In addition to the default fields available for projects, files and employees, you can add custom fields to store additional data and configure them in a way that makes sense for your organization.
View Your Custom Fields
You can configure your Custom Fields through the Fields Manager. If you have the necessary permissions, you can access this by clicking the settings cog and then 'Fields Manager'.
The following page will display the list of fields in your OpenAsset system and you can select the relevant tab for fields relating to File, Project, Employee or Role data.
You can toggle on the 'Show Inactive' checkbox to view inactive fields, which are not visible to users.
Types of Fields
Custom fields can be:
Single line - this allows users to enter one line of information into a text field. Eg. ‘Marketing Project Name’
Auto-complete - a text field that will save every new entry and will auto-complete as users type. Eg. 'Office Location'.
Fixed Auto-complete - a text field that will auto-complete from a predefined set of options. Eg. 'Client'. Note: you can switch between these field types so you could initially use Auto-complete as you enter information for the first time, then switch to Fixed Auto-complete to prevent new items being added.
Drop down menu - users select predefined options from a picklist. Eg. 'Project Status'.
Grid field - stores data in a grid interface. Available for Projects and Employees.
Multi line - a text field for longer entries of text. Eg. ‘Project Description’.
Date - this field allows users to select a date from a calendar window. Eg. ‘Completion date'.
On/Off Switch - this field is a binary switch. Eg. ‘Ongoing/Completed’
Create a New Custom Field
Select the 'New Field' button. Name your field, select the type, and you can add an optional description. Then click 'Add'.
Edit an Existing Field
Note: If you synchronise your employee information with a system like Deltek, you should consult with our Support Team before editing your custom fields.
There are three options that you can toggle on or off from the main Fields Manager menu.
Searchable - whether users will be able to search for data stored in this field from the search bar at the top of the page.
Visible - whether this field will be visible to users on the respective page for this field type. For example, File fields are visible on the File Info page. Invisible fields may include sensitive or confidential data that you still want stored in OpenAsset.
Active - deactivating a field removes it entirely from your system. This may be useful for fields that are no longer in use in your system. It can be restored by selecting 'Show Inactive' fields and toggling the field to active.
You can edit the display order of fields by dragging to reorder them.
There are some additional options you can edit by selecting the pencil icon:
Description - this appears next to the field and can be used to help your users to input the right information.
Type - this is the field type as defined on the Fields Manager page.
Restrict by Category - you can restrict the availability of a field to specific categories or file formats. For example, you could create a field and restrict this to your 'Staff images' category. This field would then appear on all Staff images, but not on your Project images.
Grid Fields
For an overview of Grid Fields and a walkthrough of the configuration, check out this video or continue reading below.
Grid fields are a way to display information in the form of a table. Grid fields are suited for information with multiple components. For instance, you may want a grid field for “Awards” wherein the columns are “Year,” “Awarding Body,” “Description,” etc.
Grid fields are displayed as a preview on the Employee or Project Overview page.
Click the "expand" button to view the entire grid field.
Once you've created a new Grid Field, you'll see a "Columns" button next to the field. Click on it to starting adding your desired columns.
Give each column a name, a type of field, and determine if you would like it to be visible to your end users. Hidden fields may include sensitive or confidential data that you still want stored in OpenAsset. You can add as many columns as you wish. To remove a column, click the “Trash” icon. Once happy with your columns, click “Save Changes”
You are now ready to begin filling out the information in your grid field.
To fill out the grid field, navigate to the Fields tab of the appropriate Project or Employee and click the button to edit the grid.
You can then fill out any information in the columns set.
To add a new row, click the “Add Row” button in the bottom left. Use the drag handle on the left hand side of each row to change the order of the rows. To remove a row, click the “Trash” icon on that row.
Once you are happy with the information added, click “Save Changes.”
Note that you can only view and edit 100 rows of the grid field within OpenAsset. To view and edit more than 100 rows, you must access the grid field via the API.
Hero Fields
Hero Fields enable you to clearly designate which field appears as the featured, top field on both the Employee Overview page and Project Overview page.
You can select a field as the Hero Field by navigating to it in the Fields Manager, and selecting the edit icon.
You can designate any multi-line or single-line field as the Hero Field. If the Hero Field isn’t filled in for a particular project or employee, it will be empty on the overview page.