While a person record in Slate displays all Slate standard fields and prompts by default, Slate does not display any custom fields. Custom fields can be shown on a record by adding them to custom tabs using the form builder.

Best Practice

Do not add all of the custom fields to tabs. Only fields that will be updated or referenced often while in the person record view should be placed on a custom tab. While it is possible to add multiple custom tabs to the person record, accessibility of the data is diminished when it is difficult to navigate a labyrinth of custom tabs.

Follow these steps to most effectively group and order custom fields on a custom tab. Remember to make it concise and easy to view and edit the information.

Getting Started

List Fields

Make a list of the fields needed on custom tabs. For example:

Group Fields

Decide the order and which fields should be grouped together. For example:

Creating and Displaying a Custom Tab

Creating the Form

The first step to creating a custom tab for either person or application records is to create a form. To build the form, perform the following steps:

1. Select Forms on the top navigation bar.

2. Select New Form. Provide the proper form configurations, including:

   • Page Title: Give the form a straightforward name, such as "Details Custom Tab."

   • Folder: Create a "Custom Tabs" folder to keep forms organized.

   • Status: Set the status to Confirmed/Active.

3. Select Save. With the form created, select Edit Form.

4. Select Edit Properties.

5. Change the scope. The default scope of a form is Person.

   • For a custom tab form that will appear on person records, change this scope to Person Page.

   • For an applications custom tab, change the scope to Application Page.

   • For a dataset custom tab, change the scope to Dataset Page, and then select the correct dataset from the Dataset list.

6. Remove all of the standard Slate fields included on the form by default (such as name and address fields).

7. Add custom fields to the form. Custom tab forms must only contain fields that are mapped to custom fields.

Displaying Dates on Custom Tabs

By default, form fields with a type of "Date" store data using a "yyyyMMdd" format (for example, "20220225") while form fields with a type of "Calendar" store data using a "yyyy-MM-dd" format (for example, "2022-02-25"). To properly populate the selectors when interacting with these type of fields on a custom tab, Slate requires storing the underlying data in the associated format. The best practice is to decide which form field type you intend to consistently use on these tabs and then to ensure that the date values are being imported or collected in the associated format for that type. Alternatively, these dates can also be displayed on the custom tab using merge fields on forms.

Important!

• Read-only Fields - If you need to show read-only data on custom tabs, you should use merge fields. Merge fields allow you to display data that should not, and cannot, be edited. You should use merge fields instead of selecting "Read Only" on a field to ensure that it cannot change or be overwritten. 

• Conditional Logic Filters - When conditional logic filters are placed on custom tab form fields and are not visible to the internal user, data in these fields may be overwritten with null values. To avoid this behavior, avoid using conditional logic on custom tab fields. You can, however, use conditional logic on merge fields on custom tabs, as merge fields can only ever display data. 

• Default Value Form Fields - Generally, default values will populate when a form loads. This default value will be saved when the form is submitted unless the value is changed. If a value is previously stored in a particular field for which a default value is set, submitting the form with the default value will either update or append the previously stored value. The very nature of a default value is that it will always suggest a particular value for a field on a form. 
  
  Because of this intended functionality, default values should not be used on custom tab forms, as the primary purpose of these types of forms is to display the values stored in a particular field.  

Creating the Tab

Now that a Person Page, Application Page, or Dataset Page form has been created, link this form to a tab by performing the following steps:

1. Select Database on the top navigation bar and select Tabs.

2. Select Insert.

3. Enter the following configurations in the dialog box:

   • Status: Keep this setting set to Active for the tab to appear on records.

   • Name: Give the tab a name that will appear on the tab when viewing records.

   • Scope: If this tab is being added to person records, keep the scope set to Person. If the tab should appear on application records, set the scope to Application if the tab should appear on dataset records, select Dataset.

   • Form: The form menu will contain all forms with the corresponding scope (such as Person Page-scoped forms for a person-scoped tab). Select the desired form.

   • Order: Custom tabs are, by default, ordered alphabetically. To override the alphabetical order, enter an order value for the custom tab.

   • Read Permission (Optional): Set a read permission for the tab by selecting a permission from the list. This will cause the tab to show only for users with the selected permission.

   • Write Permission (Optional): Set a write permission for the tab by selecting a permission from the list. This will allow only users with this permission to edit data on this tab when viewing a record.

   • Show for Records in Population (Optional): Select the population here if the tab should only appear for records in a specific population (this setting does not apply to dataset tabs).

   • Notes (Optional): Include internal notes regarding the tab, if desired.

4. Select Save.

The custom tab will now appear on records.

Administrative Experience

Custom Person Dataset Tabs

After configuration, person and dataset-scoped custom tabs will appear on the record to the right of the standard tabs. To add, remove, or reorder custom fields, edit the custom tab form.
 

Custom Application Tabs

Custom application tabs links appear on a record's application tab on the right-side pane.