The List of fields card is the most common kind of card in Beacon. It does exactly as the name suggests - it contains a list of fields on a given record, which can be viewed and edited.
Editing a card
To edit an existing card's settings, just click the card when you're in customisation mode (but don't click an individual field).
You'll be presented with the below:
You can change the title and icon to anything you like. The Choose fields section allows you to define the fields that should belong in the card:
Additionally, you can create entirely new fields from this dialog. Learn more about the different field types.
Showing or hiding fields
Open up a record in Beacon and enable customisation mode.
Click the card where you'd like to change which fields are shown.
Click the Choose fields dropdown menu.
Select which fields you'd like to be visible on this card, or deselect those you don't. Other cards will have their own selections.
Click Save.
Note: Hiding fields won't delete the data stored in them. If you make a field visible again it'll still be there!
Creating fields
If you have information about a record that doesn't make sense to live in one of the fields already available, you'll need to create a new field.
Open up a record in Beacon and enable customisation mode.
Click the card where you'd like to add the new field.
Click Create new field on the right:
4. Give your new field a name, and choose the type of field that you'd like to create.
5. Click Create.
6. Click Save.
Editing fields
Changing details about a field is quick and easy. Add help text, change the name of the field, re-order drop down list options, and more.
Enable customisation mode
Click the field you'd like to edit (directly on the field, not the card)
Change any details you need
Click Save
Warning: If you need to change a drop down list option (e.g. from 'Volunteer' to 'Active volunteer'), create the new option and use a bulk update to change them over before deleting the old option.
Note: You can't change the type of a field (e.g. from a drop-down field to a checkbox) as Beacon won't know how to change any of the data already stored in the field. Simply create a new field!
Deleting fields
If you have a field that you don't need to see, you can simply hide the field as above. If you know that you definitely don't need the field, or any data that might exist in that field on other records, you can permanently delete it.
Open up a record in Beacon and enable customisation mode.
Click the field you'd like to delete.
Click Delete in the bottom left.
Click Delete again to confirm.
Re-ordering fields and cards
When in customisation mode, you can easily re-order fields (and cards) by drag-and-dropping them within the record. You can also drag fields between different cards!
Best practices
1) Remove the fields that aren't relevant
When you first set up your shiny new Beacon account, you'll be greeted with some default cards and fields that you might expect to see. Not all of them will be relevant to your organisation - it's best to remove them to prevent any confusion! You can choose to either hide them or delete them.
[info] Hiding fields from your cards does not delete the fields (or the underlying data), it simply doesn't display them. Deleting a field will remove both the field and the underlying data.
2) Change the field labels and help to fit your language
Every organisation has their own terminology. For example, do you use the term "appeal" instead of "campaign"? If so - we strongly recommend that you change field labels to reflect this.
Additionally - it can be very helpful to add help text to clarify what specific fields mean:
3) Use different cards for different kinds of data
If you're like many organisations, you'll want to manage a wide variety of data in your CRM. For example, if you wanted to track volunteer-specific information (e.g. "Reasons for volunteering") separately from donor-specific information (e.g. "Project interests"), you could create separate sections for each.