While Out-of-School TimeTracker and Student SupportTrack both collect considerable data about the people you serve, your staff, the activities you offer, and the organizations you work with, you can also create additional fields unique to your program to capture other important data elements with the Custom Fields feature.
There are two levels of custom fields:
System-level custom fields, which are available across all institutions/districts. If your system is being used or might be used, to track data for multiple institutions/districts (e.g. across a state), and you want a custom field to be used across all of these institutions/districts, use this option.
Institution/district-level custom fields are available only within the institution/district where they are created.
To create or edit these custom fields, the user must be connected to either the top-level organization (for system-level fields) or the institution/district (for institution/district-level custom fields).
Select the Settingstab in your left-hand navigation menu to access the custom fields set-up section.
Select Custom Fields on the Settings page.
Not all menu options in the image below may be available depending on your security level access.
You can create custom fields for Participants, Staff, Activities, or Organizations.
Click on the category you’d like to create a custom field for.
Regardless of the category you select, a few commonalities exist.
The first part of any category screen will display the category's Default Fields. These fields will appear for all participants in this profile section and typically cannot be modified.
Custom Fields already in use are displayed in the second section under the Custom Fields heading.
You may see the text "(to see District/Institution specific fields, switch to a District/Institution)." This means you are connected to the system-level organization and will only see system-level custom fields, not those for your district/institution that you might expect to see. To view the custom fields associated only with your district/institution, use the Switch Access function to connect to your district/institution. To learn more about switching access, please see this article.
Before creating a new custom field in any category, check the Custom Field Library -> button below the list of custom field types to view fields already created.
If the data field you need is already in the Custom Field Library, click the ... next to the field name to add it to the section of the category you selected.
Each of the four main categories (Participants, Staff, Activities, and Organizations) has multiple sections. Custom fields created in any section of a category can be added to a different section of that category, but they cannot be used across the four main categories. For example, a custom field created in the Participants category cannot be added to the Staff category through the Custom Field Library; a new field must be created in the Staff category.
If the data field is not in the custom field library, continue with this article to learn how to add a new custom field. Participants
When creating custom fields for participants, you can select the section of the participant's profile where the custom field will appear. Six sections can be added: Personal Information, Address, School Information, Relationships, Participation, and Services.
Click on the section's name to create a custom field for it.
Remember to check the Custom Fields Library before adding a new custom field.
Complete the required information for the custom field type you selected.
Each type of field requires different information. For example, single-line text fields ask how many characters long the response can be. Another example is that Pick List / Dropdown type custom fields require that the values for each of the options in the Pick List / Dropdown be defined.
Regardless of the custom field type, any fields marked with a red asterisk are required. The custom field can only be saved once all required fields have been completed.
For all custom fields, you need to determine if it is required. Move the Required Field toggle to the right to make it show green to make the field required.
Four permissions options control other users' visibility if the custom field is not required.
Read & Write: Users can view and edit the field, regardless of role.
Read Only: No user can edit the field, but they can view it.
Hidden: The field is not visible to any user.
User Role Based: Define each of the above permissions by role. This is useful for fields that some user levels should not see. For example, Partners may not need to see this information as they complete a referral request. In that case, select ‘Hidden’ for the Partner role. Repeat this as needed for any other roles.
Only the Read & Write and User Role Based options are available if the custom field is required.
Click Done at the bottom of the form to add the custom field to this section.
Next, determine when you want the field to be visible to all users.
The value selected in the Depends On field will determine visibility.
If the field should always show in the section, choose None - Always show.
If the field should only show on this registration form when a certain field’s data in this section is a certain value, select the field that its visibility depends on.
These "dependent" fields must be Pick List/Dropdown type fields that appear in this section. If no such fields exist, the only option in the Depends on drop-down will be “None - Always show.”
Then, choose the field value in the Has value of a dropdown menu. In this example, the newly added custom field will only appear in this section if the Adult field equals “Yes.”
When you have completed setting up the field with its correct label, required status, and visibility, click the Done button. The field will be inserted at the bottom of this section's list of custom fields.
To complete the process and add the newly created custom field to the Custom Field Library, you must click Done and then click Save Custom Fields at the top of the screen. A green message box will appear, indicating that the field was saved.
Staff
When creating custom fields for staff, you can select the section of the staff record where the custom field will appear. There are four sections where custom fields can be added. These are Personal Information, Employment Information, Address, and Relationships.
Click on the section's name to create a custom field for it.
Remember to check the Custom Fields Library before adding a new custom field.
Key and gear icons may be present for some default fields. The key icon allows you to set the field as required or not required. The gear icon allows you to hide the field from that section of the Staff record, in this case, the Employment Information section.
Complete the required information for the custom field type selected. Anything marked with a red asterisk is required and must have data.
For all custom fields, you need to determine if it is required. Move the Required Field toggle to the right to make it show green to make the field required.
Four permissions options control other users' visibility if the custom field is not required.
Read & Write: Users can view and edit the field, regardless of role.
Read Only: No user can edit the field, but they can view it.
Hidden: The field is not visible to any user.
User Role Based: Define each of the above permissions by role. This is useful for fields that some user levels should not see. For example, Partners may not need to see this information as they complete a referral request. In that case, select ‘Hidden’ for the Partner role. Repeat this as needed for any other roles.
Only the Read & Write and User Role Based options are available if the custom field is required.
Click Done at the bottom of the form to add the custom field to this section.
Next, determine when you want the field to be visible to all users.
