All about the "Custom Fields" feature
The Custom Fields feature is currently, as of 05-09-2024, in free preview for the "Print Farm" plan. This feature may be subject to be a separately-paid add-on at a later stage.
Custom Fields are not implemented in the SimplyPrint Mobile App yet.
The SimplyPrint Custom Fields feature allows you to add your own data-fields inside SimplyPrint.
This feature allows you to greatly customize your SimplyPrint platform by adding fields that you may use internally, but that aren't default fields in SimplyPrint!
A couple of examples of fields you could add would be;
Order number field; set on items in the queue, and have it automatically inherited by print jobs
Customer name field; set on any file anywhere, and have it inherited by print jobs
Due date; set a due date for something with a deadline in the print queue
Approval status; to track whether a job has been approved for printing, especially useful in a workflow with multiple stakeholders
Project code; for associating prints with specific projects or departments within a company
Custom fields show as editable fields in the places where you have chosen to put them.
You can toggle the custom field columns (when they're shown in tables), on and off, as well as change their (and any other column's) position/order, via the "View" button in the top right corner of any table. Note that this is stored for your user account only; each user within your organization - if you have a multi-user SimplyPrint organization - choose their own table preferences.
You'll find your Custom Fields in your account's settings, in "Settings > Custom Fields"; https://simplyprint.io/panel/settings/custom-fields.
You can only add custom fields, and access its settings, if you have permission within your account/organization, as either its owner, or in a User Group that has the "Manage custom fields" permission enabled.
(More info below this image)
You can create custom fields with a wide range of different field/input types; different types for different purposes. You can add a checkbox for a "Yes / No" field, a number input for numbers-only data, short text, long text, date input & more. The full list is;
Short text
Long text
Number
Email
Phone
URL
Select
Multi-select
Radio buttons
Checkboxes
Yes / no (boolean)
Date
Date and time
All fields that require a user input can have a set of "validation rules". These rules allow you to make sure the value is in a correct length or format.
For all text-based fields, you can enter a minimum and maximum string length, as well as define a so-called "regex" validation rule, that allows you to require a certain format, e.g. "There must be a dash (-) after the first 3 characters, before the next 3". You can learn about Regex here; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expression. Pro-tip; ChatGPT is great at generating regex expressions based on a description of your desired end-goal!
For the "Number" field, you can define maximum and minimum values as well.
All fields that can be validated can show a custom validation message.
Custom fields can currently be added in the "Printing" category, though with more categories to come.
There are (soon) multiple different custom field "categories". A custom field's category determines where it should be shown. A custom field can only have one category.
When a custom field is created in the "Printing" category, you can choose to have the field applied to;
User files (from the "Your files" tab, whether your own, or shared files)
Print queue
Print jobs
Custom field inheritance:
If a custom field is shown in, say, "User files" and "Print jobs", this means that if a user file has set values for the custom fields, any print jobs started from this file will have the custom fields inherited. Same goes for Print Queue -> Print Jobs.
This makes for a great feature in that you can set (example) the order number or customer name on a print queue item, and when the item is then printed, the print job history also shows the customer name and order number.
Before-start-print popup:
In the case where you have custom fields for "Printing: Print Jobs", and any field is marked as "Required", this/these field(s) will have to be filled out before a print job can start, if you check the "Show before start print" option on the given custom field.
Any custom field that has the "Show before start print" option checked will be shown in a new popup during start print, after file selection, but prior to the print actually starting.
If the file(s) you're about to print all have custom field values already / all required fields are set, and all values are valid as per the custom field validation (which you define; minimum length/number, maximum length/number, regex, etc.), the popup will not show; only if at least one field is required and unset, or has an invalid value.
There are a few more categories coming soon; "User information, Printer information & Filament information". These will allow you to add fields to users in the "Users" table, that may also be shown on the user signup form or used for SSO field mapping. Printer and filament custom fields will let you show information for/on printers and filament.
More on this soon!
Custom fields submissions / data can be exported along with other exportable data, in places such as the Print Queue and Print History tables.
When you export to CSV via the SimplyPrint interface, custom fields will be added in the end of the CSV, with the prefix cf_ (for Custom Field), to ensure all headers / "keys" are unique.
We only export active custom fields. Meaning, if you disable or delete a custom field, even though there might be a custom field value associated with the given item(s) you're exporting, the custom field won't be exported. Nor will it be exported if the custom field no longer applies to the given item you're exporting, e.g. if it used to be associated with Print Jobs in the Print History, but this subcategory (learn more about subcategories above ^) has since been removed from the given field, the value won't be exported.
Custom field values can be read, and submitted, via the API. Look to our API documentation (https://apidocs.simplyprint.io/) for more information.
(Note the API documentation may not be updated just yet)
Custom Fields are not implemented in the SimplyPrint Mobile App yet.
