Here's what to check if you're seeing incorrect data (or no data) populating in your custom fields.
First, follow these steps to navigate to your custom field's settings:
1. Navigate to the editor for the form or landing page on which the field is present
Go to Landing Pages & Forms under the Grow tab in the navigation, then click on your form or landing page to access its editor.
2. Click on the custom field in question
Once you click on the custom field in the editor, the sidebar will display its configuration options:
From there, please verify the following:
✔️ You're not using the designated email field to collect custom field data
Every opt-in created on ConvertKit has a field that is designated to collect email addresses only. It's also the only field on your opt-in that is mandatory; it cannot be deleted or made optional.
As a result, it has different settings available than the other form fields. Also, any data submitted in this field will be validated as to whether it's in the format of an email address, so attempting to use this field to collect anything other than email addresses will result in validation errors when submitting your form.
To check for this, take a look at your custom field's sidebar settings. They should look something like this:
Compare that to the designated email address field's settings, which will look something like this (note the fewer settings available):
👆 Specifically, note how you do not have the "Custom field" dropdown available on the designated email address field. This is because this field has to be mapped to the email address field in your account, and that can't be changed. Changing the label will only affect what placeholder text is displayed on the form — not where the data gets sent in your account.
To resolve this, you'll need to switch up your fields' settings so that your custom field is not set up in place of the designated email address field. You can verify this by confirming that your custom field's sidebar settings panel looks like the top screenshot in this section.
✔️ Your custom field already exists in your account, and is mapped correctly
If you haven't created the custom field in your account yet, you'll need to do that first before you can map your form or landing page's field to it. Don't worry, we have a separate tutorial on that here!
Once your custom field exists, you need to map your form's field to that field in your account, so that ConvertKit knows where to send the data. You can verify the custom field is mapped to the correct field in your account under the "Custom field" dropdown, in its sidebar settings.
In the example below, this form's field is mapped to the custom field in the account that is called "Last name" (see top dropdown). The "Custom field label" underneath it is the placeholder text, or prompt, displayed on your form. So in many cases, it will be the same as the field selected in the dropdown above it:
NOTE: The "Custom field label" setting has to do with only what the field is labeled as on your form. As a result, changing the field's label will have no effect on where that field's data is sent or stored within your ConvertKit account.
✔️ [Optional] Your custom field is marked as "Required"
If you've verified all of the above and still are not receiving custom field data, it's possible that the field is not marked as "Required", and some subscribers are simply opting to leave it blank when submitting the form.
If you'd like to make your custom field required for submission of the form, you'll need to ensure this box is checked on its sidebar settings:
If you're still having trouble after trying all of these troubleshooting steps, please reach out to us and we'll take a look!