HaloITSM Guides
Documentation to assist with the setup and configuration of the HaloITSM platform
Custom Fields
Associated Admin Guide:
Overview
Custom fields can be used to collect additional information in any section. In the client view specfically however they can add a great depth of extra information, whether it's the support supplied by their contract with you, the loyalty of that customer or something more specific to you.
Adding a new Custom Field
Head to the configuration console and then navigate to "Custom Objects" under the advanced heading. This takes you to the lists of custom fields in Halo. Select the client entity to display all of your current custom client fields.
Clicking "New" in the top right-hand corner will take you to the creation screen. First, give the field a name and label. The "Name" is the name of the field in the database, this will contain no spaces but is a descriptor of the field itself and should reflect the field label. The "Label" is what will appear within Halo and is what your agents will see to fill in.
Next is the data type, described in the table below:
Type of Field | Description |
Text | Single line of plain text. |
Memo | Multiple lines of plain text; longer descriptions or notes. |
Single Selection | A single option to be picked from a drop down list. |
Multiple Selection | Multiple options to be picked from a drop down list. |
Date | This field type will prompt a date selection box when clicked. |
Time | A specific time on a 24 hr clock, for clients this could be the office opening time in your time zone. |
Checkbox | A binary selection of "Yes" or "No" in the form of a checkbox. |
Table | This is used to refer to custom tables within your database such as external information. |
Rich | A rich text box allowing a large number of formatting and editing styles. Including images, links, html code editor, emoji's. |
Creating Custom Fields
Custom Fields are created in Configuration > Custom Objects > Custom Fields.
Each Entity that can have Custom Fields can be selected in the drop down in the top left of the Custom Field list. The entity chosen will determine which section of the portal the ustom field can appear on.
Fig 1. Choosing Custom Field Entity
Once selected you can see all existing Custom Fields of that Entity and add new Custom Fields.
Here you can configure different properties of the Custom Field and also choose the Type and Name. The Type and Name cannot be edited after the field is created so ensure these are correct.
The Name you choose is used as the SQL database name (with CF added to the start of the Name) and it is also referenced in the API when updating the Custom Field data i.e. a custom field named money, will appear on the API with name cfmoney.
Displaying Custom Fields
For all entities other than Tickets/Projects/Opportunities/Actions you do not need to add the Custom Field anywhere to show on the entity.
The Custom Field will show up straight away on the Tab that was chosen during creation, if this was not changed then that will be the default tab called "Additonal Fields".
For Tickets/Projects/Opportunites you need to go to Configuraiton > Tickets > Ticket Types > Edit a Ticket Type and go to Field List. Here you can add the Custom Field to the specific Ticket Type, which will then make it visible on that ticket type, restriction settings can also be configured by editing the field item after adding it, as explained further down this lesson.
Custom Field Types
The ways in which you can configure a field depend on which data type you have selected. The following field configuration methods are therefore split by data type.
The following list explains the different fields configurable
Fig 2. Types of Fields
Text Field Input Types
- Anything - this is any plain text input
- Integer - Whole number inputs e.g 13
- Money - A number with two decimal places such as 42.21
- AlphaNumeric - Plain text letters and numbers with no punctuation
- Decimal - A number with more than two decimal places i.e. 12345.98765
- URL - A web Address
- Password:The input type can be restricted, this could be set to i.e. “Password” which will be a field that when given inputs, the inputs will show as hidden characters. You can audit for the password custom fields which means it can be seen who has viewed the password by using the "eye" icon.
Fig 3. Eye Icon
The password can be unveiled by hitting the eye icon. By default the password field will not show the length of the password, unless clicking on the eye icon. The password can also be copied by clicking the copy icon. Password visibility(visibility of the eye icon) can be set on permissions tab of agents, options are “Not Visible” or “Visible”. More information on storing passwords can be found here: Storing Passwords For Customers
Fig 4. Hiding a Password or Copying it to Clipboard
Calculated: The last type of input is the calculated field. The idea of a calculated field is to perform mathematical operations on a field on halo that is numeric. For example if there is a dollar variable $CFIntegerField and the calculated field is this:
Fig 5. Field Configuration of a Calculated Field
when integer field is changed to 5, the Calculated Field updates to 2.5 on the ticket.
Fig 6. Calculated Field Updating
The example use case may be that you are topping up accounts via a ticket on Halo. On the ticket creation screen there would be the different accounts along with the amount to top up by.
Fig 7. Use Case of a Calculated Field
Then to summarise the total amount to top up by across all of the accounts we can use a calculated field.
Fig 8. The Calculation on The Custom Field
Encryption
Text fields can also be encrypted via the checkbox, this is useful for fields that contain sensitive information.
You can then submit a default value for any of these inputs, such as:
Memo Field Input Types
The only option here is the default value.
Single Selection Input Types
- Static list which is a fixed set of options set in a comma seperated string, e.g. Yes,No,Maybe. Radio selection can be used instead of a drop down list.
Fig 9. Radio Selection, this can be set to a horizontal layout (checkbox) hich has the values go across the page instead of down the page.
- Dynamic list (SQL)This is a list which populates based on a SQL query input below.This can be used to pull information from the database to enable your agents to make a choice based on existing data. There is a seperate Guide on dynamic sql lookup fields
Multiple selection Field Input Types
Choose values for the selections here, these are static and cannot be pulled from another query.
Date, Time and Checkbox Field Input Types
These have no configuration settings. They are exactly what the names suggest.
Table
Similar to the Dynamic List, this will extract data from the database but this time from any custom tables you have attached. These will start CT.
You can display any combinations of the information stored in any custom table.
Settings
These are more general for the fields itself with summary being a description of the information contained in the field and the hint being shown in gray when the field is being updated.
Copy values to Child Tickets
This setting decides whether the value of this field is copied to child tickets if this is present in a ticket type.
Tab
This setting determines the tab the field will be visible on; these appear on the client screen to the right of settings.
Fig 10. Custom Tab Added to a Customer
Custom Tabs can be created in Configuration > Custom Objects > Custom Tabs. In the image above there has been a custom tab created for the customer entity with name "Level of support offered". Custom Tabs can be added to many areas of halo, a notable one would be the tabs of the ticket details screen.
Visibility Restrictions
This setting decides which client you are restricting the field to be available to, if any.
Fig 11. Adding Visibility Restricitons to Custom Fields
Once you have completed the creation of your custom field, if it is a ticket or action level field, don't forget to add this to it's respective field list in the relevant configuration area. For example if you had a custom field you wanted to apply to a ticket types field list, you would add it the following way
Fig 12. Field List on a Ticket Type
Then add the field
Fig 13. The Add Fields Interface
Once added to the field list, the visibility restrictions can be set by editing the field which will now be showing on the list.
As of v2.158 "Added 'Has a value' and 'Does not have a value' criteria type options to Single Select, Multi-Select, Memo, and Rich text custom fields"
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