There is no limit to the way you can collect, code and organize data across your records in Loxo. Adding new fields allows you to create custom data points for a group of records or track a specific metric across all people in your database. Read below to learn how to create new fields for data collection, as well as how to use fields to filter your People, Jobs, Companies, and Deal pages. Dropdown hierarchy fields let you filter by one or many categories at once and very quickly pull up a list of results that match all of the tags that you selected.
Custom Validations, on the other hand, are rules applied to ensure certain fields are completed, which helps standardize data entry and maintain data quality.
Note: You must have admin access to create and manage custom fields.
Custom Field Use-Cases
While Loxo has a wide range of built-in data fields, it takes minutes to create new fields that can help you and your team stay organized, glean insights through reports, or simplify data entry for the future. While Loxo automatically attaches "tags" to candidates in Loxo Source, these tags can get a bit messy if used for tracking too much information in one place. Here are just a few examples of when a custom field makes sense:
Organization
Creating and using custom fields allows your team to collect, organize, and search for specific data points that are of high, recurring value to your team.
All custom fields can be filtered, just like Loxo's built-in fields.
Rather than finding specific details in a form, the Intake section, or from an external location, custom fields allow you to house that data right alongside your other data points.
Examples: Loxo users have built custom fields to track details such as:
Candidate Ratings - Easily perform a quick historical search for the top candidates that have already been reviewed in the database.
Licensure/Certifications - Record and search for specific licensures or certifications, with the option to add a secondary field for the licensure number, etc.
Education Level - Track the necessary degree requirements without navigating into individual profiles.
Reporting
Custom fields are available in People, Revenue, and Job reports. This enables you to add another layer of targeting or sorting when building reports, to better track KPI's or gather insights on those you are interacting with.
Examples: Loxo users have used custom fields in reports to track metrics like:
Sourced By - Loxo automatically applies "ownership" to candidates, but some teams have members who source but do not "own" candidates. This is a fantastic use of a custom field to give credit where credit is due.
Job Rank - If your team needs to break down statistics in regards to successes on priority or A, B, or C level jobs, adding a custom field within a job will allow you to report on metrics specific to these levels of priority.
Forms
Loxo Forms are not only a quick and easy way to gather information. They are also equipped to auto-update your fields, custom or built-in, within Loxo.
As long as you select "Record Field" when drafting questions on Forms, you can select fields you have in Loxo for People or Companies, and the recipient's response will auto-update that particular field for themselves or the company they represent.
Examples: Loxo users have used custom fields, in tandem with Loxo Forms, to auto-update information on person or company profiles, such as:
Expected Salary - Gives a better perspective as to where potential candidates expect their salary to be if they were to move on in the hiring process.
Education level or licensure/certification - As previously mentioned, having these fields filled in is helpful not only to identify those who qualify, but to search for those meeting certain qualifications in the future.
Fee Type or Fee Percentage - Quickly add essential information on business potential with the client completing the form.
Add a New Field
Adding new fields to in Loxo is easy. Fields can be used to collect, code and store data, and you can also add fields for filtering your records or tracking additional data points in your reports. Follow the instructions below to add a new field to your Jobs, People, Companies, and Deals pages. We'll be using the People page for our example, but you can follow the same steps to add fields for Jobs, Companies, or Deals.
Go to the top right corner of the page.
Click the Gear icon
*Note: if creating a new custom field in Loxo Deals, you must be in the List view, not the Kanban view:
Scroll to the bottom of the Customize Grid window and click +Add.
A new row will populate. This is where you will set up your new custom field.
Type the name for this field in the text box.
Choose your "Field Type." Custom fields can hold the following types of data:
Text - Allows you to enter custom/free text. Essentially, a text box that requires manual entry.
Number - Only allows you to enter numbers in the field.
Date - Allows you to enter a specific date. Must be in a date format.
Hierarchy - Allows you to create a custom picklist / dropdown menu.
Year Rollup - Used to show how long ago something occurred.
Set the field to be visible from the List view, in the Record, or in Deals as needed.
Remember to click Save at the bottom of the window!
Add a New Hierarchy or Dropdown Field
Adding new fields in Loxo is simple, and the instructions above have walked you through the different types of fields and how to create them. When it comes to adding custom hierarchy fields, though, there are technically two steps: first, you have to create the new field, and then, you have to configure your actual dropdown options.
Keep reading below if you are adding a new hierarchy field to learn how to build your new dropdown menu / picklist.
First, make sure you have followed the instructions to add a new field, and select "Hierarchy" as the field type.
We recommend entering the field name as the category or label that explains what the dropdown picklist will be. For this example, we will name the field "Industry."
Select whether you want this field to filter by AND or OR.
Filtering by AND will return only people or companies who meet all of your selected criteria.
Filtering by OR will return people or companies who meet at least one of your selected criteria.
You can always come back and change the filter logic later, depending on the search you want to run.
Once the general settings have been configured, click the Wrench icon on the right to configure and add dropdown options to your new Hierarchy field.
Add your custom dropdown options.
Select the blue "+" icon to add your first option in the dropdown list.
Use the top "+" icon next to the Field Name to add your options to the main dropdown list.
You can add substages, or nested options, by using the "+" icon to the right of any of the main options you've already added.
Good news: you can create as many categories as you'd like — and you can use them on both the People page and the Company page.