# Settings: Custom Values





Custom Values, or Merge Fields, are values you can put into a template that will auto-populate when generating communication with your contacts. They are a great way to save time and maximize &#x4F;_&#x75;r Software_, by automating information so you can send out customized communication more quickly. For example, an email templated can say "Hey \{{ contact. name \}}" and &#x4F;_&#x75;r Software_ will auto-populate the name of the contact so you can send a personal email to a group of contacts or through an ongoing campaign that leads are consistently being added to.

Here are some common examples of custom values you may use in &#x4F;_&#x75;r Software_:

* Contact > Full name: \{{ contact.name \}}
* Contact > First name: \{{ contact.first\_name \}}
* Contact > Last name: \{{ contact.last\_name \}}
* Contact > Email: \{{ contact.email \}}
* Contact > Phone: \{{ contact.phone \}}
* Contact > Company name: \{{ contact.company\_name \}}

Some custom values are by default built into &#x4F;_&#x75;r Software_, for most commonly used things like name, email, phone number, etc. These standard custom values are useful for common merge fields, such as a greeting/intro to an email like "Hey \{{ contact. name \}}". To view all the custom values in &#x4F;_&#x75;r Software_, navigate to any

You can also create your own custom values specifically for &#x4F;_&#x75;r Software_. These can be useful if you want to set up automation by pre-setting defined values. (In the example below, the "Custom Email" will always populate test@demoaccount, so you won't have to type it out every time.)

**Step 1: Creating Custom Values**

* You can create your own custom values by navigating to Settings > Custom Values
* Click +Add Custom Value to create a new one.
* You can click the trashcan icon to delete an existing one, or the pencil icon to edit.
* These will be pre-set custom values with a defined value.

**Step 2: Using Custom Values.** You can add a standard or self-created Custom Value into an email or SMS template, trigger, campaign, and more.

* Navigate to the communication you wish to customize.
  * In the video example, we use a trigger setup to send a custom email.
  * In the screenshot example below, we are sending a bulk email from the Contacts section.
* Choose "Custom Values" and the dropdown menu will appear (with a sub-menus).

{% embed url="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/Uu-RtG8mqDm8CI0RHR8Oc_IU21MzTesNHum2mi7TZlaglcXRjZmJsFn5OpKc1zbTseDAgCwJ1NutfCr4Hqt1Iwb6LfUG2b4NHGTBfncr3Fyx-XyScxTmzDtkZqmxCaR92Qzrksu4WzbPF8Se_2tiRKY" %}

* Click the value you wish to use, and it will be added to the body of the message.

{% embed url="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/QWgwANCE2tHppl4Vcw9htlkwOIGxJ15xa41K_pHgQdwMa9GoeM9-G4qNcjyq4TVYm7-T_dCxuuu8UjkaEtMcPMyIEK0i56VigbEIdOOyuhf8aFjlgYifwtU2mCBG5d8vKRR1sKVx9pFceX8bAOnmgyo" %}

* Now, the email intro essentially says "Hey \_\_\_\_\_," and &#x4F;_&#x75;r Software_ will automatically pull the first name of each contact into the email when it's sent out.

_**NOTE**_**:** the custom values used in this example contain a space between the symbols { } but in actual usage, there will be no space between the symbols and text.
