Add Custom Fields & Sections
To add a custom field, just drag a field type
- Go to Customize. Under Fields, choose the table in which you want to add custom field.
- On right panel you will see different types of fields (details of each field type are given below). Drag the right field type into the section where you want the field to appear. You can also rearrange field by drag – drop.
- Just choose the label that should be shown above the field. Once you save, all new fields will be created and immediately shown in forms, filters, reports etc.
- Based on label, system name is automatically calculated. You can change this if you want – but only before saving. Once field is created, its system name can’t be changed in any case.
To make a field required or make other changes, click ‘More Properties’.
To make a field required / not required, select / deselect ‘Is Required’ checkbox. To change the text shown when field is blank, modify ‘Placeholder’. There are some more properties depending on field type. They can also be seen here and modified.
Click ‘Add Section’ below existing sections to add a new section
To move a section, click ‘Shift before’ on top right of section and choose where you want to move the section. You can also drag fields from one section to another. But every section must have atleast 1 field. You can also delete custom sections (standard sections can’t be deleted).
Different Field Types
You must choose the field type based on what kind of data it will contain.
Phone – Store any kind of phone number including symbols, extensions or even text. Practically it is like single line text.
Amount – Store amounts which should be prefixed by currency symbol like Price, Rate, Amount, Discount (but not % discount) etc.
Number – Store any type of number. You can also choose the type of number- whether it is decimal etc.
Single line text – Store any kind of text. But single line and max 255 characters.
Multiline text – Store long upto approx. 64000 characters. It can contain multiple paragraphs.
Date & Time – Store date or date & time. You can configure whether you want time along with date. Shows a date picker for date selection.
Yes / No – Shows checkbox so you can store yes / no. When importing from file, this field supports yes, no, y, n, true, false, 1, 0.
Pick one option – Shows list of values and user can select one of those values. You can reorder the fields by drag drop. If you delete a value, records with that value will not be affected. But if you modify & save those records, deleted values will not be allowed. You can also configure this to be shown as a open list (avoid if there are more than 2-3 options) instead of a drop down. When importing from file, value for this field must match exactly with one of the values.
Pick multiple options – Shows list of values and user can select multiple values. You can reorder the fields by drag drop. If you delete a value, records with that value will not be affected. But if you modify & save those records, deleted values will not be allowed. You can also configure this to be shown as a drop down list with checkbox for each value. When importing from file, each value for this field must match exactly with one of the values.
Emails – Stores only valid email addresses
Website / URL – Stores websites and website links. Must start with http:// or https://
Calculated field – Value of this field is derived from other fields of same record. Like combine two text fields (like full name using first name & last name) or apply a maths formula using other fields (like invoice amount using price, taxes & discount). Currently this field can’t be created from UI. Ask support and they will create for you.
Summary – Shows sum / average / max / min of a field in all associated records. Like if you track payments from a contact in a separate table, you can see total amount received from a contact in a summary field. This field can only be added to master tables and can summarise a field from child table only.
Auto number – Use this field if you would like a field to follow a fix sequence for each new record. Like invoice number. You can also set the pattern – certain characters can be fixed, some dynamic (mostly date related) and certain portions to auto increasing number like 001, 002 etc.
Associate with another record
Associating different tables
Let’s say you want to associate multiple contacts with a company. So when creating a contact, you would like to see a company field, where you can choose the company. And when seeing a company, you would like to see list of associated contacts. By associating Contact & Company tables, you can achieve this.
In which table should we add the custom field?
Let’s say you want to associate 2 tables X and Y.
Fill in the blanks:
When creating a X, I will choose a Y.
Once you have formed this sentence properly, you know you have to add association field in X.
Like:
When creating a Contact, I will choose a Company.
In this case, you should add association field in Contact.
When creating a Invoice, I will choose a Company.
In this case, you should add association field in Invoice.
Now fill names your 2 tables here:
When creating a________________, I will choose a_______________.
If above sentence is proper, you should add association field in ____________
Also verify using this:
Every Y can be associated with many Xs.
(Every Company can be associated with many Contacts / Invoices)
How to add the custom field?
Let’s say you want to customize Contact and associate with Company. Create ‘Associate with another record’ field in ‘Contact’. Choose type ‘Lookup’ and related table ‘Company’. Once you save, the field will appear in Contact. And when you see a Company, a tab will appear with list of associated Contacts.
Reorder Fields
Drag – drop field to change their order. You can also move to different section.
Hide Fields
To hide a field, move it to ‘Hidden fields’ section
This is a special section and its fields are not shown.
Remove Name Field
Sometimes name field does not make sense. Like if you track payments, what name will you give to each payment? But in CompanyHub, to go to a record from list of records, you have to click the name. That’s why name is required. So, if you don’t want to enter name of record, you can ask support to change the name to autonumber (details above). Then you won’t be asked for name, system will generate unique name every time.
Modify Standard Fields
You can make only limited changes in standard fields.
Select the field to change its properties like label or to make it required. You can’t change field type of standard fields.
Change Type Of A Field
You can change type of a custom field
Select the field. Click ‘More Properties’. At bottom you will see it’s type and a link to change its type. Make sure there are no unsaved changes as you will be taken to another page. Click the link to change type. There you will get option to select the new type. Choose the new type. You might not see all the types as there are restrictions on which types can be converted to which types. Note: On changing the type, changes are made at database level immediately. There might be permanent loss of data depending on old and new type – like once you change decimal to number, decimal values will be lost (5.2 will become 5) and can’t be recovered in any case. So be careful before saving such changes.
Delete Custom Field
Clicking delete icon on the field will delete the field.
Standard fields can’t be deleted. Deleting a custom field will ask for confirmation and immediately delete that column. It won’t wait for you to save changes. So be careful when deleting the field. However, deleted fields are kept in database for some days. So in case you deleted by accident, you can ask support to recover deleted field.