Matter types and participant types can have custom data fields that collect information beyond the fields that are available by default in Actionstep.

This article describes the different types of custom data fields and provides examples for their use.

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Custom Data Types

Text Line	This is just a standard line. Whatever text is entered will be displayed.
Text Block	Like a Text Line but designed to handle larger amounts of text. This will display as a box four lines deep by default. Users will have the option to expand the boxes dimensions by clicking and dragging the bottom right-hand corner.
Protected Text Line	Like the Text Line option above but Protected Text Lines will ensure the privacy of what users are entering by making characters appear as dots. This is useful when a user is entering in sensitive information such as a password.
Number	This data field will only accept results that appear as numbers. While a user can type in other characters (letters or special characters), they will be changed to "0" when they click away from this box. Using this type of data field ensures that only relevant information is entered.
Money	Similar to the Number option above but the Currency option will automatically update any number entered to include cents. For example, typing in "210" will result in "210.00".
Linked Participant	This will appear as a search box, allowing you to search for and select any participant loaded to Actionstep. This function gives you referencing for participants who you do not want to create a role for on a matter. This is not available to be used as custom participant data.
HTML Block (no editable text)	This is used to display the Description field only. The Description field can include Merge Fields (including calculated merge fields). This is useful for displaying calculations on other data fields, for example, a settlement total. This is not available to be used as custom participant data.
Dropdown List (Single Select)	This will allow you to give users a fixed selection of options to choose from. A single select dropdown list will allow users to choose only one of the available options.   TIP:    If you have two or more single select dropdown fields in a data collection you can limit the options available to the user based on a prior selection in a parent dropdown fields. To enable this select the "Parent Dropdown" option when creating the child dropdown field.
Dropdown List (Multi Select)	This will allow you to give users a fixed selection of options to choose from. A multi select dropdown will allow users to select more than one option from the drop down. Users can choose more than one option by holding down the 'ctrl' key while clicking on their selection.
Date	This option will display a date. When a user goes to click into the date, they will see a mini-calendar that helps them select the date.
Date and Time	This option will display a date and a time. When a user goes to click into the date, they will see a mini-calendar that helps them select the date. The time box acts as a drop-down menu for a quick selection but also allows you to manually enter in a specific time.
Date (with a memo)	Like the Date field above but with a memo option. This field option will display a second field for people to type in a short memo if they want it. The memo filed is there as an option in case there are any notes that a user would like to record in relation to this date.     NOTE: The memo you enter into this field is for display purposes on the matter only. The memo will not appear in a list view that shows this field or in a document template that references this field.
Date and Time (with a memo)	This option will display a date and a time. When a user goes to click into the date, they will see a mini-calendar that helps them select the date. The time box acts as a drop down menu for quick selection but also allows you to manually enter in a specific time. This option also includes a memo field for you to add in any notes that would be relevant to this date.   NOTE Please note that the memo you enter into this field is for display purposes on the matter only. The memo will not appear in a list view that shows this field or in a document template that references this field.
Calendar Appointment	These cannot be used in participant custom data or multi-row data collections. This will allow you to create or link to an existing appointment in the calendar. Until it is set the result of this field will shows as "(none)" when going to enter the data the user will have to click on the link that reads "Create new appointment". Once set an appointment can be clicked on to be viewed and edited but not removed.
Boolean (Checkbox)	This will appear as a tick box. This is ideal for recording yes/no or true/false situations.
Auto Number (Global)	This will give you an automatically updated number for each data collection entry. This number increments across matters. The Auto-number is only populated when a user edits a custom data collection or adds a new line to a multi-row data collection. Once created this cannot be altered by a user. This option is especially useful when keeping track of sequential matters of the same type.
Auto Number (Action)	This will count how many entries have been created against this matter.  This option is especially useful when you have a multi-row data collection and allows you to order the entries by the date they were created.  This will only hold the numbering with the matter that it is created. So the first time that this is used in each matter will be number 1. The Auto-number is only populated when a user edits a custom data collection or adds a new line to a multi-row data collection. Once created this cannot be altered by a user.

Related Articles:

- Creating Data Collections

- Introduction To Matter Custom Data