Zendesk Custom Fields and Ticket Forms
Every one of your Zendesk custom fields is a question you make a customer answer. Some earn that cost. Most don't.
Zendesk custom fields versus ticket forms
A custom field captures one piece of information. A product area, an order number, a plan tier. A ticket form is a named set of those fields, shown for one particular kind of request. That's the distinction.
Forms let you ask a returns question a returns question and a technical question a technical question, instead of showing every customer every field. If you're on a plan that supports multiple forms, it's the single biggest improvement you can make to your intake.
Which fields are worth it
A field earns its place if the answer changes what happens next. Routing, priority, or a report you actually read.
Fields that fail the test: anything agents fill in later "for reporting" that nobody ever reports on, and anything a customer has to guess at. A guessed value is worse than no value, because it isn't data and it still looks like data.
The cost of a long form
Each required field costs you some percentage of people who abandon the form. Some of them leave quietly. Others email you instead, and now you've got a ticket without any of the fields you were trying to capture.
A few do both, and that's two tickets about one problem: one abandoned then emailed, one submitted after they came back. The tidier your intake form, the fewer of those you'll see.
Frequently asked questions
Do Zendesk forms and custom fields do the same job?
No. A field asks one question. Zendesk forms decide which fields appear together, so the same field can sit on three forms and be required on only one.
How many Zendesk custom fields should a form have?
As few as change what happens next. Three or four well-chosen fields beat ten that agents are quietly fixing afterwards.
Can I have different forms for different request types?
Yes, on the plans that include multiple ticket forms. It's one of the better reasons to be on those plans.
Fewer fields, fewer duplicates
People who abandon a long form often email instead, then submit anyway. Ticket Merger merges the pair.
Start free trial14-day free trial. No credit card required.