Field configuration

What are fields?

Fields allow you to collect information from an entrant about an entry, user, attachment or contributor.

There are four different fields to choose from:

• Form field - displays on the entry form
• User field - displays during registration and on a user’s profile
• Attachment field - adds a field for every attachment on an attachments tab
• Contributor field - adds a field for every contributor on contributor tab

Create an entry field

1. In the Manage workspace, go to Entries and click Edit form
2. Hover your cursor in the position you'd like to add the new field and click the + icon
   
3. In the configuration tray that appears on the right side of the page select a Field type; see Field types overview
4. Give the field a Label (seen by entrants)
5. Provide a Short title
   
   Tip: the short title assigned to a field is used in exports and other locations where the label may be too large. We recommend using a simple, clear naming convention for all short titles so program managers can easily identify the field.
6. Choose whether the field is applicable to all categories or just some in the Categories section
7. Make the field mandatory, if desired, by clicking on Required under Access
8. Opt to make the field conditional; see Using conditional fields
9. If desired, enable Auto-score for option-able fields like drop-downs, radio buttons, or checkboxes
10. Click Save when finished

Tip: need several of the same field, like file uploads or similar text entry fields? Navigate to Settings > Entries > Fields to copy an existing field.

Create a user field

1. Open the Manage workspace and go to Settings > Users > Fields
2. Click Add field
3. Choose User field and click Next
4. Give the field a Label (seen by entrants)
5. Provide a Short title
   
   Important: the short title assigned to a field is used in exports and other locations where the label may be too large. We recommend using a simple, clear naming convention for all short titles so program managers can easily identify the field.
6. Enter a Field order to control the order of fields
7. Choose the Field type and configure any field specific options
8. Choose whether the field applies to all seasons or just the active one. Read more about User fields and seasons 
9. Select the roles the field applies to
10. Select the Required box if the field is mandatory
11. Select Data protection options based on the nature of the data being collected. Read more about Data protection on fields
12. Click Save

Create an attachment field

1. In the Manage workspace, go to Entries, and click Edit form
2. Navigate to your attachments type tab
3. Hover your cursor within the small white box and click the + icon
   
4. In the configuration tray that appears on the right side of the page select a Field type; see Field types overview
5. Give the field a Label (seen by entrants)
6. Provide a Short title
   
   Tip: the short title assigned to a field is used in exports and other locations where the label may be too large. We recommend using a simple, clear naming convention for all short titles so program managers can easily identify the field.
7. Choose whether the field is applicable to all categories or just some in the Categories section
8. Make the field mandatory, if desired, by clicking on Required under Access
9. Opt to make the field conditional; see Using conditional fields
10. Click Save when finished

Create a contributor field

1. Select the Manage workspace, go to Entries, and click Edit form
2. Navigate to your contributor type tab
3. Hover your cursor within the white box and click the + icon
   
4. In the configuration tray that appears on the right side of the page select a Field type; see Field types overview
5. Give the field a Label (seen by entrants)
6. Provide a Short title
   
   Tip: the short title assigned to a field is used in exports and other locations where the label may be too large. We recommend using a simple, clear naming convention for all short titles so program managers can easily identify the field.
7. Choose whether the field is applicable to all categories or just some in the Categories section
8. Make the field mandatory, if desired, by clicking on Required under Access
9. Opt to make the field conditional; see Using conditional fields
10. Click Save when finished

Formatting fields

The Label and Hint text fields can be formatted using Markdown formatting. The Label supports bold, italics and links. The Hint text field supports bold, italics, headings, lists, links and block quotes. For more details about Markdown, see our guide.

Field order

The field order controls the order the fields will show on the entry tab. Fields will appear in order from the smallest field order value to the largest.

Field type options

Depending on the field type selected, there are different options that can be configured. For example, the Text (single line) field has options for maximum and minimum words or characters whereas a File upload (single) field has options for Maximum file size (MB) and Allowed file types.

Hint and help text

You may like to add additional information to a field to help clarify or elaborate on a question. There are two options; Hint text and Help text. Hint text displays alongside the field and Help text shows in a tooltip.

Updating field types

For some field types, once data has been entered to a particular field via the entry form or during registration, the field resource and field type can no longer be changed. These field types are:

• Checkbox
• Checkbox list
• Content
• Date
• Date time
• File upload
• Table

You’ll need to create the field again with the correct field type before deleting the original field. 

Required fields

To make a field required in the form editor, click Required under the 'Access' heading.

If editing or configuring fields via Settings > Entries > Fields, select the Required option on the 'Field access' table.

Required fields are mandatory and are validated (checked for the correct value) when an entry is submitted.

What happens when a required field is left blank?

If an entrant leaves a required field blank when they submit their entry, an error message will display and the field will be highlighted in red.

Searchable fields

Searchable fields allow you to add some of your own fields to the Advanced search filter. Entry fields will show in the Manage entries search filter and user fields will show in the Users search filter. A maximum of three fields is allowed. For more details, see How to search and filter.

To add a field to the search filter, select the Available in advanced search checkbox in the. Searchable area via Settings > Entries > Fields.

In the form editor, select this checkbox in the Options area. 

Conditional fields

Entry fields can be configured to show/hide based on the response of another field. These are called conditional fields. To learn more, see Using conditional fields.

Formula fields

Formula fields can be employed to provide a calculation based on the configuration of values in other fields. To learn more, see Utilising formula fields. 

Autocomplete fields

On Drop-down list fields only, a search box can be added to the list to make it easier to find an option. This is especially helpful if there is a large number of options to choose from.

To add the autocomplete search box, select the Add a search box to this drop-down list to make it an autocomplete text field. checkbox under Autocomplete.

Delete a field

If you find that you need to delete an existing field, doing so is easy. Fields can be deleted from the Settings menu or directly from the form editor by following the steps outlined below. 

Settings menu

1. From the Manage workspace, go to Settings > Entries > Fields
2. Click the checkbox next to the field/fields you wish to remove
3. Open the Action drop-down
4. Choose Delete

Form editor

1. In the Manage workspace, go to Entries
2. Click Edit form
3. Locate the field you wish to remove and hover your cursor over it
4. Click the settings icon that appears
5. Choose Delete at the bottom of the configuration try that pops up

Video overviews

Create entry fields

Create a user field

Create an attachment or contributor field