Setting up custom sections for every form

The purpose of this article is to help you learn:

What is a custom section
How to add a custom section
How to add custom fields
How to reorder your custom sections and fields
How to edit, deactivate, and delete custom sections and fields

What are custom sections?

Custom sections can be added to your booking form to gather or share specific information not covered in other sections of the form.

In the example above, the "Location Questions" and "Pet Questions" areas on this booking form are custom sections. In these sections, there are several different questions for the customer to select as they fill out the form.

Custom sections can be inserted into almost any step of the booking form.

In the example above, a custom section was used to create "About Our Flat Rate Services". This custom section has been inserted below the Extras section and before the Customer Details section.

Adding an Individual Custom Field

To create a new custom section field, go to:

Settings > Industries > [Industry Name] > Form [#] > Custom Sections

On the Custom Sections main page, click the blue "Add New" button at the top-right corner of the screen.

Next, select Add Individual Custom Field.

You will be redirected to an Add Custom Field page on the Details tab.

Individual Custom Field Details Tab

Enter the Name of the new field. Check the box next to Different on customer end if you would like the customer-facing form to say something different. Then, enter the alternative text into the field below.

Next, decide if you would like the custom field to carry a price by checking the box next to Would you like to enable pricing for this field? If pricing is enabled, there are several additional settings that can be enabled.

Next, check the box next Would you like to apply tax to this field? If this has been selected, you will also be asked Where would you like to place this field?

Before the frequency discount - Tax is calculated on this
After the frequency discount - Tax is calculated
After the discounted total - Applied after all discounts including the frequency discount

If you select Before the frequency discount or After the frequency discount, you have an additional option, Would you like to include the custom field as a separate charge? If you check the box next to this option, decide if the price will be calculated solely based on time, calculated solely based on the specified amount, or Both.

Field Types

Next, select the type of field this will be.

Text - Inserts a smaller one-line text box for the customer to respond in.
Text Area - Inserts a large multline text box for the customer to respond in.
Dropdown - Inserts a drop-down menu with one or more options to select.
Checkbox - Inserts one or more options with boxes in which the customer can select one or more options.
Radio Button - Inserts one or more options with radio buttons, in which the customer can select one option only
Date picker - Inserts a calendar box in which the customer can pick one option for the date
Time picker - Inerts a clock box in which the customer can pick one option for the time
Priceable Input - Sets one price that can be edited by the admin/staff at the time of booking.
Quantity Based - Sets a manual or multiply rate for one or more options from a quantity bar.
Note - Add text for the customer to read (no options for responses).
Image - Add an image for the customer to view.
Video - Add a video for the customer to watch.

Add An Option (For Dropdown, Checkbox, and Radio Button Types)

For Dropdown, Checkbox, and Radio Button field types, add one or more options by clicking the blue Add a new option button to the right of the Field Type.

Enter the name of the option and then enter a price in the boxes below (S.A. for service area and M.L. for merchant location/online). You can optionally enable a message to show when the customer selects this option.

If there are multiple fields in the system already, one can set up dependencies from one field on another.

To do so, check the boxes next to the fields you would like to associate with this field's option.

Then click the blue Add or Update button to save the option to the custom field. Once an option has been added, it can be edited and/or deleted.

Help Text

Add optional Help Text in the form of a tooltip or a text description.

A tooltip is a symbol that displays a sentence or short paragraph of text when hovered over with one's cursor.
A description is a sentence or short paragraph that adds further clarification to the field, displayed below the main field.

Which customers would you like to apply this field to?

For this option, decide if this new custom field should be applied to all customer's bookings, or only new customer's bookings moving forward.

If you select All customers, decide if the new custom field will be applied to All bookings, or if you'd like to exclude bookings that have already been charged.

Required

Next, decide if this custom field is required for the customer to complete in order to book a service. If so, check the box next to where it says Required. If you would like to exclude this requirement for completed and charges bookings, check the box next to where it says Exclude required validation on completed and charged bookings?.

Display

Next, decide who you would like to see this field.

Customer frontend, backend & admin - Both new and existing customers as well as the admin and staff can view this field.
Customer backend & admin -Only existing customers and admin/staff will be able to see this field.
Admin only - Only staff and admin will be able to see this field on the booking form.

