Once you know how Custom Collections work, you'll want to get started on adding them to Virtuous. To begin, Click on "Settings" in the menu, then select "Data Customization."
Select "Custom Fields and Collections."
There, you'll see three tabs near the top of the screen: Custom Fields, Custom Field Groups, and Custom Collections. Click on any of these tabs to see existing values already created for your organization. To create a new Custom Collection, click on the Custom Collections tab, and then click "Create Collection" in the upper right.
This will open the New Custom Collection form. There, you'll first need to select where your collection will live and give it a unique name.
Custom Collections can only be associated with Contacts or Individuals. Once you've selected an Object and entered a unique name for your Collection, click the "Add a Field" button, and then you'll see the ability to define fields for your new collection.
The available options for creating new fields for your collection mirror those used when creating new Custom Fields, including the same Data Types and restrictions.
However, it is important to note that existing custom fields cannot be added to a Collection.
Custom Fields created as part of a Collection also cannot be "moved" to a Custom Field Group. While they use much of the same logic, Collections do behave differently from Custom Fields, so the two are not interchangeable.
Once you have entered a Name (and possibly a Display Name) and selected a Data Type for each field, click on "Done" to add your field to your new Collection. If you are creating a List Field as part of your Collection, be sure to create all of the required List Values BEFORE clicking "Add Field," as you will not be able to modify the list values again until the Collection is created.
Once you have created all of the fields for your new Collection, click "Save Collection" in the lower left to create the Collection.
Working with Collections
Once you have created a Collection, it will be visible on all records in Virtuous, and it will also be listed on the Custom Collections tab. Click on the Preview icon to view the information for your Collection.
Click on the edit icon to make changes to your Collection. When editing, you will have the option to rename the Collection, or any of the fields within the Collection, add values for List Custom Fields, or disable parts of the Collection or the Collection entirely.
When viewing a Contact or Individual record, new Collections, or any Collections with no entries, will display this information.
Click on the Add button to the right to add the first entry. This will open a form where you can enter values for each field in the Collection.
New Contacts
When creating a new Contact manually, you'll have the option to enter the first entry for any Collection, just by clicking to show Custom Fields. Any subsequent entries will have to be added once the Contact has been created.