Customising Fields
Walkthrough for adding, editing, and managing fields in Settings → Data Model.
Adding a new field
- Settings → Data Model.
- Pick a category tab — Shared if it should appear on every item, otherwise the specific category.
- Find the right group (Descriptive / Administrative / Conservation / Technical / Custom).
- Click + Add at the top of the group.
- Fill in:
| Property | Notes |
|---|---|
| Label | Human-readable, e.g. Donor reference |
| Key | Machine-readable; auto-generated from label, lowercase with underscores: donor_reference |
| Type | Text / Long text / Date / Number / Enum / List |
| Scope | Item / Collection / Series — where the field appears |
| Necessity | Required / Recommended / Optional |
| Vocab binding | Optional — bind to a vocabulary (LCSH, FAST, AAT, TGN, VIAF, GeoNames, Wikidata, or a local vocabulary) |
| Help text | One line shown beneath the field on the form |
- Save.
The field appears immediately on new accessions and on the item review screen for existing accessions in that category.
Field types in detail
Text
Single-line free text. Use for short identifiers, names, simple labels.
Long text
Multi-line free text. Use for descriptions, narrative content, conservation reports.
Date
ISO date with partial support: YYYY, YYYY-MM, YYYY-MM-DD. Date ranges are stored as two fields if you need both start and end.
Number
Integer or decimal. You can set minimum/maximum and a unit suffix (e.g. "mm", "kg").
Enum
A picker from a fixed list you define when creating the field. Use for controlled values that aren't in any external vocabulary: Sensitivity level with Public / Restricted / Closed, Access rights with predefined options.
List
Repeating values. Most commonly used with a vocab binding so each value is an authority pill. Without a binding, it's a free-text tag list.
Editing an existing field
Click any field row in the Data Model. The detail panel opens with everything editable:
- Label, help text, necessity — change freely
- Vocab binding — change at any time; existing values revert to free-text labels until re-resolved
- Type — warns you if data already exists. Changing Text → List concatenates; List → Text joins with commas; Date / Number changes may fail to coerce.
After save, the change applies to new and existing accessions immediately.
Deprecating a field
Don't delete; deprecate. Deprecation hides the field from new accessions while preserving the data on existing items.
- Open the field.
- Toggle Deprecated.
- Save.
Deprecated fields are hidden by default. Tick Show deprecated at the top of the Data Model page to see them; you can un-deprecate at any time.
Deleting a field
The Delete button is only enabled for fields with no associated data. If any item has a value in the field, you have to either:
- Deprecate the field (recommended)
- Clear the field on every item that has data (Settings → Data Model → field → Clear all data — requires admin confirmation), then delete
This is intentional. Deleting fields with data is destructive and we want you to be deliberate.
Vocab bindings — practical guidance
| Field type | Recommended binding |
|---|---|
| Subjects (general) | LCSH or FAST |
| Subjects (art / museum) | AAT |
| People mentioned | FAST or VIAF |
| Places mentioned | TGN (historical) or GeoNames (modern) |
| Organisations mentioned | FAST or VIAF |
| Materials (artefact) | AAT |
| Object type (artefact) | AAT |
| Roles / functions | LCSH |
You can bind a single field to multiple vocabularies — the resolver searches them in priority order and picks the best match. Useful for Subjects where LCSH is the primary but you want FAST as a fallback for niche topics.
Local vocabulary
For entities that don't exist in any global vocabulary, use local vocabulary:
- Settings → Data Model → Local Vocabulary.
- + New Term. Specify the term, the entity type (subject / person / place / org), an optional preferred label, alternate labels, and a short note.
- Save.
Local vocabulary entries:
- Get an internal URI within your archive
- Are reusable across accessions
- Appear in the picker on any field bound to "Local + …" vocabularies
- Are visible to your whole org on Team / Enterprise
You can promote a local-vocab term to a global one later by editing it and pasting in the global URI you now have access to (e.g. you contributed a record to Wikidata).