The value selected in the Depends On field will determine visibility.
If the field should always show in the section, choose None - Always show.
If the field should only show on this registration form when a certain field’s data in this section is a certain value, select the field that its visibility depends on.
These "dependent" fields must be Pick List/Dropdown type fields that appear in this section. If no such fields exist, the only option in the Depends on drop-down will be “None - Always show.”
Then, choose the field value in the Has value of a dropdown menu. In this example, the newly added custom field will only appear in this section if the Adult field equals “Yes.”
When you have completed setting up the field with its correct label, required status, and visibility, click the Done button. The field will be inserted at the bottom of this section's list of custom fields.
To complete the process and add the newly created custom field to the Custom Field Library, you must click Done and then click Save Custom Fields at the top of the screen. A green message box will appear, indicating that the field was saved.
Activities
When creating custom fields for activities, use the drop-down menu to select whether the custom field applies to Scheduled, Drop-in, or Unscheduled activities.
Remember to check the Custom Fields Library before adding a new custom field. Fields from the Custom Fields Library can be used for different activity types, which can be helpful and time-saving.
For Scheduled and Drop-in activities, custom fields will be added to the scheduled session form
For Unscheduled Activities, custom fields will be added to the activity form, as there is no scheduled session form for this type of activity.
Scheduled and Drop-in Activities may have more than one scheduled session; any added custom fields will be automatically available for each of those activities' scheduled sessions.
Fill out the required information for the custom field type selected. Anything marked with a red asterisk is required. The custom field can only be saved once all required fields have content.
For all custom fields, you need to determine if it is required. Move the Required Field toggle to the right to make it show green to make the field required.
Four permissions options control other users' visibility if the custom field is not required.
Read & Write: Users can view and edit the field, regardless of role.
Read Only: No user can edit the field, but they can view it.
Hidden: The field is not visible to any user.
User Role Based: Define each of the above permissions by role. This is useful for fields that some user levels should not see. For example, Partners may not need to see this information as they complete a referral request. In that case, select ‘Hidden’ for the Partner role. Repeat this as needed for any other roles.
Only the Read & Write and User Role Based options are available if the custom field is required.
Click Done at the bottom of the form to add the custom field to this section.
Next, determine when you want the field to be visible to all users.
The value selected in the Depends On field will determine visibility.
If the field should always show in the section, choose None - Always show.
If the field should only show on this registration form when a certain field’s data in this section is a certain value, select the field that its visibility depends on.
These "dependent" fields must be Pick List/Dropdown type fields that appear in this section. If no such fields exist, the only option in the Depends on drop-down will be “None - Always show.”
Then, choose the field value in the Has value of a dropdown menu. In this example, the newly added custom field will only appear in this section if the Adult field equals “Yes.”
When you have completed setting up the field with its correct label, required status, and visibility, click the Done button. The field will be inserted at the bottom of this section's list of custom fields.
To complete the process and add the newly created custom field to the Custom Field Library, you must click Done and then click Save Custom Fields at the top of the screen. A green message box will appear, indicating that the field was saved.
Organizations
When creating custom fields for organizations, use the dropdown menu to select the organization level to which the new custom field applies.
Remember to check the Custom Fields Library before adding a new custom field. Fields from the Custom Fields Library can be used for different organization types, which can be helpful and time-saving.
Fill out the required information for the custom field type selected. Anything marked with a red asterisk is required. The custom field can only be saved once all required fields have content.
For all custom fields, you need to determine if it is required. Move the Required Field toggle to the right to make it show green to make the field required.
Four permissions options control other users' visibility if the custom field is not required.
Read & Write: Users can view and edit the field, regardless of role.
Read Only: No user can edit the field, but they can view it.
Hidden: The field is not visible to any user.
User Role Based: Define each of the above permissions by role. This is useful for fields that some user levels should not see. For example, Partners may not need to see this information as they complete a referral request. In that case, select ‘Hidden’ for the Partner role. Repeat this as needed for any other roles.
Only the Read & Write and User Role Based options are available if the custom field is required.
Click Done at the bottom of the form to add the custom field to this section.
Next, determine when you want the field to be visible to all users.
The value selected in the Depends On field will determine visibility.
If the field should always show in the section, choose None - Always show.
If the field should only show on this registration form when a certain field’s data in this section is a certain value, select the field that its visibility depends on.
These "dependent" fields must be Pick List/Dropdown type fields that appear in this section. If no such fields exist, the only option in the Depends on drop-down will be “None - Always show.”
Then, choose the field value in the Has value of a dropdown menu. In this example, the newly added custom field will only appear in this section if the Adult field equals “Yes.”
When you have completed setting up the field with its correct label, required status, and visibility, click the Done button. The field will be inserted at the bottom of this section's list of custom fields.
To complete the process and add the newly created custom field to the Custom Field Library, you must click Done and then click Save Custom Fields at the top of the screen. A green message box will appear, indicating that the field was saved.
Editing or Deleting a Custom Field
To edit an existing custom field, click the gear icon to the right of the field name. This opens a modal window where you can edit the field's properties, including its label, other data parameters, as well as required and visibility status.
To delete an existing custom field, click the red trash can icon at the bottom and confirm.
Note that if the custom field already has values recorded for it, the "Remove..." text and trash can icon will be gray, indicating the field cannot be deleted. An option in this case is to set the Required Field toggle to "not required" and then edit the permissions to set the field's permissions to "Hidden."
