Data Model: objects and fields
Settings → Data Model lists every object in CRMSix, standard ones such as cases, accounts, contacts, leads and opportunities, and the custom objects you add. Open an object to change its fields, rules, layouts and who can see what.
An object’s pages
| Page | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Details | Its label, API name, description and how many records it has |
| Fields & Relationships | Every field, standard and custom; add and edit custom fields; choose which fields keep a history |
| Related Records | The objects that link to it (for example an account’s contacts, cases and opportunities) |
| Validation Rules | Checks that stop a record being saved with wrong values (cases, leads, opportunities, accounts and contacts) |
| Page Layouts | How record pages look, per profile |
| Field Security | Which fields each profile can see and change |
Changing the data model needs the Customize objects permission (Admin profile); field security needs Manage users.
Add a custom field
- Open the object and go to Fields & Relationships, then choose New.
- Enter a label. The API name is made from it and always ends in
__c, for exampleregion__c; you can change it now, but not later. - Choose the type. The type can’t be changed later either.
- Optionally make it required, give it a default value and help text (shown beside the field).
- Save. The field appears on the Standard page layout, in an Additional information section; add it to your own layouts in Page Layouts.
Field types
| Type | Holds |
|---|---|
| Text | Up to 255 characters |
| Text area | Up to 5,000 characters, on several lines |
| Number | A number |
| Checkbox | Yes or no |
| Date | A date |
| Email, Phone, URL | An email address, phone number or web address, checked as you type |
| Picklist | One value from a list you set |
| Formula | A value calculated from other fields (standard objects) |
| Lookup | A link to another record (custom objects) |
Formula fields
A formula field is calculated like a spreadsheet cell: for example Weighted Amount = amount * probability / 100, or Days to Close =
close_date - TODAY(). Use fields by their API names, operators such as + and >, and functions such as
IF, TEXT, TODAY and ISBLANK. The editor has pickers for fields and functions, and
Check syntax tries the formula on a real record.
The value is worked out whenever a record is saved, and straight away for existing records; nobody can type over it. Formulas using today’s date update daily.
Picklist values
The values of standard picklists (a case’s status and priority, an opportunity’s stage, a lead’s source and so on) are set on the field in Fields & Relationships: add values, rename them, choose the default, reorder them, and deactivate ones you no longer use. Deactivated values stay on the records that have them. Each status and stage belongs to a category (open, closed, won…) that decides how CRMSix treats it.
Custom objects
Track things CRMSix doesn’t have built in, such as projects, assets, contracts or site visits. Each custom object gets its own tab, list and record pages.
- In Settings → Data Model, choose New custom object.
- Give it a label (Project) and plural (Projects). Its API name ends in
__c. - Choose whether records have a typed name or an automatic number, such as PRJ-0001.
- Choose where its tab appears: Service, Sales, both or neither.
- Add fields. A Lookup field links each record to an account, contact, case, lead, opportunity or another custom object, and the records then appear on the linked record’s page.
Validation rules
A validation rule is a formula that’s true when something is wrong, with the message to show. For example amount < 0 with
“Amount can’t be negative”, or AND(ISCHANGED(stage), ISPICKVAL(stage, "Closed Won"), ISBLANK(next_step)) to require a next step
when a deal is won. When someone saves a record that breaks a rule, the save is stopped and they see your message, next to a field you choose.
Records that come in from web forms, email or chat are never blocked.
Page layouts and field security
- Page layouts decide what a record page shows: the header fields, the sections and their fields (in one or two columns), which fields are required or read-only, the cards below and the buttons. Make a layout from the Standard one, then choose which layout each profile sees. To check, open a record and choose Preview as… a profile.
- Field security makes a field read only or hidden for a profile. A hidden field doesn’t appear anywhere for them: pages, lists, search, reports, history, exports, the API and AI apps. Admins always see every field.
Field history
In Fields & Relationships, Track field history records who changed which fields, with the old and new values, for cases, leads, opportunities, accounts and contacts. Tick Track history on up to 10 fields per object. Each record’s History card shows its changes, and Settings → Data Change Log shows them across the organization. Changes are kept for 18 months.
Tips
- Plan API names before saving: they and field types can’t change later, because reports, rules, flows and integrations refer to them.
- Try new fields, formulas and rules in a sandbox, then move them with a change set.
- Make a field hidden with field security, not only by leaving it off a layout: a layout only arranges the page.