Custom fields

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Introduction

In SolarWinds Service Desk (SWSD) the custom fields feature lets you add fields in various modules of SWSD. Creating these additional fields (which can aid in further data collection), is all done with click-drag-drop actions.

Navigation

ITSM customers	ESM customers
Setup > Service Desk > Custom Fields	Organization (or Service Provider) > Service Desk > Custom Fields

Use case

When administrators identify the need to collect additional information, they can add fields to Custom Forms. This reduces back-and-forth, time-consuming correspondence between technicians and requesters.

For example, in situations where an end user completing a ticket about their computer selects the category: hardware, and then selects the subcategory: laptop, an administrator could add custom fields for additional prompts. A custom field could prompt for data such as the type of laptop, or perhaps it could deliver an automatic response such as, Have you tried restarting the laptop?, which could then prompt the user to respond Yes or No.

Custom Fields index page

The Custom Fields index page contains the following default columns:

• Name. The name of the custom field.
• Type. Identifies the type of custom field, for example, attachment, checkbox, date, date and time, dropdown, multi-picklist, text, text area*, or user.
  

* The difference between a text field and a text area field is whether the field is for a single row of text or multiple rows of text.

• Scope. Identifies where the custom field can be used, for example, the service catalog or globally.
• Updated At. The date of the last update to the custom field.
• Updated By. The name of the person who performed the last update.
• Actions. Actions that can currently be applied to the custom field.
• Enabled In. Identifies for ESM customers where a specific custom field can be used, for example, at the organization level, or by specific service providers.

You can customize the view by clicking Edit View to add/remove columns, filter, and sort. See List view.

Create custom fields

You can create a variety of field types for more flexibility and help text to provide more guidance to requesters. You can incorporate aids such as text, dropdowns, checkboxes, date and time, and even user selections.

ESM and custom fields

Enterprise Service Management (ESM) service providers can create their own service-provider specific custom fields.

ESM enables shared custom fields across platforms, enhancing organizational flexibility and efficiency. ESM empowers administrators at both the organization and service provider levels to create custom fields tailored to their specific needs. Custom fields created at the service provider level will be visible on the organization-level custom fields index page.

Organization administrators can move any service-provider-created custom fields to the organization level. This move makes them available for use by all service providers, but once moved, they can only be edited at the organization level.

Custom fields transferred to the organization level:

• Are not searchable, sortable, or filterable.

• Are not available in dashboards and reports.

Custom field scopes

There are two scopes for custom fields: Service Catalog and Global.

• A service catalog field can only be used in the service catalog and can have the same name as other fields.

• Global fields can be used across all modules in the application, including the service catalog. Global fields cannot share the same name as other global fields.

Create a custom field

1. From the Custom Fields index page, click Add .

2. Enter a mandatory name for the new field and select a field type from the dropdown.

   

3. From the dropdown under Scope, select either Global or Service Catalog.

   

4. Optionally, add help text.

   

5. Click Save.

Example

When a field is populated with CI Status, the user is prompted for additional information from a dropdown menu.

After a custom field has been added to the appropriate form, you can elect to make the field visible in the form on the portal (for requesters to include when submitting an incident) and/or make it mandatory. See Custom forms.

As with ITSM objects such as incidents, problems, and changes, custom fields are all displayed on the Custom Fields index page, making it fast and simple to locate the field you need.

Custom fields can include:

• Type
• Last update date
• Person who last updated field

Configure custom fields to be filterable, sortable, and searchable

SWSD limits the number of custom fields you can make filterable/sortable and/or searchable. Those limits are based on the field type, for example, text or dropdown.

Using this option, agents can quickly see and filter important information on a service request. The can help them prioritize their work to focus first on the service requests that matter most.

Use one of the methods described below to configure. Method 2 lets you see how many custom fields you can configure per type.

Method 1

1. Navigate to Setup > Service Desk > Custom Fields.

2. Click the title of an existing custom field or click the + icon to the upper right to create a new one. If you create a new one, complete all the required fields.

3. Select the appropriate options for the custom field.

   Option	Availability
   Sorted alphanumerically	All custom field types
   The custom field will be visible with both the filter view and sortable function	All custom field types
   The custom field will be searchable	Text custom fields Text area custom fields Dropdown custom fields
   Note: The Attachment field type is not searchable, sortable, or filterable.

