Create User-Defined Fields

Administrators can create user-defined fields (UDFs) for all entities.

User-defined fields enable users to record additional information about the entity.

To create a new User-defined field:

• Navigate to System Tools > User Defined Fields.

• Determine the category for which you want to create a new field and select the relevant tab such as All People or Companies Only, Incorporations Only, Partnerships Only, Individuals Only, or Other Entities.

• Select New. The User Defined Fields wizard opens with the Field Details page displayed first by default.

Field Details

• Enter a Quick Reference, for example VAT, and enter a Description, for example VAT number.

• In Short Description, enter a short description if needed to override the main Description above. This field will be viewed accordingly on the selected page.

• Applies To field is greyed out by default and only shows the type of entity that has been selected, for example, Companies Only. In this case, the field can only be populated in Companies.

• The Display in Section is a dropdown menu of subsections within the Details and Compliance pages. Select in which subsection you want to display the field. For example, General Fields will appear at the end of the Details page.

• Select the Data Type from the selection list, for example, Number (Integer Whole Number).

  Note

  If you want to enter a choice list, select Free Text.

• Help text guides you in populating the field. If you use the pipeline separator (|), you can have help text when editing the record or viewing the information. Any text entered before the pipeline separator will be visible when editing the information, while any text entered after it will be visible only when viewing the information.

• Select Next.

Field Options (Whole Number)

The page that displays here will differ depending on the data type you have selected on the previous page. The screenshot below illustrates what options are displayed if the Data Type field is set to Number (Integer Whole Number).

• Select the required options in Choice List. For example, Limited Selection Choice List allows you to populate this field with one of the choices entered.

• If you create a choice list, select how you want the choices displayed. For example, Selection List is a dropdown menu.

• Enter the choices, separating each choice with a pipeline separator (|). Remember to also enter a pipeline separator at the start of the choice list if you do not want the system to automatically select the first choice upon saving the record. A pipeline at the start of the choice list means the system will default to a "No selection" choice.

  In the below example, a UDF to store VAT numbers is created. The VAT number formats can greatly vary for each company, so the No Choice List option is selected.

• Select Next.

Field Formatting

• Default Report Format: This field is mainly used by the customer support team at Diligent Entities to determine how the field will be displayed.

• Colour of Prompt: This determines the colour of the field name. Enter a number between 0 and 9 to select a colour.

  Note

  You can choose the colour of the prompt based on the numbers colour display below the Colour of Text field.

• Colour of Text: This determines the colour of the data entered for this field. Enter a number between 0 and 9.

  Note

  You can choose the colour of the text based on the numbers colour display below the Colour of Text field.

• Initial Value: Select a field using the Wand to populate the UDF with the data entered for the selected field. For example, in case the UDF is a Date Field, and "INCORPDATE" is selected, the new UDF is populated with the Incorporation date of the Company that has been selected when first editing the entity details. You can override the initial value and enter different data here.

• When Saved: To choose a field variable, select the Wand. The UDF is thus automatically populated with the data entered for that field. For example, in case the UDF is a Text Field, and "USERNAME" is selected, the name of the user logged into Diligent Entities and who is saving the record is automatically entered in the UDF field.

• Select Next.

Display Control Options

• Select the Access Group to which this field should belong.

• Specify Visibility of the selected Access Group.

• Choose whether the field is read-only, which means that the field cannot be edited.

• Choose whether you want to disable auditing for the selected field. If you disable field-level auditing, any edits that will be made to the fields in the future will not be recorded

• Select Next.

Countries

• Select the Countries to which the UDF should apply.

• Alternatively, select the countries from which the UDF should be excluded. Remember to also select the checkbox Exclude from the selected Countries in this case.

• If no countries are selected, the field will be visible to all Companies in all jurisdictions.

• Select Finish.

The UDF can now be populated from the Company Details page.

• Select Edit in the the top right of the Company Details page to populate the UDF.

• To save your edits at the end, select Save.