Fields are one of the reasons why FreeAgent CRM is so customizable. They allow you to include all the bits of information you need during your process, to all the apps you have set up. Whether you want to save the birthday of your Contacts or if you want to add a specific ID to an Opportunity you can do so by creating your own fields.
FreeAgent CRM includes 25 different field types, from currencies to dates all the way to calculated fields. You can create the fields you need for each of your apps to ensure you collect all the data you need.
Edition Qualifier: This feature is available in all FreeAgent Editions.
User Permissions: Only the Administrator can customize Form Fields.
In this tutorial, we will cover the following topics:
- Custom Field Types
- Navigate to Form Fields
- Create New Fields
- Enable Subscribers
- Rearrange Fields
- Deactivate/Activate Fields
Custom Fields Types
There are several types of custom fields, depending on the type of data you want to save. To learn more about each type, please visit the corresponding tutorial:
Navigate to Form Fields
Open the menu and go to 'Settings > Apps' then select your desired app and click on the 'Form Fields' or 'Form Builder' tab. We recommend using Form Builder as it allows you to see your forms update in real-time as you add fields.
Create New Fields
You can create additional Fields for your contacts, accounts, opportunities, tasks, or any of your Apps within FreeAgent CRM or edit the existing ones.
You will notice that the system includes a set of predefined fields, however, it is completely possible to edit, rearrange, deactivate, and even delete them.
Note: Some out-of-the-box fields can not be deleted just deactivated.
At this time, you might want to consider creating your form sections, in order to keep your form cleaner. Setting up sections is really simple, to learn more about them, visit the following tutorial:
Form Sections
Adding a Field
There are two different buttons you can use to add fields.
The first is at the top right side of the screen. Simply click 'Add' and then 'Add Field'.
The second is using the options menu next to each of the section titles.
Once you click on 'Add Field' the field selection window will open. All of the fields are broken down by category making it easy to select the one that best suits your needs.
Once you've selected your field type the field creation window will then open. From here you can configure your field.
As a best practice, do not duplicate Field names. When working with these Fields, it is preferred that each Field has a unique name.
Some field types include the option to add a 'Default Value' when they are created.
Also, when you create or edit a field you can decide whether that field should be required, by selecting 'yes' or 'no'.
You can also enable the 'Calculated' box to create a calculated field of the type you just selected.
If a field shouldn't be modified after the creation of the record, you can enable 'Lock after create' and that field won't be editable afterward.
Please note that some field types don't have all the options.
Note: All new fields are located at the bottom of the list.
Default Value
You can assign a default value to most of the existing field types. If you do, every time a new record is created it will include the default value you selected. This is especially useful for fields that are required, booleans (yes/no) and Choice Lists.
For example, if you are creating new opportunities and the first stage they should have is "New" you can select "New" as the default value for all new opportunities.
Note: It is possible to change the default value as needed and also to remove it completely in case it is no longer necessary.
Unique Fields
No more duplicates! If you make a field 'unique', you will be able to block the creation of duplicated records automatically. One big plus is that you can use them as references in your import files, which means no more ID matching.
You can create a new field or edit one of your existing ones to make them unique, as long as their type is one of the following:
- Phone
- Text
- URL
To create a unique field go to Settings > Apps and then click on an application. Go to the 'General' tab and you'll see a section called Unique Fields. You add one or multiple fields from your application here.
Note: If duplicated values already exist for the selected field, it won't be possible to set it as Unique. Remove all duplicated values first.
Next time you add a record, FreeAgent CRM will use this unique field to validate if another record with the same value already exists.
FreeAgent recommends employing Unique Fields as a best practice when importing data to an App, refer here for more information on Data Import.
Note: Once your Unique Field is set up you must use this instead of the record ID in your Data Import process. If Unique Field is not enabled, continue with record ID.
Existing Duplicates
When you attempt to make a field 'Unique', FreeAgent CRM will validate the existing records of the App to make sure that there are no duplicates at the time.
As soon as you hit the 'Save' button after marking the 'Unique' checkbox an error message indicating that duplicates exist and a window will show the duplicated values and how many of them exist.
Enable Subscribers
Subscribers gives you a way that multiple users can see the same record even if they have individual access. It is a new field that can be used on any object to list the specific team members who have access to a given record. By using this Field, you can enforce individual access to records and still collaborate with teammates when needed.
If the Subscribers field is not enabled you will need to click on the 'Show Deactivated' checkbox in the upper right-hand corner of the 'Form Fields' screen. To enable the field, just click the options menu next to the name and select 'Activate'.
Add Subscribers to a Record
Once you have activated the Subscribers Field, you can edit any record and assign other users to it. This will give access to that record to the users you assign. If a user is assigned to the record, they will be able to edit the record and see the Activity Timeline and all the Related Lists. To add one or more team members to a record, edit the record and select team member names from the Subscribers Field dropdown.
You can assign as many team members as you need here. Their access level is not relevant here, as long as you add them to the Subscribers Field, they will have access to the record.
Add Subscribers to Multiple Records
It is also possible to bulk edit your records in order to add subscribers to more than one at a time. This process is especially useful if you apply filters in order to assign those Subscribers to their relevant set of records faster. Once you have determined which records you want to use, select them, and click the Edit button.
Then in the Subscribers Field, select all the team members whom you would like to give access to the selected records, without changing anything else as it will update all the selected records and save your changes.
You will be able to see all the subscribers in the List View. Those team members will now have access to those records.
Rearrange Fields
You can re-order fields in the 'Form Sections' tab.
Deactivate/Activate Fields
In order to Deactivate a field, it is important that you make sure that it isn't still in use by the app it's created in or being referenced in other applications.
If you would like to reactivate fields you need to select 'Show Deactivated' in the 'Form Fields' tab by clicking on the box in the top right-hand corner of the screen.
Then click on the 'Options' menu for the field you would like to reactivate and select 'Activate'.