M
Muhammad Abubakar
The Problem:
Right now, if we want to capture information on a specific form that we only need temporarily (e.g., onboarding intake, quiz answers, or promotional event surveys) without polluting the Contact CRM with 50+ permanent custom fields, we have to use messy workarounds. We either have to write complex webhooks, dump text into a generic notes field, or create a bunch of "temporary" fields that we have to manually wipe via workflows.
This causes massive custom field bloat, slows down system performance, and makes managing the Custom Fields dashboard a data hygiene nightmare.
The Solution:
Introduce Ephemeral / Temporary Form Fields directly inside the Form Builder, with an easy native mapping UI in Workflows.
How it would work:
  1. In the Form Builder: Give us a checkbox or toggle on any form element that says "Set as Ephemeral Field." This field collects data on the form but does not create a permanent custom field in the contact settings.
  2. In Workflows (Form Submitted Trigger): Inside the "Update Contact Field" or a new "Map Form Fields" action, allow us to see these ephemeral fields in the dropdown and directly map them to any existing permanent custom field type (Text, Date Picker, Dropdown, Number, etc.).
  3. Data Lifecycle: The data lives in the form submission payload natively. Once the workflow triggers, it maps to the permanent field, leaving the form clean for the next user without creating permanent database bloat.
Why this helps the GHL Community:
• Zero Custom Field Bloat: Keeps agency CRMs incredibly clean.
• Database Efficiency: Saves GHL's backend from managing millions of unused, one-off custom fields across sub-accounts.
• Dynamic Lead Processing: Makes building quizzes, multi-step application forms, and conditional intake systems 10x faster and cleaner.
Please Upvote if your sub-accounts are suffering from custom field chaos! Let's get this on the roadmap! 🚀