Adding custom fields to existing bookings
Last updated: November 3, 2021
If needed, you can add one or more custom fields to a booking after it’s been created. This can be useful, for example, if a customer wants to purchase a retail item or add-on once they’ve arrived for their activity. Read on to learn more about adding custom fields to bookings.
Adding a custom field to a booking
Custom fields can be added to individual customers on a booking, or to the whole booking itself. To add a field to a booking:
- Locate and open the customer’s booking.
- Click the
icon next to the customer type name (for individual customers) or the whole-booking fields section (for whole booking fields). Select Add field.
By default, you’ll see a list of fields associated with the selected customer type or custom field group. However, you can also choose any field in the item’s settings by clicking Change and selecting the desired customer type or whole-booking field group. You can also add fields from any custom field groups set up in your company settings, if applicable.
Check the box next to the field you want to add, and fill out the field as needed.
Optional: If you’re adding a field to an individual customer, you can choose to add that field to all of the same customer type on the booking, if needed (for example, if you want to add a “Meal” field to all Adults). To do this, click the
icon next to the Adding to: section, and select the Add to all option.
Scroll down and click Add fields.
Once a field has been added, its value can be edited from the completed booking, just like any other field.
Tips:
- You can add as many custom fields at a time as you want.
- If you start filling out a field, it will automatically be selected.
- If you decide you don’t want to add a field after all, just deselect the box next to it. It will not be added, even if it is still filled out.
Additional options
- Only show customer types added to availability: By default, you are allowed to add any field that has been added to a customer type in the item’s settings. If you want to narrow down this list to only the customer types that are applicable for the current availability, select this box.
- Hide already added fields: By default, fields that have already been added to the selected customer or whole-booking field group are hidden from the list. If you want to see a complete list of fields, including those that have already been added to the booking, select this box.
Your preferences for these settings will be saved for the current booking and any other bookings on the same availability.
Removing a custom field from a booking
If you need to remove a custom field that you’ve added to a booking, you can do so by clicking the 
icon next to the field, then clicking Remove.
Keep in mind that you can only remove custom fields that have been added to a booking after it was created. To ensure that no original information is lost, fields that were included when the booking was first created cannot be removed.
Rebooking
If you’re rebooking to the same item (for example, just changing the date or time), any fields you added to the original booking will be carried over while rebooking.
If you’re rebooking to a new item altogether, custom fields will only be carried over if they also exist in the new item’s settings, or are included in a custom field group in your company settings. Otherwise, they will be removed from the new booking, and their pricing will not be applied.
If a field is carried over but the pricing or visibility has changed, the field will be updated to reflect the new pricing and/or visibility.
To remove a field while rebooking, click the icon next to the field, then select Remove field.
Keep in mind that you can only remove custom fields that were added to the booking after it was created.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have the option to add a custom field while creating a booking?
Currently, this feature is for already-existing bookings only. Although you can’t add a custom field while creating a customer’s booking, you can always create the booking and add the field immediately after.
Are required fields still required when adding them to a booking?
Yes, if a field is required and you want to add it to an existing booking, you must fill it out before adding it to the booking.
Note: If a field is required but has not been selected, you will not see the red “required” asterisk. In other words, the field will only be marked required once you choose to add it to a booking.
Can I add the same field multiple times?
Yes, you can add the same field as many times as you’d like. For example, you might do this if you want two “Photo package” purchases to appear as separate line items on a receipt, instead of “Photo package x2”.
In this case, if you’ve already added the field once, you would select + Add field, make sure the checkbox “Hide already added fields” is unchecked, and add the photo package field again.
Will the fields I add be visible on customers’ emails and receipts?
Whether or not a field is visible in emails and receipts is dependent on its visibility settings. For example, if a field is marked “hide on receipts,” it will never be shown to customers in emails and receipts. Learn more about custom field visibility.
Note: If a custom field has been added to a Boca ticket layout and then added to a booking, it will be shown on the ticket, regardless of its visibility settings.
