Manage Choice Lists

Choice Lists are a great way to simplify the customization of your FreeAgent CRM account.  Once you have a Choice List, you can use it to create different fields across all your Apps. For example, you can create a Choice List with all the 50 States (USA) and then use that list to create a State Choice List field in your Contacts and another one in your Organizations. 

User Permissions: Only the Administrators can use this feature.

In this tutorial, we will cover the following topics:

1. Navigate to System Settings
2. Create a Choice List
   • Create Choices One at a Time
   • Create Choices in Bulk
   • Choice List Details
3. Create a Child Choice List (Dependant Choice List)
4. Edit Choice Lists
   • Edit Choices
5. Deactivate / Activate Choice Lists  
6. Delete a Choice

Navigate to Choice Lists

Go to Settings > Advanced > Choice Lists. 

Create a Choice List

To create a Choice List, click the 'Add Choice List' button.

1. Name

On the Creation window, the first thing you need to do is give your Choice List a Name. 

2. Order Type

Then you need to select the Order Type from the two options available: Alphabetical or Order. The Order you select here will have an effect on the 'Sorting' functionality for your Choice List in the List View. You will have the option to change their order at any time, using our drag & drop feature, by clicking the 'Reorder' button. 

• Alphabetical: For this Order Type, the system will automatically order your Choices from 'A to Z'. The will be applied to the column sort, the first click on the column's name will sort from 'A to Z', while the second click will Sort from 'Z to A'. 
• Order: For this Order Type, each of the elements in your list will have an order number defined by the time they were created. If you use the Bulk option, they will have the order in which you added or copied & pasted your values. 

3. Allow Ad-Hoc Creation

Next, define if you want to 'Allow Ad-hoc Creation' or not. If selected, it will allow anyone on your team to create additional Choices for your List on the form. If you don't select it, only the available Choices will be displayed. 

Note: Please note that the 'Allow Ad-hoc Creation' option is only available when the 'Order Type' is set to Alphabetical.

4. Parent Choice List

You only need to make a selection here if the choice list you're creating is meant to be a child list attached to a parent. See Create Child Choice List on how to do this.

5. App

Select the application you would like to use your choice list within. 

Now let's create our choices. There are two different creation methods:

1. Creating Choices One at a Time
2. Creating Choices in Bulk

Create Choices One at a Time

You can use this option if you are creating a small list or if you wish to add more Choices to an existing List. Just click the 'Add' button. In the creation window, all you have to do is type the name of your choice and click the 'Save' button when you are done. 

Create Choices in Bulk

This is the recommended option to create a Choice List for the first time, as it will allow you to create multiple Choices at once. Click on the 'Add Bulk' button to get started.  

Here you can either type your Choices or copy and paste them from any source, like an Excel spreadsheet. Once you are ready, click the 'Save' button. All your choices will be created instantly. 

Unique Values

When adding a choice you'll notice a field called "Unique Value". This value exists to make it easier to reference choice list options in custom code. 

For example: If you have a Choice List field named "Sales Stage" and one of your choices you wanted to reference was "In Development" your code might look like this:

[
  {
    field_name: 'sales_stage',
    operator: 'includes',
    values: ['in_development']
  }
]

Choice List Details

To see the choices on your List without the need to edit them, click the down arrow right next to the name. It will expand your Choice List and show you all the existing Choices. 

Add Color to Your Choice List

When creating or editing options in your list you can assign a color to each choice. This can make it much easier to differentiate between all of the various sales stages at a glance. 

Here's an example from the Opportunities app with colors assigned to each stage.

Create a Child Choice List

To create a Choice List for your Dependant Choice List field, you will need to give your new Choice List a name and select the order type (Order or Alphabetical). If you would like to allow team members to add more Choices to the list then set the 'Allow Ad-hoc Creation' field to 'Yes'.

Then under Parent Choice List, select the one you want to add sub-choices to. For example, enabling the selection of subindustry based on industry selection within the same form.

Now all that is left for you to do is create the sub-choices for each of your main selections. Click the 'Add New' button. In the creation window, you will have to type the name of your sub-choice, add a value if you have an integration that is set to use a specific ID or name, add an icon and select a color if desired, and finally, select from the drop-down the parent-choice for which you are adding the sub-choice. This will be automatically populated from the Choices of the Choice list you selected when creating your new choice List.  Click the 'Save' button when you are done and repeat the process for all your sub-choices.

Edit Choice Lists 

After your choice list has been created you can easily make changes to it.

Select the Choice you want to update and then click the 'Edit' button. Here you can update the Choice's Name and assign it an icon and a color. You can also set the active status of the Choice, reorder the Choice fields if they are in 'Order' mode, and delete Choices.  Once you are done, click the 'Save' button.

Note: Please note that the 'Allow Ad-hoc Creation' option is only available when the 'Order Type' is set to Alphabetical.

Delete Choice Lists

If you created a Choice List and decide not to use it, you have the option to delete them. Select the Choice List options menu and select 'Delete'. 

You also have the option of deleting individual choices from your list. Edit your choice list and then select the menu next to the individual value you want to delete. 

If the Choice List is being used by any records in the app you'll get a pop-up asking you to assign a different value to the records that are using the value you're deleting.

Deactivate a Choice

To deactivate an individual Choice, navigate to the parent Choice List and select the Choice.  Under the 'Choices' select the options menu and select 'Deactivate'. 

Note: Choices created from plugins are not eligible for Deletion.