Insites Docs Instance DataManaging DataFields and Field Groups

Fields and Field Groups

Last updated on January 21, 2025.

A database field is a set of data values of the same data type in a database table. It is also called a column or an attribute. In a database containing employee data, for example, each employee record would have the following fields:

  • 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 NameEmployee IDEmployment Start DateJob TitleJob 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 LabelTypeRequiredDescription
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
  • GeoJSON
  • 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.
Mandatory Toggle No Indicates whether the field will be required or not.

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 LabelTypeRequiredDescription
Show In Table Toggle No Choose if the field is visible within the Instance Admin.
Searchable Toggle No Makes a field searchable within the Instance Admin.
Sortable 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 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 LabelTypeRequiredDescription
Image Version Dropdown Field No The image version used for the image.

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 LabelTypeRequiredDescription
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 the article that discusses 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.
Important

Please do not use the following reserved words in naming your fields, or the system will throw an error:


  • Model

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.
Note

Note: You can rearrange fields and field groups using the drag-and-drop feature. Drag-and-drop a field outside a field group to ungroup it or drag it inside a field group to add the field to a field group.

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

The Field Groups on Insites is an Instance Admin user interface feature that is handy for administrators and other users.

Field groups enable 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. For example, consider a database containing vehicle information where you want to group related fields for better user accessibility and content editing.

The following sections illustrate the contrasting readability of databases with and without field groups.

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
Note

Note: If you do not create any field groups, all fields will be grouped under the heading 'Fields'.

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 SAVE 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 deletion. This action removes the field group from the display panel, but note that the field is only removed from the database once you save your changes.
  7. Select SAVE to finalize the field group deletion.
Note

Deleting a field group does not delete the fields within it; they are merely ungrouped.

Have a suggestion for this page?

Didn't quite find what you are looking for or have feedback on how we can make the content better then we would love to hear from you. Please provide us feedback and we will get back to you shortly.