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Customizable Columns

Customize and reorder columns in your submissions table to display the most relevant information for your workflow.

Introduction

Basin's customizable columns feature gives you complete control over which fields are displayed in your submissions table and in what order. Whether you want to prioritize custom form fields, hide unnecessary columns, or rearrange the layout to match your workflow, this feature makes your submissions inbox work the way you do.

By default, Basin displays system columns like email, date, time, tags, and attachments. With customizable columns, you can add any custom field from your form submissions and organize them however you like.

Key Benefits

Focus on What Matters Display only the fields that are relevant to your workflow, reducing clutter and improving readability.

Custom Field Visibility Promote important form fields (like company name, phone number, or event type) to column-level visibility instead of requiring you to click into each submission.

Flexible Organization Reorder columns via drag-and-drop to match your review process or team preferences.

Sort and Filter Once a custom field is added as a column, you can sort submissions by that field, making it easier to find specific entries.

How to Customize Columns

Step 1: Navigate to Your Form's Submissions

Open your form in the Basin dashboard and click on the Submissions tab to view your submission inbox.

Step 2: Open Column Settings

Click the Columns button in the header area (you'll see a columns icon next to it). This opens the Column Settings modal.

Columns button in submissions header

Step 3: Select and Reorder Columns

The Column Settings modal has two sections:

Available Fields (Left Panel) - Shows all fields that can be added to your table - Includes both system columns (email, date, time, tags, attachment) and custom form fields - System columns are marked with a "System" badge - Click any field to add it to your selected columns

Selected Columns (Right Panel) - Shows the columns currently displayed in your table - Each column can be: - Dragged using the menu icon to reorder - Moved up/down using the arrow buttons - Removed using the X button - The order in this panel determines the order in your submissions table

Column settings modal

Step 4: Save Your Changes

Click the Save button in the modal header to apply your column configuration. The submissions table will immediately update to reflect your choices.

System Columns vs. Custom Fields

System Columns

Basin provides five built-in system columns:

  • Email - The email address from the submission
  • Date - The date the submission was received
  • Time - The time the submission was received
  • Tags - Lead tags applied to the submission (only available if lead tags are enabled)
  • Attachment - Indicates if the submission has file attachments

These columns are always available and are specially formatted for optimal display.

Custom Form Fields

Any field from your form submissions can be added as a column:

  • Text fields - Name, company, phone number, etc.
  • Select/dropdown values - Event type, product interest, etc.
  • Any other form field - Virtually any field you collect can be displayed

Custom fields appear exactly as they're named in your form, though they're automatically formatted for display (titleized and truncated if too long).

Field Discovery

Custom fields become available as columns once you've received at least one submission containing that field. If you don't see a field you expect, verify that you've received a submission with data in that field.

Sorting by Custom Columns

Once you've added a custom field as a column, you can sort your submissions by that field:

  1. Click the column header of any custom field
  2. The first click sorts ascending (A-Z)
  3. Click again to sort descending (Z-A)
  4. Click a third time to return to default sorting

Sorting works on all custom text fields and respects null values by placing them at the end of the sorted list.

Combined Sorting and Filtering

You can combine column sorting with Basin's search and filter features to quickly find exactly the submissions you need.

Resetting to Default

If you want to restore the default column configuration:

  1. Open the Column Settings modal
  2. Click the Reset to Default button in the header
  3. This restores the standard system columns (email, date, time, tags, attachment)
  4. Click Save to apply the default configuration

The default columns vary based on your form settings:

  • If lead tags are enabled: email, date, time, tags, attachment
  • If lead tags are disabled: email, date, time, attachment

Best Practices

Start with Defaults When setting up a new form, use the default columns until you've received enough submissions to understand which fields matter most to your workflow.

Prioritize High-Value Fields Place your most important custom fields first (leftmost) so they're immediately visible without scrolling.

Limit Column Count While you can add many columns, displaying too many at once can make the table difficult to read. Aim for 5-7 columns for optimal usability.

Use Descriptive Field Names Since column headers are based on your form field names, using clear, concise field names makes your table easier to understand.

Test Your Layout After configuring columns, review several submissions to ensure the layout works well with your actual data. Adjust as needed.

Use Cases

Event Registration Forms Display event name, attendee count, and dietary restrictions as columns to quickly review registrations without clicking into each submission.

Lead Capture Forms Show company name, job title, and product interest alongside email to help your sales team prioritize follow-ups.

Support Request Forms Display issue type, priority level, and account ID to help support staff triage incoming requests efficiently.

Survey Forms Show key survey responses as columns to get an at-a-glance view of trends without diving into individual submissions.

Contact Forms Add phone number and preferred contact method as columns so your team knows immediately how to reach each person.

Column Persistence

Column configurations are saved per-form and persist across sessions:

  • Each form has its own independent column configuration
  • Your settings remain even if you log out and back in
  • Column configurations don't affect other team members' views (each user can customize independently)
  • Exports (CSV/XLSX) include all submission data regardless of column configuration

Troubleshooting

Q: I don't see a custom field I expected in the Available Fields list

A: Custom fields only appear after you've received at least one submission containing that field. Submit a test form with data in that field, then check the Column Settings again.

Q: Can I hide the checkbox column?

A: No, the checkbox column is always present to enable bulk actions like exporting or deleting multiple submissions at once.

Q: Do custom columns affect form submission or performance?

A: No, customizing columns only affects the display of your submissions table. It doesn't change how submissions are processed, stored, or delivered.

Q: Can I sort by multiple columns at once?

A: Currently, sorting is single-column only. You can sort by one column at a time, either ascending or descending.

Q: What happens if I delete a field from my form?

A: Historical data is preserved. If you've configured a column for a field that no longer exists in your form, it will still display historical data for past submissions that contained that field. New submissions without that field will show a dash (-) in that column.