Custom inbox fields
Edited

Overview

Front allows you to add custom fields for existing inboxes to designate fields like Manager or Workspace. After the custom fields are set, they can then be used in Smart Rules to automate many of your workflows.

Only company admins can create new custom field types. Users will need workspace admin access to update existing custom field data.


Create custom fields

Step 1

Click the gear icon on the top right of Front, navigate to company settings, then select Custom fields from the left sidebar menu.

Step 2

Click the Inboxes tab, then click Add inbox custom field.

Step 3

Enter a Name and Description for your custom field, then select a data Type. See this article to learn more about custom field data types.

Step 4

Click Create.


Manually enter custom field data

Step 1

Click the Inboxes in your left sidebar menu, then select the inbox you’d like to enter data for.

Step 2

Click Custom fields, then fill in any of the custom fields for the inbox.

Step 3

Click Save


Import custom field data

Template

You can export a template containing your list of inboxes and any existing custom inbox fields using the export instructions below.

File formatting

Column headings and naming conventions are critical for a successful import. The file may only contain the exact fields listed below, in any order:

Column heading

Inbox field

Example value

Description

inbox_id

Inbox ID

inb_12345

Provide the inbox ID (e.g. inb_12345), not the inbox name (e.g. Marketing Shared Inbox). The inbox ID can be obtained via the API or through the downloadable template.

name of your custom inbox field, e.g. Manager

Custom fields

Depending on the type of custom field, this could be a string, number, boolean, date time, or teammate email

You can add columns for any of the custom inbox fields you’ve set up.

 

Here are the valid values that can be supplied for each type of custom field column:

Custom field type

Valid CSV values

Date and time

A date and time in ISO format. e.g. 2020-07-10T15:00:00.000 for July 10 at 3 pm

Inbox

Provide the inbox ID (e.g. inb_12345), not the inbox name (e.g. Marketing Shared Inbox). The inbox ID can be obtained via the API or through the downloadable template.

Number

A number

Teammate

The login email address of a user within your company in Front (user names are not accepted)

Text

Any text

Dropdown

Text must match one of the dropdown values listed in the custom field

Yes or no

Valid values include “True”, “False”, “Yes”, or “No” (case insensitive)

Important to know

  • The import will only update existing custom fields. This process will not create brand new custom fields, nor update default fields like inbox_id, inbox_name, and inbox_description.

  • If you delete a row from the spreadsheet, then the corresponding inbox's data will not be modified. However, deleting a column will update the values for that custom field with blank data.

  • Extra columns and rows must be deleted, including blank columns and rows.

  • You can upload up to 3000 rows (not including headers) in a single upload.

  • Up to five upload jobs can be running simultaneously. For large batches of contacts, you can break up your job into five groups of 3000 at a time.

Example

Import instructions

Step 1

Click Inboxes the left sidebar menu, then click Bulk edit custom fields.

Step 2

Click Choose file and select the file you'd like to import. You can also drag and drop your file from your computer into this section.

Step 3

Click Import CSV.


Export custom field data

Step 1

Click Inboxes in the left sidebar menu, then click Bulk edit custom fields.

Step 2

Click Front Inbox Template to download a list of all inboxes. The file will contain a list of all inbox IDs and all existing custom inbox fields.