Contact Custom Fields

Custom fields can be added to customer, supplier, product, sales and purchase order records. If there's something you want to record and to use to filter and report on, use a custom field.

Suppliers and Customers have their own set of independent custom fields.

Custom fields can be of the following types:

1. Freeform text
   Any text up to 64 characters.
2. Numeric only
   Brightpearl will make sure that the text entered is only numbers or spaces.
3. Select list
   You must create a number of options, from which the user will select one.
4. Textarea
   Used for text greater than 64 characters.
5. Yes/no
   Use this to display a yes/no selection., for confirmation of terms and conditions or similar. There is already a default "newsletter" checkbox field in Brightpearl which should be used for any opt-in services.
6. Date
   This will display the pop-up calendar from which the date can be selected.

If you set a custom field as "required" then an admin user will not be able to create or edit a contact without entering some information in the field.

Add a Custom Tab

Each contact record is made up of a selection of tabs, and each tab contains various fields. You can add you own customised tabs; useful for grouping large amounts of extra custom fields:

1. Go to Setup > Custom fields > Customers or Suppliers.
2. Click the Add a field button.
3. Enter a name for your tab in the new tab field.
4. Click Save and close the window.
5. Refresh the screen to see your tab.

Your tab will be added but it will contain no data.

Add a Custom Field

Add a new field into one of your custom tabs:

1. Go to Setup > Custom fields > Customers or Suppliers.
2. Click the Add a field button.
3. Enter a name for your field.
4. Select the tab you want to add the field into or you can add a new tab by entering a new tab name.
5. Specify whether this field is required. If you set it as required you will not be able to save the record, after adding or editing it, without completing the field.
6. (Contacts only) Specify whether this field can be edited on the web portal. This will allow registered users to edit the data themselves.
7. Click Save to add the field to the tab.

Your field will now be displayed in the record, ready for you to begin collecting data.

Select List Options

If you selected to create a select list field you will need to define the list items. Once you have added the custom field as above:

1. Click the Edit options link next to the field type.
2. Click the Add a value button.
3. Enter the list value.
4. Click Save.
5. Add more items as required.

Searching By Custom Fields

You can search through your record using data you have entered into the custom fields.

1. Go to your customer/supplier listing.
2. In the filters, click the Add filter link.
3. Select the field you want to search by in the "Where" field.
4. Next to it specify how you want to filter by that field, e.g. "contains" or "is greater than".
5. Then type the parameter.
6. Click Filter report to apply the search and display the results.

As with any other search filter, you can save the search for later use by adding it to your Favourites. To add a page to your favourites, click the Add to favourites link at the bottom of the screen. Each time the search is performed the results are refreshed with up-to-date data.

You can also include custom fields (amongst others) on your contact list, hover the mouse over your username and select My Preferences. In the Contact screen columns tick the checkbox next to any detail to include it on the contact listing.