Overview
There is likely to be custom information, unique to your organisation, that needs to be captured within your workflows. Specifically, information tied to the case record itself, rather than the individual or organisation that the record is based on. This article will cover the benefits of these additions, and steps on how to create them for
a Case Type with the Cases Instance.
Note: The details on creating Custom Fields for all entities can be found in the article on Custom Fields. Thus article focuses on those aspects which are specific to Case Custom Fields.
The kind of information that you want to store within the Case itself depends on the type and purpose of the workflow. Some examples might be:
Who referred the client? (Although this could also be a role in the Case)
Risk Level
Priority
Initial Assessment Score
Service Plan Notes
Target Outcome / Goals
Case Closure Reason
etc.
Case Custom Fields
Most case custom fields are connected to either:
A specific case type
A case instance
Follow the steps below to create a set of custom fields to be used within a Case:
Navigate to Administer -> Customise Data and Screens -> Custom Fields and click ADD SET OF CUSTOM FIELDS at the bottom of the screen.
You will be shown the New Custom Field Group page which allows you to specify some key features about the new Custom Fields you are about to create.
In the context of creating a new set of Custom Fields for a Case Type in the Cases Instance the most important field to configure is Used For. This is where you should either select the "Case (Cases)" Case Instance type, or select the Cases option and then select one or more specific Case Types within that (see below)
By doing this you make sure that the new set of Custom Fields will only appear on certain Case Types i.e. those that the fields are associated with. If you don't specify the Used For correctly then the fields may appear on Cases for which they are not relevant.
The Display Style option allows you to specify how you want to collection of custom fields to appear within the Case record. There are two options:
Inline: The Field Set is shown in the main Summary tab of the case record, for example the Client Support Data field set is shown inline below.
Tab: The Field Set is shown in a Details tab of the case record, for example the Client Support Data Field Set is shown highlighted in a separate Details tab below :
Once you have completed the New Custom Field Group page and clicked the SAVE button you can start to define each of the individual Custom Fields that will be used with the Case. Details on how to do this are covered in the article on Custom Fields.