Overview
Custom account fields allow tenants to add additional data fields beyond the standard account fields that come with gaiia. This feature provides more flexibility and customization, allowing tenants to track specific data points that are important to their business. With custom fields, tenants can create and manage unique data types, such as dropdowns, checkboxes, lists, text and number fields, and use them to organize their data. Overall, custom fields enable tenants to tailor gaiia to their specific needs and gain deeper insights into their customer accounts.
When new custom fields are created, they are displayed automatically on relevant pages, such as the account details panel and the account creation page.
A custom field's name and type are permanent once the field is created, and custom fields cannot be deleted. You can, however, add or remove the options of a dropdown field, turn a required field into an optional one, and archive a field you no longer need.
Account custom fields are managed from the Objects settings, alongside the custom fields of the other standard objects: Businesses, Projects, Addresses, Units and Properties. The steps below apply to each of them.
Creating a new custom field
You can create a new custom account field by navigating to:
Settings > Objects > Standard objects > Accounts > New custom field
In the dialogue box that appears, you must:
- Enter the Field name;
Select the Field type (see options in the table below);
Selecting Dropdown reveals an Add dropdown list section, where you enter the options one by one. A dropdown must contain at least one option. Selecting List asks you to pick whether the list holds text or number values.
- Leave the Required constraint checked, or clear it to make the field optional.
A required field can be made optional later, but a field created as optional can never be made required. Checkbox fields are always optional, so the constraint is disabled for that type.
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Checkbox | A checkbox field stores a single "on" or "off" value. Checkbox fields are always optional. |
| Dropdown | A dropdown field allows users to select a single option from a list of predefined choices. |
| List | A list field allows users to add multiple values in a single field. You choose whether the values are text or numbers when you create the field. |
| Number | A number field allows users to input numerical values. This can be useful for tracking quantitative data points. |
| Text | A text field allows users to input free-form text. This can be useful for tracking qualitative data points, such as notes or comments. |
Fields of the "Toggle" type created in the past still appear in the list, but toggle is no longer offered when creating a field. Use Checkbox instead.
When your custom field is configured, you can go to the next step to preview it. If it corresponds to your needs, you can click Submit to create the custom field.
When new custom fields are created, they will be displayed automatically on:
- Accounts → Customer account → Details → Contact → Additional details
- Accounts → Create account → Customer details → Additional details
Creating, editing and archiving custom fields is only available to users with the Settings > Objects > Edit permission enabled
Editing the custom field values of an account
You can edit the values of a custom field by navigating to:
Accounts > Customer Account > Details Panel > Contact Tab > Additional Details
There, you will find a section called Additional details. Right beside this title, you can click on the pencil icon to edit the custom field values of the current customer account.
Editing a custom field
You can modify specific attributes of a custom field by clicking the ellipsis menu and selecting Edit.
The following modifications are possible:
- Add new options to dropdown custom fields.
- Remove existing options from dropdown custom fields.
- Make a required field optional, by clearing the Required constraint.
Historical data for removed options is maintained to ensure consistency. Removing every option of a dropdown is not allowed, and an option that was removed is restored if you add it again.
Field name and type are locked after creation to preserve data integrity, and the wording of existing dropdown options cannot be changed. An optional field cannot be turned back into a required one.
The Edit action is only listed for dropdown fields and for required fields. An optional text, number or list field, as well as any checkbox field, has nothing left that can be modified.
Archived custom fields
You can archive a custom field by clicking the ellipsis menu and selecting Archive. An archived field no longer appears on the account creation form or on the account details page, and all the account data associated with it is archived as well.
Archived fields are listed on their own page, "Archived Custom Fields: Accounts", which you open with the archive icon at the top right of the Accounts object page.
Archived custom fields cannot be edited, but they can be enabled again from the ellipsis menu of the archived list, by selecting Enable. Deleting a custom field is currently impossible because it is stored for reference and historical data integrity.