Custom fields overview

Click Options and Custom fields to adjust portatour® even better to your individual business processes.

You can create custom fields for customers, appointments, tasks, and reports. To do so, select the respective option in the menu to go to the desired input mask:

Use the pen icon to edit existing fields.

Use the Arrow up/down buttons to change the order of the fields. This is also possible beyond groups.

Use the recycle bin symbol to delete fields or groups. Please note that all the data of deleted fields will also be deleted once you have saved.

Create groups for custom fields

For more clarity, divide the custom fields into several groups; for example for customers: one group for general contact data, another group for contact persons, and yet another one for key figures.

To create a group:

1. Click on New group.
2. Enter a group name.
3. At Position of field names you adjust the display of the field names.
   • Always left always displays field names to the left of the field content, even for longer texts.
     
   • Above for multi-line text fields displays field names above longer texts to make better use of the screen width.
     
   • Always above always uses a separate line for the field names. This means that more lines are needed for the display.
     
4. Optional for reports: see here below Custom fields for reports.
5. Click on the checkmark on the right to confirm the group name. Then continue with the creation of the fields (see below Create custom fields).

Custom fields for reports

In addition to the above functions, it is possible for custom fields for reports to display certain fields only for one or more report types or only for specific customer groups. If you want to restrict the display of the fields in question, proceed as follows.

Restriction by report types

1. From the selection menu Show for all report types, select the option No.
2. At Only show for, select the report type or types for which the fields in this group are to be displayed (hold the Ctrl key for multiple report types ):

portatour® distinguishes between the following report types:

• Call: Click Called now at a customer or Took place now at a customer appointment
• Missed: Click on Missed at a customer or customer appointment
• Other: For appointments without location reference(=phone call) or without customer reference, at 'My Places' and click on New report at a customer
• Start of work: Click on Enter working time > Start of work
• End of work: Click on Enter working time > End of work
• Day off: Click on Enter working time > Day off

You can also recognize the type of a report during input by the title bar of the report window.

Restriction by customer groups

The prerequisite for this function is that you have created one or more organization-wide saved customer searches (for details, see Create dynamic fields for call reports).

1. From the selection menu Show for all customers, select the option No.
2. At Only show for, select the customer group (= organization-wide saved customer search) for which the fields in this group should be displayed (hold the Ctrl key for multiple customer groups).

Create custom fields

Click New field to create a new field in the desired group. Enter the desired settings:

Field name

Enter a short and meaningful field name.

Data type

Go to Data type to select which form of data are permitted in the entry field:

• Text: Single-line input field for free text. Maximum of 1,000 characters.
• Multi-line text: Multi-line input field for free text. Maximum of 1,000 characters.
• Integer: Numbers without decimals.
• Number: Number with decimals (e.g. for money amounts).
• Date: Date input, e.g. 03.04.2020.
• Time: Time input, e.g. 08:25.
• Date & Time: Date input including time, e.g. 03.04.2015 08:25.
• Yes/No: Yes/No selection box.
• Phone number: Single-line input field for telephone number. When displayed, you can click the phone number to start the dialing process on your device (e.g. smartphone).
• Email: Single-line input field for email address. A syntax check is carried out during input. When displayed, click the address to start the email editor on your device.
• Link: Single-line input field for internet address (URL). When displayed, click the link to start the internet browser on your device. See Link.
• Selection: Multi-line selection field where one element can be selected. See Selection and multi-selection.
• Multi selection: Multi-line selection field where several elements can be selected. See Selection and multi-selection.
• External file: Upload of one file. See External files.
• External files : Upload multiple files. See External files.

Mode

In the selection box Mode you define if the field can be edited.

• Hide: The field is not displayed in the screen. However, the data contained therein is still present and available via export. This can be useful if you want to display a field only temporarily without deleting it.
• Read only: The field is only displayed and cannot be edited in the screen mask. The field can only be filled/edited/deleted via an import (see Start customer import).
• Writable: The field is displayed and can either be edited via the screen mask or an import.
• Writable, create form: The field is displayed in the creation form for customers (or appointments, reports). This is recommended for important fields that need to be filled in immediately.
• Writable, create form, mandatory: The field is a mandatory field in the creation form, i.e. the new customer (or appointment, report) cannot be saved without filling in this field. You can recognize mandatory fields by the red bar on the left.

Show in customer name

Custom fields for customers can be displayed with the customer name in brackets by setting the option Show in customer name to Yes. This display possibility applies, amongst others, to the customer lists (incl. search possibility), the schedule and the portatour® report. Use this possibility for important fields that you want to see everywhere, e.g. customer number or ABC rating. Display example: 'Example company (21300, A)'.

Description

The Description is optional. This text is displayed when you click on the underlined field name. It is also shown in the import assistant (see field mapping) when you click the (i) symbol next to the field name.

Save your input by clicking the checkmark button next to the field name.

Discard your input by clicking the X button next to the field name.

General hints:

• You can create up to 250 custom fields per entity (customer, appointment, task, report). We recommend to restrict the use of custom fields only to important fields in order not to limit clarity and usability.
• Once you have created your custom fields you can fill them through an import (see Start customer import). These fields are automatically available for field mapping in the import assistant.
• The field names must differ, even beyond groups. This is important for the import/export.
• Custom fields automatically apply to all users if your portatour® account is a company access with several users.
• Changes of custom fields automatically trigger the creation of a restore point. You can reset to this restore point if fields have been deleted erroneously.