How to Add and Customize a Custom Field

VanillaSoft lets you add Other Information Fields or Custom Fields to your Contacts in addition to the standard built-in fields. When creating a Custom Field, you can customize the options and settings to ensure that field is exactly as desired. Custom Fields are always optional fields. This means you can create a new Custom Field without requiring existing Contacts to be changed. When a new Custom Field is created, existing Contacts will contain no value for that newly created field.

Jump to a specific area of this article by selecting one of the sections here:

 

Create a Custom Field

  1. Log in to VanillaSoft as an Admin.
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  2. Select the desired Project.
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  3. Open the Field Customization menu, then the Custom Fields sub-menu, and select the Custom Fields section.
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  4. Enter the desired field name in the Add New Field textbox.
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  5. If desired, open the Tab drop-down and select which Tab you would like to save the field within.
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  6. Click Add.
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Understanding each Option

Use the following Options to customize and configure each Custom Field as desired. To note, any text field within this section has a character limit of 800, and any formula field has a character limit of 128. 

Jump to a specific area of this section by selecting one of the following Options:

 

Name

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If you need to change the name of a Custom Field, enter the updated name in this textbox and click Save to apply the changes. 

 

Field Status

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For a Custom Field to be visible on the Caller side, the Active checkbox must be checked. An unchecked Active checkbox would make the field unavailable for Callers.

 

Visible

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  • Always: The field will display on both the Contact page as well as the "Add" and "Edit" forms regardless of whether any data is present in the field for that Contact or not.
  • When Data is Present: The field will only display on the Contact page and the "Add" and "Edit" forms if there is data present in the field. If there is no data present, the user will need to add the field from a drop-down list under Add/Edit Contact.
  • Only on Admin Screens: The field will only display on the Contact Edit page from the Admin side.

 

Permissions

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  • Allow Callers to Edit: Enables Callers to edit the text field information while on the Caller side.
  • Allow Callers to Search: Enables Callers to search for Contacts using this field as a search filter.
  • Allow Multiple Selections (only available when Menu type is chosen): This allows multiple entries from a menu to be selected to this field.

 

Field Type

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  • Input: Allows users to type text into a field.
  • Menu: Configures the field as a drop-down list.
  • Formula: This allows you to do calculations using other custom fields.

 

Data Type

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  • Any Text: The field can contain any type of text information, including characters and numbers.
  • Multi-Line Text: An expandable text box is displayed to accommodate multiple lines of text.
  • Web Link: Text entered as a valid URL/website will be presented as a clickable URL with a Go button.
  • Number - decimals allowed: Enter any number (positive or negative). The thousands separator (comma) will always be displayed. Decimals will be displayed if entered.
  • Number – no decimals: Enter digits only – no commas or decimals. Negative numbers are allowed.
  • Currency: Values will be validated for currency (with or without decimals) and will calculate if the field is used in any formulas.
  • Percentage: Enter any number (including decimals). The percentage sign (%) will always be displayed, and the field will calculate as a percentage if used in any formulas.
  • Date or Date/Time: The field can contain date or date/time entries. Valid input formats include 12/31/2019 -- 12/31/2019 10:00 AM -- December 31, 2019 -- and December 31, 2014 10:00. If you type your date, it should be using the project default date format.

 

Validate Data

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This can be used when you are converting an existing Custom Field into a new Data Type. The system checks all of the existing data in the field (from the Contact records) and reports any invalid data. If invalid data is present, you can locate the relevant Contacts by running a Contact Management query.

 

Allow Callers to Edit Information Inline

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This setting affects all of your Custom Fields. By default, this option is checked and enabled. This means all fields can be edited if the Permissions - Allow Callers to Edit checkbox is checked for each desired Custom Field.

If you un-check the Allow callers to edit information inline checkbox, all Custom Fields cannot be edited, even if an individual Custom Field has the Permissions set to allow for editing.

 

Customize the Custom Field

Custom Fields have a lot of different settings and options you can customize. The following are examples of how to create an Input, Menu, and Formula field. In these examples, the Name, Field Status, Visible, and Permissions settings are already set as desired.

Jump to a specific area of this section by selecting one of the following Field Types:

 

Input

  1. Select the Custom Field you would like to customize.
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  2. Open the Field Type drop-down and select Input.
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  3. Open the Data Type drop-down and select the desired option (refer to the Data Type information if needed).
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  4. Enter any desired limitations in the Data Length fields.
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    • Leave the fields with the Min blank and the Max at 800 to allow the full character-limit range. 
  5. Once done, click Save.
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  1. Select the Custom Field you would like to customize.
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  2. Open the Field Type drop-down and select Menu.
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  3. Open the Data Type drop-down and select the desired option (refer to the Data Type information if needed).
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  4. If desired, check the Enable Menu Item Scoring checkbox.
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    • Item Scoring enables each menu item to be associated with a numeric score. These scores may then be used for calculating in an additional field to determine a Contact's score. 
  5. If desired, check the Enable Associated URL checkbox.
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  6. Type the desired menu option text in the Menu Item text field and desired Associated URL (if applicable).
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  7. Click the add symbol to the left of the text field.
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  8. Repeat Steps 6 and 7 until you have all the desired menu items.
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  9. Sort the menu items as desired by clicking the sorting arrows or click Sort Items to place in ascending order automatically.
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  10. Once done, click Save.
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Formula

  1. Select the Custom Field you would like to customize.
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  2. Open the Field Type drop-down and select Formula.
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  3. Enter your desired formula in the Formula field.
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    • Information and examples of formulas are shown below the Formula text field. 
  4. Once done, click Save.
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