Fields and Field Groups

• Employee Name
• Employee ID
• Employment Start Date
• Job Title
• Job Tenure

The table below illustrates a database comprising the fields mentioned above and their corresponding data.

Employee Name	Employee ID	Employment Start Date	Job Title	Job Tenure
John	1456	07 - 15 - 2018	CFO	Regular
Mary	1568	10 - 23 - 2016	CEO	Regular
Lee	2556	05 - 31 - 2020	Junior Developer	Probation
Jacob	1634	05 - 04 - 2017	Senior Software Engineer	Regular
Cassie	2335	03 - 27 - 2018	QA Tester	Regular
Ian	1589	11 - 27 - 2019	Junior Developer	Regular

Field state

While working on your database, there are two states that a field can be in: 'Draft' and 'Existing'. After you save a field, certain options will be locked to ensure the integrity of the data in the database.

• Draft field: Displayed as a 'pen' icon () on the list of fields. You may edit all the properties of a draft field. Selecting SAVE finalizes your changes and locks this field.
• Existing field: You may edit the 'Field Name' and 'UI Element'. To protect database integrity, the fields 'Field Type' and 'Database Column Name' stay the same.

Adding a field to a new database

The steps below guide you through the process of adding a field to a database you are creating via visual builder. To add a field to a new database:

1. Navigate to Data from the main menu.
2. Select Databases.
3. Select the dropdown () on the CREATE DATABASE button.
4. Select via Visual Builder.
5. Navigate to the 'Fields' tab after filling out the forms on the 'Configuration' tab.
6. Select ADD FIELD.
7. Fill out the forms across the following tabs:
   • Properties
   • Appearance
   • Image Versions
   • Advanced
   Input requirements for the forms on each tab are discussed in subsequent sections of this article
8. Select SAVE FIELD.
9. Select SAVE.

Please refer to our documentation on Creating a Database for more information on creating and configuring a database.

Properties

Create your database fields on this tab. Refer to the table below for input requirements and descriptions.

Input Label	Type	Required	Description
Field Name	Text Field	Yes	Name of the field.
Database Column Name	Display Field	No	Automatically - generated database column name used internally by Insites.
Field Type	Dropdown Field	Yes	Type of field being added. Options include the following: Array Boolean Date DateTime Data Source Data Source (Multiple) Decimal Geo JSON Float Integer Media String Time
UI Element	Dropdown Field	Yes	UI element type used by the field. This UI element is also the UI component used on the form when building one via the form builder.
Options	Text Field	Yes, for the Select, Select (Multiple), Radio and Checkbox UI elements	The choices people can pick from. Type an option, then press Enter or select the + icon to add it. For the Checkbox UI element, separate the options with commas.
Data Source	Dropdown Field	Yes, for the Data Source and Data Source (Multiple) field types	The database whose items this field links to.
Display Field	Dropdown Field	Yes, for the Data Source and Data Source (Multiple) field types, when the linked database has fields to choose from	The field of the linked item that is shown to people. If the item has no data in that field, people see the ID of the item instead.
Max File Size (MB)	Number Field	Yes, for the Media field type and the File (Multiple) UI element	Maximum file size in megabytes. The value must be greater than 0.
Mandatory	Toggle	No	Indicates whether the field will be required or not.
Link to CRM Contact	Toggle	No	Shown for String fields that use the Email UI element. When on, Insites matches the value of the field against CRM contact emails. If it finds a match, it shows a link to that CRM contact next to the value.

Please visit our documentation on Field Types and UI Elements for a complete guide on field types and their accompanying UI elements.

Appearance

Use this tab to manage the appearance of your fields on the Instance Admin. Refer to the table below for input requirements and descriptions:

Input Label	Type	Required	Description
Show in table view	Toggle	No	Choose if the field is visible within the Instance Admin.
Searchable in table view	Toggle	No	Makes a field searchable within the Instance Admin.
Sortable in table view	Toggle	No	Allows users to sort the information on this field as displayed within the Instance Admin.
Help Text (Tooltip)	Text Area	No	Tooltip for the field that helps users understand what data to enter and avoid making input errors.
Column Width in table view (%)	Numeric Field	No	Field width in the Instance Admin.

Image Versions

This conditional tab appears when the following conditions are met in the 'Properties' tab:

• Field Type: Media
• UI Element: Media - Image

Input requirements and descriptions are displayed in the table below:

Input Label	Type	Required	Description
Image Version	Select or add	No	Pick an existing version to edit it, or type a name and add a new one. Each version has the following settings: Resize: Resized Image Options (Cover, Contain, Fill, Inside, Outside), Enlarge, Width (px), Height (px), Position and Background. Output: Format and Quality. Manipulate: for example Image Blur, Flatten and Greyscale. Select Delete Image Version to remove a version.

Please visit our section on Image Versions in the Media Field Types documentation to learn more about adding and managing image versions.

