Glossary
What Is Attribute?
In Verifycate, an attribute is a named piece of data — a recipient's name, a course title, a score — whose value gets printed onto each certificate through a placeholder in the template.
Also called: certificate attribute, custom attribute, merge field
What it's for
Every certificate is the same document with different words in it. Those words have to come from somewhere: a spreadsheet column, a form answer, a typo you catch at the last minute. An attribute is how that data gets named once and reused everywhere — the bridge between a row in your list and text on the page.
How it works
An attribute has a name, like course_name or score. Put {{course_name}} in a template and each issued certificate renders with that recipient's value in its place. The value comes from the recipient's record — typed in, imported from a CSV column, or filled in by whichever form collected it.
A few attributes come built in and fill themselves: the recipient's name, their email, the certificate's ID, the issue date and the expiry date. Everything else is yours to define per certificate — a completion score, a cohort name, a speaker slot. The template editor shows which attributes a certificate defines and where each one is used, so a missing value is visible before issue rather than after.
Attributes don't stop at the page. The same keys drive the whole flow:
- Forms. A request form whose questions match a certificate's attributes puts each answer straight into the field it belongs to — no re-keying, no mapping.
- Emails. Workspace email templates accept the same placeholders, so the delivery email can open with the recipient's name and certificate details.
Attributes are defined per certificate, and values live on the recipient. Editing a recipient's details — fixing a name, correcting a score — re-issues their certificate with the new value rendered in, so the fix lands on the page and not just in the database. Anything you collect but don't map to the design stays in the recipient's data as unused, ready to be mapped later.
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Common questions
- What's the difference between an attribute and a field?
- Nothing, in practice — a field is an attribute waiting for a value. Define the attribute once; the template, forms and emails all reference it by name.
- Can I use any name I like for an attribute?
- Yes. Most people use short lowercase names like `cohort` or `grade`. A handful of names are reserved for the built-ins — recipient name, email, certificate ID, issue and expiry dates — which fill themselves.
- What happens if a recipient has no value for an attribute the template uses?
- The certificate renders without it, which is exactly why the editor shows attribute usage — add the missing value on the recipient, or remove the placeholder, before you publish.
- Do form answers have to match attribute names exactly?
- On a certificate request form, yes — that's the feature. Questions named to match a certificate's attributes fill those attributes automatically, so an approved request issues without anyone re-typing answers.
Related terms
- TemplateIn Verifycate, a template is the visual design attached to a certificate — the layout, artwork and typography every issued copy is rendered from, edited on a design canvas and versioned every time it's published.
- Certificate RecipientIn Verifycate, a certificate recipient is one person on a certificate's list — the record carrying their name, contact details, attribute values and status from import through issue to verification.
- Certificate Request FormIn Verifycate, a certificate request form is a public application form for people who want your certificate: approved requests are issued, and the applicant's answers become the details printed on the copy.
- Bulk Certificate GenerationBulk certificate generation produces one personalised certificate per person from a single design and a list of recipients, instead of editing a file once per name.
Your data, printed exactly where it belongs.
Define an attribute once; the template, forms and delivery emails all fill themselves from it. Try it with 300 free credits, no card.
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