Adding custom fields to users

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Admins and agents with permissions can create custom user fields to store additional customer details, enhancing user profiles. On Enterprise plans, visibility and editing permissions depend on custom roles. On other plans, fields are visible to all agents, but only those with full ticket access can edit them. You can also clone existing fields to streamline the setup process.
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<p class="p" dir="ltr">Admins and <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408882153882" target="_blank">agents in custom roles with permissions</a> can create <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408838961562" target="_blank">numerous types of custom user fields</a> and add them to user profiles
to store additional customer details. </p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">On Enterprise plans and above, custom user fields are visible to agents based on
their custom role. In addition, agents must have the <strong class="ph b">Manage user fields</strong> permission
enabled for their role to edit end user fields.</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">On all other plans, custom user fields are visible to all agents. Only agents
with access to all tickets can edit custom user fields for end users. They can also edit
these fields for themselves, but not other agents.</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">End users can’t see or edit custom user fields.</p>
<div class="p">This article contains the following topics:<ul class="ul" id="topic-1__ul_fvc_fgg_4rb">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_1l5_cvp_5k">Creating custom user fields</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_yb2_1ph_htb">Cloning custom user fields</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="p">Related articles:<ul class="ul" id="topic-1__ul_n2k_htg_htb">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4410715696410" target="_blank">Managing custom user fields</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4409148741786" target="_blank">Recipe for the customer-centric company: Collect customer insights and
act on them</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
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<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_1l5_cvp_5k">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">Creating custom user fields</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Administrators and <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408882153882" target="_blank">agents in custom roles with permission</a> can create
user custom fields.</p>
<div class="p">
<strong class="ph b">To add a custom user field</strong><ol class="ol" id="topic_1l5_cvp_5k__ol_mst_est_kc">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click <img class="image" id="topic_1l5_cvp_5k__d8e698" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_people_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">People</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Configuration &gt; User fields</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Add field</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Select a <strong class="ph b">field type</strong>.<p class="p">For information about the field types, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408838961562" target="_blank">About custom field types</a>. Credit card fields are not
supported for users.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Enter a <strong class="ph b">Display name</strong>.<p class="p">When naming custom fields, don't use reserved system or
feature names such as "channel." These names are reserved by Zendesk and won't work in
custom fields.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Verify that the <strong class="ph b">field key</strong> is the value you want it to be.<p class="p">A field key enables
the custom field to be referenced in placeholders and the API. When you enter a name
for the field, the field key is automatically populated. If you want the name and key
to be different, you must edit the field key. You can't change the field key after you
create the custom user field.</p>
<div class="note" id="topic_1l5_cvp_5k__note_anc_zxs_mhc">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> Avoid using <strong class="ph b">id</strong>,
<strong class="ph b">name</strong>, <strong class="ph b">tags</strong>, <strong class="ph b">details</strong>, <strong class="ph b">role</strong>, and <strong class="ph b">notes</strong> for field
keys, as these are used by system fields and can cause issues if they overlap. For a
complete list of standard system user properties, see the Zendesk <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408886858138" target="_blank">placeholder documentation</a>.</div>
</li>
<li class="li">(Optional) Add a <strong class="ph b">Description</strong> for the custom field. This is visible to admins
only.</li>
<li class="li">Set other properties for your field. Options vary depending on the type of field you
are adding.<ul class="ul" id="topic_1l5_cvp_5k__ul_dqz_z24_htb">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Field option</strong> (checkbox fields only, optional):<p class="p">Enter a tag to apply to a ticket when the checkbox is selected.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Field validation</strong> (regex fields only):<p class="p">Enter a regular expression to create an input mask to validate entry.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Field values </strong> (drop-down and multi-select fields): <ul class="ul" id="topic_1l5_cvp_5k__d9e30">
<li class="li">Enter a value for each option to include in the list, along with an
associated tag.<p class="p">Each tag must be unique (see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408881943194" target="_blank">Understanding tags and
fields</a>). You can <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408836502682" target="_blank">bulk import</a> field values if
you have a large number to add. Click the <strong class="ph b">X</strong> to remove a
value.</p>
</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr"> Click <strong class="ph b">Sort ascending</strong> or use the grabber icon (<img class="image" id="topic_1l5_cvp_5k__d9e51" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/drag_and_drop_handle.png" width="16">) to manually reorder the field
values.</li>
<li class="li">To create a nested drop-down list, separate categories and values with a
double colon (::). See <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408829395738" target="_blank">Organizing drop-down
lists</a>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Related object</strong> and <strong class="ph b">Set a filter</strong> (lookup relationship fields
only)<p class="p">Select the type of object to relate, and optionally define filters that
restrict possible values for the field. See <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4591924111770#topic_kmz_wl3_ttb" target="_blank">Adding lookup relationship
fields</a>.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="li">(Enterprise plans only) Select an option for <strong class="ph b">Select how field permissions are
assigned to role</strong>:<ul class="ul" id="topic_1l5_cvp_5k__ul_y5p_3xy_j3c">
<li class="li">Select <strong class="ph b">All roles can view this field</strong> to make the field visible to agents in
all custom roles.</li>
<li class="li">Select <strong class="ph b">Manually assign permissions for existing roles</strong> to make the field
visible to agents in select custom roles. Then, select the <strong class="ph b">View</strong> check box for
each role to give agents in that role view permissions.</li>
</ul>
<p class="p">See <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4410715696410" target="_blank">Managing custom user fields</a> for more
information on view permissions, including limitations.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong> or, to create another custom field, click the drop-down icon and
select <strong class="ph b">Save and add another</strong>.<p class="p">New fields are active by default and are added to
all users.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">If needed, you can <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4420210121114#topic_j2z_wy5_dfc" target="_blank">reorder your custom user fields</a>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_yb2_1ph_htb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">Cloning custom user fields</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Administrators and agents in custom roles with permission can create new custom fields from
scratch or clone existing user fields and modify them as needed.</p>
<div class="p">
<strong class="ph b">To clone a custom user field</strong><ol class="ol" id="topic_yb2_1ph_htb__ol_ly4_v1h_htb">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click <img class="image" id="topic_yb2_1ph_htb__d8e698" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_people_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">People</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Configuration &gt; User fields</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">Hover over the row of the user field you want to clone, then click the option menu
icon (<img class="image" id="topic_yb2_1ph_htb__image_yhn_4dh_htb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/uc_options_icon.png">) and select <strong class="ph b">Clone</strong>.<p class="p">A detailed view of the user
field's settings is displayed.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Edit the <strong class="ph b">Display name</strong> and <strong class="ph b">Field key</strong> so that they are unique.<p class="p">The field
key is populated by the field name, but you can edit it when creating the custom
field. You can't change the field key after the custom field is created. The field key
can be used to reference the custom field in placeholders and the API.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Set any other options for your field and review permissions (Enterprise plans only),
depending on the type.</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.<p class="p">New user fields are active by default and are added to all
organizations.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">If needed, you can <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4420210121114#topic_wnt_bz5_dfc" target="_blank">reorder your custom user fields</a>.</li>
</ol>
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