Postal Address
A structured postal address, with address lookup rather than free typing.
Where to find it
Architect Panel → Data:
- Datastores — the datastore, then Table Designer to add or edit a field
Architect Panel → Integration & Connections:
- Postcode Lookup — distance and mapping, which use the postcode
Architect Panel → Activity:
- Correspondence — letters sent to the address
It is structured, not one box
The address is held as its parts — lines, town, postcode, country — rather than as a block of text. That is what makes it usable rather than merely displayable.
A structured address can be validated, sorted on, grouped by town, mapped, and used for distance. An address in a text area can be printed and nothing else.
The postcode is the useful part
It drives more than delivery. Distance sorting on a browse view, the radius filter and the map all work from the postcode held here, and geographic reporting groups by it.
So an address field with a missing or malformed postcode is not just an incomplete address — it is a record that cannot be placed, sorted by distance or mapped.
Addresses picked from lookup carry their coordinates
When an address is chosen from the lookup, its coordinates come with it. That is worth knowing because it means those records need no separate geocoding — the location is already there, at no cost and with no cache entry.
Typed addresses do not have that, which is one more reason to encourage the lookup rather than free entry.
Encourage the lookup
Typed addresses are inconsistent — abbreviations, missing lines, misspelt towns, postcodes with the space in the wrong place. Lookup produces one canonical form.
Always allow manual entry as a fallback, though. New builds, unusual addresses and addresses abroad are not always found, and a form that refuses to proceed without a lookup match will block real people.
Do not assume a UK shape
If you will ever hold an address outside the UK, be careful about validation that assumes a postcode format, a county, or a particular line structure. Address formats vary enormously, and rigid validation is a common way to make a form unusable for somebody abroad.
One address per purpose
Billing, delivery and correspondence addresses are different things and will diverge. Model them as separate fields where they can differ rather than one address that somebody has to keep changing.
It is personal data
A home address is sensitive, and more so in some contexts than others — a refuge, a safeguarding case, a witness. Where that applies, field security and classification are the tools, and the address may warrant tighter handling than the rest of the record.
Worked example
A service holds separate correspondence and service addresses, both captured through lookup so coordinates come free. The browse view sorts by distance from a visitor's postcode without a single geocoding call, because every address was picked rather than typed.
Recommendations
- Encourage lookup — it gives you consistency and coordinates.
- Always allow manual fallback.
- Separate addresses by purpose.
- Do not hard-code a UK address shape.