Custom fields in Feature Experimentation
- Optimizely Feature Experimentation
Custom fields add required or optional metadata to flags and rules, going beyond standard properties like name, key, and description. When you require collaborators to enter these fields when they create a flag or a rule, you add structure and accountability to your workflow.
Use custom fields to do the following:
- Capture domain-specific details such as Jira links, page names, or categories.
- Improve reporting and tracking across projects.
- Filter, sort, and group flags for quick access and better discoverability.
Custom fields make it easier to manage experiments and flags at scale.
Benefits of custom fields
Custom fields provide the following benefits for managing and scaling experimentation programs:
- Organization and clarity – Categorize experiments and flags for easier management and improved discoverability through enhanced filtering.
- Improved insights – Use custom fields in dashboards and reports to analyze impact across multiple dimensions.
- Scalability and efficiency – Provide structured tagging to reduce duplicate experiments and minimize configuration errors in large organizations.
- Enhanced collaboration – Promote a unified approach to experimentation across teams and simplify experiment reviews with consistent metadata.
At the rule level, custom fields bring the same structure to the individual A/B tests, feature rollouts, and targeted deliveries within a flag's rulesetruleset:
- Experiment context and governance – Capture details such as the hypothesis owner, Jira ticket, or test phase on each rule, so the reasoning behind your targeting and traffic decisions stays with the experiment.
- Consistent organization of rules – Categorize rules across a ruleset so teams can group and report on experiments, rollouts, and targeted deliveries in a uniform way.
- Accountability at rule creation – Require key metadata when collaborators create or edit a rule, reducing incomplete or inconsistent experiment setups.
Create custom fields
- Go to Settings > Fields.
- Click Create Custom Field.
- Enter a Name for the custom field and, optionally, a Description.
- Select the Make this field required checkbox to require collaborators to enter a value when they create a flag through the Feature Experimentation UIFeature Experimentation UI or the Create feature flags REST APICreate feature flags REST API.
- Select an option from the Entities drop-down list to choose whether the custom field applies at the Flags level or the Rules level. A custom field applies to one entity type, and you cannot change the entity type after you create the field. For details on configuring custom fields, see Manage flagsManage flags.
- Select the Type of custom field. The type controls what collaborators enter or select when they fill in the field on a flag.
- Label – A predefined list of values. Select Allow multi-select to permit multiple selections.
- Text – Free-form text. Set a Character Limit to restrict the number of characters allowed.
- Numerical – A number within a range you define. Set the range, specify decimal places, and choose whether to format thousands with a comma separator.
- Link – Any URL.
- Boolean – A true or false selection.
- Click Create Custom Field to save the field.
Edit custom fields
Go to Settings > Fields.
The Fields page lists all custom fields. Use the search bar to find a field by name or key. Filter by Type or Status using the drop-down lists.
Click More options (...) > Edit for the field you want to edit.
Make the necessary changes and click Save.
You can only edit the Name and Description of a custom field.
Archive custom fields
Archive a custom field to remove it from the list of custom fields.
Optimizely Feature Experimentation retains your custom field data so you can unarchiveunarchive it later.
- Go to Settings > Fields.
- Click More options (...) for the field.
- Click Archive.
Unarchive custom fields
To unarchive a field, complete the following steps:
- Go to Settings > Fields.
- Select Archived for the Status.
- Click More options (...) for the field.
- Click Unarchive.
Custom fields on rules
When a custom field applies at the Rules level, it displays in the Custom Fields section of the rule. Collaborators enter values when they create or edit a rule.
- Required fields are set by your project administrators and must be completed before you can save the rule.
- Optional fields can be added or edited at any time.
- Rules support the same field types as flags: Label, Text, Numerical, Link, and Boolean.
Custom fields on the Flags Dashboard
To display the custom fields you created in the previous stepcreated in the previous step, on the Custom Flags DashboardCustom Flags Dashboard complete the following steps:
- Go to Flags.
- Click Show/Hide Columns.
- Click the Column tab.
- Select your custom fields.
- Click Close or anywhere outside the Table Options section to save your selection.
Feature Experimentation displays the custom fields you select in a column.
After they are displayed, you can use custom field columns to filter and sort flags on the dashboard. For details on setting custom field values, see Update custom fieldsUpdate custom fields. For details on what Feature Experimentation displays on the Flags Dashboard, see Custom Flags DashboardCustom Flags Dashboard.