When someone registers for your event, you probably want to know more than just that they showed up — you might need their name, meal preference, t-shirt size, or emergency contact. That's where fields come in.
Fields are the questions you add to your registration form to collect information from the people signing up. Brushfire gives you two distinct types — Buyer Fields and Attendee Fields — and knowing when to use each one makes your forms shorter, smarter, and easier for your registrants to complete.
⚠️ A note on data responsibility: Before deciding what to collect, it's worth understanding your responsibilities as an event organizer when it comes to the data you gather. Review Brushfire's Privacy Policy and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to make sure your forms are set up with compliance in mind.
The Two Types of Fields
Buyer Fields — Asked Once Per Order
Buyer Fields are questions asked once per order, regardless of how many attendees are in it. If someone registers a family of four, Buyer Fields only appear once — not four times.
This is ideal for information that applies to the whole order rather than each individual attendee. Good candidates for Buyer Fields include:
- Marketing questions – "How did you hear about this event?" You only need to ask this once per registration, not once per person.
- Parent or emergency contact information – If one adult is registering multiple people, collecting contact information once at the order level keeps the form clean and fast.
Example: You're organizing a youth sports tournament where parents register their kids. You only need the parent's contact information once — not repeated for each child they register. A Buyer Field handles this perfectly.
Attendee Fields — Asked for Each Individual
Attendee Fields are questions asked for each individual registrant in an order. If someone registers three people, Attendee Fields will be filled out three times — once per person.
Use these when you genuinely need individual-level information. Common uses include:
- Name and email address (per attendee)
- T-shirt size
- Allergy or dietary information
- Age group
- Membership information
- Paid add-ons, breakout session choices, or meal options
- Waivers and acceptance fields
Example: You're running a conference where attendees choose their own breakout sessions. Since each person may choose differently, the breakout selection needs to be an Attendee Field — collected separately for each registrant.
Example: You're hosting a multi-day camp and need each participant's allergy information and a signed digital waiver. Since this is individual to each person, Attendee Fields are the right choice — not Buyer Fields.
📌 No Attendee Fields? No problem. If your event doesn't need individual attendee data, you can skip Attendee Fields entirely. The person who places the order will receive a confirmation email with a QR code that checks in all attendees in their order at once.
In your Event Configuration, look for the following tabs to set up your fields.
What Makes Fields Flexible
Brushfire's forms are built to handle almost any scenario. Fields can be configured to be:
| Option | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Required or Optional | Decide whether a field must be completed before registration can be submitted. |
| Conditional | Show or hide a field based on how another field was answered. For example, only show a "Dietary needs" text box if someone selects "Yes" to having dietary restrictions. |
| Ticket-Type Specific | Attach fields only to certain ticket or registration types. VIP attendees might see different questions than general admission attendees. |
| Admin Only | Visible to your team in the dashboard but never shown to the registrant. Useful for internal notes or tracking. |
What You Can Do With the Data You Collect
The information you gather through Buyer and Attendee Fields doesn't just sit in a database — you can put it to work:
- Reporting – All field data is accessible through Brushfire's Reporting Tools, so you can export attendee lists, sort by responses, and pull the information you need for planning and logistics.
- Targeted emails – Use your collected data to send targeted, event-related communications to specific attendee segments through Brushfire's built-in Email Tool.
- Check-in sessions – Attendee Fields can be used to configure Check-In Sessions, letting you selectively grant access to specific areas or sessions using Brushfire's check-in app.
- Audience insights – If you collect consistent data across multiple events in your organization, over time it can reveal valuable patterns about your audience demographics — useful for event growth strategy and marketing.
Limitations to Know
- Buyer Fields are per order, not per attendee. If you need information from every individual, use Attendee Fields — not Buyer Fields.
- Keep your forms short. The longer your registration form, the higher the chance someone abandons it before completing. Collect only what you truly need — quick and easy registration makes for a better experience and fewer incomplete registrations to chase down.
- Conditional logic requires setup. Fields don't become conditional automatically — you'll need to configure the logic for each one.
- Ticket-type field associations require setup in each ticket type. If you want a field to appear only for a specific ticket type, you need to connect it in the Fields section of that ticket type. Fields aren't automatically shared across all ticket types.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What's the difference between a Buyer Field and an Attendee Field?
Buyer Fields are asked once per order — great for information that applies to the whole registration, like an emergency contact or how they heard about your event. Attendee Fields are asked once per person — used when you need individual-level data like t-shirt sizes, meal choices, or waivers.
- Do I have to use Attendee Fields?
No. If your event doesn't require individual attendee information, you can skip them entirely. The order placer will receive a QR code that checks in everyone in their order.
- Can I show different fields to different ticket types?
Yes. In the Fields section of each ticket type, you can select which attendee fields apply to that type. This lets you ask VIP attendees different questions than general admission attendees, for example.
- Can I make a field only visible to my admin team?
Yes. Fields can be set to admin-only, meaning they appear in your dashboard but are never shown to registrants. This is useful for internal tracking or notes.
- Where can I see the data collected through my fields?
All field data is available in Brushfire's Reporting Tools. You can also use it to power targeted email communications through the built-in Email Tool.
- I register groups — is there a field type for that?
Yes — Brushfire also supports Group Fields for events set up to register groups. Read here to learn about Group Registrations.