User fields enable you to store information for an entity. User fields display in an entity's Detail tab on the Contacts workspace. User fields differ from custom fields because custom fields are designed to hold specific types of structured data (for example, dates) while user fields are designed to hold unstructured data. For example, you might want to create an expense code user field that will contain a value with both alphanumeric and numeric characters.

You can add new user fields for a selected entity to quickly store unstructured data about the entity, edit existing user fields, or delete user fields for an entity on the User Fields card.

Best practices for using user fields

Consider using user fields to:

• Display optional data on the Detail tab for an entity when searching, filtering, and reporting are not required.

Avoid using user fields to:

• Store data for search or reporting purposes. You cannot search or report on user fields.

Adding user fields

To add a user field, in the Detail tab of a selected entity, on the User Fields card, click the Add button and provide the required information in the Add a user field dialog. In the Detail tab, e nter a new user field name or select one from the available list (if you have a list). If you want to restrict viewing and editing of a user field to a group of users or to yourself, you can do so in the Security tab. For more information, see  Specifying view and edit security for user fields below.

You can edit or delete a user field that you have added to an entity by clicking the More Actions button  and selecting Edit or Delete.

Specifying view and edit security for user fields

To restrict viewing and editing of a user field to a group of users or to yourself when adding a new user field, navigate to the Security tab in the Add a user field dialog and select the appropriate view and edit security options.

You can apply view and edit security to any user field you create. For more information about applying security, see Security settings for objects in NexJ CRM.

Favorite user fields

You can make user fields that you have defined for one entity, available across all of your entities by adding them to your favorites. 

After creating a new user field or editing an existing one, add it to your favorites, by selecting Add when prompted .

To add a favorite user field to another entity, navigate to the User Fields card for the entity and click the Add button. In the Add a user field dialog, in the Detail tab, select a favorite user field from the Name drop-down .

To edit the names of favorite user fields or remove user fields from your favorites, click the Manage my favorite user fields button on the User Fields card. In the Manage my favorite user fields dialog, click the More Actions button for a user field, and select Edit or Delete.