follow the person across bookings. If you need an answer for one specific booking, use a Registration field instead.
Why did a field not autofill at checkout?
File Upload fields never autofill, and fields with Allow Autocomplete turned off do not autofill. Registration fields do not autofill either. Autofill also only works when Cademy already has a saved value for that contact.
If I edit a contact field, does it change on my other forms?
Yes. The field definition is shared, so changes apply to every form that uses the field. Required, hidden, and width settings are per form and do not change other forms.
Can I make the same field required on one form but optional on another?
Yes. Required is a per-form setting.
Can a customer clear a saved value by leaving the field empty at checkout?
No. Empty answers at checkout do not remove existing saved values on the contact.
Why can I not edit the email address from the Registration side sheet?
The email field is not editable there. To change a contact's email address, go to the contact's page and change the email on the contact. Cademy checks the consequences first and may ask you to confirm a merge if another contact already uses that email address.
Can learners update their own contact details?
Yes. After logging in to their learner account and opening their course, learners can see their contact on that course dashboard. Clicking the three dots button lets them edit their contact details.
Do I need a specific plan to use contact fields?
No. Contact fields are available on all plans, with no plan-specific limits.
Can facilitators update a contact's details?
Yes. Facilitators can edit contact details from the Registration side sheet for Registrations they have access to. Managing the fields themselves in Settings requires the Course Owner role or higher.
Can I delete the first name, last name, or email fields?
No. System fields, shown with a lock in the Settings field list, cannot be deleted. First Name, Last Name, and Email are also always required at checkout.
Does deleting a section delete the fields inside it?
No. The fields are kept and move to Unsectioned Fields.
Can I use contact field values in booking emails?
No. Custom contact fields are not available as mail merge tags in booking emails.
Can I use a different name for a field in my admin tables and exports?
Yes. Set an internal name on the field. The internal name is used in the Admin dashboard and export headers, while customers still see the public label on forms.