Customization.1

Rex

One of the powerful features of ACT! is its ability to allow full customization of fields. In ACT!, the field sets of primary entities (Contact, Group, and Company) are fully customizable, since these types are metadata-driven, and much of their landscape and data is discovered dynamically.

In ACT!, Field Descriptors define a property or field in numerous ways, such as the type (string character, numerical, etc.), whether it is read-only, specific types such as uppercase or phone numbers, and the field name displayed in the application.

The three types of fields in ACT! are:

System not editable fields – these fields are installed and maintained by the database. Examples • are Last Meeting or Edit Date fields. You cannot use Define Fields to modify System not editable fields, but you can modify their position in a layout.

System editable fields – you cannot delete System editable fields, such as Contact, Phone, and • Address fields 1-3, and you are somewhat limited in how you can modify them. For example, you cannot delete the Contact field, but you can prevent it from accepting a blank value. Although you cannot delete a System editable field, you can remove it from a layout.

User defined fields – these are fields you create and define. There are ten default user defined • fields on the User Fields tab in the Contact record that can be customized. You can create other user-defined fields as well.

Some unique ways you can customize1 ACT! fields include:

Adding special data types. Data types define the value a field can accept, such as text or • numbers, pictures, or check boxes. Special data types called annual events are used for birth dates, anniversaries, or policy renewals. Users can perform a lookup on upcoming annual events.

Generating a history each time the field changes value. The history shows the user who changed • the field and what the data was before the change was made.

Defining drop-down lists for easy data entry and improved data consistency. These lists can be • customized by end users or controlled only by the ACT! Administrator.

Setting fields as primary fields. Primary fields are used to copy data from one record to another, • such as when you duplicate a record.

Setting a trigger to launch an activity series, application, or URL when a user enters, exits, or • changes a field. The activity series template, application, and URL must exist for it to be assigned to a trigger. An easy way to create a URL file is to drag a bookmark from the Internet Explorer® Favorites list to the desktop.

Linking a field between a company and contact record.• 2 Each time a linked field is changed on the company record, the change will occur in all linked contact members belonging to the company. For example, changing the address for the company record will “push” those changes down to all linked contacts.