Custom Fields API

Table of Contents
Custom Field Attributes
Get Custom Field Details
Get a Custom Field
Create a Custom Field
Update a Custom Field
Delete a Custom Field
Promote a Custom Field
- URL
- Request Payload
- Response
- Example
List Deleted Custom Fields
- URL
- Response
- Example

Custom Field Attributes

mailing_list_id integer	The mailing list this custom field is tied to, or `null` if this custom field is global.
name string	The name of this custom field.
field_type string	The type of this custom field. See the “Custom Field Types” table for valid values.
required boolean	This custom field is required to be filled out for all subscribers. Checkboxes - This attribute has no effect on `select_multiple_checkboxes` fields. If a value for `required` is provided, it will be saved to the database; it will not, however, actually cause the custom field to be required on subscribers.
instructions string	Instructions on how this field should be used.

The response will have extra attributes in it that are used based upon the field type. See the tables below for details on these fields.

Extra Attributes in Responses

The following keys are included when the custom field is sent back in a JSON response. These keys are not valid input values:

id integer	The id of this custom field.
is_global boolean	Whether this custom field is global to the organization

Extra Attributes for text Fields

default_string string	The default value for this custom field
minimum_length integer	The minimum length for this string (Note that if the field is not “Required”, then it can be blank regardless of this value)
maximum_length integer	The maximum length for this string
interpolation_html_encode boolean	This value will be encoded when inserted into HTML content (default: `true`).
interpolation_url_encode boolean	This value will be encoded when inserted into URLs upon click redirection (default: `true`).

Extra Attributes for text_multiline Fields

default_string string	The default value for this custom field
minimum_length integer	The minimum length for this string (Note that if the field is not “Required”, then it can be blank regardless of this value)
maximum_length integer	The maximum length for this string
number_of_rows integer	The number of rows that should be displayed when rendering this input field
interpolation_html_encode boolean	This value will be encoded when inserted into HTML content (default: `true`).
interpolation_html_newlines boolean	This value will have its newlines replaced with `<BR/>` tags when inserted into HTML content (default: `true`).
interpolation_url_encode boolean	This value will be encoded when inserted into URLs upon click redirection (default: `true`).

Extra Attributes for number Fields

default_integer integer or float	The default value for this custom field. If `number_support_decimal` is true, then this may be a floating point value (making the field name inaccurate). Otherwise, this must be an integer value.
number_support_decimal boolean	This numeric custom field should allow decimals. Once enabled, this field cannot be disabled.
minimum_value integer or float	The minimum value for this custom field (Note that if the field is not “Required”, then it can be blank regardless of this value). If `number_support_decimal` is true, then this may be a floating point value. Otherwise, this must be an integer value.
maximum_value integer or float	The maximum value for this custom field. If `number_support_decimal` is true, then this may be a floating point value. Otherwise, this must be an integer value.

Extra Attributes for date and day_of_year Fields

There are no extra attributes for these fields.

Extra Attributes for select_single_dropdown, select_single_radio, and select_multiple_checkboxes Fields

options
array of hashes

An options array composed of the elements described below

name string	The name of this option. This is the value presented in dropdowns, radios, and checkboxes.
id integer	The id of this option.
index integer	The position in the list of options.

Extra Attributes for boolean Fields

default_boolean
boolean

This boolean custom field should / should not be selected by default

Get Custom Field Details

URL

To get the custom fields that apply to a mailing list (this includes both custom fields that are attached to this mailing list and global custom fields):

GET /ga/api/v2/mailing_lists/:mailing_list_id/custom_fields

To get the custom fields that are global to the API key’s organization:

GET /ga/api/v2/custom_fields

Request Parameters

The following parameters may be included as part of the query string:

name
string

Get a list of custom fields with this exact, case-insensitive name.

name_contains
string

Get a list of all custom fields whose name contains this case-insensitive string.

order_by
string

Specify a custom field attribute to sort the results by. Can be name or id.

Defaults to id.

For example to search for the custom field named birthday:

GET /ga/api/v2/custom_fields?name=birthday

Response

The response will be an array of custom field objects, as defined in the Attributes section above.

This endpoint returns paginated records with a default page size of 2000.

Example

GET /ga/api/v2/custom_fields

HTTP/1.1 200 OK

{
  "success": true,
  "data": [
    {
      "is_global": true,
      "id": 153,
      "name": "City",
      "mailing_list_id": null,
      "field_type": "text",
      "required": false,
      "instructions": null,
      "default_string": null,
      "minimum_length": null,
      "maximum_length": null,
      "interpolation_html_encode": true,
      "interpolation_url_encode": true
    }
  ],
  "error_code": null,
  "error_message": null,
  "page": 0,
  "per_page": 2000,
  "num_records": 1,
  "num_pages": 1
}

Get a Custom Field

Get all the basic details of a single custom field.

URL

GET /ga/api/v2/custom_fields/:id

Request Parameters

id
integer

The id of the custom field to get

Response

A successful response will return the custom field record, including any applicable “Extra Parameters” as listed above.

Example

Note that the JSON response will not be “pretty formatted” as it is below.

GET /ga/api/v2/custom_fields/161

HTTP/1.1 200 OK

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "is_global": true,
    "id": 161,
    "name": "City",
    "mailing_list_id": null,
    "field_type": "text",
    "required": false,
    "instructions": null,
    "default_string": null,
    "minimum_length": null,
    "maximum_length": null,
    "interpolation_html_encode": true,
    "interpolation_url_encode": true
  },
  "error_code": null,
  "error_message": null
}

Create a Custom Field

URL

To create a new custom field on a mailing list:

POST /ga/api/v2/mailing_lists/:mailing_list_id/custom_fields

To create a new custom field that is global to the organization:

POST /ga/api/v2/custom_fields

Request Parameters

mailing_list_id
integer

The id of the mailing list for this custom field

Request Payload

See the Attributes section above for an explanation of the custom field fields. The JSON object should be a child of the custom_field key.

