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Configuring booking form field option settings

Fine-tune each booking form field's behavior by setting options like visibility, default values, profile attachment, and choice management. The Options settings enable you to tailor the user experience, control data collection, and ensure seamless workflows.

Learn how to configure form fields via the Options tab in the Booking Form & Field editor, including determining Customer and Staff settings, excluding fields from reports, attaching fields to the Customer profile, providing field choices, and setting a default selection.

New to the Booking Form? Read the first article in this series for an introduction to the Booking Form.

 

Accessing the features mentioned in this article


Where can I find this feature using the top menu?

  • Manage > Layout > Booking Form
     

What more do I need to use this feature?

  • Admin permissions to manage your account.
     

Which Checkfront version supports this feature - classic items, classic products, or both?

  • This feature is available in both our classic version, which uses classic items (Inventory > Items), and our classic version, which uses classic products (Inventory > Products).  → Learn more about products

 

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Storing credit card information

To protect Customers’ Protected Personal Information (PPI) and to comply with PCI regulations and the Checkfront Terms of Service, please do not store credit card information in booking or note fields.

Checkfront is PCI compliant. We securely transmit payment details to certified payment providers only, and do NOT store credit card numbers, expiration dates, or CVV codes in our databases.

We recommend using a payment provider like Stripe to securely capture credit card details and process payments. See our List of supported payment providers for more options.

The penalties for breaking PCI compliance are steep for both you, the merchant, and us, the service provider. For more information, please see our Terms of Service: Checkfront Terms of Service.

 

Checkfront How To: How to add & edit booking form fields

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You can follow this series of articles for detailed instructions on adding booking form fields.

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Adding or editing a booking form field

For high-level step-by-step instructions, please see the following article:

 

How to configure optional settings (step-by-step)

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  1. Go to Manage > Layout > Booking Form, and open the Options tab for a specific field.
  2. Set visibility (Customer vs. Staff) and whether the field is attached to the customer profile.
  3. For choice-based fields, select whether the system excludes them from report filters.
  4. For choice-based fields, define the choice list, default selection, and (optional) Other response.
  5. Adjust advanced options such as default values and contact info display.
  6. Preview or test your booking form to confirm behavior.

 

Configuring optional settings

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Create form field window on the Options tab showing settings for customer, staff, exclude from report filters, customer profile, contact info, and value.

In this series, we first looked at accessing the Booking Form layout configuration pages (Manage > Layout > Booking Form) and started adding a new field. We then walked through Configuring general booking form fields. Let's now look at some further options.

Select the Options tab to view additional settings as described below.

 

Configuring Customer/Staff only fields

Create form field window with customer and staff visibility options highlighted for form and invoice display.

The Customer and Staff settings help you determine form visibility.

Show on form/Show on invoice to Customer

Choose whether to display the field to your Customers on the booking form and/or booking invoice.

 

Show on form/Show on invoice to Staff

You can also decide whether this field is visible to Staff members. For example, you may want your Staff to collect information when booking over the phone, but you do not want that field to appear on the public booking form. 

 

Field required by Staff or Customer

You can control whether a field is required. If a Staff member or Customer does not fill out a required field, the system highlights the missing field, and a Please fill out this field message appears beneath it.

 

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Hidden booking form fields

When Staff members edit a booking, they see fields usually hidden from Customers. This feature gives Staff the power to edit a Customer-only booking field.

 

Excluding the field from report filters

Edit Form Field modal showing Options tab with Exclude this field from report filters checkbox selected.

Checking the Exclude From Report Filters option, named Exclude this field from report filters, hides the field from the Booking Index field filter options.

You can filter Dropdown Select, Multiple Choice Radio, Single Checkbox, and Multiple Checkboxes form field types in the Booking Index. In contrast, the system automatically excludes Single Line Text, Paragraph Text, and HTML Output form field types.

 

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Learn more about the Booking Index

For a detailed look at the Booking Index, check out the following article series:

 

Attaching the field to Customer profiles

Create form field window with customer profile option selected to attach field data to the customer profile.

Selecting the Customer Profile option named Attaching this field to the customer profile configures the booking form to add the response received via the field during checkout to the Customer's profile. This information then auto-fills when the Customer makes a new booking.

This option is visible to all field types.

 

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Learn more about Staff notes

For a detailed look at setting up Staff-only note fields within Customer Profiles, check out the following article:

 

Providing choices

Create form field window showing form field choices list with options to add or remove entries.

If you select a field type that requires choices, such as the Dropdown Menu, Multiple Checkboxes, or Multiple-Choice Radio, you can manage the field choices here.

The choice labels are fully editable, and a field can be removed by clicking on the red minus icon to the right of the field.

 

Edit form field animation demonstrating how to adjust customer, staff, profile, and choice settings before saving updates.

Additionally, you can add a new field by clicking on the green plus sign icon to the right of the field.

As seen in the animation above, the new field is added directly below the field on which you clicked the plus sign icon.

 

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Changing field labels

Field choices cannot be rearranged. You need to change the labels manually to do that. 

 

Configuring default selections

Create form field window showing options to add field choice radio buttons and set a default selection switch.

The default selection option appears when you select the Multiple Checkboxes, Dropdown Select, or Multiple Choice Radio fields.

  1. After activating the Default Selection switch, a radio button appears to the left of each field.
  2. Select the field you want displayed as the default choice for the Customer.

The Customer can change this to something else if they wish.

 

Other Field Type Options

Displaying fields within Contact Info sections

Create form field window with contact info option selected to display field in the invoice contact information section.

You can select this option to display the field's contents in the contact section of the Customer's invoice.

You need to enable the Customer Profile before this option is available to select.

 

Configuring default values

Create form field window with value field highlighted for entering a default or custom value.

You can specify a default value for a field. The value field option only displays if you have selected the Single Line Text field or the Paragraph Text field type.

 

Displaying an 'Other' option

Create form field window with choices list, other option switch enabled, and text field for custom entries.

Sometimes, Customers may wish to give an answer that is different from what you chose. In this case, you can add another field using the Display 'Other' Option.

  1. Once you activate the ON switch, a pre-filled text field labeled Other appears below the other choices.
  2. The Customer can enter their answer here if the other choices do not apply.

This option is available when using either the Multiple Checkboxes or Multiple Choice Radio field types.

 

Next Steps

The following article examines the configuration of advanced settings for booking form fields.

 

 

< Configuring general booking form fields     |     Configuring booking form field advanced settings >

 

 

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