4. Click Save.

   If you made changes to an existing custom field, a popup displays asking you to confirm that you want to make the change to the field.

   The popup identifies all the custom forms and service catalog items where the field is used.

5. Click Confirm.

   Indexing of the custom field is pending. When indexing is complete, the field is available or unavailable, based on your selection.

Method 2

1. Navigate to Setup > Service Desk > Custom Fields.

2. Click the Actions dropdown in the upper right.

   Two options display: (1) Filterable and Sortable Custom Fields (2) Searchable Custom Fields

3. Make a selection.

   A pane on the left displays and lets you select, deselect, and see how many of each option type you have left available to select. The selected number adjusts live as you select and deselect fields.

4. When you finish making your selections, click Update.

   Indexing of the custom field is pending. When indexing is complete, the field is available or unavailable, based on your selection.

Custom fields indexing schedule

Any fields you configure to be available for filtering/sorting and/or searching are indexed overnight, based on your datacenter. You can navigate to Setup > Account and locate your data center in the account summary.

Indexing time for each data center
Data center	Indexing occurs nightly at:
US	8pm PT
EU	8pm UTC
AU	8pm AET

Before you edit a custom field

Be aware:

Hide or delete custom fields

You can delete custom fields only if they are not in use in any form. If you wish to delete a custom field that is in use, you must instead disable it by moving the Active toggle to Inactive.

To determine whether a custom field is in use:

1. From the Custom Fields index page, locate the field you want details for.

2. Hover over the row, and then click the eye to see the field's values and where it is being used. A new pane opens on the right containing two tabs: Values and Used In.

   

To hide a custom field that is in use:

1. Navigate to Setup > Service Desk > Custom Fields.

2. On the Custom Fields index page, locate the custom field you wish to disable.

3. Click the Active toggle.

   

4. In the Disable Custom Field dialog, click Disable.

To delete a custom field that is not in use:

1. Navigate to Setup > Service Desk > Custom Fields.

2. From the Custom Fields index page, hover your cursor over the custom field you wish to hide or delete until the ellipsis appears next to the Active toggle.

   

3. Click the ellipsis and select Delete.

If you attempt to delete a custom field that is being used, you will see the message below. It provides you with information on where the custom field is being used. ESM customer will also see the service provider name.

Audit log

SWSD audits custom fields and creates an audit log of changes made to each custom field. To see the audit log:

1. Navigate to Setup > Service Desk > Custom Fields.

2. Click the custom field for which you want to see the audit log.

3. In the Edit Custom Field dialog, select the Audit tab.

The following actions are tracked in the audit log:

• Creation of field
• Change of field title
• Change of values
  • Adding
  • Deleting
  • Renaming

Video: How to Enable Dynamic Forms

A SolarWinds training video is available to explain how to create custom forms, custom fields, and dynamic form rules in SWSD. See Dynamic Forms video.

Email variables

System variables can be used in any email. When you select a tab a list of the system variables displays on the right. From there you can copy any variable by hovering over the variable name and then clicking Copy to the right of the variable.

System email variables can be used in email notification templates. They cannot be modified.

The following system variables are available:

• {{assignee_full_name}}
• {{attachments}}
• {{change_number}}
• {{change_title}}
• {{change_type}}
• {{department}}
• {{event_initiator}}
• {{event_initiator_email}}
• {{event_initiator_phone_number}}
• {{event_initiator_title}}
• {{hardware_asset_status}}
• {{hardware_category}}
• {{hardware_name}}
• {{hardware_owner}}
• {{hardware_tag}}
• {{hardware_technical_contact}}
• {{hardware_warranty_status}}
• {{incident_category}}
• {{incident_description}}
• {{incident_number}}
• {{incident_number_link_to_incident}}
• {{incident_origin}}
• {{incident_priority}}
• {{incident_title}}
• {{last_updated}}
• {{main}}
• {{main_event}}
• {{main_wo_action}}
• {{received_at}}
• {{requester_email}}
• {{requester_full_name}}
• {{requester_last_name}}
• {{requester_phonenumber}}
• {{samanage_link}}
• {{service_desk_logo}}
• {{servicedesk_name}}
• {{site}}
• {{solution_number}}
• {{solution_title}}
• {{state}}

Related topics

• Custom forms
• Dynamic form rules
• Field logic