Athean custom fields

Athean custom fields hold extra information on accounts or contacts, such as an account's qualification tier, a contact's area of interest, or a research review date. Values appear in the Custom fields section of each record, and fields can be used as Discover filters and table columns.

• Admin-managed definitions: only organization administrators can create and change fields, in Org settings → Athean custom fields.
• One record type per field: each field belongs to accounts or to contacts. A field on accounts doesn't add the same field to their contacts.
• Stored in Athean: values stay in Athean and aren't written to Salesforce. Salesforce live fields, which show CRM values on records, are set up separately (see Layout configuration). Both appear in the record's Custom fields section.
• Fields synced from Salesforce: a contact field can be marked Synced from Salesforce. Its values are copied from Salesforce daily and are read-only in Athean. Synced fields can't be created from the settings page.

1. In Org settings → Athean custom fields, select the Accounts or Contacts tab, then select New.
2. Enter the field name, such as Qualification tier, and a Description. The description appears as help text on the field's label in records.
3. Check the Field key. Athean fills it in from the name. It must start with cf_ followed by a lowercase letter, and use only lowercase letters, numbers, and underscores. If the name starts with a number or symbol, edit the key.
4. Choose a Type: Text, Number, Yes / No, Dropdown, Date, or Date and time. For a dropdown, enter Dropdown choices (one per line).
5. For any type except Text, choose whether to turn on Index this field for faster filtering. Text fields can't be indexed.
6. Optionally, set a Default value (see below).
7. Leave Available in filters on if people should be able to filter by the field. For a contact field, also check Show on contact cards and in tables.
8. Select Create field, or Discard to drop the draft. Then open a record and check the field in Custom fields.

The Field key, Type, and indexing can't be changed after you create the field. You can change the name, description, dropdown choices, default value, filter choices, and contact visibility later: select the field, edit it, and select Save field.

How defaults apply: a new field's default is added to records that already have custom values. Other records get it when a custom value is first saved on them. Changing the default later doesn't overwrite existing values, so check real records instead of assuming every record shows the default.

Field limits:

• Names up to 128 characters; descriptions up to 2,048 characters.
• Field keys up to 47 characters.
• Dropdowns: 1 to 100 unique choices, each up to 128 characters.
• Text values up to 4,096 characters.
• Numbers up to 11 digits before the decimal point and 4 after it.
• Athean also limits how many active fields, total fields (archived ones included), and indexed fields each record type can have.

1. Open the account or contact and find the Custom fields section. Athean custom fields appear there next to any Salesforce live fields.
2. Select the pencil next to the field (Edit followed by the field name).
3. Enter a value. For Yes / No and Dropdown fields, choose from the list.
4. Select Save. If saving fails, read the error, correct the value, and save again.

• Clear a value: delete the text, number, or date, or choose No value for a Yes / No or Dropdown field. Then select Save. An empty field shows a dash.
• Each field saves on its own. Salesforce live fields in the same section work differently: their changes wait for Save to Salesforce. See Accounts & contacts.
• Synced from Salesforce fields are read-only. The pencil is unavailable, and its tooltip names the Salesforce object and field. Change the value in Salesforce, and Athean copies it during the daily sync. Synced fields have no default, so a contact without a Salesforce value stays empty.
• In Chat: you can ask Athean to read, update, or filter by custom field values. Chat can't create or change field definitions, and it can't edit synced fields.

An administrator sets how a field can be filtered. Select the field in Org settings → Athean custom fields and use Filter choices:

1. Turn on Available in filters.
2. For Number, Date, and Date and time fields, choose whether to Allow a custom range.
3. For a Number field, you can add named ranges under Range choices. Select Add range, then enter a Range label, From, and Below. The From value is included and the Below value isn't. Leave either one blank for an open-ended range.
4. For a Date or Date and time field, select the Date choices to offer, such as Today, Last 30 days, This quarter, or Next 90 days.
5. Select Save field.

A Number, Date, or Date and time field appears in the filter menu only if Allow a custom range is on or the field has at least one range or date choice.

To filter by a field:

1. Open Tools → Discover and choose the Accounts or Contacts tab.
2. Select Add filter and find the field under Account or Contact.
3. Choose a value, range, or date choice, and check a few of the matching records.

Custom field filters combine with your other filters. To reuse a combination, save it as a view (see Saved views). Each field is also available as a table column named after the field followed by · Athean. These columns are hidden until you add them to the table.

• Hide a contact field: turn off Show on contact cards and in tables and select Save field. The field no longer shows on contact cards or as a table column for anyone in your organization. Its values and filter settings stay, and it can still be used as a filter. Hiding changes what's displayed; it doesn't restrict access to the values.
• Stop filtering by a field: turn off Available in filters and select Save field. The field leaves the filter menu, and filters on it stop working, including filters in Chat.
• Archive a field: select the field, select the archive button (Archive this field), and confirm Archive field. The field is hidden from record details, columns, and filters, and its stored values are kept. Save or discard unsaved edits first.
• Restore a field: check Show archived, select the field, and select Restore this field.

Before hiding or archiving a field, check the saved views and workflows that use it. To change a field's type, create a new field with the type you need, re-enter the values you want to keep, and then archive the old field. An archived field keeps its key, so the new field needs a different one.

• The settings page says Only organization administrators can manage custom fields: ask an organization administrator to make the change.
• A contact field is missing from cards or tables: check whether it's archived or Show on contact cards and in tables is off. Custom field columns stay hidden in tables until you add them.
• A field is missing from the filter menu: check its record type, check that it isn't archived, and check that Available in filters is on. Number and date fields also need Allow a custom range or at least one range or date choice.
• Search results don't match a value you just changed: reopen the record to check the saved value. Account search results can keep earlier matches for a while before they refresh, so an outdated match doesn't mean the save failed.
• The pencil is unavailable: the field is synced from Salesforce. Change the value in Salesforce.
• A synced value looks out of date: check the value in Salesforce and wait for the daily sync.
• Creating a field shows field key is already reserved: another field, possibly an archived one, uses that key. Enter a different Field key.
• Saving shows custom field limit reached or active field limit reached: the record type is at a field limit. If you're creating an indexed field, try it without indexing. Archiving a field frees room only under the active-field limit. Otherwise, contact support.
• A dropdown choice can't be removed: records still use it. Change those values first. Values kept on deleted records count too, so contact support if the error remains.
• Fields don't load: select Retry or Try again. A loading error doesn't mean the record has no values.

For other problems, contact support with the field name, the account or contact, and the message shown.