Non-Itemized and Itemized Custom Fields

There are two types of custom fields for forms related to products, awards, and committees: non-itemized and itemized.

"Itemized" means that the field is related to a specific record or instance of a record. "Non-Itemized" means that the field is general, for all records of a certain type.

Example:
An association holds three events every year. All include a meal, and one, the Annual Conference, offers a complimentary t-shirt.
The association wants a field to appear during registration asking attendees if they have food allergies. They want another field asking what size t-shirt attendees would like, which should appear only when users register for the Annual Conference.

Association staff would create a non-itemized custom field asking "Do you have any food allergies." Being non-itemized, this field will appear when any of the three events is selected. They would also create an itemized custom field on the Annual Conference event itself. Being itemized, it will only appear when registrants select the Annual Conference during checkout.

 

Differences Between Non-Itemized & Itemized Custom Fields

Non-Itemized	Itemized
Collect data on every instance of a record type. (E.g., on every Event.)	Only collect data on a specific record. (E.g., on the "2024 Annual Conference" event, only.)
Configurable for every area that permits custom fields (Individuals, Organizations, Committees, & Chapters).	Currently configurable only for Products, Awards, and Committees.

 

Which Custom Field Type Should I Use?

For staff configuring certain product, award, and/or committee custom fields, you have a choice: should I use a non-itemized or itemized custom field?

As a rule of thumb:

• Use Non-Itemized fields to display the field on all instances of a record type. E.g., perhaps I want to ask the question "Do you have any food allergies?" on all my events.

• Use Itemized fields to display the field on a specific record. E.g., only one of my events offers a complimentary t-shirt, so I want the question "What is your t-shirt size?" to appear only on that event.

Configuring Itemized Custom Fields

Itemized fields should be configured on the record they're associated with.

For example, to configure an itemized field on an event, staff would need to open the Event Record > Planning tab > Itemize Custom Fields. The Itemize Custom Fields option is available on all records (products and committees) that permit it.

Itemized custom fields should not be configured in the Customizations App > Custom Forms area.