Managing Custom Fields

Through custom fields, you can have ideas display fields that are customized for your community. For example, you could create a dropdown field that lists specific areas of interest to your community -- people would select the area to which their idea applies.

You add a custom field through the admin console.

Note: Deleting a custom field will remove from the system all data corresponding to that field (other aspects of the idea are unaffected).

Fastpath: Admin Console: Ideas > Idea Settings > Custom Fields

Field Types Available

A custom field can be one of several types. Choose a type that best suits the kind of information the field will capture. For example, if the field will contain the answer to a "yes or no" question, then you're probably better off using the Check box type (which people can select for "Yes") than a Text type (where people would type "Yes").

The field types you can choose include:

Text -- A small box in which to type a brief amount of text.
Text area -- A larger box for typing larger amounts of text. In this box, the text wraps and the box itself can be made larger or smaller by the person typing in it.
Drop down -- A collapsible list of values from which a person can choose only one.
Radio button -- A set of option buttons from which a person can choose only one.
Check box -- One or more boxes from which a person can select any number.

Configuring Types With Multiple Options

Unlike the text types, the drop down, radio button, and check box types provide multiple selections, which can make them a little more complicated to set up. That's because for each of these types, you're often specifying a list of options that people in the community should see when they're editing the field in an idea.

Here are the basic steps:

While editing or adding a field, select one of those field types from the Field Type dropdown.
Under Add options for this custom field, click Add Option to add a new entry.
In the box provided, type the name of the option as it should be displayed in the community.
For each additional option you need, click Add Option and type its name.
When you have a complete list of options, find the one that should be the default field (applied for newly-created ideas), then click its Default button.
When you're done adding options, click Save Field.

Adding or Configuring a Custom Field

To configure a custom field:

In the admin console, on the Custom Fields page,
- To work with an existing field, find the field you want to configure, then click its Edit icon. Below the list of fields, under Edit custom field, notice that the settings for the field you chose to edit are displayed.
- To add a new field, under Add new field, simply start by typing the field's name.
Edit custom field settings to make the changes you want:
- Field Name -- The field's name as it will be displayed in the community.
- Field Type -- The kind of field this should be -- a text box, a dropdown list, a set of radio button options, and so on. For information on configuring the types that display multiple options, see Configuring Types with Multiple Options.
- Required -- Select this to require people in the community to give this field a value before they can save the idea.
- Options -- If you've chosen a field type that supports multiple options (such as radio buttons), you can configure the options here. For information on configuring the types that display multiple options, see Configuring Types with Multiple Options.