Advanced

This conditional tab appears when you choose the 'Media - Image' and 'Media - File' UI elements under the 'Media' field type. Input requirements and descriptions are displayed in the table below:

Input Label	Type	Required	Description
Access Control List	Dropdown Field	No	Enables public access if set to 'Public.' Otherwise, a signature generated on the server side is needed to access the file. The signature is automatically generated by GraphQL when you provide the argument to the GraphQL method. Options include the following: Public Private
Content Disposition	Dropdown Field	No	Indicates if the content is to be displayed 'Inline' in the browser, that is, as a web page, as part of a web page, or as an 'Attachment,' that is downloaded and saved locally. Options include the following: Inline Attachment
Content Length (Min)	Number Field	No	Sets the server-side validation for the minimum file size in kilobytes. For example, a value of 2048 sets the minimum input file size (not the generated version) to 2MB.
Content Length (Max)	Number Field	No	Sets the server-side validation for maximum file size in kilobytes. For example: 4096 sets the maximum input file size (not the generated version) to 4MB.

Adding a field to an existing database

To add a field to an existing database:

1. Navigate to Data from the main menu.
2. Select Databases.
3. Find the database to which you want to add a field, then select its Configuration row action link.
4. Navigate to the 'Fields' tab.
5. Select ADD FIELD.
6. Fill out the forms for creating a field. Input requirements and descriptions are described in detail in the previous section 'Adding a field to a new database.' You may also refer to Field Types and UI Elements.
7. Select SAVE FIELD when done. Note that this action has not yet saved the changes to the database. You may add more fields or edit your draft fields as required.
8. When you are done adding fields, select SAVE to finalize the creation of your fields and add them to the database.

Updating a field

To make changes to a field on a database:

1. Navigate to Data from the main menu.
2. Select Databases.
3. Find the database containing the field you want to update, then select its Configuration row action link.
4. Navigate to the 'Fields' tab.
5. Select the field you want to update.
6. Make your changes.
7. Select SAVE FIELD. You may proceed with adding new fields or updating existing fields. At this point, the changes you have made to the fields have yet to be made final.
8. Select SAVE button to finalize the changes you made to your fields.

Deleting a field

1. Navigate to Data from the main menu.
2. Select Databases.
3. Find the database containing the field you want to delete and select its Configuration row action link.
4. Navigate to the 'Fields' tab.
5. Select the field you want to delete, then select DELETE FIELD.
6. Select SAVE to finalize your deletion. Selecting CANCEL aborts the deletion attempt and restores the deleted field in the display panel.

Field Groups

Field Groups is an Instance Admin user interface feature that enables you to categorize fields when configuring a database. When users add or update a database item, these grouped fields are presented in a card layout. This arrangement enhances readability, particularly when your database contains numerous fields.

The following sections illustrate the contrasting readability of databases with and without field groups. In the example, we consider a database containing vehicle information where you want to group related fields for better user accessibility and content editing.

Database example without field groups

Without field groups, fields in the database are displayed without any organization, such as in the example below:

• Model
• Series
• Color
• Seating capacity
• Body type
• Trim
• Transmission type
• Engine
• Fuel type
• Front parking sensor
• Rear parking sensor
• Leather seats
• Heated seats
• Sunroof
• Power windows
• Power steering

Database example with field groups

Fields in the database are organized for better readability using field groups. This feature is beneficial for users working on databases with a very large number of fields, such as in the example below:

Vehicle (field group)

• Make
• Model
• Series
• Color
• Seating capacity
• Body type
• Trim

Drivetrain (field group)

• Transmission type
• Engine
• Fuel type
• Hybrid

Features (field group)

• Front parking sensor
• Rear parking sensor
• Leather seats
• Heated seats
• Sunroof
• Power windows
• Power steering

Adding a field group to a new database

To add a field group to a new database:

1. Navigate to Data from the main menu.
2. Select Databases.
3. Select the dropdown () on the CREATE DATABASE button.
4. Select via Visual Builder.
5. Navigate to the 'Fields' tab after filling out the forms on the 'Configuration' tab.
6. Select ADD FIELD GROUP.
7. Name your field group using the field that appears.
8. Select the 'check' icon () to save your field group as a draft.
9. Select CREATE DATABASE to finalize the creation of the field group.

Adding a field group to an existing database

1. Navigate to Data from the main menu.
2. Select Databases.
3. Find the database to which you want to add a field group and select its Configuration row action link.
4. Navigate to the 'Fields' tab.
5. Select ADD FIELD GROUP.
6. Input your preferred field group name using the field that appears.
7. Select the 'check' icon () to save the field group as a draft.
8. Select SAVE to finalize the creation of the field group.

Updating a field group

1. Navigate to Data from the main menu.
2. Select Databases.
3. Find the database containing the field group you want to update and select its Configuration row action link.
4. Navigate to the 'Fields' tab.
5. Find the field group you want to edit and select its 'Edit' icon ().
6. Make changes to the field group name, then select the 'Check' icon () to save the new field group name as a draft. Select the 'Close' icon () should you wish to cancel.
7. Select SAVE to finalize the field group update.

Deleting a field group

1. Navigate to Data from the main menu.
2. Select Databases.
3. Find the database containing the field group you want to delete and select its Configuration row action link.
4. Navigate to the 'Fields' tab.
5. Find the field group you want to delete and select its 'Delete' icon ().
6. Use the confirmation modal to confirm the field group deletion.
7. Select SAVE to finalize the field group deletion.