# Which source field to use **URL:** \ **Category:** Reporting & Analytics\ **Tags:** professional\ **Created:** [November 17, 2023, 3:26pm UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/which-source-field-to-use/94287 "2023-11-17T15:26:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![VIyengar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/94ad74/32.png) [@VIyengar](https://community.hubspot.com/u/VIyengar)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 3:26pm UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/which-source-field-to-use/94287/1 "2023-11-17T15:26:57Z")
Hi All, I’m struggling to figure out which source field to use to create single reports with overviews of all sources. And example of what’s happening now: 1) We have leads coming in via the website demo form, for which there’s a hidden value called “Demo request”, which populates a custom field called “Source” every time a form is submitted 2) There are other forms for gated content, for which only the “Marketing contact status source name” gets populated with a code - and I have no idea where this comes from 3) We have ads running for which again the “Marketing contact status source name” is different 4) We have webinar signups that come in via a tool for which no information comes in and we have to reply on a custom field … my question is, what’s the best practice? Shouldn’t every single lead ultimately have one source field populated? If not, it becomes impossible to make any meaningful reports if we’re looking at a bunch of different fields.. Any help would be much appreciated! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![karstenkoehler](https://d10pqhm3lwygmk.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.hubspot.com/karstenkoehler/32/68554_2.png) [@karstenkoehler](https://community.hubspot.com/u/karstenkoehler)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 3:30pm UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/which-source-field-to-use/94287/2 "2023-11-17T15:30:26Z")
Hi @VIyengar, The marketing contact status source does not have anything to do with the contact source, ironically. It indicates the tool that set the latest value in the contact’s marketing contact status. This status is referring to whether you’re paying for this contact or not, if I were to simplify it a lot: [Understand marketing contacts](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/contacts/marketing-contacts) The fields you’re looking for are these here: [Understand Original and Latest traffic source properties](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/contacts/understand-source-properties) Let me know if you have any follow-up questions! ---
**Author:** ![VIyengar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/94ad74/32.png) [@VIyengar](https://community.hubspot.com/u/VIyengar)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 4:28pm UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/which-source-field-to-use/94287/3 "2023-11-17T16:28:15Z")
Hi @karstenkoehler thanks for your reply! I’ve seen this article a hundred times. It doesn’t really help with any best practises for how to deal with the different sources and consolidating them into one report. I would really like to know if companies generally use a custom source field that’s updated via form hidden fields and workflows, or if there are other ways… The way it is now, some leads have information for the drill down sources, some don’t, and so it’s not reliable. Let’s say I have an e-book coming out and for this e-book, I do a webinar campaign for the release, also LinkedIn ads and also post it on my LinkedIn page and have a landing page on my website… the question is, how can I get one unified field in HubSPot that tells me the exact source (beyond the “Original source” field like direct traffic, paid social etc, which is super high level)? ---
**Author:** ![karstenkoehler](https://d10pqhm3lwygmk.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.hubspot.com/karstenkoehler/32/68554_2.png) [@karstenkoehler](https://community.hubspot.com/u/karstenkoehler)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 4:44pm UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/which-source-field-to-use/94287/4 "2023-11-17T16:44:34Z")
Hi @VIyengar, The detailed information from your example would sit in the drill-down 1 and 2 properties, if you set up tracking correctly in your website. This is really the foundation for all proper tracking in HubSpot. You can of course build workflows on top of that but those would still rely on the original source fields to a large extent. There are ways to solve specific reporting queries but the exact set up depends on many factors. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. Typically however, for a campaign like the one you describe, you’d look at the overview in the campaigns tool, the landing page analytics, original source, and attribution reports. HubSpot does not have any features that would allow you to see **everything** in one place or report. Best regards! ---
**Author:** ![VIyengar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/94ad74/32.png) [@VIyengar](https://community.hubspot.com/u/VIyengar)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 4:50pm UTC](https://community.hubspot.com/t/which-source-field-to-use/94287/5 "2023-11-17T16:50:25Z")
Thanks @karstenkoehler yes, I did suspect the tracking code was the major issue.. just one last question - does the HubSpot cookies banner need to be used on our website too? If not, how does HubSpot know if somene has accepted cookie tracking? Or does it just track all user behavior from the time the tracking code is implemented?