We are now moving on to setting up custom listing fields and filters.
A listing typically describes a product or service your providers are offering or a request posted by your customers. Listing fields are information the author of the listing needs to fill in when creating it.
Each listing has a set of default fields, like title, description, and price. When you set up your listing type, you determined the exact set of default fields that providers must fill out when creating a new listing.
In addition to the default fields, you can add a number of custom fields. These allow you to decide exactly what data is collected when a listing is created. You can also create search filters based on these fields.
Like elsewhere in the tutorial, you are encouraged to use settings and wording that are suitable for your own marketplace when going through the tutorial, in case you already have a good idea of what kind of marketplace you're looking to build.
Let's create some custom fields!
Add a listing field
Go to Listings > Listing fields from the menu. By default, there is an example field. You can delete it or adjust it.
We will delete this example field in the tutorial and instead create the following new fields:
Brand. A single-select field to capture if the listed bike is made by Cube, GHOST, Giant, or someone else.
Accessories. A check-box group to indicate what accessories come with the bike. Is a bell, lights, lock, or mudguard included?
Bike rental rules. A free text field for sharing any specific instructions someone renting the bike should keep in mind.
Let's start with the bike brand. Click "Add a new listing field", and open the newly created field.
Field settings
Field name
Field name is displayed in the marketplace next to the form field.
Write "Brand".
Field ID
Field ID is a unique identifier that is stored in the data of the listing. While the name can be changed, you should not change the field ID after listings have been created with it, as the old listings will retain the old ID. Field ID should not contain spaces or special characters.
Write "brand"
Field type
Field type determines how the field works. In this case, we want each bike to have exactly one type, and it should be chosen from a predefined list of types.
Choose "Select one".
This field is mandatory
We want every bike to have a brand.
Check the checkbox.
Field options
Here we define the different options for the bike type. Click open the first option.
Option name
Just like fields, options have names.
Write "Cube".
Option value
Option value is a bit like Field ID: it's an identifier stored in the listing data. No spaces or special characters are allowed.
Write "cube".
Now, edit the second option. For the name, write "Diamant", and for the value, "diamant".
Let's add one more option. Click "Add a new option". Add "GHOST" as the name and "ghost" as the value.
Repeat the process for as many brands as you want to add.
Search settings
We can create a filter for our "Select one" field for the search page. Let's do that so people searching for GHOST bikes can filter out the rest.
Check the box.
Filter placement
Most important filters should be made primary so they're always visible in our map layout, while secondary filters can be under the "More filters" submenu. Type is very important, so let's make it primary.
Choose "Use as a primary search filter".
Now, we have created our first custom listing field! Let's add two more.
The next one is "Accessories". This time, we want one bike to have multiple accessories. The field should not be mandatory, as some bikes might not have any amenities. There should be a search filter, but it can be under the "More filters" menu.
Field name: "Accessories"
Field id: "accessories"
Field type: "Select multiple"
Don't check "This field is mandatory"
Four field options: "Bell/bell", "Lights/lights", "Lock/lock", and "Mudguard/mudguard"
Search settings: Check "Add a filter to Search Page"
Filter placement: "Use as a secondary search filter"
Finally, let's add "Bike rules". This is just a freeform text field, for example, if the bike can't handle rough terrain and it should only be driven on flat road or terrain. It's optional: a bike doesn't need to have specific usage rules if it does well in all situations. For free text fields, we can't add a search filter, but we can decide whether a free text search should search the contents of this field. In this case, it doesn't make sense.
Field name: "Bike rules"
Field id: "bikeRules"
Field type: "Select multiple"
Don't check "This field is mandatory"
Don't check "Include this field in keyword search."
We're done! Remember to save the changes!
Next: Commission and minimum transaction size
Now that we're happy with the listing fields and filters, let's look into how to monetize our transactions.
Go to the next tutorial step to learn how to set your commission.