Can I create custom fields that are card or list specific?

Jim Lacy
Contributor
November 6, 2019

So far I've only been able to use the CUSTOM FIELDS power up on cards that all share the same data entry characteristics, or I have to compromise the simplicity of my workflow by adding in extra boards to allow for differing CUSTOM FIELDS. Either way it's not slick for my users. Is there a way to enable specific CUSTOM FIELDS to appear on specific cards?

A solution to this might be...When setting up the CUSTOM FIELD you can enable it on just this card, or tag it to chosen cards within the board, or tag it to appear on all cards?...In a similar way to how Checklists work?

I've already read the thread on the community about this topic and it sounds like a no brainer to get this feature introduced so that CUSTOM FIELDS really does what it says on the tin, alternatively you need to change the name of the power up from CUSTOM FIELDS to UNIVERSALLY APPLIED FIELDS

9 answers

2 votes
Kade McConville
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April 16, 2021

Is this still not possible?

Patrick Malone
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May 21, 2021

It appears not. I have been looking for this solution for awhile. Seems ridiculous that you can't assign individual custom fields per card. 

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Luke Tarbutton
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June 26, 2024

3 years later still not possible...

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1 vote
B M June 7, 2021

To add to, what I might think is a very evident and general application of this task:

When a card is in this list, it has the option to trigger a process, but only in this list.

Off the top of my head:

- You have a card for a car shop in a "initial inspection" list and, only while in that list is there an option to check a box that says "form 4672 needs to be completed" because the car has an aftermarket lowering kit on it and work cannot proceed until this form is submitted. This is the only point at the process where this happens, so having it on every card is cumbersome. It needs to appear and then disappear after the card moves beyond this.

- Another example is a process developing courses. Once in the Content QA list, a box is available to send all content for translation into another language. You are not allowed to send prior to the completion of the QA, and it must be translated before the process continues. So, the custom field only belongs on cards in that specific list. It could be a "one item checlist" but is needs to live above the checklist area as checklists are already used regularly. 

If there is a better solution to accomplish this (and not change what we are trying to do), I'm all ears!

1 vote
Peter van der Stock
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June 5, 2020

It would be useful to have different templates each with their set of custom fields.

1 vote
Deleted user May 3, 2020

This is extremely frustrating and seems like a missed opportunity for the Custom Field power up - I am a food blogger and require custom fields for different cards depending on what I'm working on - branded content has it's own workflow compared to a general blog post.  I can't even track my business and editorial calendar in the same board because the custom fields are DRASTICALLY different.

A custom field is really only custom if you can customize it per card/board...

1 vote
Kevin Colligan
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March 31, 2020

I agree -- would love to have different fields appear on different templates.  I'm trying to create a global calendar for a website to track updates. Some updates are promos, some are content, etc., so different fields would be required. 

Alternatively, if I created a Promos board and Content board, can I make those feed into one global board? 

Josh DeBoer
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December 15, 2021

Yes, this make so much sense... we have intake projects and reg projects, I'd love a custom field set for each template type so it has different data entry fields...

1 vote
Rich Creedy
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March 26, 2020

I'm new to Trello - been using it for just two weeks - so still have a lot to learn. However I would agree that it would be very useful to allow different cards to have different custom fields. I'd find it useful if I could create templates each with their own set of custom fields. Off to find out how to suggest this.

0 votes
Dylan Agnes August 27, 2024

Still not a feature according to support from trello. 

0 votes
Iain Dooley
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November 7, 2019

@Jim Lacy custom fields are on a per board basis. I think this is a reasonable choice, defining them per card would be pretty cumbersome.

What issues do you have with creating multiple boards to house different custom field models?

Kevin Colligan
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March 31, 2020

Is there a way to feed multiple boards cards up to one master board?

Iain Dooley
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March 31, 2020

@Kevin Colligan There are several different ways to mirror cards, some are discussed here:

https://help.trello.com/article/1097-mirroring-cards

If you copy a card to a board the fields will come with it though so this can result in lots of fields being created on your master board.

I think what might be a better option would be a "board of boards" with sub boards linked from cards in an overview board, then periodically generating a checklist on the overview card with links to all cards in, for example, the doing list. 

geoffrey r_ July 8, 2020

If Trello had card archetypes, this would be doable. For example: have a default archetype "generic task", and have custom fields apply to all cards that are of "generic task". Then you can create more archetypes like "subtask" or "milestone" and have different sets of custom fields for those.

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Dylan Agnes August 27, 2024

Card templates are useless to point they are not even a template. If the fields I create in the template environment show up in default cards that I want to be different then it's not a template. I would like to have unique cards for my lists within a single board. If I create card template A with 15 fields and I need card template B with 5 fields then the result is I get one single card with 20 fields. This would not be an issue if I could hide custom fields on certain cards on the back in addition to the front. OR the ability to add sections to the custom fields so I can clearly see which fields apply to this card. I can do these with power ups for extra cost which I was willing to do until looking into it further, I can't use any automation features with powerups :( 

0 votes
Katrin Anger
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November 7, 2019

@Jim Lacy 

You are right that custom fields apply to all cards on a board - once they were set up.

The only way to manage this (a little), is having them show on the front of the card. And those cards that you don't want to see a custom fields for, would have no entry. Which makes them invisible on the board's view.

I think it would be better to address feature requests directly with the Trello support team. This here is a community forum, and we are sitting in the same boat as you. :)

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