Custom fields capture information Amplify doesn't record by default — a business unit, a priority, a free-text justification. In the Simple Model, a program's custom fields are managed from its configuration: the program has its own Properties page, and each type of program item has its own Properties tab.
This article covers the Simple Model, and needs program administrator access. For the Advanced Model, and the full detail of each field type, see Custom Fields (Advanced Model).
Where custom fields are set
- Program Properties — the program's own fields, under its Configuration > Properties.
- Program item types — each project type, benefit type, RAID type, cost category type, and other item type has its own Properties tab, under Configuration > Program Items. The fields set there appear on items of that type.
Each Properties page has the same two lists:
- Standard Fields — built-in fields, where the type has them, such as External identifier and, for projects, the status indicators. Turn on Active to use one.
- Additional Fields — custom fields. Turn on Active to use a field, and drag fields to change their order.
Shared fields and program fields
A custom field comes from one of two places:
- Shared fields — created by an administrator under Administration > Custom Fields, and available to every program. They're marked as shared in the list. Click Add Shared Field to use one. Removing a shared field from a type only removes it there. Shared fields can only be edited in Administration.
- Program fields — created with New Custom Field on any of the program's Properties pages. They belong to the program, so the program and any of its item types can use them, but other programs can't. Deleting a program field deletes it from the whole program, not just the page you deleted it from.
Settings on the field and on each type
- Set on the field — its type, label, options, and whether it's Required. These apply everywhere the field is used. For shared fields, they're set in Administration; for program fields, where the field is created or edited.
- Set on each type — whether the field is Active, its order, and whether to Include on Create, which shows it on the form when an item is created. Fields not included on create can still be filled in afterwards.
Creating a program field
- Open the Properties page or tab where you want to use the field.
- Under Additional Fields, click New Custom Field.
- Select a Field Type.
- Enter a Name.
- Enter a Label — what users see next to the field.
- Enter a unique Dataset Identifier.
- Fill in the settings for the field's type. These work the same way as in the Advanced Model — see Custom Fields (Advanced Model).
- Click Create.
To change a program field later, open it from the list, make your changes, and click Save.
Field types
- Select Box, Multi-Select box, and Radio Group — choose from a list of options you add. A Select Box can also carry reference data for each option, such as a region for each site, which fills in as read-only fields when an option is picked. It's set up under the field's Columns — see Adding reference data to a Select Box. On a shared field, reference data is set in Administration.
- Traffic Light — choose one option, each shown as a color.
- Free Text Field and Free Text Area — a line, or several lines, of text.
- Free Number Field — a number.
- URL and Date — a web address or a date.
- Amplify User Multi-Select — choose any number of Amplify users.
- Calculated Field — a read-only value worked out from other fields, using a formula.
- Linked Select — up to five linked drop-down lists, where the choice in one decides the options in the next. A Linked Select created on the program belongs to the program, like any program field. Linked Selects can't be created on task Properties.
For each item type's Properties tab, see its configuring article — for example, Configuring Project Classifications (Simple Model).