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Create Custom Input Sections

Data that is input into the Profile Form and Activity Input Form provides the basis for creating multiple outputs. This article reviews how administrators can create custom input sections for Profile and Activity Input Forms from within FAR.

 

Create Custom Input Section

Navigation: Administration > Setup > Activity Input Form

  1. Click Setup under the Administration section of the navigation menu
    Administration section with Setup highlighted
  2. Click Profile Form or  Activity Input Form under the Configuration section.
  3. Click the hyperlinked number for the unit corresponding to the faculty member to be changed. If necessary, click the plus sign to expand a unit.
    • The Form Configuration screen will display, showing the list of forms that have already been created for the selected unit.
    • Click Change adjacent to Unit to select a different unit or subunit, if desired.
  4. Click the Edit (pencil) icon adjacent to the form desired to add a custom input section.
  5. Click Add Section.

    If a custom section is created, the new custom section will be available in all Activity Input Forms that exist at the same unit level. The new custom section will automatically display in the new activity input form; however, it is set to Do Not Show in the other Activity Input Forms at the same unit level.

     
    • You can also click the Edit (pencil) icon adjacent to the desired section to be modified.

      If a custom section is modified, those changes will be shown everywhere else that section is showing, regardless of the unit.

       

      Click Preview at the top of the page, at any time, to see how the new section will display in the form.

       
  6. Fill out the Activity Input Section information. Check out the accordions below for further guidance.

By default, the sections shown on the Activities screen for faculty members are based on the default Activity Input Form that is selected.

 

If a section dropdown has Reorder next to it, this means that section is a default section, and therefore the fields within this section cannot be configured (the activity classifications and section settings can still be modified). Only sections with Custom Section Reorder written next to the dropdown have configurable fields.

 

General Information

Identify the Section Name and Instructions. Instructions are important to give context for what is in the section. 

It is recommended to put instructions for every section about what data is expected to be collected, how often this data is expected to be collected if it is being pre-loaded from another system, and if it is required. Any links to important information can also be provided here.

 
 
 

Section Fields

Section Details
Subsection Name Type a name for the subsection (the default subsection name is Input Form).
Instructions Type instructions for using the subsection.
Field Label Type a name for the field.
Required Field Select the checkbox if the field is required.
Add Label to Vita Output

Select the checkbox to display the field on the vita template. This field is used to define large text boxes or rich text boxes.

For example, if the field label is Number of Hours and the value is 10, the vita output will show Number of Hours: 10 if this box is checked. On the other hand, the vita output will just show 10 if this box is not checked.

 
Field Type

The field can display as a text field, list, date field, or numeric field. The following options are available for each field type:

  • Text fields (a limit can be set for the number of characters): text box, large text area, rich text editor, URL
  • List fields (default lists include Yes/No, US States, Canadian Provinces, and Countries; additional lists can be created manually or uploaded via a .csv file): dropdown, dropdown with other, checkboxes (multi-select), radio buttons
  • Data fields: date (calendar picker), date and time, month and year, month and year with ongoing, year
  • Numeric fields: numeric, numeric total, phone number, currency
Set Default Value Specify a default value for the field
Limit Number of Characters Specify the maximum number of characters for the field. 

It is recommended to check all the boxes adjacent to Field Type, Set Default Value, and Limit Number of Characters because it is not telling you that you must include this information, it is just making it optional.

 

Use the Reorder Field dropdown on the righthand side of the field number to change the order of the fields, if desired. Fields can also be deleted using this dropdown.

 
 
 

Activity Classifications

Identifies how and where to use the activity classification. These can be used as tags/filters in reports.

 

Use the drag-and-drop function to select the activity classification to be used.

 
 

Input Form Options

Identifies who can edit and manage the data in this section.

 
Section Details
Activity Classification Order Specify the order to display the activity classification.
Data Access Used to limit faculty and administrator options for the input section
 
 

 

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