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Enabling the feature / permissions
To enable this feature for a company, enable the permission “Add custom fields to completed bookings” for all applicable permission groups in the Dashboard. No other action is needed, although you may want to review best practices for organizing fields before allowing users to add fields.
This permission is disabled for all company users by default. As of Q3 2021, it will be enabled on a case-by-case basis per company to start.
The permission is enabled for all FH Admins. This means that FH Admins will see the “add fields” option on bookings across all companies, even if those companies don’t use the feature.
It’s possible for a user, like an affiliate, to not see certain fields while booking due to the field visibility on the applied price sheet, but then be able to add those fields after the booking is created.
- If this is a concern, we recommend not giving those users permission to add custom fields to completed bookings.
Multi-tax and invoice prices
Field-specific taxes will be applied as usual when adding custom fields to existing bookings. For example, if retail items only use sales tax and not activity tax or food tax, then adding those retail items to a booking will only affect the sales tax.
- Users will not see the tax amount until after they’ve added the field to the booking.
If a custom field is commissionable, the invoice price on the booking will be updated as expected.
- Users will not see the invoice price until after they’ve added the field to the booking.
Important notes for certain types of fields
Gift cards
- If a gift card field is removed from a booking, the associated gift card code will remain active and on the booking, but the cost of the gift card will be removed (causing the booking to be overpaid).
- To truly remove a gift card from a booking so that it can’t be used anymore, the generated gift card must be manually set to $0.00 in gift card settings, and then deleted.
- Generated gift cards will always be carried over when rebooking, whether they were manually added or not, and whether there is a field match or not.
Code generators
- Both checkboxes for code generators must be selected when added, otherwise no code will be generated.
- If a code generator field is removed from a booking, the associated generated code will remain active and on the booking.
- To truly remove a generated code from a booking so that it can’t be used any more, the generated code must be deleted manually from the related campaign settings.
Code generators will always be hidden and carried over when rebooking, whether they were manually added or not, and whether there is a field match or not. New codes cannot be generated once a booking has been rebooked. Instead, we always carry over the existing codes.
- If a customer has been added or removed from a booking (which is technically a rebooking), you will no longer be able to generate a new code on that booking. In this scenario, in order to generate a new code, the user will need to cancel the existing booking and create a new one with the preferred number of customers.
Code redemption fields
- If a code has been entered in a code redemption field, then that field is removed without first removing the code itself, we will automatically adjust the code use count as if the code was removed from the booking. This is to prevent scenarios where a code is incorrectly marked as used, when it’s not actually reflected on the related booking.
Waivers
- You can technically add the same waiver field to a custom field group or booking multiple times, but only one waiver link will be shown in customer emails, as has always been the case. This waiver link can be sent to multiple people in a party, and a new signed waiver will be generated for each individual. Learn more.
- Users without permission to manage waivers or view/edit customers’ signed waivers can still add waiver fields to bookings (and remove them, if needed). However, they will not be able to view or edit them.
- If a waiver field is removed while rebooking, the booking will lose its corresponding signed waiver(s). However, the waiver will be preserved in the original booking that is referenced in the activity log.
- If rebooking and there are no matching waiver fields on the new item/availability, signed waivers will not be carried over, and the booking will lose its signed waiver(s). However, the waiver will be preserved in the original booking that is referenced in the activity log.
Transportation
- Transportation can only be added at the whole-booking level (transportation fields will appear disabled if attempting to add to an individual customer).
- Only one transportation field can be on a booking at a time.
Best practices
Note: These are still in progress and are subject to change.
Set up a new whole-booking custom field group for add-ons or any fields that will never be needed during the time of booking (only after booking).
You can also use company-level custom field groups for fields that apply to multiple items and that should always be carried over when rebooking.
You can add labels for organization, but keep in mind that they can’t be manually added to bookings. So try to avoid excessive labels as it will make the list of “addable” fields unnecessarily long.
Other notes
- As of May 2021 (the beta release of this feature), any view that displays company-level customer type names in parentheses will use the singular version of the name, instead of the plural.