ARCOS 7 Help

List Fields

List fields are the pieces of information about a person that you can store in ARCOS. There are three types of fields:

  • System Fields: Basic fields that come standard in ARCOS, such as First Name, Last Name, Address Line 1, and Employer.
  • Derived Fields: Fields that are automatically calculated by ARCOS based on other information in a person's record. For example, based on a person's contribution history, ARCOS derives the date, amount, and URL of the person's highest contribution and stores them in three fields: Maximum contribution date, Maximum contribution amount, and Maximum contribution link.
  • Custom Fields: Fields specific to your organization. Custom fields might include Birthday (a date), Household Income (a number), or Parent? (a yes/no value).

System Fields

System fields are those fields that come standard in ARCOS. The data in these fields can be edited, but the name and type can not be altered.

There are 21 system fields:

  1. Prefix
  2. First Name
  3. Middle Name
  4. Last Name
  5. Address Line 1
  6. Address Line 2
  7. City
  8. State
  9. Country Code
  10. ZIP Code
  11. Employer
  12. Occupation
  13. Email
  14. Phone
  15. Phone 2
  16. Fax
  17. Confirmed Registration
  18. Record Created
  19. Person ID
  20. Username
  21. County

Derived Fields

Derived fields are those fields that are automatically calculated by ARCOS based on other information in a person's record. Derived fields' name and type can not be changed. You can not edit the data stored in these fields.

There are 17 derived fields:

  1. Maximum contribution amount
  2. Maximum contribution link
  3. Maximum contribution date
  4. First contribution amount
  5. First contribution link
  6. First contribution date
  7. Last contribution amount
  8. Last contribution link
  9. Last contribution date
  10. Contributions made in current year
  11. Contributions made in previous year
  12. Petitions signed in current year
  13. Petitions signed in previous year
  14. Volunteered in current year
  15. Volunteered in previous year
  16. Email Domain
  17. Opt-Out

Custom Fields

Custom fields are those fields that your organization has added to ARCOS.  You can add, edit, and delete custom fields, upload data into those fields, or use them on forms.

All custom fields have the following properties:

ID

This is the system generated id number that identifies that field. It's also used to reorder fields.

Name

This is the name of the field as used in the back-end code.

Display Name

This is the name of the field as displayed to the end user.

Type

This is the specific input element e.g. text field, pull-down etc.

Length

This is the maximum number of characters allowed in each text field.

To Add a Custom List Field

To create a new custom field, click the Add List Field button at the top of the List Fields page. This takes you to the New List Field page.

The input types are:

Alphanumeric

A single-line text input field of up to 255 characters. This is a good field type to use for text data you expect to be short, such as "Nickname" or "Spouse's Employer."

Alphanumeric (Large)

A multi-line text input field for 256 characters or more. This is a good field type to use for open-ended or essay responses on surveys or other forms.

Currency

A dollar amount

Date

A date

Enumerated

Values you input for an enumerated field get displayed as a dropdown on your web forms. This is a good field type to use when you know all possible responses and want to let people pick just one, e.g. "What type of meal would you like?" where the dropdown options might be Beef, Chicken, Fish, and Vegetarian.

File Upload

Gives your site visitors the ability to upload files tied to their record (e.g., their resume). You select the maximum size and file types allowed.

Number (Any)

A number that may have a decimal

Number (Whole)

A number with no decimal (a whole number)

True/False

A true/false checkbox. Note: If you are uploading True/False data using List Upload, these values will be treated as false: 0, 0.0, F, FALSE, N, NO, and "" (i.e., no value) will be treated as false. Anything else will be treated as true.

To Edit a Custom List Field

  1. Click the Edit button next to the custom field.
  2. Make any changes you wish to the field's Name, Display Name, or Description. The Type can not be changed.
  3. Click the Save button.

To Delete a Custom List Field

WARNING: Deleting a custom field will permanently remove from ARCOS any data stored in that field. For example, if you have members' birthdays stored in a field named "Birthday", deleting this field will delete the members' birthdays from ARCOS.

  1. Place a check in the checkbox next to the custom field you wish to permanently remove.
  2. Click the Delete button.
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