About Custom Fields for Programs

If you want to associate information with programs, beyond what the standard program fields allow, you can create custom fields. Newly created program custom fields have corresponding smart tags assigned. This feature enables you to include smart tags for custom fields in templates for email invitations and inbound landing pages, Web forms, and Thank You pages, and returning-user Web pages. You enter the information once in the program header when creating a new program and then are able to use the information in multiple ways. For example, for event programs, such as Webinars or seminars, you might want to include information such as:

• Event date

• Event location

• Event time

• Event logistical information

For more information about creating custom program fields, see Creating Program Custom Fields.

You might also want to create program custom fields to use in templates, which improve search engine optimization (SEO). Custom fields might include:

• Meta description

• Meta keywords

• Head title

• Additional meta tags

Custom fields are assigned a smart tag, which enables their use in templates, email messages, landing pages and microsites. The syntax used for a new program custom field smart tag is:

${Program.ProgramNewCustomFieldName__c}

where:

• Any spaces are replaced with underscores (_)

• Characters are changed to all capitals

• The name is appended with two underscores and the lowercase letter c, for example, __c.

For example, the custom field, Event Date Smart Tag, is ${Program.EVENT_DATE__c}

When smart tags are created and filled in for a program, the smart tags for these fields can be used in templates for outbound email messages, landing pages, and microsite pages. For more information on smart (insertion) tags, see About Email and Sales Representative Personalization.

Plan for the custom fields that you will require. Do not create new custom fields without a strategy regarding how they are to be used.