What Field Type Should I Use?

This article addresses best practices for custom field creation in the Customs Editor Advanced tool, including how to determine what data should go in which fields and how to best organize your data in a project.

Filevine’s custom fields provide a wide variety of options, including fields specifically designed for numbers, for lists, and for calendar reminders. Learning which customs fields to use where is one of the best ways to ensure that your data is being managed correctly. Choosing the right fields at the beginning of your implementation means fewer headaches when creating reports and managing cases later on.

The ultimate goal of custom fields is to make your data usable, with the fewest number of empty fields, the most specific data, and the fewest number of errors. Creating usable data means following best practices like inputting one data point per field, limiting the possibilities for input, and being aware of which reporting criteria are available for each field type.

Do I need a field?

Before determining which field type would be best suited to your data point, consider whether this data point should be added as a field at all. If you create a field that will only be used for a handful of projects, the field will remain empty in most projects, and will not be able to be deleted. All fields should be filled in the majority of projects, and the data in them should not be duplicated anywhere else in a project.

Alternatives

If you have data that needs to be tracked for only a few projects, one good alternative is to track this information by using notes in the Activity Section of the project. Adding a tag to the notes concerning this type of data will make this information searchable and trackable while keeping the number of fields you have in a project to a minimum. 

If you need to reference a piece of data in two places in a project simultaneously or quickly, add that field to the vitals or add a Link Button, which enables you to switch from one section to another within a project!

Another option, for specific data types, is to use a qualifying Dropdown List field to clarify the data type. For example, instead of having three date fields for three different date types, a user might have a date field with an adjacent Dropdown List field asking the user whether the date is a deposition date, a trial date, or a settlement date. Beyond making the section easier to read, consolidating fields with a qualifying dropdown will make reporting a lot easier later on!

Avoiding Duplicate Data

Make sure that each field contains unique, new data that is contained nowhere else in the project. Duplicate fields allow for errors and ambiguity. This is particularly important to remember when adding fields that have to do with contact information. Often users make duplicates of fields like SSN or address, which are in a Person field. The Person field contains numerous built-in fields relevant to contacts, including phone number and address, and can be used for companies and organizations as well as individuals.

Defining a Data Point

Ensuring that there is only one data point per field is the best way to make reporting on, finding, and managing data easy. Using a text box to collect both settlement type and amount, for example, may seem like a simple solution for data input, but will make it difficult to run a report on this information, and will increase the likelihood of human error. Below is an example of an incorrect data field:

In contrast, using three different fields of three different types to ask for settlement date (date field), settlement type (dropdown field), and settlement amount (amount - currency field) ensures that your data stays clean, searchable, and reportable.

Where should the field go?

Once you've determined that your data point is unique and used across most projects, your next step is to consider the best location for this field.

Organizing Fields

In general, organizing fields thematically, rather than chronologically by when that data is input (like in a form), will make it easier for your team to find data more quickly and easier to run reports. Feel free to make as many custom sections as necessary. Searching for a project section with the filter menu, shown below, rather than looking through every field in one huge section, will cut down on your time.

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Making Fields Reportable

It’s important to keep reporting and DocGen capabilities in mind when creating new fields. Different custom field types allow for different reporting columns and criteria.

Additionally, remember that data in reports will not be placed within the context of its section. For example, using “Date” as the prompt for a date field may make sense in the context in an Intake section, but in reports and DocGen templates, “Date” couldn’t be more ambiguous. To avoid this, make your field prompts accurate and specific—for example, “Date of Intake.”

Which field type do I need?

Filevine has a variety of different custom field types. Using the best custom field type for your data point will make reporting on and handling your data easier. Here are a few things to consider when determining different custom field types:

What is my data point?

Once you’ve determined that you need a field and where that field should be suited, the final step is determining which custom field type will be the best fit for your data. This depends primarily on the characters and variance of your data point. 

What will this type of data consist of? Will it be only numbers, only text, or a mix of text and numbers? Does it need to allow for special characters? This will determine whether you should be using an amount field, for example, which takes only numbers, or a text or multiple choice type field, both of which allow for more flexibility.

What will the variance of your answers be? Is this field answering a yes or no question? Will the field prompt answer be limited to a specific number of answers, like a case type? In these instances, you will want to consider the Yes/No custom field or a Dropdown List field providing limited options. Utilizing these types of fields will keep your data efficient and easy to find.

Which reports will I require?

Generally, using the proper field types for a data type will enable you to run more specific and robust reports. If you are using data that will always take currency, for example, using the Amount - Currency for $0.00 field will enable you to report on items that are greater or less than a certain amount, or to display the total of all items in a Collections Section or in the project vitals. Filevine’s reporting is built with custom fields in mind, so using the correct field type will make reporting easier.

Field Types Overview