Creating and Managing Custom Form Fields

Check the built-in fields first. LendingWise ships with a very large library of stock fields covering most lending scenarios. Before creating a custom field, open Settings > Platform Settings > Form Fields and search the Field Name filter for what you need. A custom field that duplicates a stock field leads to the same question appearing twice on your application and data living in two places. Custom fields are the right tool when no stock field exists or when a stock dropdown doesn't have the answer choices you need, since stock dropdown options can't be edited.

Availability and permissions

Custom Fields is included on the Elite and Enterprise plans, and available as a paid add-on on Starter and Pro. If you don't see the Custom Form Fields tab, your plan may not include it.
You need a Back Office user with Manager (Admin Rights) to access Platform Settings.

1. Open Custom Form Fields

Use the left sidebar:

1 Settings ▸ 2 Platform Settings ▸ 3 Custom Form Fields

2. Pick the section where the field should live

The landing page lists every section of the platform where a custom field can be placed. The (1) Custom Form Fields tab is highlighted at the top. Sections are organized under (2) group headers, and a (3) count badge next to a section shows how many custom fields already exist there.

The Custom Fields landing page. Borrower Info (3) already has 5 custom fields on this instance.

There are three section groups, and the group determines where your field can appear:

Fields in Borrower Profile + Loan File sections (1) appear in both places. Borrower Profile Only sections (2) appear on the borrower's profile, not in loan files.

Group	Where the field appears
Loan File Only Sections	Inside loan files (and on application webforms if the section is part of the application). This is where most custom fields go.
Borrower Profile + Loan File Sections	Both the borrower's profile and their loan files.
Borrower Profile Only Sections	Only the borrower profile (Contact Info, Internal Info).

Placement matters. A custom field inherits how its host section renders. Your field will appear wherever that section appears on the application and in the loan file, in that section's position. On some loan modules, a few sections render on the borrower webform but not in the back-office loan file (or the reverse). If your team can't find a custom field after creating it, the host section is the first thing to check. When in doubt, place the field in a commonly rendered section such as Borrower Info or Additional Questions, and verify it in both places after saving.

3. Create the field

Click a section name to open its Custom Fields page. The top of the page is the creation form:

The creation form, filled in with an example dropdown field, "How did you hear about us?"

Label — the question text your borrower or team will see. Write it exactly as it should read on the form.
Field Type — the input control. See the full list below.
Multi Value Options — appears for choice-based types (Select, SelectMulti, Radio, CheckBox). Enter the answer choices separated by semicolons, for example: Google; Referral; Repeat Client; Social Media
Label Width — width of the label on a 0–12 grid. 0 places the label above the input. A value of 3 usually lines up with how the standard system fields render; leaving it blank produces a wider, double-width layout.
Display Order — position of the field among the other custom fields in this section (1–999). Number sequentially (1, 2, 3…) so later inserts are easy.
Tool Tip — optional helper text shown as a small info icon next to the field.
File Types — check which loan modules (file types) the field applies to, such as Commercial/Residential Real Estate or Business Funding. You must check at least one — the Loan Programs panel stays empty until you do, and a field without a file type won't attach to any forms.
Loan Programs — after choosing file types, your loan programs appear here. Check only the programs that should show this field. This keeps the field off the applications of programs where it doesn't apply.

Field types

Type	Use for
Text	Short free-text answers
Paragraph	Longer free-text answers (multi-line)
Number	Plain numeric values
Currency	Dollar amounts
Percent	Percentages
Date	Date picker
Select	Dropdown, one choice
SelectMulti	Dropdown, multiple choices
Radio	Visible options, one choice (good for Yes/No)
CheckBox	Visible options, multiple choices
Email / Phone	Formatted contact inputs
State / ZipCode	Formatted address inputs
File	Document upload
Header	A section heading with no input, for visually grouping several custom fields

4. Set visibility, mandatory status, and features

Below the form, three checkbox groups control where the field shows and how it behaves:

Display (1), Mandatory (2), Features (3), and the Save button (4).

Display — where the field renders:
- Full App — the borrower-facing full application webform.
- Quick App — the shorter borrower-facing application.
- Back Office — the loan file your internal team works in. Note this means the internal view, not "borrower only."
Mandatory — makes the field required, per view. Only mark a view mandatory if the field is also displayed on that view.
Features — Enable Merge Tag, Show in API, and Export to Excel are on by default. Merge tags let you pull the field's value into Doc Wizard and Email Wizard templates using the hashtag format, for example #How did you hear about us?#. Show on Pipeline and Show in Webhook are marked Coming Soon.

Recommended: whenever a field is displayed to borrowers (Full App or Quick App), also check Back Office. Otherwise borrowers can submit an answer your team can't see in the loan file. And if you enable Quick App, enable Full App too, so the answer stays visible when a Quick App is upgraded to a full application.

5. Save and verify

Click (4) Save. The page reloads with a blank form, and your new field appears in the list below it, so you can create several fields back to back.

Verify the field before telling your team it's live:

The existing fields list shows each field's Active status (1) and an Edit button (2). The Preview panel (3) renders your custom fields exactly as they will appear.

Use the Preview panel at the bottom of the page. Pick a File Type and Loan Program to see the fields as they will render.
For borrower-facing fields, open your application webform for the target loan program and confirm the field appears and saves correctly.
For Back Office fields, open a test loan file and confirm the field shows in the host section's tab.

6. Edit or deactivate a field

The Active toggle (1) at the top of the form controls whether the field is live.

Edit: click Edit on the field's row. The form fills with its current settings; make your changes and Save. Renaming the Label keeps all previously stored answers.
Deactivate: in Edit mode, uncheck the Active toggle and Save. The field disappears from all forms and views. There is no delete: deactivating hides the field but stored answers are kept, and you can reactivate it later.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	What to check
Field doesn't appear on the borrower webform	Active is checked; Full App (or Quick App) is checked under Display; the correct File Type is checked; the borrower's loan program is checked under Loan Programs; the host section renders on that program's webform.
Field doesn't appear in the loan file	Back Office is checked under Display; the host section renders in the loan file for that loan module. A few sections are webform-only on some modules; if so, recreate the field in a section that renders in both, and deactivate the original.
Save didn't seem to work	Make sure at least one File Type is checked before saving.
Dropdown shows wrong or missing choices	Edit the field and fix the Multi Value Options list. Options must be separated by semicolons, not commas or line breaks.
Custom Form Fields tab is missing entirely	Custom Fields is plan-gated (Elite+ or add-on) and requires Manager admin rights.
The question appears twice on the application	A stock field with the same meaning is probably enabled in Form Fields. Disable one of the two, preferably keeping the stock field if it fits.

Quick reference

Path: Settings > Platform Settings > Custom Form Fields > click a section
Options syntax: semicolon-separated (Option 1; Option 2)
Label Width: 0 = label above field; 3 matches standard field layout
Must check: at least one File Type, plus the Loan Programs that should see the field
Display: Full App = borrower full application, Quick App = borrower short application, Back Office = internal loan file view
Remove a field: Edit > uncheck Active > Save (data is preserved)