Contents
Introduction
Custom fields play an important role in Neon CRM because each organization delivers its own specific services to its members and supporters. You may need to collect specific data that is not reflected in the standard Neon CRM data fields. Examples of custom fields include: "Where did you hear about our organization?" and "On which committee do you wish to serve?".
Types of Custom Fields
The CRM offers the ability to create custom fields for the following items and transaction types. You may use the custom fields on public-facing form and pages.
- Account
- Membership
- Donation
- Event (Legacy and Next Generation Events)
- Grant
- Prospect
- Activity
- Store Product
Creating Custom Fields
To create a custom field:
1) Select the Settings cog in the upper right corner and then select Global Settings on the drop-down menu.
On the Global Settings page, under the Custom Fields heading:
2) Select the type of custom field you wish to create.
For an explanation of the process to create specific custom fields for various field types from this point in the process, see the articles listed in the Recommended Related Articles section at the end of this guide.
Display Types
When you create a custom field, you have several options for the type of field you can create (referred to as the Display Type). Depending upon the type of custom field you create (account, membership, donation, etc.), the options are as follows:
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Text Input - Single Line - Allows the user to enter a short-answer response, such as a date or free text, to the question or prompt you provide in the Field Name field. When this display type is selected, you have the option to make a selection on the Data Type field drop-down menu. This optional field allows you to specify the type of information you wish the user to enter in the one-line text field (for example, an amount of currency, a date, an email, etc.).
- Example Single Line Custom Field:
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Text Input - Multi Line - Allows the user to enter a longer paragraph-style free text response to the question or prompt you provide in the Field Name field. Multi-Line text fields have a character limit of 1024 characters.
- Example Multi-Line Custom Field:
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Checkbox List - Allows the user to select one or more response options from a list of pre-determined response selections.
- Example Checkbox List Custom Field:
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Dropdown - Allows the user to select a response selection option from a drop-down menu.
- Example Drop Down Custom Field:
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Radio Button - Allows the user to select one response option from a list of pre-determined response selections.
- Example Radio Button Custom Field:
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File - Allows the user to upload a file as their response to the custom field question or prompt you provide in the Field Name field.
- Example File Custom Field:
If you select Dropdown, Checkbox List, or Radio Button for the Display Type, a new section will appear, the Options section (as seen below). In this section, you must specify the responses you wish to include on the applicable drop-down menu option list, checkbox option list, or radio option list.
To create your Dropdown menu option list, Checkbox List option list, or Radio Button option list:
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- By default, only one response field option appears. Select Add Option as many times as needed to create the number of field option responses needed for the custom field. (For example, if you wish to have four options on a drop-down menu, select Add Option three times to create four total field option lines.) Note: You may also delete a field option line by selecting the checkbox next to the line you wish to delete and then select Delete.
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You can reorder the options by selecting the symbol on the left side and dragging and dropping the field up or down in the list.
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You can reorder the options by selecting the symbol on the left side and dragging and dropping the field up or down in the list.
Grouping Custom Fields
Additionally, you can organize your custom fields into custom field groups. Custom field groups allow you to organize custom fields into groups of related information. This is especially helpful for Account custom fields, as the name of the group will appear on the constituent's About page (as seen in the image below - the custom field is listed under the Additional Information group name). Please note: For Account custom fields, if a custom field is not included in a specific group, the custom field will appear in a group named Non-Grouped on the About page (as seen above the Additional Information group in the image below). For other types of custom fields (donation, event, etc.), grouping fields helps you organize custom fields on the back-end of the CRM.
To create a new custom group:
1) Select the Settings cog in the upper right corner and then select Global Settings on the drop-down menu.
On the Global Settings page, under the Custom Fields heading:
2) Select any custom field type.
For all custom field types:
3) Select Manage Groups.
On the Groups page:
4) Select New Group.
On the New Custom Group pop-up:
5) Enter a Group Name (required).
6) Enter a Group Description (optional).
7) Select the custom field(s) you wish to include in the group in the Grouped Fields section (optional - you may add custom fields at a later time, if needed, as they must be created before they can be added here). If needed, you may drag and drop the selected fields into the order you wish them to appear by selecting the six-dot icon to the left of each option and dragging and dropping the item up and down the list, as applicable.
8) When all information has been added, select Create Custom Group.
The custom group will now appear with the applicable custom fields on your internal system and on a constituent's About page (if the custom fields are Account custom fields).
Recommended Related Articles
- Account Custom Fields
- Next Generation Events Custom Fields
- Legacy Event Custom Fields
- Donation Custom Fields
- Membership Custom Fields