Fields are an advanced feature available in List Builder that allows you to fine tune the data collected from subscribers. BDOW! provides built-in text fields for common information such as names and email addresses, and you also have access to back-end "hidden" values like timestamps and referral URLs. Finally, you can deploy a variety of custom field options to gather data tailored to the needs of your business!
Every input field begins with two basic attributes:
Field Type. Defines the type of data or data collection method (for example, a text field vs. a checkbox). Services will likely need to understand the type in order for BDOW! to properly pass the data.
Variable Name. Simply a name or label to identify the stored value. BDOW! also uses this attribute to uniquely identify the field in the designer.
When you gain a subscriber, each piece of information will be stored under a unique variable name. For example, if you have a built-in email address field and someone subscribes using "[email protected]", we will save that information internally with the email label (since that is the variable name).
Beyond that, the field type will dictate the various attributes and configuration options available in the campaign designer.
Using built-in BDOW! fields
Built-in fields are text-only fields that come with pre-defined variables. They cover a range of fundamental subscriber attributes that are frequently needed in a campaign.
To add a new built-in field:
Edit a campaign and proceed to the Design tab.
Hover over Add New and select Text Input.
With the new field selected, you will see the configuration options for the Text Field appear on the left. Choose your built-in field using the Presets dropdown.
The variable names for these built-in fields are reserved. If you modify the Variable Name attribute, you will notice that the preset changes to "Custom".
Available built-in fields
See the table below for the list of possible built-in text fields. They are all optional except for Email. At minimum, every campaign form must collect an email address.
Preset | Description | Variable Name |
Email* | This is required and cannot be removed or disabled. You should not need to create a custom field for email addresses. | email* |
Name | Depending on your needs, you may be able to combine the first and last name into a single field. | name |
First Name | Subscriber's given name | first_name |
Last Name | Subscriber's surname | last_name |
Company | Subscriber's employer | company |
Zip Code | Subscriber's zip code | zip |
Website URL | Subscriber's domain or company website | website |
Phone Number | Subscriber's phone number | phone |
Defining custom fields
Custom fields allow you to define variables and collect information beyond what is provided with our built-in fields.
Field Name | Description |
Text Input | This field will allow you to create a text input field to collect whatever text information you would like that is not currently offered in our built in text fields.
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Dropdown | This field allows you to create <select> style lists for your popups. 
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Checkbox | This field allows you to create a single checkbox entry (basically, yes/no, enabled/disabled, agree/disagree, etc.). You can also set what value is stored for the "checked" state.
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Checkbox Group | This field allows you to create multiple checkbox entries under a single heading. Unlike a radio group or dropdown, checkboxes allow multiple selections. 
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Radio Group | This field allows you to create multiple radio (round) options under a single heading. Radio selections are toggles and only 1 can be selected at a time within the group. 
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GDPR Opt-In | This is a special version of the Checkbox field used for opting-in to communications. It enforces special behavior when a user interacts with the form. See this article for details. |
Adding hidden fields
Hidden fields allow you to collect hidden data, not seen by your visitors, along with the visible form inputs. You can include hardcoded text, but users frequently employ our pre-defined variables.
To add a hidden field, use the button at the top of the design area:
You will get the Hidden Fields pop-up window. In this tool, you can configure any hidden fields you may need in your campaign. As with normal inputs, the Variable Name will be the label and the Variable Value will be the corresponding stored data.
In this example, the text "my hardcoded value" will be stored under the name hidden each time a user submits the form.
Sometimes hardcoded text is handy, but the real power of hidden fields comes from BDOW's pre-defined values. Click the {} button to choose one, and BDOW! will store the information on submission. You can save data like the name of the campaign form, a timestamp, the subscriber's location, or how the subscriber was referred to your website. Collecting this level of information is a great way to evaluate the effectiveness of your marketing and campaigns!
Available pre-defined variable values
Value | Description |
| IP address of the subscriber |
| Full name of the campaign that collected the subscriber
Example: Summer Sale Campaign #2 |
| The name of the campaign, but without spaces or special characters
Example: summer_sale_campaign_2 |
| Country of the subscriber based on geolocation of the IP address |
| The date the subscription occurred in UTC
Example: 2025-02-23 |
| The date and time the subscription occurred in UTC
Example: 2024-11-27T18:30:54.432Z
You can customize the formatting and the time zone |
| Full name of the pop-up that collected the subscriber
Example: Summer Popup #2 |
| The name of the popup, but without spaces or special characters
Example: summer_popup_2 |
| URL from which the subscriber originated before submitting the form |
| URL where the subscriber submitted the form |
| The name, version, and platform of the browser used to complete the form |
Setting a custom date/time field
Want to set the {date_time} value to a specific format and/or time zone? No problem.
Example:
{date_time|DD/MM/YY h:mm a}will pass a value of 11/27/2024 6:30 pm
Want to change the time zone?
Example:
{date_time|DD/MM/YY h:mm a|America/New_York}from the above example would pass a value of 11/27/2024 1:30 pm
See this list of valid time zones you can use. Click here for more formatting options.
Start collecting key information
As you can see, you are not limited to basic information like name and email. You have a lot of flexibility to collect the most pertinent information from your subscribers, so add some custom fields and gain a deeper insight into your users!
As always, do not forget to Publish your form to save and apply the changes!