Custom Fields

Custom fields let you store extra information on the built-in kinds of content — most often profiles — without creating a new content type. You group related fields into a custom fieldset (for example "Emergency Contact" or "Membership Details"), and those fields then appear on every record of that type.

Why use custom fields on profiles

Qik aims to keep a single profile for each real person, so their details stay up to date and connected to everything they do. Rather than creating a separate content type to represent a particular kind of person, add the information you need to profiles with a custom fieldset. Every profile then carries those fields, with their validation and expressions, and the data shows up in lists, filters, exports and imports like any other profile field.

Creating a custom fieldset

1. Open the System dashboard and find the Custom Fields panel. For profile fields you can also go to People → Custom Profile Fields.
2. Click New Custom Fieldset.
3. Give the fieldset a title.
4. Choose the Source Type — the kind of content the fields should be added to. It defaults to profiles; you can also choose other built-in types such as events or files.
5. Check the Database Key. It's generated from the title and must be unique in your organisation. It decides where the data is stored on each record, so you can usually leave the default and shouldn't change it once data has been entered.
6. Optionally set a Weight to control the order fieldsets appear in — lower numbers come first.
7. Add your fields using the field editor, the same editor you use to build forms and content types.

Once saved, the fields appear whenever someone creates or edits a record of that type. When you edit a profile, each custom fieldset has its own tab; on the profile page itself, custom fieldsets are shown under the Further details tab.

Validation

Validation follows the configuration of your fields. If a field requires an answer, records of that type can't be saved without a valid value. For example, if you add a required Shirt Size field to profiles, anyone creating a profile must choose a shirt size, and an API request without one is rejected.

Think carefully before making a custom profile field required: it applies to every profile, including those created by forms, imports and integrations.

Where the data is stored

For builders working with the API or custom code: each record has a data property that holds all custom field values. Values from a custom fieldset are stored under the fieldset's database key and then the field's key — for example data.emergencyContact.phone.

Permissions

Creating and editing custom fieldsets requires access to custom fieldsets, which is normally limited to administrators. Changing a fieldset affects every record of its source type, so keep this access narrow.

Tips

• Group related fields into one fieldset rather than creating many single-field fieldsets.
• Custom fields work with bulk editing and CSV imports, so add the fields before you import data into them.
• To show custom fields on a form so people can fill them in themselves, see Including Dynamic Custom Fields in Your Forms.
• If you need a genuinely different kind of record with its own list, use a new content type instead. See How Qik Is Organised.