public function __construct( $id, $field, $value = null ) {

			// setup the defaults
			$this->defaults = array(
				'type'                => 'html',
				'name'                => $id,
				'fieldset_attributes' => array(),
				'attributes'          => array(),
				'class'               => null,
				'label'               => null,
				'label_attributes'    => null,
				'placeholder'         => null,
				'tooltip'             => null,
				'size'                => 'medium',
				'html'                => null,
				'error'               => false,
				'value'               => $value,
				'options'             => null,
				'conditional'         => true,
				'display_callback'    => null,
				'if_empty'            => null,
				'can_be_empty'        => false,
				'clear_after'         => true,
				'tooltip_first'       => false,
			);

			// a list of valid field types, to prevent screwy behavior
			$this->valid_field_types = array(
				'heading',
				'html',
				'text',
				'textarea',
				'wysiwyg',
				'radio',
				'checkbox_bool',
				'checkbox_list',
				'dropdown',
				'dropdown',
				'dropdown_select2', // Deprecated use `dropdown`
				'dropdown_chosen', // Deprecated use `dropdown`
				'license_key',
				'wrapped_html',
				'email',
			);

			$this->valid_field_types = apply_filters( 'tribe_valid_field_types', $this->valid_field_types );

			// parse args with defaults and extract them
			$args = wp_parse_args( $field, $this->defaults );

			// sanitize the values just to be safe
			$id         = esc_attr( $id );
			$type       = esc_attr( $args['type'] );
			$name       = esc_attr( $args['name'] );
			$placeholder = esc_attr( $args['placeholder'] );
			$class = $this->sanitize_class_attribute( $args['class'] );
			$label      = wp_kses(
				$args['label'], array(
					'a'      => array( 'href' => array(), 'title' => array() ),
					'br'     => array(),
					'em'     => array(),
					'strong' => array(),
					'b'      => array(),
					'i'      => array(),
					'u'      => array(),
					'img'    => array(
						'title' => array(),
						'src'   => array(),
						'alt'   => array(),
					),
					'span'      => array( 'class' => array() ),
				)
			);
			$label_attributes = $args['label_attributes'];
			$tooltip    = wp_kses(
				$args['tooltip'], array(
					'a'      => array( 'href' => array(), 'title' => array(), 'target' => array() ),
					'br'     => array(),
					'em'     => array(),
					'strong' => array(),
					'b'      => array(),
					'i'      => array(),
					'u'      => array(),
					'img'    => array(
						'title' => array(),
						'src'   => array(),
						'alt'   => array(),
					),
					'code'   => array( 'span' => array() ),
					'span'   => array(),
				)
			);
			$fieldset_attributes = array();
			if ( is_array( $args['fieldset_attributes'] ) ) {
				foreach ( $args['fieldset_attributes'] as $key => $val ) {
					$fieldset_attributes[ $key ] = esc_attr( $val );
				}
			}
			$attributes = array();
			if ( is_array( $args['attributes'] ) ) {
				foreach ( $args['attributes'] as $key => $val ) {
					$attributes[ $key ] = esc_attr( $val );
				}
			}
			if ( is_array( $args['options'] ) ) {
				$options = array();
				foreach ( $args['options'] as $key => $val ) {
					$options[ $key ] = $val;
				}
			} else {
				$options = $args['options'];
			}
			$size             = esc_attr( $args['size'] );
			$html             = $args['html'];
			$error            = (bool) $args['error'];
			$value            = is_array( $value ) ? array_map( 'esc_attr', $value ) : esc_attr( $value );
			$conditional      = $args['conditional'];
			$display_callback = $args['display_callback'];
			$if_empty         = is_string( $args['if_empty'] ) ? trim( $args['if_empty'] ) : $args['if_empty'];
			$can_be_empty     = (bool) $args['can_be_empty'];
			$clear_after      = (bool) $args['clear_after'];
			$tooltip_first    = (bool) $args['tooltip_first'];

			// set the ID
			$this->id = apply_filters( 'tribe_field_id', $id );

			// set each instance variable and filter
			foreach ( array_keys( $this->defaults ) as $key ) {
				$this->{$key} = apply_filters( 'tribe_field_' . $key, $$key, $this->id );
			}

			// epicness
			$this->do_field();
		}