User Permissions: Only Administrators or App Admins can customize Apps.
This article will cover the following:
- Navigate to App Settings
- General App Settings
- Access Control
- UI Preferences
- Form Script
- Privacy Preferences
- Sort
- Unique Fields
- Search Preferences
Navigate to App Settings
There are two ways to access App Settings.
1. From the Navigation Menu, go to Settings > Apps and select the App you'd like to edit.
2. From the Apps Home Page, hover your cursor over an App icon and you'll see the gear icon appear in the top right corner. Click on it to enter the App Settings.
General App Settings
When you enter App Settings, you will be presented with the General App Settings tab.
From here, you can edit the App’s look, name, and description, and set up access controls, privacy preferences, and more.
Let’s go through this tab section by section.
General
In the General section of the General Apps Settings tab, you can change the Name, App Icon, Color, and Description of the selected App.
Name
The Name field allows you to change the name of the selected App.
The name of an App should be simple and informative, telling you what kind of records the App will contain. It should also be pluralized to represent that it will contain many different records of that type.
Contacts and Accounts are good examples of App names.
This is a required field (*).
Singular Version of Name
The Singular Version of Name field is where you’ll designate the name of a single record stored within an App. It is recommended that you use the singular version of the name used in the Name field.
For example, a single record stored within the Contacts App is called a Contact.
This is a required field (*).
App Icon
The App Icon field allows you to choose an icon for the selected App.
When you select the App Icon field, you will be provided with a selection of App icons to choose from. It is recommended you choose an App icon that suits the type of records that will be stored within the App.
The icon you select will be visible in the Navigation Menu and the Apps Home Page. You can add it to the Card Configuration as well.
This is a required field (*).
Custom Color
The Custom Color field allows you to choose a color for the selected App.
When you select the Custom Color field, you will be presented with a number of default color options. You can also enter a HEX color code if you have a specific brand color you want to use.
The color you select will be visible in the Navigation Menu when you select the App and on the Apps Home Page.
Color is a great way to organize Apps and create an environment that aligns with your brand.
For example, you could make your Sales Apps (Contacts, Opportunities) your primary brand color and your Activity Apps (Tasks, Emails, Phone Calls) your secondary brand color.
Description
The Description field allows you to provide general information about the type of records stored within the App.
This information will be displayed when you hover over the App icon on the Apps Home Page.
Note: App descriptions should be short, no more than a sentence or two.
Access Control
In the Access Control section of the General Apps Settings tab, you can set the Access Controls for the App.
Access Controls define who in your organization has access to a specific App, record, or field. Refer to the Users article in the FreeAgent Knowledge Base to learn more.
Menu Visibility
The Menu Visibility field allows you to determine what User Roles can see the App in the Navigation Menu and on the Apps Home Page.
If the field is blank, All Users can see the App. If specific Roles are selected, only those Roles can see the App.
Limiting visibility to an App can help protect sensitive information and ensure compliance with regulations like HIPAA and GDPR. It also creates a cleaner, more focused user experience for FreeAgent users.
Enforce Individual Access
If this option is enabled, users with an Individual Access Level can only see the records assigned to them.
This allows for fine-grained control over the information stored within the App. However, it adds administrative complexity and can impede collaboration between team members and departments.
Consider carefully what apps you choose to Enforce Individual Access.
UI Preferences
In the UI Preferences section of the General Apps Settings tab, you can choose how individual App records will be Titled and Subtitled, decide if you want to Show Stage Progress and enable Link Actions, Quick Add, and Speed to Lead reporting.
Title Field
The Title Field allows you to designate a specific field within the APP to use as the title for individual records within that App.
For example, in the Contacts App, you can title an individual contact record based on the Name field, First Name field, Last Name field, or Title field of that specific contact.
The options available are presented as a drop-down menu populated with the fields in that App. The title of an individual App record will appear at the top of the record page.
Subtitles
The Subtitles field functions like the Title Field and allows you to designate a number of other fields to display next to the record’s title at the top of the record page.
To add a Subtitle, select the +Add Subtitle button and choose an option from the drop-down menu that will appear. You can choose up to 4 Subtitles.
Show Stage Progress
If an App uses a Stage field, you can enable this option to see a visual representation of the stage progress of a record in that App.
Here’s an example using a record from the Opportunities App. This Opportunity is in the Negotiation stage.
This visualization will display the time that a record has been in each stage and if you hover over a stage, you will get a pop-up with even more detailed information regarding that stage history.
When enabling the Show Stage Progress field, you can designate stages as representative of a positive outcome or a negative outcome.
A positive outcome will be displayed as a green bar.
A negative outcome will be displayed as a red bar.
Enable Link Action
If this option is enabled, a record from the App can be linked to an existing record in a Related List. This allows you to quickly establish connections between records without the need to recreate information.
This option is turned off by default because allowing all users to link records from any App to any Related List can create data clutter and add to the overall complexity of your FreeAgent instance.
Note: For businesses that manage sensitive data such as PHI (Protected Health Information), restricting link actions is a security measure that can help prevent unauthorized access.
Enable Quick Add
The Quick Add feature allows users to create a new record for an App right from the Related List of the App record they are in.
For example, if you are on the record page of an Account in the Accounts App and Enable Quick Add is enabled in the Contacts App, you can create a new Contact right from the Related List of that Account record.
When Enable Quick Add is selected, the Fields for Smart Quick Add drop-down menu will appear. This allows you to select the fields that users are required to fill out in the Quick Add section to create a new record.
There is also a Quick Add Custom Code field you can use if you want to make custom fields required.
