Custom fields let you track information Deskie does not have a built-in field for. You define your own fields once in Settings, and they appear on the add and edit forms and detail pages for the records you chose. Use them for things like a member's birthday or a copy of their ID, the number of speakers in a meeting room, whether an office has a window, or a wiring diagram for a piece of equipment. Custom fields are workspace-defined, so every space tracks exactly what matters to it.
Which records support custom fields
Custom fields can be added to three kinds of record:
- Members: tracked on each member's profile. Member fields are visible to your staff only. See Managing members.
- Assets: tracked on offices, desks, mailboxes, and other assets. Asset fields can optionally be shown on your public website. See Assets.
- Resources: tracked on bookable rooms and other resources. Resource fields can optionally be shown on your public website. See Resources.
Each record type has its own separate list of fields. A field you create for assets does not appear on members or resources, and the order you set is kept per record type.
Field types
When you create a field you choose its type, which controls how it is filled in and how it displays. Eight types are available:
- Text: a single line of text, up to 500 characters.
- Long text: a multi-line text area for longer notes, up to 10,000 characters.
- Number: a numeric value.
- Yes / No: a simple toggle that stores Yes or No.
- Date: a single calendar date.
- Dropdown: a list of options you define, where the person filling in the record picks one. Dropdown fields need at least one option.
- Image: an uploaded image (JPEG, PNG, or WebP).
- File: an uploaded image or PDF, for example a copy of an ID or a spec sheet. Uploads are limited to 10MB each.
Creating and editing fields
Custom fields are managed in Settings, Custom Fields. This area requires admin-level access, and creating, editing, reordering, or deleting field definitions requires the Manage Workspace permission. See Roles and permissions.
At the top of the page, switch between the Members, Assets, and Resources tabs to manage that record type's fields. To add a field, click Add Field and provide:
- Name: what the field is called, for example "Birthday" or "Chromecast capability". This label appears on the forms, on detail pages, and, for public fields, on your website.
- Type: one of the eight field types above.
- Options: for dropdown fields only, the list of choices. Type an option and press Enter to add it, and remove options with the x next to each one.
- Show on website: for asset and resource fields only, a toggle that makes filled-in values appear on the public detail page. This option is not shown for member fields, which are always internal.
Fields are listed in the order they will appear on the forms and pages. Drag the handle on the left of any field to reorder it, and the new order saves automatically. Use the edit (pencil) icon to rename a field, change its type, adjust dropdown options, or toggle website visibility.
Deleting a field
Deleting a field removes it from the forms, detail pages, and website. Values that members or staff already filled in are kept behind the scenes rather than erased, so if you recreate the same field later the saved values come back. This makes deleting safe to do without losing data.
Asking new members during onboarding
Custom fields on the member record can be collected automatically when a new member onboards. When editing a member field, turn on Show during onboarding and the field becomes a question in an Additional Info step of the public onboarding flow, right after the personal information step. Ticking Required during onboarding means the member must answer before they can continue; otherwise the question can be skipped.
Answers land on the member's record exactly as if an admin had typed them in, so everything below about viewing and editing values applies. Image and file fields cannot be flagged for onboarding, since the onboarding flow has no upload step; every other field type is available. Fields without the flag are unaffected and remain admin-only, so you can mix a few onboarding questions with a larger internal set. See Inviting people and onboarding for the flow the member walks through.
Entering values on a record
Once a field is defined, it appears in a Custom Fields section on the matching add and edit form. For example, asset fields show up when you add or edit an asset. Each field renders the right input for its type: a text box, a number input, a date picker, a Yes/No switch, a dropdown, or an upload button for images and files. Leaving a field blank is always allowed, so you only fill in what applies to each record.
On the detail page for a member, asset, or resource, the same fields are shown read-only, so anyone with access can see the values at a glance. If no custom fields are defined for a record type, the section is hidden entirely, so workspaces that do not use the feature never see it.
Filling in custom field values requires the permission to manage that record type. Members are managed with the Manage Members permission, assets with Manage Assets, and resources with Manage Resources, so the same people who already edit those records can fill in their custom fields.
Showing fields on your public website
Asset and resource fields can be shown on your public website by turning on Show on website for the field. When that is on, any filled-in value appears in the details on that asset's or resource's public detail page. Fields with nothing filled in are not shown, and empty values never create blank rows.
Each type displays in a reader-friendly way on the website: Yes/No fields show as Yes or No, dates show as a formatted date, images show as a thumbnail, and files show as a View link. This is a good way to surface details that help people decide, such as a room's seating capacity, AV equipment, or whether an office has natural light. Member fields are never shown publicly.
Public fields appear on whichever website template you use, and they look their best on a fully branded site reached through your own domain. See Custom domain.
Tips
- Keep field names short and clear, since the name is the label everyone sees.
- Use a dropdown instead of free text when you want consistent, comparable values across records.
- For asset and resource fields, decide up front whether each one is internal or public. Anything that helps a prospective booker belongs on the website, while internal notes should stay off it.
- If you change a field's type after values have been entered, existing values are preserved and continue to display, even if they no longer match the new type.
