A custom field is an object that appears in the custom field selection when configuring forms. It determines the name of the item displayed in the form and how it is incorporated into a specific record type. It can have one or more basic properties.
Creating a custom field
There are two ways to create a custom field:
- By quickly adding a property when selecting properties for an object – e.g., a request template, a CI item – in which case a base property with the same name is also created along with the custom field. Detailed instructions for adding fields in a specific record are provided in individual sections of the documentation, e.g., Custom fields on the request template.
- From the list of basic properties – located at Configuration database→User-defined fields→Custom fields, by clicking the + Add custom field button.
After clicking the button to create a custom field, a form will appear for you to fill in the required information. The purpose of each field is described in the following text: Meaning of the fields in the user field form. After filling in the information, you must save the property by clicking the button: Create, or Create and add another.
Meaning of the fields in the custom field form
The form for creating a custom field contains the following fields:
- Name – the main description of the custom field. A translation can also be added for the name. If no translation is provided, the name from the source language will be used in all languages.
- Description – a brief description of the custom field; it is displayed as a tooltip next to the custom field in the form. A translation can also be added for the description; without a translation, the description of the source language will be used in all languages.
- Note – additional information about the user field; the note is displayed in the list of user fields.
- Group – classification of the user field into a thematic group; the available options are General, Technical, and Other.
- Slug (alias):—represents an alias for an item in a human-readable format, used in API calls instead of the ID. The term used must not contain diacritics or spaces and is case-sensitive (distinguishes between uppercase and lowercase letters).
Assigning a basic property
The form includes a section for assigning a basic property, which specifies the type of user field. You can assign a property by clicking the + Add basic property button; after clicking, a separate window will appear with a list of existing properties. You can assign an existing property (by clicking the icon 
next to the property name) or create a new property by clicking the button + New Basic Property. Note: For a user field without a basic property, only the user field name will be displayed in the form, without a field for entering an input value.
For basic properties, you can specify their required status (except for the basic property of type Checkbox). To set the required status, check the Required box below the property name.
For the dropdown types Reference and Custom dropdown, you can configure them as multi-select fields, meaning that in forms, users will be able to select multiple values from the dropdown. The number of possible values can be limited by setting the Limit.
For this basic property, you can also enable the Contains sensitive data toggle. Values from user fields marked in this way will not be included in email notifications.
Assigning a composite property
A composite property is a property composed of more than one basic property. A typical example of a composite property is Address, which contains the basic properties Street, City, ZIP Code, and Country.
You can freely select the basic properties for a composite property, and you can specify their order or whether they are required fields.
A composite property allows you to configure the visibility of a basic property based on the values set for other basic properties within the composite property, thereby creating a so-called dynamic form. Such a property in forms will display or hide fields depending on the set values.
The visibility of a base property is configured by selecting Configure visibility from the context menu of the base property row in the user field. A component identical to the one used for filters in lists will appear below the base property—the visibility conditions for the base property are thus configured in the same way as filtering.
TIP: It is recommended to configure field visibility based on the default properties of the following types: Checkbox, Custom Dropdown, or Date, whose values are predefined, thereby eliminating the possibility of users entering unexpected values. For fields of the following types: Text Field, it is advisable to use the condition is filled in.
List of user fields
A list of all custom fields is available in the main menu under Configuration database→User-defined fields →Custom fields. The header of the basic properties list window displays the number of records shown out of the total number; it also contains controls for creating a new basic property and searching using an advanced filter, along with the option to save it.
To edit a field, double-click on the row, or click the hamburger menu at the end of the row and select Edit. Some fields display the “
” flag. These custom fields are system fields and cannot be deleted or edited.
Searching and filtering in the list of user fields
To search effectively by entering a specific term, you can use the Search field located above the list of user fields.
If you need to search for fields based on multiple criteria, you can use the advanced search filter, which you can apply by clicking the 
button next to the Search field. In this filter, you can specify specific search conditions for the following columns:
- Any column
- User field name
- Description
- User field group
- Slug (alias)
Depending on the column type, you can choose between “contains” or “does not contain” conditions for the search term or part of it; for drop-down lists, select one of the available values. You can freely combine and expand search conditions using the logical operators AND (and) and OR (or). You can save frequently used or otherwise specific filtering conditions under a name of your choice, and they will be available with a single click above the list of user fields for future use.
For more information on how to use filters effectively in CDESK, see the articles “Searching and Advanced Filters” at and “Searching and Advanced Filters” at.