Custom Fields and Objects That Stay Drafts Until You Say So
Add the fields your process actually needs, or build a whole new object, without writing code or waiting for a release. KudosCRM keeps every change a draft until you publish it, refuses a publish that would leave records blank, and logs who changed the schema in a record nobody can edit.
Studio · Settings → Properties
Deals · editing “Renewal risk”
Renewal risk
dropdown · requiredkey: renewal_risk · immutable
Publish refused — required with no default
1,284 existing deals would be left blank. Set a default to backfill them.
Schema log · append-only
field.published · Renewal risk · Anita S. · 10:42
field.updated · options +“Watch” · Anita S. · 10:38
read-only by construction · survives deletion
The Short Version
What Are CRM Custom Fields?
CRM custom fields are the fields you add yourself when the standard ones do not describe your business. In KudosCRM you build them in Studio, a no-code editor under Settings, and you can go further and create custom objects to model something the CRM has never heard of. Everything stays a draft until you publish, publishing is guarded, and every schema change is recorded permanently.
The Types Most CRMs Leave Out
Text, long text, number, currency, percent, checkbox, email, phone, URL, date, date and time, dropdown, multi-select, status and rating — on contacts, companies, deals, leads, tasks, projects and tickets.
Objects, Not Just Fields
Define a whole new object, publish it, and get a real list page, record pages, tags, filters and saved views.
Nothing Ships Half-Built
Drafts save server-side so teammates can review work in progress, while records show nothing until you publish.
A Schema Log Nobody Can Rewrite
Every schema change appended to rows that are read-only by construction and outlive the fields they describe.
Ten industry bundles get you started rather than starting from blank: real estate, SaaS, healthcare, banking, education, recruitment, manufacturing, automotive, travel and e-commerce. Install a bundle as a group, and remove it as a group while you are still drafting — published fields retire individually, deliberately.
Fields
Not Just Text and Number
You build fields in Settings under Properties, pick the type that actually fits the data, and attach it to whichever records need it. The schema builder asks for a wide screen, so structural work happens at a desk rather than on a phone.
Long Text, Percent, Date-and-Time, Status, Rating
Text, long text, number, currency, percent, checkbox, email, phone, URL, date, date and time, dropdown, multi-select, status and rating. Dropdown and multi-select options can carry colors, so a status reads at a glance on a busy record.
Tickets and Projects Take Them Too
Contacts, companies, deals, leads, tasks, projects and tickets all take custom fields, and so does any custom object you publish. Most CRMs stop at the first three.
One Definition, Attached Wherever It Fits
Cross-object reuse attaches one definition across objects under a shared key, with collision guards, and it refuses to detach a field from the entity that owns it.
Sections, Order, and Colors That Survive
Group related fields into sections, drag to reorder, and both the grouping and the order persist through publish rather than resetting.
Skip the Blank Table
Ten prebuilt field groups covering real estate, SaaS, healthcare, banking, education, recruitment, manufacturing, automotive, travel and e-commerce — installed as a set, and removed as a set while you are still drafting.
Find Out Which Fields Are Actually Used
Per-field and per-object fill counts, computed in a single query for a whole object, so retiring a field is a decision backed by evidence instead of a guess.
Type picker · pick what fits the data
Custom object · “Property Listings”
Title field
Address · undeletable
Tags
riverside · corner-plot
Filters
price · viewing date
Saved views
“This week's viewings”
Custom Objects
When a Field Is Not Enough, Build the Object
Some businesses track something a CRM has never heard of. You define the object in Studio, publish it, and it behaves like the ones that shipped with the product.
It Gets a List Page Like Anything Else
A published object gets its own list page and record pages with tags, filters and saved views, rather than a table bolted onto a settings screen.
Archive the Object, Keep Its Records
Objects carry the same lifecycle as fields, plus archiving. Deleting an object archives it and keeps its records rather than destroying them.
Nothing Publishes Without a Name
Publishing needs a valid title field, and the field that titles an object cannot then be deleted out from under it.
Invisible Until You Are Ready
An unpublished object is invisible to anything outside Studio, and it does not leak its own existence through error messages either.
The Key an Integration Relies On Never Moves
Field keys are format-validated, unique per entity, and immutable once created, so an integration written against a key keeps working.
Guarded Publishing
A Publish That Refuses to Leave Records Blank
You work in draft, and when you publish, KudosCRM checks the change against the records you already have. A required field with no default does not go live, and the error tells you exactly how much data would be missing.
Drafts Your Team Cannot See
Drafts save on the server, so a colleague can review work in progress, while records show nothing until publish. The status cannot be flipped through an ordinary edit.
The Publish That Says No
The most common publish failure, caught before it happens, with the count of affected records named in the error rather than left for you to discover.
Defaults Backfill Themselves
Set the default and a backfill job writes it across your existing contacts, companies and deals, so a new required field does not leave a trail of blanks behind it.
Nobody Edits a Schema That Moved Under Them
Publishing broadcasts to other admins' open tabs. Nobody is editing a schema that changed under them ten minutes ago.