Provider View and Payment

If you would like to hide this field from the provider(s), check the box next to Exclude this field from the provider's view.

Under What amount would you like to allocate as payment to the provider(s)?, select one of the following options:

Full - The provider will receive the entire payment for this field. For example, if the field costs $40, the provider will have $40 added to their payment.
Partial -The provider will receive a partial payment for this field, either a fixed rate or a percentage-based rate. For example, if it is set to 50% and the field costs $40, the provider will have $20 added to their payment.
None - The provider will not receive any payment related to the customer's payment of this field. If the field costs $40, the provider will receive $0 in payment.

Specify where to apply this custom field.

Decide if this custom field will be applied to all bookings in the case of a recurring series, or if it will only be applied to the first appointment in a recurring series.

Specify where you would like to include this custom information for your notifications.

Decide if you would like to show the information from your custom section in your notifications to your customers, providers, and admin/staff.

At the bottom of the page, click the blue Next button.

Individual Custom Field Dependencies Tab

The second tab on the Add Custom Field page displays the other sections in your booking form to set up dependencies for when this field is displayed or hidden.

If you have multiple booking forms and would like to add this custom field to any of those forms, select Yes to the question Would you like to add this custom field to other booking forms? then check the boxes next to each form you would like to apply this field to.

Below, select which form elements (locations, frequencies, service categories, variables, items, packages, extras, etc.) will display this custom field. For example, the dependencies shown below indicate the field will be shown for all frequencies and service categories but only customers in "The Loop" location.

For the Extras dependencies section, there is an additional feature where you can decide whether the selected parameter should match the Exact combination (all checked parameters must match the booking exactly), Any combination (at least one of the checked parameters must match the booking), or Mixed combination (as long as an unselected option is not selected on the booking, the custom field will be displayed)

For example, in a scenario with 5 parameters, "P1", "P2", "P3", "P4", and "P5", assuming you've selected P1, P2, and P3, here is how each option operates:

Exact: This option necessitates the selection of all 3 checked parameters (P1, P2, and P3) to display the custom field on the booking form.

Any: With this option, the custom field will be visible on the booking form if at least one of the checked parameters (P1, P2, or P3) is selected.

Mixed: In this case, the custom field remains displayed unless any parameter not initially selected (such as P4 or P5) is chosen. If P4 or P5 is selected alongside P1, P2, or P3, the custom field will not appear on the booking form.

Save

Once you are finished setting up the custom field, click the blue "Save" button at the bottom of the page.

Once you do, you will see a pop-up message confirming that your custom field has been added successfully.

If you wish to rearrange the default order in which the custom section appears on the booking form, click the blue "Rearrange" button to open the Website & Theme Builder in a separate tab.

Otherwise, you can click Close and you will be redirected back to the main Custom Section dashboard.

Adding Custom Field Groups

Once more than one custom field has been added, they will be grouped together in a custom group. To edit the group name, select Options below the Actions column and select Edit.

You can also add a brand new group by clicking the blue Add New button and selecting Add Group.

A pop-up will appear where you can enter the name of the the new section and decide if it should be included in any other forms.

Then, click the blue "Save" button to save the group.

Add Custom Fields to a Specific Group

To see and add more custom fields to a group, click Options below the Actions column and select See/Add Custom Fields.

It is possible to deactivate custom groups and fields by using Options then Deactivate, or delete is permanently by using Options then Delete.

Changing the Custom Fields Order

If you have added multiple custom sections, you can change the order in which they are displayed on your booking form. Go to:

Settings > Industries > [Industry Name] > Form [#] > Custom Sections > Options > Add/View Custom Fields

To change the order, click and hold the field to drag and drop it into a new position in the list.

Once you are satisfied with the order, click the blue "Update Priority" button at the bottom of the page.

A green system notification will appear in the top-right corner of the page, letting you know the priority has been updated successfully.

Changing the Custom Fields Group Order

If you have multiple fields within a custom section, you can also change the order in which they are displayed in that section. Go to:

Settings > Website Buidler & Themes > Customize Theme> Page menu > Book Now page

Click the grey Rearrange button beneath the form number and industry name you would like to rearrange.

Drag and drop the custom field groups by clicking on their name and placing it in a new order on the list. Then remember to click Save & Publish to update your booking form when you are ready for the changes to go live.