Custom Fields

Projectworks allows you to create your own fields to capture and display information significant to your business. This article runs you through the basics of creating custom fields and how they can be used.

Projectworks allows you to create your own fields for projects, people, companies, timecodes, budgets, and quotes. Information captured in custom fields can appear on lists screens, CSV downloads, and on the entity itself.

Let's get started!

• Creating a custom field

  • Access control

• Allow custom fields to appear on list screens

• Adding a custom field MergeField

• Editing a custom field

• Entering custom field information

• Custom field restrictions

• Viewing custom field information

• Troubleshooting

Creating a custom field

A Projectworks administrator with access to create and edit custom fields is able to create custom fields in Settings > System > Custom Fields by clicking the blue + button in the top right of the screen. The following fields can be entered:

• Field Name

  • This is the name of the field as it appears to users.

• Field is required

  • By ticking this option your custom field will need to be filled in in order for someone to complete the action that it shows up on.

  • NB: If you're creating a "Checkbox" field type this option is not applicable.

• Field Type

  • Choose the field type that best matches the kind of information you wish to capture, e.g. choose ‘Number’ if you only want users to be able to enter a number.

• Select Dropdown

  • If the custom field is either a ‘Select’ or a ‘Multiselect’ the options in the field’s dropdown need to be entered.

  • These can be ordered alphabetically or manually, and you can specify a grouping for related options if this makes it easier for people to use. Grouping is not required, so just leave these fields blank if you want a straight list to pick from.

• Entity

  • This is the entity the field will be against: projects, people, companies, budgets, timecodes, or quotes.

  • Depending on which entity is selected there will be additional options, like status, or the specific entity area it should appear to users. This means for example you can have a “Probability” percentage custom field for projects with the status “Unsigned (opportunity)” but no other statuses, or select to display a person’s “Contact number” in their Additional Detail tab. 

• Field Group

  • This is the title that sits above your custom fields. It's not mandatory to include a group name, and if you choose to keep it blank an "Additional Details" heading will be put in its place.

• Field Order

  • By default custom fields are ordered alphabetically on the entity that you are creating, viewing, or editing. . You can specify a different order by entering a number (e.g. 1, 2, 3, and so on). If some of your custom fields do not have an order number they will appear at the top of the list, so for complete control it is advised that you enter an order number for all custom fields.

  • Ordering will apply to fields per group if you are grouping them.

Allow custom fields to appear on list screens

It’s possible to allow some custom fields to appear on the list screens as filters, group, and column options. You may not want every custom field available like this, so this is an opt-in setting on the custom field itself. This option is available for custom fields on the following entities only:

• Company
• Expense
• Invoice

• Project

• Project Budget
• Quote
• Timecode
• User (Person)

The Projectworks administrator can set a custom field to show on the list screens by doing the following:

1. In Settings > Custom Fields click on the custom field you wish to use;

2. Scroll to the bottom section where the entity is specified and tick “This field can show on list screens as a column / filter / group”;

3. Select the screens you want the custom field to appear on;

4. Select "Save".

See below for how custom fields are used on list screens →

Adding a custom field MergeField

If you are wanting to add custom field values to your quote PDF and Word documents, custom field MergeFields can be added in the invoice, invoice breakdown, and quote template for the following entities:

When you create or edit a custom field, just add a field name, and the MergeField will be created.

Editing a custom field

To edit an existing custom field, simply click on the custom field or select the three horizontal dots and select “Edit Custom Field”:

• If the custom field has not been used anywhere, you will be able to edit all fields

• If the custom field has been used, you will be able to edit all of the fields except for the:

  • Field Type.

Custom fields can also be deactivated and deleted.

Entering custom field information

• Projects, companies, & people

• Budgets

• Expenses
• Invoices
• Timecodes
• Quotes

Projects, companies, & people

Navigate to the project, company, or person to get to their workbench and go to the Settings tab, then Additional to edit custom fields.

Project:

Company:

Person:

To edit a project’s custom fields you will need the following permissions enabled in your Access Level:

• Project Settings > Settings > Can view & Can maintain; 

  • If you have Project Settings > Settings > Can view permission only enabled, you will be unable to edit the project’s custom fields.

