# Custom attributes
| Item | Details |
|—|—|
| Who it is for | Administrators define; agents fill in |
| Menu location | **Settings → Custom attributes** |
| Plan dependency | Usually on by default |
Add your own fields on **contacts** or **conversations** — membership tier, shop ID, ticket source — when standard fields (name, email) are not enough.
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## 1. Creating an attribute
1. **Settings → Custom attributes → Add**.
2. Choose **Contact** or **Conversation**.
3. Choose type: text, number, link, list, date, and so on (per form).
4. Enter a system key and a display name. Do not casually change the key later — automation may reference it.
5. For list types, define options up front so free typing does not break reporting.
## 2. Where to fill them in
– Contacts: detail page or conversation right panel “Contact attributes”.
– Conversations: right panel conversation details / conversation attributes.
– If [Conversation workflows](./24-conversation-workflows) require attributes, they must be filled before resolve.
Automation can branch on these fields, for example “membership tier = VIP → assign senior agent”.
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## 3. Recommendations
– Prefer labels for simple yes/no flags; keep attributes for structured data.
– Do not store passwords or full national ID numbers in custom attributes.
– When importing contacts, headers must match attribute keys — see [Data import](./30-data-import).
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## 4. Frequently asked questions
**Agent cannot see a field?** Attribute is on Conversation but they looked on the contact page, or the reverse.
**Automation never matches?** List values differ in case/spacing, or the key is wrong.
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## Related articles
– [Contacts](./5-contacts)
– [Conversation workflows](./24-conversation-workflows)
– [Automation](./18-automation)