How to create a Workflow Field to capture information from users
What are Fields?
Fields are used to capture information from and display information to users in a Workflow. There are two types of Fields: Workflow Fields, which are can only be used in the specific Workflow in which they were created, and Global Fields, which can be used across any Workflow in the Risk Cloud environment. Global Fields are useful for lists of shared items in your organization, like business units or locations. If you have multiple Applications that need a shared list, a Global Field will allow you to share it.
Steps to Create a Field
1. Navigate to Application > Build. Select and enter the appropriate Application. In the Application Canvas, double-click on the appropriate Step to enter the Step Configuration screen.
2. Click Workflow Fields or Global Fields, depending on what the Field is going to be used for, and click + New Field.
3. Select the type of Field you would like to create from the available options. Click Next.
4. Name the Field. The name is what will be used to refer to the Field in the Build and Report modules. This will not be displayed to end users.
5. Label the field. The label is what the end user will see. For example, an appropriate label for a Field named Comments could be Please provide comments.
6. Provide a tooltip and / or guidance text. This is an optional step. The tooltip text entered here will be displayed if an end user hovers over i next to the Field in a form. Help text will be displayed below the Field Label to provide guidance to the end user.
7. Once you have entered all the details, click Save Field.
Displaying and Hiding Field and Select Guidance
The icon pointed out in the image below allows builders to control when Field Guidance and Select Guidance is displayed on read only records:
- If a field is editable, then Field and Select Guidance text will always be displayed.
- If a field is configured as read only, RiskCloud will check the state of the display guidance toggle:
- If the toggle is off (default state), then field and select guidance will be hidden on the record page.
- If the toggle is on, then field and select guidance will be displayed.
Best Practices: Tooltips vs Guidance Text
When deciding whether to add information to Guidance Text or a Tooltip, Builders should ask themselves "Is this information necessary for end users to complete the task?"
If so, then the information should be placed in a the Guidance Text. Examples of this could include:
- A longer description of the field/required information
- Instructions for how to complete this field
- Any contextual guidance that lengthy
- Any critical information that the end user must read before submitting the form
Tooltips are useful to display shorter, nice-to-have information, such as:
- An example value for a field (if short)
- A short description of non-essential information (eg; how a calculation is computed)
In general, tooltips work best for supplemental, non-critical information that enhances understanding of specific form elements. They should be used judiciously. Help text is better suited for broader instructions, examples, and explanations that users may need to reference while completing the form. The key is to make required information directly visible.
Additional Information about Fields
Pattern Validation
Fields have different options based on their Field Type. For instance, text-based Fields have the option to include Pattern Validations. Pattern Validations consist of a regular expression or RegEx string that can be entered to validate a user input. See Creating Validations Using Regular Expressions for more details.
Duplicate Prevention
Duplicate prevention is a field-level validation that checks to see if the field value already exists for another record in the workflow. The option is designed for fields that should not be duplicated within a workflow (eg; Tax IDs, Vendor IDs, etc).
To activate, select the 'Restrict users from entering existing values'. If a user attempts to enter an already existing value, then Risk Cloud will prevent them from submitting the record, throwing a generic message to the user.
This option is available on Text fields, Text Area fields (where Rich Text is disabled), and Numeric fields. It can be used in conjunction with pattern validation.
Adding Values in Select, Multi Select, and Checkbox Fields
- Field types that are based on a list of options (Select, Multi Select, Checkbox, etc.) have a Select Values tab where the list of options available to the user for selection can be configured. To enter a new option, enter the appropriate text in the box under "Text Value" and click + Add.
- The Numeric Value is the value that is used in calculations if a particular option is selected. It will default to "1" unless edited.
- The Textbox below the Text Value is for Select Guidance. This text will appear directly below select option on the record page.
- To remove a Value, click the red trash icon to the right of the Value.
- To reorder Values, drag and drop the Values into the desired order.
- To hide a Value, but keep it for historical reporting click the eye icon to the right of the Value.
- To preview what the end-user will see, navigate to Default. If you select a value for the Field in the Default tab, a new Record created will have this value as its default value. Setting a default value is optional. If no default value is selected, Select or search for value... will appear as ghost text.
Note: If you change this default value after the Application has been in use, the default value will only reflect in Records created after this change and not in old Records created prior to this change.
Best Practices: Choosing a Select Field
RiskCloud offers a variety of different select field types. When choosing which select field type to use, take into account both the type of data being collected and the user’s ease of interaction when choosing between dropdown selects, radio buttons, or checkboxes for your form design:
- When designing a form, consider using a dropdown select (or multi-select) for long lists of options to conserve space and maintain organization.
- Opt for radio buttons when users need to select one option from a small set of mutually exclusive choices, providing clear visual feedback.
- Use checkboxes for situations where users can select multiple options from a list, making it easy for them to indicate their preferences or choose from multiple applicable items.
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