Create a custom field

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Create a custom field
• If you selected User response
  • On the Response type tab
  • On the Audience tab
  • On the Response list tab
• If you selected Automated Response
  • On the Response tab
  • On the Audience tab
• Reporting tab settings
• To upload a list of responses from an external file
• To download a list of responses from the Online Booking tool 

Use this procedure to create custom fields in the Online Booking tool for your travelers. These fields can be used to present questions to your users when booking travel or to configure how information will be captured automatically during a booking. If you need to edit an existing custom field, see Edit a custom field.

This feature is only available to company administrators and TMC administrators.

1. Login to the Online Booking tool. 
2. Select Company from the Program menu. The Settings page will be displayed.
3. Select Custom fields from the Configuration section on the left. The Custom fields page will be displayed. There may already be existing custom field definitions on the page. 
4. Click Create custom field.
5. Enter a name in the Field name field. This will be how the field appears to users. 
6. Enter a description for the field. This will help users understand how the field is meant to be used. It will also help other administrators understand what the field is being used for. 
7. Set the Capture once for every new trip toggle as desired. If enabled, the information associated with this field will only be captured once per trip. If disabled, the information associated with this field will be captured once for each booking in a trip. 
8. Click Confirm. A page will be displayed with the name of the custom field. 
9. Select one of the following from under Create response:
   • User response - This allows you to create a field that will be displayed to users and provide them with response options (e.g., Reason for travel = Conference).
   • Automated response - This allows you to create a field that will only be displayed to users in certain locations (Trips page, notifications) and will have an automatically generated response (e.g., travel codes). The user will not be prompted to provide a response. The response to the field will be automatically generated for them.
10. Then follow the instructions relevant to the selection you made under Create response. When done, don’t forget to enable your custom field by selecting the Status toggle on the main Custom fields page.   

If you selected User response

The User response dialog will be displayed. It contains 3 tabs, Response type, Audience, and Response list. Once you complete the setting on a particular tab, you can advance to the next tab by clicking Next.

On the Response type tab

1. Select a response type you wish to use. The field's response type will control how users are able to interact with it.

   • List of options - Users will be able to select from a predefined list of options. If you select this option, you can also select whether multiple options may be selected and if the field requires a response. 

     • Allow multiple selections - If enabled, users will be able to select more than one of the predefined responses you create. If disabled, users will only be able to select one of the predefined choices you create. 

     • User response is required - If enabled, users will not be able to complete bookings without entering a value for this field. If not enabled, users will not be required to enter a value in the field when booking travel, but will be able to see the field and can optionally enter a value. However, whether the field will be displayed to travelers booking for events will also depend on whether the trip type has been set to “Event/template trip” and whether the event coordinator has enabled the custom field for the event. 

   • List of percentage fields - Users will be able to select more than one of the predefined responses you create. For each choice the user selects, they will also be required to enter a percentage and the total of all choices must equal 100%. 

     • User response is required - If enabled, users will not be able to complete bookings without entering a value for this field. If not enabled, users will not be required to enter a value in the field when booking travel but will be able to see the field and can optionally enter a value. However, whether the field will be displayed to travelers booking for events will also depend on whether the trip type has been set to “Event/template trip” and whether the event coordinator has enabled the custom field for the event. 

   • Free text box - Users will be able to enter free form text or numbers into the field you create. If you select this response type, you can specify whether the response is required and then skip to On the Audience tab below.

     • User response is required - If enabled, users will not be able to complete bookings without entering a value for this field. If not enabled, users will not be required to enter a value in the field when booking travel but will be able to see the field and can optionally enter a value. However, whether the field will be displayed to travelers booking for events will also depend on whether the trip type has been set to “Event/template trip” and whether the event coordinator has enabled the custom field for the event.

2. Click Next to proceed to the Audience tab. The Audience tab will be displayed.

On the Audience tab

1. Select the audience you wish to target with your custom field. The field's audience will control which users interact with it.

   • All users - The custom field will be displayed for all users, bookings, and trip types. 

   • Custom audience - The custom field will only be displayed to the user audience you define. If you select this option, you must also provide an audience name and specify the conditions that must be met for the field to be displayed. 

