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4.3. Creating and Editing Custom Fields

In addition to the standard directory fields (Company contact details and description, Contact name and email address) you can customise your directory to store a number of Custom Fields to record Company and Contact information appropriate to your organisation.

There are two types of custom field you can add: Custom Text Fields, which record information that can be typed in (e.g. some text, a number or a date) and Custom Option Fields, which provide a list of items from which one or many can be selected (e.g. gender, ethnicity or company size banding).

To edit Custom Fields select the Settings menu option, then select Edit Custom Fields from the sub-menu to open the Custom Fields page. Click on either Text Fields or Option Fields depending on which type of field you want to add or edit.

• 4.3.1. Creating and Editing Custom Text Fields
• 4.3.2. Creating and Editing Custom Option Fields
• 4.3.3. Editing Options for Custom Option Fields
• 4.3.4. Creating Linked Custom Option Fields

4.3.1. Creating and Editing Custom Text Fields

Creating a New Text Field

Select whether your new field is to appear on the Company or Contact record by selecting 'Company Record' or 'Contact Record' from the Edit text fields on list.

Either select 'Add new field...' from the Edit Field list or click save and add new field. You will then be able to edit the details of your new field as described below.

Selecting an Existing Text Field to Edit

Select either 'Company Record' or 'Contact Record' from the Edit text fields on list, and select the field you want to edit from the Edit Field list.

Entering the Details for a Text Field

There are a number of settings for each field to determine where it appears and what can be entered in it.

• Field Order: This field determines what order the Custom Text Fields are listed in when they appear on the Company or Contact Record. Select the position you would like this field to appear from the list. New fields will be put at the end by default.
• Type: This field determines what kind of information can be entered in a field. It also determines what the field will look like when it appears on the record, for example a date field will be smaller than a free text field and will have a calendar next to it from which dates can be selected:
  • Free Text: This field will accept any combination of text or numbers.
  • Date: This field will only accept a date. A calendar will appear next to the field from which the date can be selected.
  • Money: This field will only accept a decimal number. A currency sign can be added before or after the field.
  • Whole Number: This field will only accept whole numbers (not decimals).
  • Decimal Number: This field will only accept a number (whole number or decimal).
  • Email Address: This field will only accept an email address.
  • Website Address (URL): This field will only accept a website address.
  • UK Postcode: This field will only accept a UK Postcode.
• Parameters: In this field you can enter the upper and lower limit that can be entered. Exactly what the parameters are will depend on the Type:
  • Length (characters): For Free Text fields. The minimum and maximum number of characters that can be entered.
  • Date Range: For Date fields. The earliest and latest date that can be entered.
  • Value: For Money, Whole Number and Decimal Number fields. The lowest and highest value that can be entered.
  Email Address, Website Address and UK Postcode do not have any parameters.
• Options: This section gives a number of options that control things like where the field can be seen and who can edit it. If you don't select any of these options the field will only be available to directory users to edit; Directory Members will not be able to see the field and it will not appear in the public facing search unless you select the appropriate options to do this.

The field is shown at the bottom of the page. You can edit the Field Label, Default Text and Validation Error Message in this section.

• Field Label: This is the name of the field, e.g. Company Start Date or Turnover.
• Default Text: This is what will appear in the field if no information has been entered, e.g. Please enter your annual turnover. For Date fields the default text must be a date (you have the option to always enter today's date if you wish). For Money fields you can enter a sign to appear before or after the field when it appears on the page, for example for Pounds Sterling enter a £ in the first box. Whole Numbers and Decimal Numbers always default to zero.
• Validation Error Message: This is the message that will be shown if a user enters invalid data, for example if they enter an email address in the wrong format or if they fail to enter something in a mandatory field. An example of a validation error message for an email address could be 'Please enter a valid email address in the format xxx@xxx.xxx'. If the field is Free Text and not mandatory a Validation Error Message is not required.

When you have entered all the details for the field click save to save the field. It will then be available on the Company and Contact Records for you to edit, and in other areas as selected in the Options section (directory member login, registration form, searches).

Deleting a Text Field

Select the field as described above and click delete field.

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4.3.2. Creating and Editing Custom Option Fields

Creating a New Option Field

Select whether your new field is to appear on the Company or Contact record by selecting 'Company Record' or 'Contact Record' from the Edit text fields on list.

Either select 'Add new field...' from the Edit Field list or click save and add new field. You will then be able to edit the details of your new field as described below.

Selecting an Existing Text Field to Edit

Select either 'Company Record' or 'Contact Record' from the Edit text fields on list, and select the field you want to edit from the Edit Field list.

Entering the Details for an Option Field

There are a number of settings for each field to determine where it appears and what can be entered in it.

• Field Order: This field determines what order the Custom Option Fields are listed in when they appear on the Company or Contact Record. Select the position you would like this field to appear from the list. New fields will be put at the end by default.
• Type: Option fields come in two types, select one (only one option can be selected from the list) and select multiple (any number of options can be selected from the list). See the section on Editing Company Details for more information about how Custom Option Fields appear in the Company Record.
• Regions: This field can be used to restrict editing this field to just users in certain regions.
• Public or Private?: If you want to create a field that only you can use, for example to record something relevant to your job role that would not be applicable to other users, select private. Otherwise, select public.
• Options: This section gives a number of options that control things like where the field can be seen and who can edit it. If you don't select any of these options the field will only be available to directory users to edit; Directory Members will not be able to see the field and it will not appear in the public facing search unless you select the appropriate options to do this.

The field is shown at the bottom of the page. You can edit the Field Label, the Options that can be selected and the Validation Error Message in this section.

• Field Label: This is the name of the field, e.g. Business Type or Company Size Band.
• Options: Options are the items that can be selected for each field. The Options currently assigned to the field will be shown in a drop down list. If you would like to edit these options click edit options to open the Edit Options page described below.
• Validation Error Message: This is the message that will be shown if a user fails to enter something in a mandatory field. An example of a validation error message could be 'Please select one or more Business Types'. If the field is not mandatory a Validation Error Message is not required.

When you have entered all the details for the field click save to save the field. It will then be available on the Company and Contact Records for you to edit, and in other areas as selected in the Options section (directory member login, registration form, searches).

Deleting an Option Field

Select the field as described above and click delete field.

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4.3.3. Editing Options for Custom Option Fields

On the Edit Options page you can edit the options that are available for the selected field.

To add a new option click add new option and enter the Option Label.

To delete an option click the delete button next to that option. Alternately, you can tick the hidden box to stop that option being available without actually deleting it.

Setting the List Order

You can change the order the options are listed in by clicking the set list order button. Then click the next buttons in the order you want the fields to be listed and click save.

Alternately you can use the order asc. or order desc. buttons to quickly sort the options in ascending or descending order.

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4.3.4. Creating Linked Custom Option Fields

Linked fields allow tiered lists with a number of levels to be created, which might be useful when you have a large number of options for a field. The way that linked fields appear on the company or contact record is described in the editing directory members section.

To create a tiered list using linked fields, start by creating a field for the top level with, e.g. Business Type, and create the options for that field, e.g. Information Technology.

Then click save and create new linked field to create the new field linked to the one you are working on, e.g. Business Sub-Type. When you create options for this field you will be able to select which option from the top-level field it comes under, e.g. Software Development comes under Information Technology.

Repeat this for as many levels as you want the field to have.

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