Custom Fields

Custom Fields let you add your own typed fields to items, warehouses, and recipients. Twelve field types, grouped into fieldsets, with per-field toggles for search and filtering — custom fields are the main way of shaping Next Inventory to your specific inventory needs.

Open it from Components > Next Inventory > Configuration > Custom Fields.

For Users

If someone else set up the custom fields, you encounter them on:

• Item, Warehouse, or Recipient edit forms — a Custom Fields panel at the bottom of the form, grouped by fieldset.
• List-view filters — fields marked filterable appear as filter options on the Items list, Transactions, and Reports.
• Search — fields marked searchable are included in search, so typing a value finds records with that value.

There's nothing to configure on the user side — the field types, labels, and defaults come from the definitions on this screen.

For Admins

This screen has two main views, accessible via sub-tabs:

1. Field Definitions — the individual fields.
2. Fieldsets — groupings that keep the admin form tidy.

Open a third view, Reorder, to drag-and-drop fields within a fieldset.

Fieldsets First

Before adding individual fields, create a fieldset to group them:

1. Open the Fieldsets sub-tab → New.
2. Enter a Title (shown as the panel header in edit forms), a machine-friendly Name (lowercase, underscores), and pick a Context (item, warehouse, or recipient).
3. Optionally add a Description and an Ordering number.
4. Save.

Fieldsets are optional — fields without a fieldset appear under a default "Additional Details" header — but grouping makes busy edit forms readable.

Defining a Field

1. Open the Field Definitions sub-tab → New.
2. Pick a Context (item / warehouse / recipient).
3. Pick a Fieldset (or leave blank for the default group).
4. Enter a user-facing Label ("Serial Number") and a machine Name ("serial_number" — lowercase letters, numbers, and underscores only).
5. Optionally add a Description (tooltip helptext).
6. Pick a Field Type:
   • Text, Textarea, Number, Select (Dropdown), Checkbox, Date, Radio Buttons, Email, URL, Color Picker, File Upload, Multi-Select
7. Set a Default Value if applicable.
8. Tick the toggles:
   • Required — the field must be filled in before saving.
   • Searchable — the field's values can be found via search.
   • Filterable — appears as a filter control on list views.
9. Set an Ordering number (lower = earlier).
10. For Select, Multi-Select, and Radio types, fill in the Options tab with one option per line.
11. Save.

Searchable and Filterable

Two toggles control how a field behaves on list screens:

• Searchable — lets you find records by the field's value: typing a value into the search box matches against it.
• Filterable — adds the field as a filter option on list views, alongside the built-in filters.

Reserve these for the handful of fields you genuinely search or filter by. Every extra searchable or filterable field adds a little overhead to the list screens, so most fields are best left with both toggles off — their values still display everywhere; they just don't take part in search and filtering.

Field Types and Their Behaviours

• Text / Textarea — single-line or multi-line text; any risky HTML is stripped on save.
• Number — numeric values, decimals allowed.
• Select / Radio — one value chosen from the Options list.
• Multiselect — several values chosen from the Options list.
• Checkbox — a simple yes/no tick.
• Date — a date picked from a calendar.
• Email — an email address, checked for valid syntax.
• URL — a web address, checked for a valid shape.
• Color — hex colour picker (#ABCDEF).
• File — an uploaded file, handled by the same upload pipeline as item images (see Settings → Images).

Reordering Fields

The Reorder page is a drag-and-drop list per fieldset. Drag to reorder, release to save — the new order applies immediately.

Permissions

Edge Cases

• Renaming a field's Name after it has values — existing data stays stored under the old name and no longer appears on the form. Avoid renames; create a new field and re-enter the data manually if you must.
• Changing a field's Type — not recommended. The existing stored value may not convert cleanly (e.g. text → number when the text isn't numeric). If you must, export values first, recreate the field with the new type, and re-import.
• Ticking or unticking Searchable on a field that has values — the change applies to values saved from then on, but existing records don't update automatically. Re-save affected records so search and filters pick them up.
• Select / Multiselect with hundreds of options — very long option lists are slow to render on the edit form. For taxonomies of that size, consider splitting into several smaller fields, or ask your developer about a small component customisation.
• File field storage — uploaded files live alongside item images and follow the same Image settings: upload folder, allowed formats, and maximum file size.

Form Reference

Fieldset

Field