     • To set a condition, select the criteria that must be matched. For example, If you want to specify a condition of “all hotel bookings”, you would set it to:

       •  If -  Booking type -  is one of - Hotel 

     • To add a new condition, click Add condition. All conditions within the same group will be ANDed (all conditions must be met). 

     • To add a new condition group, click Add condition group. All condition groups will be ORed (any of the condition groups conditions must be met). 

2. Click Next to proceed to the Response list tab.

On the Response list tab

1. Select the source of your list of responses. Options are: 
   • Add manually - This option allows you to manually specify the response options that will be presented to users. For each response option, enter a name and (if desired) a description. To add another response option, click Add another. 
   • Import from spreadsheet - This option allows you to import a list of options from a spreadsheet. Follow the instructions provided in the OBT. 
   • Import from HR feed - This option allows you to import a list of options from an existing HR Feed. Select the desired field from the menu.
   • Note: The values contained in your HR feed can’t be edited via the custom field configuration. Any changes to the values in your HR feed must be edited via the sources of those feeds directly. 
   • Import from SFTP - This option allows you to import a list of options from a file in an existing SFTP folder. Follow the instructions provided in the OBT. 
2. Click Save and Exit to save your custom field configuration.

If you selected Automated Response

The Automate response dialog will be displayed. It contains 2 tabs, Response and Audience. Once you complete the setting on a particular tab, you can advance to the next tab by clicking Next.

On the Response tab

1. Enter the response in the Response option field. 

2. Enter a description for the response option. 

3. Click next to proceed to the Audience tab. The Audience tab will be displayed.

On the Audience tab

1. Select whether this field will be used for all travelers or only specific travelers. The field's audience will control for which users this automated response will be captured and displayed (on the Trips page and in emails, reports, etc.).
   • All users - The custom field response will be selected for all users, bookings, and trip types. 
     
   • Custom audience - The custom field response will only be captured for the user audience you define. If you select this option, you must also provide an audience name and specify the conditions that must be met for the field to be displayed. 
     • To set a condition, select the criteria that must be matched. For example, If you want to specify a condition of “all hotel bookings”, you would set it to:
       • If -  Booking type -  is one of - Hotel 
     • To add a new condition, click Add condition. All conditions within the same group will be ANDed (all conditions must be met). 
     • To add a new condition group, click Add condition group. All condition groups will be ORed (any of the condition groups conditions must be met).
2. Click Save and Exit to save your custom field configuration. 

Reporting tab settings

The settings on the Reporting tab are used to configure where the information collected by the custom field should be displayed. 

In addition, the ID for the custom field is displayed. This can be referenced if you are using this custom field in conjunction with SFTP configurations. 

Use the checkboxes provided to select where you want the information collected by the custom field to be displayed. Options are:

• Booking confirmations

• Consolidated itinerary emails

• Approval emails

• Company reports (not all reports contain the custom field metric).

To upload a list of responses from an external file

If you have a pre-existing list of answers you want your users to be able to select from when responding to your custom field, you can use the upload feature to import them into the Online Booking tool. This option is only available if you have selected Import from spreadsheet from the Source field on the Response List tab. Then follow the on screen prompts. Click Save and Exit when done. 

To download a list of responses from the Online Booking tool 

If you have already created a list of response options for a custom field in the Online Booking tool, you can download them using the export feature. You can use this feature to edit and update the response options you offer in an external file and then upload that updated file. The download option is only available if you have selected User response as the response type.

1. Locate the custom field for which you want to download response options. 
2. Select View/Edit from the menu on the right in its row. The custom field's page will be displayed.
3. Locate the response list you want to download and select Edit response list from the menu in its row (the response must be of type User response). The response's Options page will be displayed.
4. Select Export response list from the More menu. The Export response list dialog will be displayed. 
5. Select Download now and then click Download file. You can also choose to email yourself a copy of the response options. In either case, the responses will be contained in a CSV file. 
6. Update the downloaded file with the response options you wish to provide for your custom field. 
7. When done, refer to the instructions for how to upload a list of response from an external file.