Creating new fields in your Beacon database? Below is a list of all of the different types of fields, and the limits associated with them.
You can also go through them in our speedy video below:
Short text
A short text string. Good for arbitrary short pieces of text, like job titles or the name of an event.
Maximum 255 characters. If you need any longer than this, use a long text field instead.
Long text
A longer piece of text. Great for notes and descriptions.
Long text fields only have simple filter options, but when searching we will still check the text in them.
URL
A web address link. Must be a full and valid URL. Maximum 2000 characters.
Email address
An email address. It's possible to allow multiple email addresses. If you choose to allow this, you'll be able to set a primary email.
Phone number
A phone number. Like the email field, it's possible to allow multiple phone numbers. If you choose to allow this, you'll be able to set a primary number.
Only valid E.164 format phone numbers can be entered into phone number fields. Validation is applied via Google’s libphonenumber package.
File upload
Store uploaded files, of any type. It's possible to allow just one file to be uploaded to this field, or multiple.
The maximum file upload size is 50MB.
For reference;
The below image is 9KB or 0.009MB
A PDF version of this guide article is approximately 4.6MB
This 'Introduction to Beacon' video at 720p is approximately 21MB
Note: If you plan on collecting files through form submissions, please have a read of this guide article. Restrictions exist on the types of files we allow through form submissions.
Drop-down list
If you're looking to categorise and filter your records, drop-down lists can be very useful.
You can optionally allow multiple items from the drop-down to be selected, which is useful when a record fits into multiple categories.
Number
A numeric value, either positive or negative.
You can specify the maximum number of allowed decimal places, if you need more precision.
You can also turn number fields into auto-number fields to create unique number values for every record.
Currency
A currency value, e.g. "£10". If you're storing monetary values, you should use this field type as opposed to the more basic number type.
You can store values in any currency, although your database will need a single "primary" currency.
Percent
A percentage value, e.g. 5%. Like number fields, it's possible to set a maximum number of decimal places for percent fields. In Beacon, the percentage is stored as a whole number: 45 = 45%
Rating
A rating value (e.g. 1-5 stars, 1-10 hearts). Stored as a whole number. Useful for scoring things like propensity and engagement.
Checkbox
A checkbox. Can be checked or unchecked. In other systems, this may be referred to as a "boolean" field.
Note: With checkboxes, the following values can be thought of as interchangeable. Checked = yes, y, true or 1. Unchecked = no, n, false, or 0.
Date
A specific date, and optionally a time.
Note: If you have a date & time field, but only enter a date, it will default to 9:00AM
Location
A place in the world, usually used for addresses. For location fields, the following sub-fields can be entered:
Address line one
Address line two
Address line three
City
Region
Country
Postal code
Additionally, location fields are automatically "geocoded", so you'll be able to see a map view of the address.
It's possible to have 1 or more locations added in a single location field. You can also set a primary location.
Point to another record
Unlike spreadsheets, databases are smart enough to create links between records. This is very useful for keeping your data clean and up-to-date, and to give you a bigger picture about how things relate to one another.
A good example is a Donation/Payment made by a Person. When stored in Beacon, this means:
A payment record, which has a field that points to a person record - the person who made the donation
'Add types'
This field will need to point at at least one record type. You can choose which record type the field can point at and you can even allow it to point at multiple record types (e.g. a payment can be made by either a Person or an Organisation).
'Allow multiple records to be selected?'
If you enable it, it's possible to point to one or more records in a given field (e.g. a Person could work at multiple Organisations). If you're storing more than a few records in a point to another record field, you may not be structuring your data in the best way; reach out to our support team for guidance.
Warning: We recommend keeping the number of records in a point to another record field below 5. While Beacon will allow you to store more, Beacon doesn't not allow you to export more than 5.
Link to a user
Sometimes you want to assign an internal team member to a record. For example - you way want to set an "Account Manager" specifically for higher value donors (people) in your database.
Similarly to other fields, it's possible to set multiple users in one field, if you enable it.
