Custom fields are questions you add to your organization's records, such as a family account, a parent, a player, a roster member, a team, a location or an official. You create them on one page; each field's Category decides where it's asked and stored, and its Public Access decides whether families can see or change the answer.
Applies to: Org admins whose role includes Custom Fields · All plans (the File field type and the Auto Coach Scoring, Facility and Internal Reservation categories need Enhanced, Elite or Enterprise) · All program types
Where: Administration > Configurations > Custom Fields
The Custom Fields page
Your fields are listed in groups by category, with columns for Field Name, Field Type, Public Access Type and Required?. Each field has three icons: Edit, Reset All Values to Blank and Delete. Drag a field up or down to change the order it's shown in on forms; a field moves only within its own category.
Add a custom field
- Go to Administration > Configurations > Custom Fields and click Add Custom Field.
- Enter the Field Name and choose the Category. For a Roster field, also choose the Sub-Category.
- Choose the Field Type, then fill in the settings it shows (see the table below).
- Click Save.
- For a Drop Down List field, the list values page opens next: type each choice in Item Name and click Add. Drag the choices into the order you want.
Settings
| Setting | What it does | Limits |
|---|---|---|
| Field Name | The label shown beside the answer on forms, and the column name in reports. | Required. Up to 30 characters, and different from every other custom field's name. |
| Category | Where the field is asked and stored (see Categories). | Required. Can't be changed after the first save. |
| Sub-Category | Roster fields only: All, or one sport, so the field shows only on that sport's rosters. | Can't be changed after the first save. |
| Field Type | The kind of answer (see Field types). | Required. Can't be changed after the first save. |
| Side Description | Help text shown next to the field. | Up to 250 characters. |
| Max Length | Text and Multi-line Text fields: the longest answer allowed. | Required for those types: 1 to 2,500 characters. |
| Is Required | The form can't be saved until the field is answered (see Who sees and answers a field). | Not offered for Check Box fields. |
| Public Access | Account, Parent, Player, Official and Roster fields: Hidden, Read Only or Editable. | Required for those categories. |
A Restrict Editing to Role setting is shown only to TeamSideline staff, for organizations with the Workflow module. When it's set, only admins who hold that role can change the field's answers, and only Administrators can change the field's settings. Contact TeamSideline Support if you need it.
Categories
| Category | Where the field is asked and shown |
|---|---|
| Account | One answer per family account. Asked on the sign-up page, shown on the family's profile and, for admins, under Primary Member Information. |
| Parent | One answer per parent or guardian. Asked at sign-up and when a parent is added; shown to admins under Parent Member Information. |
| Player | One answer per player. Asked when the family adds or edits a player, and on the admin's player page. |
| Roster | A roster member's details on team rosters, for admins and for team managers editing their roster. |
| Team | A division team's details, on the team's edit page from the division's 2 Teams page. |
| Location | A location's Details page under Schedules > Locations. |
| Official | An official's profile, including the official's own profile and self-registration (Officials module). |
| Official Game Report | The post-game report officials fill in (Officials module). |
| Internal Enrollment | Admins only: the Internal Information section when you edit an enrollment. Families never see these. |
| Master Team | Teams in Programs > Master Team Management (Master Team module). |
| Auto Coach Scoring | Questions coaches answer for each team when they report a score (Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise). |
| Facility | A facility's General page under Facility Reservation (Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise). |
| Internal Reservation | Admins only: extra details on a facility reservation (Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise). |
The Category list shows only the categories your plan, modules and admin role include.
Field types
- Text and Multi-line Text: a typed answer, up to the Max Length you set.
- Drop Down List: one choice from the values you add (each Item Name up to 50 characters, no duplicates).
- Check Box: checked or not. It can't be required.
- Date and Time: picked from a calendar or a time list.
- Email: must be a valid email address.
- Phone: a full 10-digit phone number.
- File: one uploaded file of up to 10 MB, such as a birth certificate or a signed waiver (Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise). Uploading again replaces the file; a file field that isn't required also offers Remove.
Who sees and answers a field
- Hidden: only admins see and answer it.
- Read Only: families see the answer on their account but can't change it. It isn't asked at sign-up.
- Editable: families answer it and can change it later from their account. Editable Account and Parent fields are asked on the sign-up page.
- For Official fields, Public Access applies to the official; for Roster fields, to the team manager editing the roster.
- Is Required applies to admins every time they save the record. Families have to answer a required field only when it's Editable.
- Whether families can change an enrolled player's fields depends on Edit After Enrollment at Customers > Configurations > General ("Enable customer editing of player image and custom fields after enrollment."). With Yes, they can change the player's picture and Editable custom fields, for example to upload a birth certificate after registering, but not the player's name, birth date or gender. With No, an enrolled player's profile can't be opened.
Change, reset or delete a field
- Edit (pencil): change the Field Name, Side Description, Max Length, Is Required and Public Access. To change the Category or Field Type, add a new field instead.
- Reset All Values to Blank: after you confirm the prompt that starts "Are you sure you want to reset all values for the", the field's answer is cleared on every record, for example to collect a new form each season. TeamSideline keeps a copy of the cleared answers, but this page can't bring them back.
- Delete: after you confirm, the field no longer shows on forms or in report columns. To stop asking last season's question but keep its answers, set it to Hidden instead.
Adding, changing, resetting and deleting fields are recorded in Administration > Manage Users > Activity Log (Enhanced, Elite and Enterprise).
If it doesn't work
- "The Field Name you entered is already in use with another custom field. Please pick a different Field Name." Names must be unique across all categories. Choose another name.
- "A Field Name must be entered.", "A Category must be selected.", "A Field Type must be selected.", "The Max Length must be entered." or "A Public Access value must be selected." Fill in that setting and click Save again.
- A category or the File type isn't in the list. Your plan, modules or admin role doesn't include it.
- Every setting is grayed out and the Delete icon is too. The field is linked to a parent organization's field, and the parent organization's changes flow to it. Ask that organization to change it, or ask TeamSideline Support to unlink it.
- Every setting is grayed out, but Delete still works. The field is restricted to a role, so only an Administrator can change its settings.
- "The Custom Fields can not be re-ordered outside of their current category." Drag the field only within its own category.
- "The Item Name already exists." Each drop-down value must be different.
- Families don't see the field. Check its Public Access (Hidden fields never show to families; Read Only fields don't show at sign-up) and, for players, Edit After Enrollment.
- A family is told their file "exceeds the maximum of 10 MB. Please upload a smaller file." They upload a smaller file, such as a lower-resolution scan.
Good to know
- Custom fields are stored on the record itself, so an answer carries over to every registration. To ask something on each registration, use an enrollment field (Programs > Configurations > Enrollment Fields), which you add to each program. Both use the same field types.
- In report exports, custom fields are listed with "(c) " before their name. Auto Coach Scoring fields show in the Games Report as a Home and an Away column, and the division's 1 Configuration > Scoring page has Show Custom Fields ("Show on schedule game comments for all.").
- To fill in a player or parent field for many people at once, use Customers > Account Management > Multi Edit. To load answers from a file, use the Player Custom Field Import or the Parent Custom Field Import (By Id) on Administration > Import Data, one field per import.