How to create custom fields and make them visible to users

You can create custom fields and map them to different classifications to display specific interface areas pertaining to the mapped objects. 

Custom fields can be plain text fields, text areas, selectable fields, options, traffic light fields, links or cascading fields.

By default, only Amplify administrators can create global custom fields. However, if you have the program administrator privileges, you can create custom fields for programs and their objects.

Creating custom fields involve defining the field properties and specifying one or more classifications to map. It is not required to map classifications if you are creating custom fields in the program model configuration, as you would be creating them for selected classifications within the program.

It is possible to mark custom fields as required fields. You can also define the number of characters permitted in a text type custom field or define different options for selectable fields.

When creating selectable fields, you can use the Bulk Add option to add multiple options in bulk. (To be linked to the topic that describes the process)

This article discusses:

• How to create a custom field
• How to map a custom field to a classification
• How to define options for selectable custom fields
• How to modify options

Creating a Custom Field

To create a custom field:

1. From the upper-right corner, click on your user name or avatar and select Administration from the options list.
2. Select the Custom Fields tab.
   This will display the list of existing custom fields.
3. Click on the New Custom Field button.
   The New Custom Field form displays.
   
4. Use the Control drop-down list to select the custom field type. The available custom field types are:
   • Select box
   • Multi-Select Box
   • Radio group
   • Free text field
   • Free text area
   • Free Number Field
   • URL
   • Date
   • Linked Select
   • Traffic Light  - Traffic light custom fields can be used to display project status, workflow status, or anything similar, where you would rather use distinct colours as indicators. 
5. Enter a name and label for the custom field.  
6. In the Dataset Identifier field, enter a string used to identify this custom field in datasets. This is required if you want this custom field to appear in reports and API views. The identifier can contain only alphanumeric characters and underscores.
7. In the Help text field, enter a description for the custom field, which will be displayed as a help text for users.
8. If you want to use the custom field as a filter criterion on the dashboards, enable the Reporting Group option. Note: This option is not available for free text and text area fields.
9. To mark the custom field as a mandatory field, select Mark this custom field required.
   You will be required to specify a default value. 
   
   • The Max Length field allows you to set the maximum number of characters in a text or text area field. Enter 0 in this field if you don't want to set any limit.
10. Click Save.
    You have now created a custom field. If you chose select, multi-select, radio group, linked select, or traffic light in the Control field, you would need to define the optional values for the field after that step. 

Mapping the Custom Field to a Classification

Mapping a custom field to a specific classification will make it visible on specific interface areas pertaining to the mapped classification. For example, to add a custom field to the Schedule sub-menu task table, you must map your custom field to Schedule Tasks. 

1. To map your custom field to a classification, access the custom field.
2. Select the desired classification from the drop-down list under the Mappings section.
   
3. Click Update Mapping. 
   The mapping is now saved.

Defining Options for Selectable Custom Fields

If you chose to add Select box or Radio group fields, you would need to define options for the user to select when they click on the field. You can add options one by one or in bulk. 

To add options one after another:

1. Click Add option to display data entry fields.
   
   If you want to store different data for option label and value, provide a custom dataset value toggle. Keep this setting off if you want to store the same data in option label and value fields. You'll see only the Label field by default, as the above setting is kept disabled.
   
   
2.  

To add multiple options in bulk:

1. Click Bulk Add.
   This will display a single text field where you can paste multiple options and values from an Excel spreadsheet.
   If you have organised your data in an Excel spreadsheet, you can use the Copy command to copy the spreadsheet's data. After copying the data, click on the text field (see above screenshot), and press CTRL + V or Command + V if you are on Mac. 
   If you have distinct labels and values, make sure to store the labels in one column of the spreadsheet and values in the adjacent one, and you can copy the entire range of cells simultaneously. When you paste them all into the text field provided on the interface, Amplify will store them separately as labels and dataset values of your custom field.
   If you want to use the same data for labels and values, you can store the values in a single column. Amplify will store the same value as the label and value per row of data copied when the entire column is pasted into the text field. 
2. Select Make this the default selection if you want this option to be the one that is selected by default.
   
   You can reorder the options after you have added them. The option with the lowest sort order will be set as the default option. There is no explicit way to select a default option.
3. Click Save.

Once you have created options for a sect box or radio group custom field, you can validate them.

1. Scroll down the page to local the Field Demo section.
2. Click on the select box or radio group that you recently created and view the options.
   
   All options that you configured should be listed in the specified order. 

Modifying Field Options

It is possible to modify the custom field properties or options later on. Select the custom field and click Edit this Field to access the field settings in edit mode. To remove options, use the Delete button next to the field. To modify labels or values, replace the values in the fields directly.