@lorraineboothe101
In my experience, if a field is not mandatory, it will be not filled in.
Providing content on the go decreases user effort and help her/him to accomplish the task.
In a nutshell, if is not mandatory, do not display it in the main user task!
You can always provide an extended version of the web form, according another user journey, for example:
Scenario - registration process
Step #1
2 fields, username (with server side validation), email (with server side validation)
1 CTA as Register button
A message from the system will be sent to the registered email providing an activation link
Step #2
Users receive the link and clicks on it. They will land on the setting page (always available) with:
Fieldset 1 - one field for the custom password with a self-explanatory palceholder and highlighted
Fieldset 2 - additional information
1 CTA as Update Profile
Another hook could be to send an email inviting users to complete the profile
I don’t know the scenario you are working on and I hope my example is self-explanatory about the UX approach