An Audit Log That Cannot Be Edited
Append-only rows that are read-only by database design, and they survive the deletion of the field they describe. When a report breaks six months from now, the history is still there.
Delete the Field, Keep the Values
Removing a field definition leaves the values on the records in place, and the field that titles a custom object cannot be deleted at all.
Where Fields Travel
A Field You Built on Monday, Working Everywhere by Tuesday
A custom field is only worth building if the rest of the product knows about it. Here is exactly where yours turn up, and further down we are equally clear about where they do not.
On the Form the Moment You Publish
Create and edit forms and detail pages pick up published fields immediately, in the sections and order you arranged them.
Sort Your Deal List by a Field You Invented
Add a custom field as a deal list column, and filter on it as a first-class filter validated against the published definition, across every stored type.
CSV Imports Land on Your Fields
Custom fields are first-class import targets: map any column onto one with typed coercion, or create the missing property right from the mapping screen.
An Automation Can Branch on It
An automation can branch on a custom field, reading the live value from the record rather than a stale copy.
Built Monday, in an Email Tuesday
Contact, company, deal and lead custom fields are addressable as merge tokens, so a field you added on Monday personalizes an email on Tuesday.
What “Required” Really Means, and What Studio Does Not Do
Marking a plain custom field required means the create forms will not submit without it, and we would rather say that precisely than overstate it: an import or a direct API write can still come in without a value. Where a requirement genuinely has to hold, it is enforced at the server — deal stage-entry requirements on every move including kanban drags and Won and Lost, task-type fields on every write, and ticket-type fields at intake on every channel. There are no formula, rollup, relationship, file or rich-text types, no conditional logic, and no per-role field visibility, so anything genuinely sensitive does not belong in a custom field. Fields work in filters, list columns, imports, workflow conditions and merge tokens, but not yet in reports or audiences.
How It Works
How Do You Add a Custom Field to Your CRM?
From an idea about your data model to a field working across the product, here is the path.
Open Studio
Settings, then Properties. Pick the record you want to extend, or an object you built yourself.
Choose the Type
Money, percentages, dates with times, statuses and star ratings, alongside the ordinary ones.
Set the Rules
Name it, add options with colors if it is a choice field, set number bounds, and decide whether it is required.
Attach It Where It Belongs
Reuse one definition across objects, group it into a section, and drag it into the order that reads well.
Publish, and Let the Check Run
A required field with no default is refused at publish. Set a default and the backfill writes it across your contacts, companies and deals.
Use It Everywhere
Filters, list columns, imports, workflow conditions and merge tokens, with every schema change logged permanently.
What's Actually in the Box
Everything You Can Build, and Everything That Guards It
Field types including long text, percent, date and time, status and rating
Fields on contacts, companies, deals, leads, tasks, projects and tickets
Custom objects with list pages, record pages, tags, filters and saved views
Object lifecycle: draft, published, archived, with records retained on archive
Publish requires a valid title field on a custom object
Unpublished objects invisible outside Studio, with no existence leaks
Cross-object reuse under a shared key, with collision guards
Sections and grouping that survive publish
Drag-to-reorder that persists
Colored options on dropdown and multi-select fields
Ten industry bundles, installed as a set
Per-field and per-object usage stats, one query per object
Server-side draft mode teammates can review
Publish refused when a required field has no default, with the record count named
Backfill job writing defaults across contacts, companies and deals
Live propagation to other admins' open tabs
Append-only schema audit log, read-only by construction, surviving field deletion
Schema events admin-only, filterable and paginated
Keys format-validated, unique per entity, and immutable after creation
Deleting a definition leaves record values in place
Type validation against the field's definition on every server write
Number bounds enforced server-side, on paste, import and API
Custom fields as deal list columns
First-class filters validated against published definitions
CSV import mapping onto custom fields, with typed coercion
Workflow conditions reading live custom field values
Email merge tokens for contact, company, deal and lead fields
Reads open to members, writes gated on the manage permission
A workspace-wide, per-plan field allowance, counted across every object
KudosCRM Studio vs. Filing a Ticket to Add a Field
Model Your Business, Not Somebody Else's
Studio is part of KudosCRM, not a platform licence you upgrade into.
Custom Fields for Every Kind of Business
Real estate tracks property type and viewing dates. Recruitment tracks notice periods. Banking tracks risk tiers. Every industry has fields the standard CRM has never heard of, and ten of them arrive prebuilt as a group you can install now and remove later.
Where Your Field Turns Up, and Where It Does Not
A published field turns up on forms and record pages, as a deal list column, as a validated filter, as an import target, in workflow conditions, and as an email merge token. It does not yet appear in reports or audiences, and automations can read it but not write to it, which we would rather tell you now than let you discover mid-build.
Go Deeper
Explore More Features
The fields you build here branch Workflows, personalize emails through the Email Builder, and describe the records in Contacts and Deals. Schema changes are logged here; record changes are logged in the Audit Log.
All FeaturesFAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Start With One Field
Add the Field Your Team Keeps Putting in the Notes
Open Studio, build it as a draft, and publish it when it is right.