Note: To Quick Add an App record of a particular type, Enable Quick Add needs to be enabled in that App. For example, to be able to Quick Add a new Contact record, Enable Quick Add must be enabled in the Contacts App Settings.
Speed to Lead (only in the Contacts App)
Speed to lead is a KPI (Key Performance Indicator) that measures the time it takes a sales rep to respond to a lead.
If Speed to Lead is enabled in the Contacts App, the following additional fields will become available for use in a Contact record:
- Speed to Call
- Speed to Text
- Speed to Email
- Speed to Lead
- First Call
- First Text
- First Email
-
First Response
These fields are populated automatically based on the last corresponding Activity in the Contact record. This enables new reporting options that can be added to your Saved Views.
Note: Speed to Lead is only available in the Contacts App.
Form Script
Form Script is an option that allows FreeAgent admins to customize the Form Rules of the Form Fields within an App using Form Actions.
Note: It is generally easier to set up Form Rules in the Form Rules section of the App Settings. Form Script is for experienced and code-savvy FreeAgent users who require a custom set of Form Rules for a specific function.
Form Actions and Code
While code is required to create Form Scripts, it is minimal and easy to set up. The following is a list of Form Actions and their corresponding code:
| FORM ACTION | CODE |
| Add Validation to a Field | addFieldValidation: (fieldName, validationCallback) |
| Change a Field | fieldChanged: (fieldName) |
| Make Fields Read Only | makeFieldsReadOnly: (fieldNames, value) |
| Make Fields Required | makeFieldsRequired: (fieldNames, value) |
| Make Fields Visible | makeFieldsVisible: (fieldNames, value) |
| Make Line Fields Read Only | makeLineFieldsReadOnly: (lineApp, fieldNames, value) |
|
Make Line Fields Required |
makeLineFieldsRequired: (lineApp, fieldNames, value) |
|
Make Line Fields Visible |
makeLineFieldsVisible: (lineApp,fieldNames, value) |
| Reset Fields | resetFields: (changedField, fieldNames) |
| Set a Field Value | setFieldValue: (changedField, fieldName, value) |
| Hide or Show Columns in Lines | makeLineFieldsVisible: (lineApp, fieldNames, value) |
| Make Columns Read Only in Lines | makeLineFieldsReadOnly: (lineApp, fieldNames, value) |
| Make Columns Required in Lines | makeLineFieldsRequired: (lineApp, fieldNames, value) |
Setting up Form Scripts
When Use Form Script is selected, the Form Scripts code window will appear.
Enter the custom code for your Form Script. You can compile all your chosen parameters in a single Form Script.
Save the Form Script before moving on.
Privacy Preferences
In the Privacy Preferences section of the General App Settings tab, you can set the privacy conditions for the App.
Allow Private Records
When Allow Private Records is enabled, you can designate individual App records from the App as Private to control whether they can be accessed by the team or are confidential.
To make a record private, first enable Allow Private Records in the App Settings of the App that contains the App record you want to make private, then save.
Next, navigate to the list view of the App that contains the App record you want to make private and hover over the Inline App Actions button of the record you want to private.
You will now see options to Edit, Duplicate, Delete, Make Private, and Make Public. Select Make Private.
Note: In general, it is easier to manage information access through Access Control Lists. We recommend allowing private records only in Apps when a specific use case calls for it.
Default Privacy Setting
When Default Privacy Setting is set to Public, records from the App will be Public by default. If it is set to Private, records from the App will be Private by default.
Note: Unless Allow Private Records is enabled, all records are Public by default.
Sort
The Sort section of the General App Settings tab is where you set the default sorting rules for the App.
Sort By
Sort By is a drop-down menu that will provide a number of sort rule options based on the existing fields in the App.
For example, In the Contacts App, your Contacts can be sorted by First Name, Last Name, or Contact Owner (just to name a few).
You can add multiple sort rules as desired by selecting the +Add Sort button. This is useful for cases where the Sort By field chosen could have duplicate content.
For example, multiple Contacts could share the same First Name, so adding a second sort rule to Sort By Last Name is a good idea.
To delete a sort rule, select the garbage can icon to the right of the Sort By and Direction fields.
Direction
The Direction field allows you to set the order for each sort rule as either Ascending or Descending.
For example, if you set the sort rules in the Contacts App to Last Name and Ascending, your Contacts will be arranged in order of the Contact’s last name from A to Z. If you set the sort rules in the Contacts App to Last Name and Descending, your Contacts will be arranged in order of the Contact’s last name from Z to A.
Unique Fields
The Unique Fields section of the General App Settings tab allows you to designate specific fields within an App as Unique. If a field is designated as Unique, FreeAgent will not allow records from other Apps to be created or imported that contain that field.
To designate a field as Unique, click on the Fields bar and a drop-down menu with all the available fields will be displayed. Select the one you would like to designate as Unique. Continue this process until you have selected all the fields you want to include.
To delete a field from the Fields bar, click on the 'X' on the right-hand side of the field name.
Note: When importing data, you can use the Unique field name rather than the field ID.
You can learn more about Importing using Unique Fields here.
If you want to know more about Managing Unique Fields, please read this article.
Search Preferences
In the Search Preferences section of the General App Settings tab, you can manage the fields referenced when performing searches in the Global Search Bar of the Navigation Window.
This allows you to limit the amount of fields a user has to search through when looking for a record in the Navigation Menu, improving performance and simplifying the user experience.
By default, all existing apps will have a set of fields pre-selected in the Fields bar.
To add a field, click on the Fields bar and a drop-down menu with all the available fields will be displayed. Select the one you would like to include in the search function and continue this process until you have all the fields you require.
To delete a field from the Fields bar, click on the 'X' on the right-hand side of the field name.