How to Use Custom Variables in Porsline

When you already know a respondent’s name, email address, phone number, customer ID or department, you should not need to ask for the same information again.

With Custom Variables in Porsline, you can pass existing information into a form link, store it with the submitted response and use it to create a more relevant experience for each person.

In this video, we introduce how Custom Variables work and how they can support personalised forms, connected systems and more focused question paths.

Reuse Information You Already Have

Respondent information may already exist in your:

• Customer relationship management system
• Human resources platform
• Hospital information system
• E-commerce platform
• Email marketing tool
• Internal database

Custom Variables allow this information to travel with the form without requiring respondents to type it again.

The values remain hidden from respondents unless you intentionally display them inside the form. After submission, they are stored with the response and can be reviewed in the Results Table.

What You Will See in This Video

The video introduces the main ways Custom Variables can support a Porsline workflow, including:

• Defining information you want to track
• Adding values manually to a form link
• Generating personalised links from an Excel file
• Passing data automatically through the Porsline API
• Encrypting variable values inside links
• Restricting personalised links to one use
• Displaying hidden information through Piping
• Creating Logic based on Custom Variable values

The video provides an overview of these capabilities. Detailed setup instructions and troubleshooting will be covered separately in the Porsline Help Centre.

Create More Personalised Customer Experiences

Custom Variables are particularly useful when sending feedback forms to known customers.

For example, an online shop may already know the customer’s name, phone number and recently purchased product. Instead of asking for this information again, the business can add it to the form link and focus the questions on the customer’s actual experience.

This approach can support more relevant customer experience surveys, particularly when feedback is connected to a transaction, support interaction or stage in the customer journey.

The respondent sees a shorter, more focused form, while your team receives the contextual information needed to understand and act on the response.

Pass Data Through Personalised Form Links

Once Custom Variables are defined, their placeholders are added to the form link.

Values can then be inserted in three ways:

• Manually
• Through an Excel file
• Automatically through the Porsline API

An Excel file can be used to generate one personalised link for each customer, employee, student or participant.

For larger and more automated workflows, the API can connect the form to systems that already contain the required data.

These options make Custom Variables useful across different products built with our online form builder, including feedback forms, employee surveys, research questionnaires and post-purchase evaluations.

Use Variables with Piping and Logic

Custom Variables do more than store information behind the scenes.

With Piping, you can display a hidden value inside the form. For example, you might:

• Welcome the respondent by name
• Mention the product they purchased
• Refer to their department
• Display an existing account or reference number

You can also use Custom Variable values in Logic.

For example, employees from the marketing department can see marketing-related questions, while sales employees follow a different path—all from the same form.

This helps you avoid irrelevant questions and creates a more focused experience for each respondent.

Keep Personalised Links More Controlled

Porsline also allows you to encrypt personalised links so respondents cannot easily identify or change the values passed through the URL.

A personalised link can also be restricted to one submission when the workflow requires tighter control.

These options can be valuable when links contain internal identifiers or when each invitation should be used by only one intended respondent.

Before using personalised links with sensitive information, make sure your data collection process follows your organisation’s privacy and security requirements.

Start Creating More Relevant Forms

Custom Variables help you connect existing data with new responses without asking people to repeat information you already have.

Start with only the variables your project genuinely needs, keep variable names consistent across your systems and decide whether each value should remain hidden or appear inside the form.

Create your free Porsline account and start building more personalised forms and surveys.