Custom fields

Use custom fields to enhance your dataset for use in crosstab reports and dashboards. You can create custom fields that recode values, allowing you to map original values to new values, or that roll-up values into groups based on criteria you specify.

In some cases, you may find that fields available in your dataset do not capture the information you need in a way that is useful and meaningful for your analysis and reporting. For example, the values recorded in a survey are not meaningful to the audience for your reports, or the values recorded are too granular to report on.

You can create up to ten custom fields for each dataset. The new custom fields are appended to the dataset and do not replace or modify the existing fields in the dataset. Custom fields are available as new fields in any dashboards and reports that use the dataset.

You need to sync custom fields when the dataset is updated. The values of custom fields are evaluated each time the dataset is synced. If more than one custom variable condition is true, the value of the first matching condition is used.

Recoding data

You can use custom fields to recode data, which allows you to map an existing value to a new custom field either because the existing value is incorrect, or because you want to specify it differently in your dataset.

Example
You want to report on Satisfied, Neutral, and Dissatisfied customers, but the field in your dataset includes responses on a five-point satisfaction scale (Very satisfied, Satisfied, Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, Dissatisfied, Very dissatisfied). You can create a custom field to recode the first two values to Satisfied, the middle value to Neutral, and the last two as Dissatisfied. Any value in the original satisfaction scale field that matches "Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied" will be assigned the value "Neutral" for the corresponding entry in the new Sentiment custom field.

Example

You want to report on Satisfied, Neutral, and Dissatisfied customers, but the field in your dataset includes responses on a five-point satisfaction scale (Very satisfied, Satisfied, Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, Dissatisfied, Very dissatisfied). You can create a custom field to recode the first two values to Satisfied, the middle value to Neutral, and the last two as Dissatisfied.

Any value in the original satisfaction scale field that matches "Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied" will be assigned the value "Neutral" for the corresponding entry in the new Sentiment custom field.

Rolling up data

You can also use custom fields to roll-up data, which allows you to group, or bucket, your data in meaningful ways for use in crosstab reports and dashboards. You can roll-up survey questions that are based on dates or choices. Custom fields roll-up data by applying logical operators to fields in your source data. For each row in the dataset, if the logical statement is true a corresponding value is set in the custom field.

Example
You have a survey that records the birthday of each user, but you want to segment your data based on specific age groupings. You can create a new custom field named Generation and define the logic to map each user's birthday with the age demographic they belong to. Any member that has a birthday between 1965 and 1980 in the WhatYear field will be rolled up and assigned the "Generation X" value for the corresponding entry in the new Generation custom field.

Example

You have a survey that records the birthday of each user, but you want to segment your data based on specific age groupings. You can create a new custom field named Generation and define the logic to map each user's birthday with the age demographic they belong to.

Any member that has a birthday between 1965 and 1980 in the WhatYear field will be rolled up and assigned the "Generation X" value for the corresponding entry in the new Generation custom field.