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Jason Wilson

ChilliDB Admin Essentials: Custom Fields - Creating Sections (Advanced)

Updated: 20 hours ago

This article focuses on the functionality of the various fields and options available when creating a new section in the Custom Fields module in ChilliDB. To get an overview of the basic process first, please go to the 'Quick Start' article.


Creating Sections

The next screen shows a list of the sections currently available in your ChilliDB system (only the 'Base' section in a new system). To add a new section to the list, click on the 'Add New Section' link. The new section will open above the top section in the sections list, allowing users to enter the relevant details. For the purposes of this example we will be creating a section titled 'Volunteer Information'.


When creating a section in ChilliDB, users have the following options available to them (from left to right in the screenshot above):


i) Section Description: add the name of the section here.

ii) Visible For Types: this option allows users to decide which types (categories) of contacts (in this case) this section will be visible for. The default is 'All Types', which means this section will be visible for every contact that is created. However, by clicking on the checkbox next to the 'All Types' text, users can instead select the contact types they wish to see this section visible for when entering data. In the example below, by selecting 'Client' in this field, I have indicated that this section should only be visible when creating a contact with this categorisation. For all other contact types, it will be hidden.


iii) Section Order: enables users to order the sections as desired. This can be edited at any time to reorder sections if necessary.

iv) Section Appearance: this gives users the option to not only choose whether the section fields are visible ('Expanded' - displays the section name and all of the fields below it) or not visible ('Collapsed' - displays the section name. Users need to click on it to reveal the fields in that section), but also the format in which it is displayed.


The other section appearance options are:

a) No Section Outline: removes the section heading from the record and only displays the field names in that section.


b) Tab: creating a tab in a ChilliDB record allows users to display information in the tab section of a record, rather than in the normal sections and fields. When entering data in a section that has been allocated this section appearance, initially the data is entered in a section that appears similar to that of the expanded section above.

However, once the record is saved, the data is displayed in a tab below the other details that have been recorded in other sections / fields, alongside the system tabs.

Note: When creating this kind of tab in ChillDB, users should be aware that it is a single-instance entry of data only - i.e.: users can only record data once / edit it in this tab. They cannot create multiple instances of the same data like we can with the other tabs.


c) Grid: As mentioned in the 'Tab' overview above, creation of that kind of section only allows users to enter one instance of the data in that tab. However, if there is the need to create a tab that allows multiple instances of the same data to be recorded, then the 'Grid' section appearance is the option here to allow this to happen.

Once a grid has been created, adding data is done in the same way as the other system-created tabs in the system - click 'Create' and enter the data required.

Once saved, the record will be listed under the 'Volunteering Days' tab.

Repeat the process again to add more records to the list.

v) Is Protected: this indicates whether the section is system-generated or not. Those that display 'Yes' in this section are system-generated sections.

vi) Tooltip: a description / instructions / any other useful information can be added here to allow users to then read this when adding data to the system. To read the tooltip for a section, simply hover your mouse over the section name, and the tooltip will appear.

vii) # Items: tells the user how many fields are in this section.

viii) Roles Which Can View/Add/Modify/Delete: a layer of sensitivity can be added here in terms of which roles can perform these actions. To limit access to certain roles, deselect 'All Roles' and select the role you want to limit the section to.







ix) Sensitivity Setting: in addition to the Role-based sensitivity settings above, the standalone sensitivity setting allows a user to tie the visibility of a section to the response to a field within that section. In the example below, we are limiting access to a section to certain users based on whether or not a contact is a volunteer or not. If the data indicates they are, then the section will be restricted to the users selected.


If a user who is not permitted to view this section clicks on it, they will see the following:

The Sensitivity Setting is useful in situations where a particular response to a field in a section might indicate that the information contained within that section is sensitive, and thus should be restricted viewing. For example, if a contact had indicated that they were in a domestic violence situation through a response to a particular field, making the rest of the information in that section restricted (to Case Manager and/or Case Worker roles, for example).


x) Visibility Setting: this setting allows the visibility of the section to be tied to a field in the contact record. In the example below, the section's visibility is linked to the 'Is Volunteer?' field in the Base section.











When the response to that field is 'Yes', the section becomes visible.


Once the section is set up to your requirements, click on the blue floppy disc icon to save the details.





The other options available to you are 'Cancel' section creation (the blue arrow); and Expire / Delete section (red 'X').


ii) Working with Sections That Have Been Added to ChilliDB


After creating a section, users are able to go back at any time and edit the section by clicking on the icon that looks a pencil and notepad. The red 'X' performs the same feature as above.





If you have any further questions regarding the process of setting up sections in ChilliDB, please don't hesitate to get in touch, either through our Help Desk or by contacting us at info@chillidb.com

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