Location fields

Admin › Locations › Location Fields is where you add fields of your own to every location, for the details your district keeps that a location doesn't have a field for: a building number, square footage, an emergency contact, whether the site has a generator.

Each field you add shows on every location in your account, in the order you set here. Fill it in when you add or edit a location, or bring it in with Import Locations. On Admin › Locations › Locations each field is a column you can turn on and a filter, and in reports it's a field you can break locations down or filter by.

Who can use it#

• View location fields (location-fields.view) or View locations (locations.view) opens the page and shows the fields.
• Manage location fields (location-fields.manage) adds, changes, reorders and archives them. It's part of Full access to Locations on Admin › People › Roles.
• Filling in a field on a location needs Update locations (locations.update), like the rest of the location. Filling in fields while adding one needs Add locations (locations.create).

schoolOS staff, who don't belong to an account, pick one from Account at the top of the page to see and change its fields.

Add a field#

1. Select New field, at the top right.
2. Type the field's Name. This is what people see on the location.
3. Pick its Type. It can't change once the field is saved.
4. Check the Key. It's made from the name, like building_number. Type your own if you like: lowercase letters, numbers and underscores, starting with a letter. Imports match columns to it, and it can't change once the field is saved.
5. For a Dropdown or Multi-select, add its options. Type each one and press Enter or select Add. It needs at least one.
6. Tick Required when someone edits a location if the field must be filled in. Turn it on only for something every location really has. Once it's on, any location without a value can't be saved, even for an unrelated change like a new address, until someone fills it in. Import the values first, then turn it on.
7. Select Add field. It goes after the fields you already have; drag it by its handle, or use the arrows in Order, to move it.

The field types are the same as asset fields: Single-line text, Multi-line text, Checkbox (yes or no), Dropdown (one option), Multi-select (any number of options), Date, Number (a whole number) and Decimal.

Which type should I choose?#

The type decides how you can filter and report on the field later, and it can't be changed once the field is saved. Pick for how you'll use it, not only for what you'll type:

| Type | Filter on the Locations list | Choose it when | | --- | --- | --- | | Dropdown or Multi-select | is any of the options | There's a short, fixed set of answers you'll want to group by: grade band (Elementary, Middle, High), or the programs a site runs. Everyone spells them the same way. | | Checkbox | is Yes or No | It's a plain yes or no: "Has a generator", "Title I school". | | Number or Decimal | is between | You'll add it up or compare it: square footage, enrollment capacity. Reports also give its total, average, lowest and highest. | | Date | is between | It's a day you'll want ranges of: last roof inspection, fire drill due. | | Single-line or Multi-line text | contains | Every answer is different: an emergency contact, gate code instructions. |

For example, a Facilities director adds Square footage as a Number and Grade band as a Dropdown. In the report builder, square footage by grade band then shows how much building each level maintains.

The list#

The list shows the fields every location already has (Built-in, with a lock) and your own, in the order they show on every location. The columns are Name (with Required when it is), Key, Type, Values (how many locations have a value for it) and Order. Search by name or key, and filter by Kind (Built-in or Your own) or Type. The columns button shows, hides and reorders the columns.

Change or reorder fields#

Select a field of your own to open it, or select Edit in its ... menu. You can change its name, its options and whether it's required, then select Save changes. Its key and type can't change, because its values are stored by them. To change a field's type, add a new field and archive the old one.

Drag a field by its handle at the start of its row, or use the up and down arrows in Order. The new order is saved right away and is the order the fields show on every location. Dragging and the arrows work while the list is sorted by Order with no search or filter; on a phone, use the arrows. Built-in fields stay at the top. If the order can't be saved, the fields go back where they were and a message says so.

Archive a field#

Select Archive in a field's ... menu. The field disappears from every location and from imports right away, but the values are kept, and the message that follows offers Undo. Archived fields are listed under Archived fields, below the list: select Restore in a field's ... menu to bring it back, with its values.

Built-in fields#

Built-in fields are the details every location already has, like Name, Code, Location type and the address. They're shown so you can see the whole location at a glance, and they can't be changed here. Rooms aren't fields: add them to a location on Admin › Locations › Locations.

Fill in the fields#

• When you add a location. New location on Admin › Locations › Locations shows your fields under Additional details, below the address. Required fields are marked with an asterisk, and the location isn't created until they're filled in. The values are saved with the location, all at once: if the location can't be added, no values are kept either. For schoolOS staff, the fields show once you pick the account.
• On Admin › Locations › Locations. Select a location's row, or Edit in its ... menu. Your fields are under Additional details, below the address. Required fields are marked with an asterisk, and the location won't save until they're filled in.
• On a location's own page. The fields show in Additional details, with Edit for people who can update locations.
• From a file. Add a column per field to your locations file and import it. Each field is offered in Map your columns, matched by its name or its key. A blank cell leaves the field as it is: empty on a new location, unchanged on one you already have.

The Additional details section doesn't appear until your account has at least one field.

On the Locations list#

• Columns. Every field is in the columns button on Admin › Locations › Locations, under Location fields, hidden to start with. Turn one on to see each location's value: options as tags, Yes or No for a checkbox, and dates in your account's date format.

• Filters. Under Filter, each field is a filter of its own in the Location fields group, after the built-in filters:

  • Text: type what it contains and select Apply, or pick Has a value or Is empty.
  • Dropdown and multi-select: tick any of its options (a multi-select matches anyone who has any of them), or Has a value / Is empty.
  • Checkbox: Yes or No. No includes locations never set.
  • Date: on or after and on or before, as two filters; set one for an open end. Number: at least and at most. Either one also has a filled in filter: Has a value or Is empty.

  Each filter shows as a chip with an × to remove it, and Clear all removes them all. Filters are part of the page's link, so you can share a filtered list.

Columns and filters follow the field, not its name: rename a field and they keep working. An archived field disappears from them, and comes back when you restore it. Fields belong to an account, so schoolOS staff see them on the list once they're looking at one account's locations.

In reports#

In the report builder, your fields are listed under Custom fields on the Locations dataset. Break locations down by a field, or filter by it. A number field also adds its total, average, lowest and highest. A report's export includes the field like any other column.

The Locations list itself has no export.