Records

ADMINISTRATION -> Records

The page provides a simple way for you to create your own record lists to capture whatever details you need. This feature is particularly useful for compliance record keeping.

You can:

  • Create your own record topics. (e.g. cleaning records, accident register)
  • For each topic, define the details you want recorded under that topic. (e.g. date, location, notes).
  • Manage security. Each topic you add creates a view and an edit right. You can control which users have permission to view or edit the records in each topic.
  • Users can self-subscribe to topics to automatically receive a daily or weekly emailed summary of records added or changed.
  • Topics and records within those topics are all searchable and can be exported to Excel - just like all of the other tables in your system.
  • Impress auditors with the quality of your record keeping abilities!

Administrator's view

Initially this page shows an empty list of record topics. To get set up, select Edit record topics from the Setup drop-down menu.

Note

If you can't see the Setup drop-down menu, you may not have permission to maintain record topics and will need to contact your system administrator.

Add a record topic

Click the Add button to create a new record topic and enter a description for the new topic.

Then click Save and a new list will appear where you can add fields...

Add fields to a record topic

You can now set up the specific pieces of information you would like to record for this topic. For example, if this topic was a cleaning record you might record the date, list of areas cleaned, and name of the cleaner.

For each field you can enter:

  • Description - Describe the field. This will show as the column heading in the list, and the label when filling in the record.
  • Group heading - optional, a way to group fields on the record list and separate using a header on the user screen. Ideal if you have a topic with a lot of fields and want to separate by headings.
  • Type - The type of information this field will hold. Options include:
    • Attachment - allows files/images to be attached to the record.
    • Checkbox - a simple check box for yes/no values.
    • Date - provides a date picker.
    • DateTime - provides date and time pickers.
    • MultiCheckList - offers a list of check boxes for the user to tick multiple values. See lookup values below.
    • MultiTagList - similar to the MultiCheckList above but provides a more compact editor for the user to select multiple values. See lookup values below.
    • Number - a number.
    • SelectBox - user can select a single value. See lookup values below.
    • Text - a normal single line text value (this is the most common field type).
    • TextArea - a multiple line text value good for notes or comments.
  • Max length - If you chose one of the the text types above, you can enter the maximum number of characters. Leave blank for unlimited.
  • Use list from database? - If you chose the SelectBox or MultiTagList types above, you can choose a list from the database, eg orchards, varieties, users, etc by ticking this box.
    • Lookup source - choose the database source you want to use. These lists are dynamic so values will change as the underlying list changes.
  • Lookup values - If you chose one of the multiple value types above, you can enter the lookup options here - one per line.
    • Allow other values? - This controls whether the user can enter values other than those provided in the Lookup values list above.
  • Format to d.p. - If you chose Number above, this allows you to format that number to the given number of decimal places. Enter 0 if this is a whole number or integer (eg 1,2,3).
  • Help text - Displays this text when users hover over the label on the data entry screen.
  • Help image - Displays this image when users hover over the label on the data entry screen.
  • Required? - Requires the user to fill in a value for this field.
  • Show in list? - Should this field show in the list for this topic. You may choose not to show long or inconsequential fields so the list isn't too wide for smaller displays.
  • Show in email? - Should this field show in emails to users that subscribe to updates for this topic. Only the main fields should be ticked here as folks can always click through from their email to get the full details.
Note

Think carefully about the best field type to use - once you've added the field it is not possible to change the type. If your needs change we can assist with migrating historical data to different fields.

Security and permissions

When you add a topic, specific view and edit rights become available in SETUP -> Users. This allows you to independantly control which groups of users can see or edit records in each topic.

Note

If you are not a system administrator you will need their assistance to create a user role with these rights and associate that with the relevant users.

User's view

Topic list

Once users have been granted permission to view a topic, it will appear in their topic list on this page.

Clicking on a topic will open the list of records for that topic.

Topic records

The records for the selected topic are listed with the latest records at the top. If the topic has many records they may not all show initially - however there is an option at the top of the list to Show older records.

If the user has permission to edit the records for this topic, there will be an Add button available at the top of the page, or they can edit a record by clicking on it.

Subscriptions

You can subscribe to a topic in 2 ways

  • Subscribe to updates? - tick this to receive notifications of records that have been added/modified.
    • Frequency - select how often you want to receive these notifications, eg daily, weekly.
  • Reminders - receive reminders for a record based on a date field. Press the Add reminder button
    • Reference field - select the date field to trigger the reminder for.
    • Frequency - select the notification period, eg weekly will send a weekly email of records for the next 2 weeks.

Note: this feature relies on the user having a valid email address set up against their account.