What is it?
The SimplyPrint Custom Fields feature allows you to add your own data-fields inside SimplyPrint.
This feature allows you to greatly customize your SimplyPrint platform by adding fields that you may use internally, but that aren't default fields in SimplyPrint!
A couple of examples of fields you could add would be;
Order number field; set on items in the queue, and have it automatically inherited by print jobs
Customer name field; set on any file anywhere, and have it inherited by print jobs
Due date; set a due date for something with a deadline in the print queue
Approval status; to track whether a job has been approved for printing, especially useful in a workflow with multiple stakeholders
Project code; for associating prints with specific projects or departments within a company
Custom fields show as editable fields in the places where you have chosen to put them.
You can toggle the custom field columns (when they're shown in tables), on and off, as well as change their (and any other column's) position/order, via the "View" button in the top right corner of any table. Note that this is stored for your user account only; each user within your organization - if you have a multi-user SimplyPrint organization - choose their own table preferences.
How to create custom fields
You'll find your Custom Fields in your account's settings, in "Settings > Custom Fields"; https://simplyprint.io/panel/settings/custom-fields.
You can only add custom fields, and access its settings, if you have permission within your account/organization, as either its owner, or in a User Group that has the "Manage custom fields" permission enabled.
(More info below this image)
Field types
You can create custom fields with a wide range of different field/input types; different types for different purposes. You can add a checkbox for a "Yes / No" field, a number input for numbers-only data, short text, long text, date input & more. The full list is;
Short text
Long text
Number
Phone
URL
Select
Multi-select
Radio buttons
Checkboxes
Yes / no (boolean)
Date
Date and time
Field validation
All fields that require a user input can have a set of "validation rules". These rules allow you to make sure the value is in a correct length or format.
For all text-based fields, you can enter a minimum and maximum string length, as well as define a so-called "regex" validation rule, that allows you to require a certain format, e.g. "There must be a dash (-) after the first 3 characters, before the next 3". You can learn about Regex here; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expression. Pro-tip; ChatGPT is great at generating regex expressions based on a description of your desired end-goal!
For the "Number" field, you can define maximum and minimum values as well.
All fields that can be validated can show a custom validation message.
Where can I add custom fields & what do they do?
Custom fields can currently be added in the "Printing" category, though with more categories to come.
Custom field categories
There are (soon) multiple different custom field "categories". A custom field's category determines where it should be shown. A custom field can only have one category.
Printing: jobs, queue, files
When a custom field is created in the "Printing" category, you can choose to have the field applied to;
User files (from the "Your files" tab, whether your own, or shared files)
Print queue
Print jobs
Custom field inheritance:
If a custom field is shown in, say, "User files" and "Print jobs", this means that if a user file has set values for the custom fields, any print jobs started from this file will have the custom fields inherited. Same goes for Print Queue -> Print Jobs.
This makes for a great feature in that you can set (example) the order number or customer name on a print queue item, and when the item is then printed, the print job history also shows the customer name and order number.
Before-start-print popup:
In the case where you have custom fields for "Printing: Print Jobs", and any field is marked as "Required", this/these field(s) will have to be filled out before a print job can start, if you check the "Show before start print" option on the given custom field.
Any custom field that has the "Show before start print" option checked will be shown in a new popup during start print, after file selection, but prior to the print actually starting.
If the file(s) you're about to print all have custom field values already / all required fields are set, and all values are valid as per the custom field validation (which you define; minimum length/number, maximum length/number, regex, etc.), the popup will not show; only if at least one field is required and unset, or has an invalid value.
Categories coming soon; User information, Printer information, Filament information
There are a few more categories coming soon; "User information, Printer information & Filament information". These will allow you to add fields to users in the "Users" table, that may also be shown on the user signup form or used for SSO field mapping. Printer and filament custom fields will let you show information for/on printers and filament.
Exporting custom field data
Custom fields submissions / data can be exported along with other exportable data, in places such as the Print Queue and Print History tables.
When you export to CSV via the SimplyPrint interface, custom fields will be added in the end of the CSV, with the prefix cf_ (for Custom Field), to ensure all headers / "keys" are unique.
We only export active custom fields. Meaning, if you disable or delete a custom field, even though there might be a custom field value associated with the given item(s) you're exporting, the custom field won't be exported. Nor will it be exported if the custom field no longer applies to the given item you're exporting, e.g. if it used to be associated with Print Jobs in the Print History, but this subcategory (learn more about subcategories above ^) has since been removed from the given field, the value won't be exported.
Use with the API
Custom field values can be read, and submitted, via the API. Look to our API documentation (https://apidocs.simplyprint.io/) for more information.
(Note the API documentation may not be updated just yet)
Updated on: 05/09/2024
Thank you!