Tags vs. Custom Fields vs. Questions

Learn the key differences between Tags, Questions, and Custom Fields in Daisychain and understand how to effectively use each to manage and engage your contacts.

Quick Comparison

	Tags	Custom Fields	Questions
Best for	Simple labels	Static attributes	Data that changes over time
Example	"Volunteer", "Donor"	"Preferred Language", "T-Shirt Size"	"Support Score", "Volunteer Availability"
Tracks who recorded it and when	No	No	Yes
Easy to remove/change	Yes	Moderately	History is preserved — new answers don't delete old ones
Filter People list	Yes (with AND/OR logic)	Limited (single field, exact match)	No
Filter Inbox	Yes	No	No
Insert into messages	No	Yes	No

Tags Overview

Tags are simple labels you can add or remove from people. They're best for binary information — someone either has the tag or they don't.

Use Tags when you need to:

• Quickly add and remove labels

• Filter the Inbox by a specific criterion

• Filter the People list using AND/OR logic across multiple tags

Examples: "Volunteer", "Donor", "Spanish-Speaker", "Event-Attendee"

Learn more in the Tags article.

Custom Fields Overview

Custom Fields store a single value for each person. When you update a Custom Field, it overwrites the previous value — there's no history.

Use Custom Fields when you need to:

• Store static information that rarely changes

• Insert personalized content into messages (e.g. "Hi {{ person.preferred_name }}")

• Record structured data like numbers or dropdown selections

Examples: "Preferred Language", "T-Shirt Size", "Employer", "Congressional District"

Learn more in the Custom Fields article.

Questions Overview

Questions let you record answers that change over time. Each answer is saved with who recorded it and when — so you can track how someone's responses evolve.

Use Questions when you need to:

• Ask the same question multiple times over weeks or months

• See a history of how answers have changed

• Know which team member recorded each answer

Examples: "Support Score (1-5)", "Will you volunteer this weekend?", "Top issue priority"

Learn more in the Questions article.