You can use custom fields to capture additional information you need at both a runbook and task level. For example, you may want your runbook to display and make use of information beyond the standard fields that are already available to you, or to capture information that is stored by another system that you use or integrate with. In this article, we'll cover how to create custom fields.

Note: You need to have the Custom fields admin role assigned to you to create custom fields. If you don't have the ability to create custom fields, or if you wish to edit or archive existing custom fields, you need to contact your Customer Success Manager (CSM) or our Support team to discuss your custom field requirements.

Important: Editing a custom field can result in the erasure of data contained in that field. For instance, changing a custom field’s visibility from global to a specific workspace will erase its data. The same is true of changing a custom field’s type. We will discuss any risk of potential data erasure with you when talking through your editing requirements.

Create a custom field

You can create a custom field by following these steps:

Click the Settings cog at the bottom of the left-hand side panel.
Click Custom Fields in the Settings menu.
Click + in the bottom-right corner of the Custom Fields page.
In the New Custom Field modal that appears, fill in the settings (some are required and some are optional):
1. Name (required): Enter the name of your custom field.
2. Custom Field Group (optional): You can add a custom field to an existing custom field group to keep related custom fields together. Note: You can create new custom field groups by clicking the Settings cog, clicking Custom Field Groups and clicking + in the bottom-right corner.
3. Visibility (required): Choose your custom field's visibility. We advise choosing Select a workspace... as opposed to the default Global setting. Select a workspace... lets you restrict the custom field's availability to the workspace of your choice, whereas Global means the custom field is available across every runbook in all workspaces in your instance.
4. Field Type (required): Set the type of your custom field (such as whether it is a text area, a dropdown menu or a date field, for instance). See Field type definitions.
5. Displays on (required): Set what action makes the custom field display to the user (such as when starting or ending a task, or when editing a runbook, for instance). See Displays on definitions.
6. Additional settings (optional): You can also choose some additional settings for your custom field. See Additional settings definitions.
Click + Create.

Your newly created custom field will appear in the list in the Custom Fields page.

You can search for custom fields via the search function in the top-right corner of the the Custom Fields page.

Note: Settings in the New Custom Field modal can change depending upon your selections in Field Type and/or Displays on. While we have tried to capture this as far as possible in the definition tables below, please be aware that these tables may not be exhaustive.

Field Type definitions

Name	Definition
Text	This is a single-line plain text field. You can add default content to it.
Text area	This is a long-form text area with standard text formatting options, including the ability to add links, tables and edit the HTML. You can add default content to it.
Select menu (single select)	This is a dropdown menu of options. The user can only select a single option.
Radio box (single select)	This is a list of radio buttons options, displayed in a single view. A user can only select a single option. Once a user selects an option, they are able to change their selection but they cannot deselect and revert to no selection at all.
Checkboxes (multi select)	This is a list of checkbox options, displayed in one view. A user can select multiple options, they can also deselect and revert to no selection at all by unchecking the box.
User select (multi select)	This is a field in which user names can be entered and selected. It works in the same way as adding users to teams via a runbook's View Users/Teams function. Multiple users can be selected.
Date	This is a date and time field. The user can add a date and time of their choice.

Displays on definitions

Name	Definition
Task edit	The custom field will display in the task editing panel under the Custom fields section unless it has be assigned a custom fields group.
Task start	The custom field will display in a dialogue box as soon as the user clicks to start a task during a run. It will not display in the task editing panel.
Task end	The custom field will display in a dialogue box as soon as the user clicks to complete a task during a run. It will not display in the task editing panel.
Runbook add and edit	The custom field will display during the process of creating a new runbook and will also display in the Runbook details panel.
Runbook edit	The custom field will display in the Runbook details panel.
Runbook page	The custom field will display in the runbook homepage. Not available for the Text, Select menu, Radio box and Checkboxes field types.

Additional settings definitions

Name	Definition
Lock name	The custom field's internal name is locked in and an external-facing, user-friendly Display name needs to be provided.
Allow users to create new field option	In addition to the given options for the custom field, users have the ability to add their own additional field options. Not available for the Text, Text area, User select and Date field types.
Display in list view	The custom field displays in the tasks List view as a coloured label next to the task or runbook name, displaying the custom field's name and its value/s. Not available for the Text area field type.
Display in filters	The custom field is available within the Filter tasks panel, which lets users filter based on the custom field options. Not available for the User select field type.
Display in task table view	The custom field is available in the tasks Table view. Only available if Display on is set as Task edit, Task start or Task end.
Required	The custom field is required and cannot be skipped over or left blank. Not available for the Checkboxes field type.
Transient	Values stored in the custom field will not be duplicated or copied.
Read only	The default value of the custom field is read only; it cannot be edited.
Hidden	The field will not be visible to a user unless the user has the Custom fields admin role.

Restrict custom fields to a task type, runbook type or integration

You can restrict a custom field to a task type, runbook type or integration. This means the custom field will only be available when that specific task type, runbook type or integration is being used.

These restriction options will be available in the New Custom Field modal provided the Displays on option is task or runbook related.

Restrict to task type

You will see this checklist of task types to choose from if Displays on is set as Task edit, Task start or Task end.

Restrict to runbook type

You will see this checklist of runbook types to choose from if Displays on is set as Runbook add and edit, Runbook edit or Runbook end.

Restrict to integration

You will see this checklist of integrations to choose from if Displays on is set as Task edit, Task start or Task end.

Note: If you wish to restrict existing custom fields to a task type, runbook type or integration, contact your CSM to discuss your requirements as you will not be able to edit them yourself.