Response

A successful response will return the custom field record as described above, in addition to the “Extra Parameters” listed above.

A failure will return a standard error response with an explanation of what went wrong.

Example

POST /ga/api/v2/custom_fields

{
  "custom_field": {
    "name": "My Custom Field",
    "field_type": "text",
    "required": false
  }
}

HTTP/1.1 200 OK

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "is_global": true,
    "id": 170,
    "name": "My Custom Field",
    "mailing_list_id": null,
    "field_type": "text",
    "required": false,
    "instructions": null,
    "default_string": null,
    "minimum_length": null,
    "maximum_length": null,
    "interpolation_html_encode": true,
    "interpolation_url_encode": true
  },
  "error_code": null,
  "error_message": null
}

Update a Custom Field

URL

Update a custom field that is associated with a single mailing list:

PUT /ga/api/v2/mailing_lists/:mailing_list_id/custom_fields/:id

Update a custom field that is global to the organization:

PUT /ga/api/v2/custom_fields/:id

Request Parameters

id integer	The `id` of the custom field
mailing_list_id integer	The `id` of the mailing list for this custom field

Request Payload

The PUT request should have a JSON document in its payload in the same format as when creating a new custom field. Some or all of the parameters may be omitted when updating an existing record.

Response

A successful response will return the custom field record described in the “Create a new custom field” section above.

A failure will return a standard error response with an explanation of what went wrong.

Example

PUT /ga/api/v2/custom_fields/178

{
  "custom_field": {
    "name": "Updated Name"
  }
}

HTTP/1.1 200 OK

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "is_global": true,
    "id": 178,
    "name": "Updated Name",
    "mailing_list_id": null,
    "field_type": "text",
    "required": false,
    "instructions": null,
    "default_string": null,
    "minimum_length": null,
    "maximum_length": null,
    "interpolation_html_encode": true,
    "interpolation_url_encode": true
  },
  "error_code": null,
  "error_message": null
}

Delete a Custom Field

URL

Delete a custom field that is associated with a single mailing list:

DELETE /ga/api/v2/mailing_lists/:mailing_list_id/custom_fields/:id

Delete a custom field that is global to the organization:

DELETE /ga/api/v2/custom_fields/:id

Request Parameters

id integer	The `id` of the custom field
mailing_list_id integer	The `id` of the mailing list for this custom field

Request Payload

This request has no payload.

Example

A successful response will include a true success value:

DELETE /ga/api/v2/custom_fields/186

HTTP/1.1 200 OK

{
  "success": true,
  "data": null,
  "error_code": null,
  "error_message": null
}

Example of Failure

A failure response will include a false success value and a standard error response with an explanation of what went wrong.

If the failure is due to other objects depending on this custom field to exist, the response data will contain a dependencies key:

DELETE /ga/api/v2/custom_fields/202

HTTP/1.1 200 OK

{
  "success": false,
  "data": {
    "dependencies": [
      {
        "type": "segmentation_criteria",
        "id": 1
      }
    ]
  },
  "error_code": "validation_failed",
  "error_message": "Cannot delete custom field because it is currently being used by the following records."
}

Promote a Custom Field

URL

Promote a custom field to be a global custom field:

POST /ga/api/v2/custom_fields/promote

Custom fields that are associated with a single mailing list may be promoted to be global to the organization. Custom fields must have a unique name across the organization in order to be promoted to be a global custom field.

Request Payload

promote
hash

custom_field_id
integer

id of the custom field to promote

Response

A successful response will return the same output as Create a new custom field.

A failure will return a standard error response with an explanation of what went wrong.

Example

POST /ga/api/v2/custom_fields/promote

{
  "promote": {
    "custom_field_id": 187
  }
}

HTTP/1.1 200 OK

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "default_boolean": false,
    "field_type": "boolean",
    "id": 187,
    "instructions": null,
    "mailing_list_id": null,
    "name": "Has Children",
    "required": false,
    "is_global": true
  },
  "error_code": null,
  "error_message": null
}

List Deleted Custom Fields

When a custom field is deleted, it is not actually removed from the database. Instead, it is marked as deleted and is no longer used.

This endpoint will return the list of deleted custom fields that were associated with the specified mailing list or organization.

URL

GET /ga/api/v2/mailing_lists/:mailing_list_id/custom_fields/deleted

GET /ga/api/v2/custom_fields/deleted

Response

The response will contain the same fields as listed in the Attributes section above – but with one additional field (deleted_at). This value will be the time at which the custom field was deleted.

Example

GET /ga/api/v2/mailing_lists/50/custom_fields/deleted

HTTP/1.1 200 OK

{
  "success": true,
  "data": [
    {
      "default_string": null,
      "deleted_at": "2017-04-21T16:48:40Z",
      "field_type": "text",
      "id": 211,
      "instructions": null,
      "interpolation_html_encode": true,
      "interpolation_url_encode": true,
      "mailing_list_id": 50,
      "maximum_length": null,
      "minimum_length": null,
      "name": "Preferred Name",
      "required": false,
      "is_global": false
    }
  ],
  "error_code": null,
  "error_message": null
}