Skip to content

# Customize form

The Customize form is provided to show or hide unused form fields on an edit form and also to set individual fields to required entry.

Custom fields can also be enabled here to provide additional data entry fields unique to your business.

## Authorization Roles required

Many roles can select this object on other records where approriate. Editing or viewing this object in detail is only available to Users with the following roles:

Full access

- Business administration

Read only access

none

## How to access Customize form

From any business object editing form (green banner) select the `Customize` menu option to customize that form's fields.

## How form customization works

Form field customization is saved to the database and applies to all users of AyaNova.

The form field customization form shows each field that is customizable in a box in a grid list. If a field is not shown, it is not customizable. A good example of this is the Name field which is always required to be filled in so it's not possible to hide it and there is no need to make it required so it doesn't show in the list of fields.

AyaNova comes with a lot of fields available to each type of business object and not all shops require all those fields. Removing un-needed fields simplifies the forms making them quicker for data entry.

In addition, some entire features may not be required, such as Tags or Attachments or the Wiki field and these features can be removed entirely on a form by form basis by setting them to invisible.

When a field is customized, the currently logged in user who is doing the customization will see it immediately without needing to log out and back in again as the local copy of the form customization used by the web app is updated immediately.

Other Users who logged in before the form customization changes were made and saved will need to log out and back in again to see the customization changes take effect on their device as customizations are only fetched from the AyaNova server as part of the login process.

(Note that Quotes and Preventive Maintenance form customizations display their sub sections as "WorkOrderItem" rather than "QuoteItem" or "PMItem*" as there are no separate translation keys for those objects, however, customizations made in those forms will correctly apply to PM's and Quotes.)

### Hiding fields

To hide a field uncheck it's "Visible" checkbox. Some fields are required by AyaNova and can't be hidden so there will be no Visible checkbox available. For example the Customer Name field is required so cannot be hidden.

### Requiring fields

To enforce a rule that a field must have data entered into it, put a checkmark in the "Required" checkbox. AyaNova will display an error to the User if they leave the required field empty.

Address fields in work orders and quotes that are set to required will check the street address field only.

#### Some fields can not be required

Some fields by their nature can't be set to required and will not display a Required checkbox:

- many fields are already required internally by AyaNova such as a Customer Name and many numeric / currency fields which are not optional
- some control types such as checkboxes don't support the concept of no entry due to having only two states
- logistics reasons apply to other controls such as signature controls on work orders which logically can't be signed until the work is completed

### Custom fields

Up to 16 custom fields can be enabled on most AyaNova business objects to track information that is specific to your business and not provided in the default AyaNova fields for each object.

Custom field data is stored with the business object's record in the database and where possible (text) is indexed for searching.

Custom fields can also be printed on reports.

There are three steps to enabling a Custom field:

1. make the custom field visible

2. choose the data type that will be tracked in this field. There are 8 choices available and they will show on the form as:

   - `Date / Time` date and time picker control
   - `Date` date only picker control
   - `Time` time only picker control
   - `Text` multiline text box for small or large amounts of text (Unicode and Emojis 🌡️ supported as with all AyaNova text fields)
   - `True / False` checkbox control
   - `Integer` integer whole number input control, no fractions
   - `Decimal` decimal number input control, fractional
   - `Money` currency control with currency symbol

3. Change the User's translation(s) to show the desired title above the control: Make a note of the translation key for the custom field. It will be shown just beneath the current translation for that field, for example "Custom5" in the Customer form has an internal translation key of "CustomerCustom5". Save your changes here and then use the translation key to find and edit the translation so that the desired title shows with the Custom field. There is a Translation menu item on the Customize form to save a click.

We have a Guided tour for custom fields available walking through the process.

#### Changing the data type later

If you change the data type of a custom field after data has been entered AyaNova will do it's best to work with that change but it's not recommended. It's better to simply hide the former custom control and show a new one with the new data type.

### Changing the title of fields

To change the label text displayed to the User above any field (not just custom fields), edit any translations in use for that field's translation key. The internal Translation Key for each field is displayed in the Customize form beneath the current translation of that field's title to simplify finding which translation item needs to be changed.

For example on the Customer's Customize form the "Account number" field shows that the translation key is "AccountNumber".

Many translations are re-used when the field contains the same type of data, so, for example an Address field will be used in any forms where an Address is required, not just the Customer form. Keep this in mind when editing translations.

Radically changing a field's title to something completely different may be a sign that a Custom field should be used instead as in some cases AyaNova expects a certain kind of data to be in a field.

For example a phone number field presents a dialer icon beside it to allow a user with a device that can make a phone call to simply click on the dialer icon to call that number. If you change that field to something that isn't a phone number it willn be confusing to the user and break existing functionality.