Asset fields

Admin › Assets › Asset Fields is where you add fields of your own to assets, for what your district tracks that schoolOS doesn't have a field for: a cart number, a condition grade, a PO line, the bond it was bought under. Your fields show on every asset's form, in the order you set here, and you can fill them in from an import.

Who can use it#

The page opens for anyone with View asset fields (asset-fields.view) or View assets (assets.view). Adding, changing, reordering and deleting your account's fields needs Manage asset fields (asset-fields.manage). It's at the Full level of Asset settings in Admin › People › Roles, and every role that could manage asset types when it arrived was given it. Without it the page is read-only: New field, the drag handles and the order arrows are turned off, and opening a field shows how it's set up without letting you change it.

The page#

One table lists every field, in the order they show on the asset form:

• Fixed fields. Asset Tag, Serial Number and Name, marked with a lock. Every asset has them, always first. They can't be changed or moved.
• Built-in fields. Model, Manufacturer, Status, Location, Assigned To, Purchase Date, Purchase Price, Funding Source, Warranty Exp and Notes.
• Your own fields, added here or by schoolOS for everyone.

The columns:

• Name. With an icon for the type, and a lock on a fixed or locked field.
• Type. See the table below.
• Show in. IT or Facility.
• Owner. Built-in, Global for a field schoolOS set up for everyone, or your account's name.
• Behavior. Required to create, Required to update and Searchable, when they're on.
• Usage. How many assets have a value in the field, or Unused.
• Order. The field's place on the form, with arrows to move it. You can also drag a field by the handle at the start of its row.
• The … menu at the end of a row has Edit (or View for a field you can't change, like a Global one) and Delete.

Search fields... matches the name, type and owner. Filter narrows the list by Kind (Fixed, Built-in or Your own) or Show in. Columns hides or reorders the columns; select a heading to sort by it.

Add a field#

1. Select New field.
2. Choose its Type.
3. Type the Name. This is what people see on the asset.
4. Choose Show in: IT for devices on Assets, Facility for items in Inventory.
5. For a Dropdown or Multi-select, add its Options: type one and press Enter or select Add. It needs at least one. Select the × on an option to remove it.
6. Set its behavior (below).
7. Select Add field. Cancel closes it without saving.

New fields go at the end of the list; drag them by their handle, or use the arrows in Order.

The types:

| Type | What it holds | | --- | --- | | Single-line text | A line of text. | | Multi-line text | Longer text, with line breaks. | | Checkbox | Yes or no. You can give it options too. | | Dropdown | One of the options you set. | | Multi-select | Any number of the options you set. | | Date | A date. | | Number | A whole number. | | Decimal | A number with decimals. |

schoolOS gives each field a key made from its name, like cart_number, which imports use to match a column. The type and key can't change once the field is saved; to change a type, add a new field and delete the old one.

Which should I choose?#

The type. Pick for how you'll use the values, since the type can't change later:

| Type | Choose it when | | --- | --- | | Dropdown | There's a fixed set of answers you'll filter or group by: a condition grade (A, B, C, Damaged), a bond or grant name. Everyone picks the same spelling. | | Multi-select | A device can have several: the accessories that went with it (Charger, Case, Stylus). | | Checkbox | It's a plain yes or no: "Insurance purchased". | | Number or Decimal | You'll add it up or compare it. In reports, a number field also gives its total, average, lowest and highest. | | Date | You'll want ranges: when the battery was replaced, when the lease ends. | | Single-line or Multi-line text | Every value is different, like a cart number or a free-form note. |

An import can make a field from a column too, but only as text, a number, a date, a yes or no, or an email. For a dropdown, add the field here first, then map the column to it.

Show In. IT puts the field on devices in Assets; Facility puts it on items in Inventory. A field shows in one or the other, never both. If both teams track the same thing, like a grant name, add one field for each.

Behavior for agents#

Open a field to see these, under Behavior for agents. The built-in fields' behavior can't be changed.

• Required when creating an asset. A new asset can't be saved without it, on the form or in an import. Turn it on only for something every asset really has; otherwise people type placeholders to get past it.
• Required when updating an asset. Editing an asset's fields (its form, or a field changed on its page) needs it filled in, and a bulk edit can't clear it. An asset without a value can't have its fields saved until someone fills it in, so fill it in with an import first. A bulk edit or Set pool... on many assets skips the ones without a value, changes the rest, and names the ones it skipped. Moving an asset doesn't edit its fields, so it's never blocked: checking it in or out on Check-in/out, assigning it, changing its status, audits and device sync all work with the field empty.
• Include in search. The Assets search box also looks in this field. Turn it on for identifiers people search by, like a cart number. Leave it off for long notes, which make searches match too much.
• Lock field (prevent edit/delete). Once saved, a locked field can't be changed or deleted here until you open it, untick the box and select Save changes, and it keeps its place in the order. Use it for fields other settings or integrations rely on.

For example, a district running a Chromebook 1:1 program adds Cart number (Single-line text) and Condition (Dropdown: A, B, C, Damaged). Cart number gets Include in search, so typing CART-12 on Assets finds every Chromebook in that cart. Condition gets Required when creating an asset, so every device added this year arrives graded. It doesn't get Required when updating an asset: last year's 4,000 devices have no grade yet, and each would refuse a change to its fields until someone graded it (checking them in and out would still work).

Change a field#

Select one of your fields, or Edit in its … menu. Change what you need, and select Save changes. Its values on assets are kept.

Reorder fields#

Drag a field by the handle at the start of its row, or use the up and down arrows in the Order column to move it one place. On a phone, use the arrows. Your fields' order is saved for your account right away, and it's the order they show on the asset form. Dragging and the arrows work while the table is sorted by Order with no search or filter, so every field is in view. Asset Tag, Serial Number and Name always come first. A locked field has no handle and keeps its place: other fields move up to it but not past it, so each one stays between the locked fields around it. An arrow that would pass a locked field is turned off and says which field is in the way, and a drop past one is refused with a message saying where the field can go. If the order can't be saved, the fields go back where they were and a message says so.

The built-in fields can be moved too, but their place is only remembered in this browser. It doesn't change the asset form.

Delete a field#

Open the … menu on one of your fields, select Delete and confirm. It's deleted for good.

You can't delete a field that any asset has a value in: its Usage shows how many, and Delete is turned off. A locked field can't be deleted until you unlock it.