Extra Fields

Extra fields can be added to certain tables within Venture Tracker to extend the information you wish to store and make VT better aligned to the regular data requirements of your program.

To use extra fields, you first define the field itself (name, type, parent table), and then you can populate the field per record just like the standard data fields. To get started, use the menu item Admin Items → Extra Fields and then Add Extra Field at the top of the left hand menus.

The functionality is enabled at setup by the VT team, so if you do not see this menu item and extra fields would be useful for you, please contact them.

At the present time, the following database tables can support Extra Fields: Companies, Panels 1) More will be added in the future.

Once you have created your extra fields, you will see them attached to the database records and be able to edit their values.

Here is an example showing a few extra fields on a Company record.

You can add fields of various types: Text, Boolean, Dropdown List, and these are detailed below.

Note: You will not see the field when an entity is first added, e.g. Add New Company - it must be saved and the extra fields will be appended during that first save, and then editable on successive edits.

Text Field

Firstly create the Extra Field (under the Admin → Configure Extra Fields menu, and then Add New - top left). Make the field type ’Text'.

Attach it to an allowed table (these are set in app config). You can now see that field on the edit page for the related entities.

Boolean Field

As above, create a field of type 'Boolean'. Note that a boolean must have a value, so the first time an entity is saved after a boolean extra field is present, it will have a set value (default false), and will start to appear on the related entity view page.

In order to create an Extra Field dropdown, you need the following steps.

  • Firstly create the Extra Field (under the Admin → Configure Extra Fields menu, and then Add New - top left). Make the field type 'Dropdown'.
  • Once the field is added, take note of the 'slug' name - this will be all lower case and spaces replaced etc.
  • Under the Dropdowns table (under Admin menu also), create a top level Dropdown with the identical name of the slug above - to make it top level, it simply needs no parent.
  • If you are working as an admin user, the dropdown is NOT a user entry or system entry
  • Add as many entries as you like by adding more dropdowns, but make them all have the parent dropdown of the entry named for the field slug

General Usage

Extra fields should not be deleted, as they would lose all related data in every record of the linked entity table. If they are set enabled = false, however, they will no longer be editable.

If any have already been set on existing records, they will continue to appear on the view page of an entity.

Extra Fields Schema

1)
names may have been changed in your vocabulary - see Vocabulary and Customisation