To edit a company’s custom fields you will need the following permissions enabled in your Access Level:

• More Options > Client.Detail.View;

• More Options > Client.Detail.Edit;

  • If you have More Options > Client.Detail.View permission only enabled, you will be unable to edit the company’s custom fields.

To edit a person’s custom fields you will need the following permissions enabled in your Access Level:

• To edit Profile custom fields:

  • People > Can add & administer people; OR

  • People > Profile > Can View & Can Edit.

• To edit Detail custom fields:

  • People > Can add & administer people. 

• To edit Leave custom fields:

  • People > Can add & administer people.

• To edit Cost custom fields:

  • People > Can add & administer people.  

Budgets

For budgets, click on the relevant project to get to its workbench and go to the Settings tab, then Budget, then the More link on each budget line to see and edit its custom fields.

Expenses

If an expense custom field is active, it will be shown on the expense if the expense meets the “Show on” expense type criteria.

Some projects are set up to set reimbursable expenses as “billable to customers” when the expense claim is approved. If you have “Can approve” expenses access and select to approve an expense, any required custom fields that weren’t required for non-billable expenses will be displayed, and must be entered prior to approving the expense.

Invoices

Create or open an existing invoice. If an invoice custom field is active, it will be available in the invoice modal when the invoice is in a status that shows the custom field.

If the custom field is required (mandatory), then it will be displayed in the main section of the invoice, under the Invoice Heading. Optional custom fields that aren’t required can be found by expanding the “More options” section.

Quotes

Create or open an existing quote. If a quote custom field is active, it will be shown on the quote modal when the quote is in a status that shows the custom field.

Timecodes

For timecodes, click on the relevant project to get to its workbench and go to the Timecodes tab, then click on the timecode to see and edit custom fields in the Settings tab and / or Config.

Custom field restrictions

Custom fields can be restricted for the following entities:

1. Expense;

2. Invoice;

3. Project;

4. Project Budget;

5. Quote; and

6. Timecode;

by de-selecting any statuses or types for the custom field to “Show on”.

e.g. A “Deposit received” checkbox may be restricted to signed billable projects. If the “Deposit received” custom field has been set up with these restrictions, then the custom field won’t be shown if the project is in another state, or the project is non-billable.

Viewing custom field information

There are a few ways a custom field can appear throughout Projectworks:

• As a filter, group and column options on some list screens;

• In the CSV downloads from these list screens;

• As a filter when adding a resource to a project;

• On the entity itself.

Custom fields that have been configured to show on list screens can be found by clicking on the Hide/show/group of specified list screens to show their columns.

Custom field checkboxes, selects, and multiselects that have been configured to show on list screens can also be found by clicking on the + Filters button on applicable screens. The list of filters to show on screen will be a mixture of standard system filters and these custom fields. Users have the flexibility to choose which filters they want to see, and there is an option to have a filter’s previous selection remembered - leave this box unticked if you want the filter to be blank by default.

These custom fields will also be available as a group option (select and checkbox field types only). These can be found by clicking on the Hide/show/group control.

All custom fields are present in the CSV downloads from list screens.

If the custom field is for a person and has been enabled for the “Add resource to project (person search)” it will show as a filter if you click Filter by team, role, etc… in the add resource pop-up.

Users who don’t have edit permissions for custom fields can view them on projects, companies, and people. Click on the project, company, or person to get to their workbench, and go to the Details tab to see custom field information. Fields that have not been entered will not show here.

Troubleshooting

I can’t see a custom field when creating a project, company or person

Onlyrequired custom fields are displayed when creating a person, project or company.

Read more about entering custom field information → 

If a custom field should be available for projects in alternate states or that are billable (or non-billable), contact your Projectworks administrator to edit the custom field.

Read more about editing custom fields →

Custom fields can be restricted to only show on entities with certain statuses

If a custom field should be available for entities in alternate states or of differnt types, contact your Projectworks administrator to edit the custom field.

Budget custom fields can also be restricted based on the Project state and type:

 

Read more about editing custom fields →