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A field is defined once on a governance model and reused across taxonomies. When you add a field to a taxonomy, you can override its behavior just for that taxonomy: make it required, filter which dropdown options appear, and choose where a Tagged URL field’s open parameters get their values. Required and option filters can only tighten a field, never loosen it, and the underlying field never changes.

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What it is

The same field can appear in many taxonomies. Each taxonomy holds its own reference to that field, and a reference can carry narrow overrides that apply only within that taxonomy. Every other taxonomy that uses the field is unaffected, and the field’s own settings on the governance model stay as they are. Three overrides are available:
  • Required: make the field mandatory in this taxonomy.
  • Option filter: restrict which picklist options a dropdown field shows in this taxonomy.
  • Parameters: for a Tagged URL field, bind each parameter the field left open to a field in this taxonomy, or leave a parameter out here.

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Where you set them

Open the taxonomy, click the field, and switch to the Taxonomy settings tab (the Shared settings tab edits the field for every taxonomy). The tab shows Required in this taxonomy, plus Option filter for a dropdown or Parameters for a Tagged URL field. The toggle and the parameter choices save as soon as you change them; the option filter saves when you click Save Filter and confirms with “Option filter updated.” Like other structure edits, overrides reach submitters when you publish a revision. See Taxonomies. There is also a workspace-level layer for the option filter. The same dropdown can show different options depending on which workspace the taxonomy is used in. The taxonomy-level filter and the workspace-level filter both apply at the same time.

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Overrides can only tighten

This is the rule to remember: an override can make a field stricter, never looser.
  • You can make an optional field required in a taxonomy. You cannot make a field that is required on the governance model optional in a taxonomy. When the field is already required, the Required in this taxonomy toggle is locked on.
The effective setting is “stricter of the two.” If the field is required at the governance-model level, it is required everywhere, and no taxonomy can opt out. If you need a field to be optional in one taxonomy and required in another, leave it optional on the governance model and turn on required in just the taxonomies that need it.

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Filtering dropdown options

An option filter narrows which picklist options a dropdown shows in one taxonomy, without editing the master picklist. Every other taxonomy keeps the full list. You pick one of two modes. They differ in how they treat options added to the picklist later:
  • Use all options, hide a few (a blocklist): you choose the options to hide. New options added to the picklist later appear automatically. Use this when the taxonomy should track the picklist with a few exceptions.
  • Only specific options I choose (an allowlist): you choose exactly which options show. New options added to the picklist later stay hidden until you add them to the filter. Use this when the taxonomy should pin a fixed set.
Click Filter options to open the “Which options appear here?” dialog, pick the mode, choose the options, and click Save Filter. A few rules:
  • Option filter appears only for Dropdown fields.
  • With Only specific options I choose, at least one option must be checked. With nothing checked, the editor warns “No options selected. The dropdown would be empty.” and Save Filter stays disabled.
  • Reset to All, then Save Filter, removes the filter, so the dropdown shows the full picklist again.
  • Filtering changes only what you can pick in the form. It does not change the picklist, and records that already use a now-hidden option keep their value.

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Workspace-level option filters

Requires the Business plan or higher. Clearing a workspace filter is always allowed. See Plans and limits.
A taxonomy is connected to one or more workspaces. On each connection you can set a per-workspace option filter for a dropdown, using the same allowlist or blocklist modes. You set it in the workspace’s settings: find the taxonomy under its assigned taxonomies and click Configure (“Choose which options appear for each dropdown field in this workspace”). The Field options column reads Taxonomy defaults until you customize a field. This is layered on top of the taxonomy-level filter:
  • The taxonomy-level filter restricts the dropdown everywhere the taxonomy is used.
  • The workspace-level filter restricts it further in that one workspace.
Both apply together, so a workspace sees the intersection. The workspace filter, like the taxonomy one, only tightens. If no option passes both (for example, the workspace hides every option the taxonomy allows, or the taxonomy filter later changes so the two share no option), the dropdown in that workspace is empty and no new value can be chosen until you widen one of the filters. See Manage workspaces for managing the connection.

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Tagged URL parameter bindings

A Tagged URL field defines its parameters once, in Shared settings. A parameter can have a shared source there, or be left open so each taxonomy decides. The Parameters section of Taxonomy settings lists every parameter under the headings Parameter, Value from, and Source, with one of three choices per row: Rules that block publishing:
  • Every open parameter needs a decision in every taxonomy that places the field. Until then the row shows Needs a source, and publishing fails with an error that names the parameter and the taxonomy and says “Bind a field or mark it not used.”
  • A shared source cannot be rebound. A binding that tries (for example, from an imported file) fails publishing and shows Cannot rebind a shared parameter. Choose Shared or Not used, or clear the shared source on the field.
  • The source must be in this taxonomy. A bound field that is no longer placed here shows Source not in this taxonomy.
A Shared parameter whose shared source is not placed in this taxonomy shows Value will be blank here. That is a warning and does not block publishing. The section lists only the field’s saved parameters, so save changes in Shared settings before binding new ones.

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Option filter example

The Campaign URL Builder governance model defines a single utm_medium dropdown backed by a picklist with three options: email, social, and cpc. Three taxonomies reuse that one field, each with its own Option filter set to Only specific options I choose: When you fill in an Email Campaigns submission, the utm_medium dropdown shows only email. On Social Campaigns it shows only social. The utm_medium picklist still holds all three options and is unchanged. One field with one picklist backs three different form behaviors, so the governance model stays simple while each taxonomy surfaces only the option its channel needs.

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Gotchas

  • Overrides only tighten, never loosen. You can make a field required in a taxonomy, but you cannot relax the field’s own setting. A field that is required on the governance model is required in every taxonomy.
  • The two modes behave differently as the picklist grows. With Use all options, hide a few, new picklist options appear automatically. With Only specific options I choose, new options stay hidden until you check them. Choose the first when the taxonomy should follow the picklist, the second when it should pin a fixed set.
  • Option filters are dropdown-only. If a non-dropdown field needs different behavior in different taxonomies, consider whether you need two separate fields.
  • An allowlist can’t be empty. You cannot save Only specific options I choose with nothing checked, because it would leave the dropdown empty. To remove all choices, remove the field from the taxonomy instead.
  • Filters are not access control. A filter narrows what shows in the form. It does not hide options from anyone who can read the picklist, so do not rely on it for security.
  • Existing records keep filtered-out values. Tightening a filter does not rewrite records that already use a now-hidden option. They keep their value, and updating one through a submission keeps it unless you change it deliberately.
  • The taxonomy and workspace filters stack. When both a taxonomy-level and a workspace-level filter exist for the same dropdown, both apply, and the dropdown shows only what passes both.