# Use custom fields and tags

Source: https://help.meisa.io/articles/custom-fields-and-tags

Use **tags** to put people into groups, like "paid" or "webinar", and **custom fields** (shown as "Extra fields") to store details about a person, like their plan or company. Both can be used to filter contacts, build segments and personalise emails.

## Tags or custom fields?

- **Tag:** a yes/no label. A person either has it or not. Good for groups: `customer`, `beta`, `webinar-oct`.
- **Custom field:** a name and a value. Good for details that differ per person: `plan = pro`, `company = Northwind`.

## Create and manage tags

1. Go to **Contacts** and open the **Tags** tab.
2. Click **New tag**.

3. Enter a **Name**, an optional **Description (optional)**, and pick a **Colour**.
4. Click **Create tag**.

To rename or delete a tag, click the **...** button on its row and choose **Edit tag** or **Delete tag**. Deleting a tag removes it from every contact that has it. The contacts themselves stay.

## Add tags to people

- **One person:** open their profile, type in **Add a tag** under **Tags**, and click **Add tag**. Click the x on a tag to remove it.
- **Many people:** on the **People** tab, tick the people you want, then choose **Add tag** or **Remove tag** from the bar that appears. You can also tick everyone who matches your current filters.
- **While importing:** map a column to **Tags (separated by commas)**, or use **Add tags to everyone in this file (optional)**. See [Import contacts from a CSV file](/articles/import-contacts-from-csv).
- **From your app:** send tags with the contact through the API. See [Send events and contacts from your app](/articles/send-events-from-your-app).
- **Automatically:** an automation rule can add a tag when something happens. See [Create an automation rule](/articles/create-an-automation-rule).

## Add custom fields

Custom fields are created the first time you give someone a value. There is no separate setup screen.

- **One person:** on **Add contact**, click **More details**, then **Add a field**, and fill in **Name** and **Value**.
- **From a CSV:** any column you map to **Extra field: *column name*** becomes a custom field with that name.
- **From your app:** send `custom_fields` with the contact through the API.

Custom fields show on the contact's profile under **More about them**. On the **People** tab, click **Columns** to show a custom field as a column.

Keep field names simple and consistent, like `plan` or `company`, lowercase with no spaces. `Plan` and `plan` are treated as different fields.

## Use them

- **Filter:** on the **People** tab, use the **Tag** filter, or click **Filters** for more options.
- **Segments:** build rules like "Has Tag is paid" or "Custom: plan is pro". See [Create a segment to target the right people](/articles/create-a-segment).
- **Personalise emails:** put a field in double curly braces, for example `{{first_name}}` or `{{plan}}`. Add a fallback after a bar for people who have no value: `{{first_name|there}}` gives "Hi there" when the first name is empty. In the template editor, select text and click **Insert variable** to pick a field instead of typing it.

## Related articles

- [Create a segment to target the right people](/articles/create-a-segment)
- [Import contacts from a CSV file](/articles/import-contacts-from-csv)
- [Build an email template](/articles/build-an-email-template)