Custom fields and values

Custom fields let you decide what every record of a kind holds. Give characters an allegiance and a height, creatures a habitat and a lifespan, events a death toll, and chapters a point of view, the weather and the time of day. Each field belongs to one kind of record and appears on every record of that kind. Custom values are the project's own lists of location types, entry tags and kinds of relationship.

How do I turn custom fields on for a kind of record? #

Custom fields are off for every kind of record until you need them, so pages never show an empty Attributes section. Open the project's Settings, choose Custom fields, pick the kind you want in the Record type list, for example Creatures, and turn on Show on pages at the top. The list has every kind whose module is on. A kind that is off shows a crossed-out eye beside its name and Hidden on pages above its fields.

You can add and edit the fields of a kind while it is off, and switch it on when they are ready. A project that already had fields for a kind keeps that kind switched on. Switching a kind off hides its Attributes card or tab, its list filters and columns, its fields in the creation form, quick look and storyline field changes. Nothing is deleted: the fields and every value stay saved and come back as they were when you switch the kind on again. If the kind has fields, you are asked first. Collection records have no switch, because their fields are the collection.

How do I add a custom field? #

Open the project's Settings and choose Custom fields. The Record type list holds each kind of record whose module is on (characters, creatures, organizations, locations, places, entries, events and chapters) and each of your collections. Pick one, type a name in Field, choose a type from the Type list, and select Add field. If the kind is shown on pages, the field appears on every record of that kind straight away. The same form is offered when you create a record, so a new record can start with all of its fields. Defining fields needs the Super permission; everyone else with access to the kind fills in the values.

You can also get there from a record: when a kind has no fields yet, its Attributes card offers Add fields. From the characters list, open its menu and choose Character settings.

Fields belong to the project, so two projects in the same account can describe their worlds in entirely different ways. A kind of record can have up to 50 fields.

If you set a Default value, every record of that kind already in the project gets it, and every new one starts with it.

Where do the fields appear? #

Field types #

For A value from a list, type each choice in New option and select Add. The first option becomes the default, and you can mark another one as the default instead.

For Radar chart, add up to twelve options, set a Maximum value and, if you like, a Default score every option starts with.

For Date on the world calendar, choose One date, From – to or Duration in Date kind. In the relative-date panel a date can be set from another record's existing date. Every date field of a kind also appears on the timeline page; Custom dates in the gantt view's options turns them on or off.

For Link to a record, choose which Record types (and, for a collection, which collections) can be picked, and whether to Allow several records. With Relate the records on, picking a record also creates a relation between the two, labelled with the field name; a matching family relation such as "Father" is reused.

For Place on a map, choose how the place is marked on maps: with the shape of the record's type or with an icon.

How do I fill in a field? #

On a record's Attributes card, select Edit attributes (the pencil). Every field turns into an input, and what you type is saved as you go, like the rest of the page. Select Done to see the values again. A field with nothing in it shows a dash.

For Place on a map, select Pick on map, choose the map and how to place it (a Point, Points, an Area of at least three corners, or a Label), and click the map. A label needs its text in Label text, which starts as the record's name; change or clear it as you like. Turn on Field locations in a map's Overlays to see every pick on that map, drawn with the field's icon or a shape per record type; a label is written on the map as text, and selecting it opens the record.

A record with a Place on a map value also shows a Map card in the side column of its page: one marker for each such field, named after the field (a Label keeps its own text). The same card shows the locations the record is linked to through its relations, each named after the relation when it has one ("Home: York"); a record with neither has no card. When the places sit on different maps, choose the map at the top of the card. Open on map opens the whole map at that spot, with Field locations turned on.

A value that does not fit the field is refused with a message instead of being saved: a word in a Number field, or a choice that is no longer on the list.

On a character, the Attributes tab works the same way, and each Radar chart has its own chart you edit directly.

Can I filter a list by a custom field? #

Yes. Every list — characters, creatures, organizations, locations, places and entries — offers its kind's Text, Long text, Number, A value from a list and Yes / no fields under More filters. A text filter finds records whose value contains what you type; a number or a list filter matches the value exactly. No on a yes/no filter also finds records where the field was never set.

On the characters list, the Columns table view shows every custom field as a column, and you can sort by text, number, yes/no and date columns.

Can a field change over time? #

Yes, with the timeline module on. A storyline event on any record can change its custom fields from a date onwards: a creature's habitat after the great flood, a character's rank after the war. Add the change under Field changes when you create the storyline event. Quick look shows the values as they are at the project's current date.

Can I change a field after creating it? #

Yes, except its type, which is fixed once it exists. In the table, a field's menu has Edit field: rename it, change its default, and for a list or radar chart add or remove options, for a rating change the range or icon, and for a link change what can be picked. Removing an option, or lowering a rating's highest value, clears or clamps the values that no longer fit. To change the type, create a new field of the type you want, move the values across, then delete the old field. Use as a template for a new field starts the new one from the old one's settings.

Deleting a field removes it from every record of its kind, and the values stored in it go with it.

Can I group fields? #

Yes. In Settings → Custom fields, Add group creates a named section, up to 20 for each kind. A field's menu has Move to group, Move up and Move down, and groups move and rename the same way. On a record, the Attributes card shows each group under its own heading. Deleting a group keeps its fields, which move out of any group. Groups work for collections too. The order of your collections in the sidebar is set under Settings → Modules.

Custom values #

Custom values are the project's own vocabularies. Each one belongs to a list, chosen under Appointment: location types, entry tags, character relations or rule categories.

To add one, open Settings → Custom values, type the Value, choose its Appointment, pick a colour if you like, and select Create. Character relations you add here are offered when you link two characters and in the family tree settings. Location types are offered on the map and in the locations list. Rule categories group your world rules.

The table lists every value with its list and when it was created. Search it, or narrow it to one list, to find a value quickly. Delete a value you no longer need from its row.

Who can add, change and delete fields? #

Defining fields needs Super, the permission that also guards the project's settings: adding, changing, grouping, arranging and deleting the fields of any kind of record or collection, and switching fields on for a kind. A new collection arrives with the fields chosen when it is created. Seeing a kind's fields needs that kind's read permission, and filling in a value needs the write permission of the record itself, so a writer keeps filling in fields but cannot change which fields exist. Custom values have their own Read Custom Values, Write Custom Values and Delete Custom Values. See the permissions reference.

Tips #

• Give chapters a Link to a record field for the point of view, and A value from a list for the time of day. The chapter's panel then answers "whose scene is this, and when?" at a glance.
• Use A value from a list instead of Text for anything you will filter by, such as a house, a faction or a species. A list cannot be misspelled, so the filter finds every match.
• Set the Default value before you add a field to a kind that already has many records. They all start with it, and you only change the exceptions.
• Use Link to a record with Relate the records for "Father" or "Birthplace" style fields: the value and the relation stay in step.
• A Radar chart field shows a character's strengths at a glance.
• Save a project as a template to reuse its custom fields, for every kind of record, and its values in your next book.

Related #

• Characters — where custom fields appear on each character sheet.
• Locations, places, organizations, creatures, events and entries — the records whose Attributes card holds their fields.
• Chapters — where a chapter's fields sit beside the text.
• Search and filters — narrow any list by its fields.
• Templates — carry your fields and values into a new project.