Administration of Customizable Fields in SORMAS: Creation, Editing, and Management Options
This page describes the administration screen for customizable fields and every option available when creating or editing a field.
Permission required:
CUSTOMIZABLE_FIELD_MANAGEMENT.If you cannot see the Customizable Fields entry, ask your system administrator to grant you this user right.
1. Opening the administration screen
Navigate to Configuration → Customizable Fields in the SORMAS menu.
The screen consists of two parts:
Filter bar at the top,
Field list (grid) below it.
2. Filter bar
Control | Purpose |
|---|---|
Search field | Free-text search over field name, description and UI group. |
Context / Entity | Filter by context: Case, Epidemiological Data or Exposure. |
Field Type | Filter by field type (e.g. TEXT, DATE, COMBOBOX, …). |
Active | All, Active only or Inactive only. |
Reset | Clears all filters and shows the full list again. |
Create | Opens the Create Customizable Field dialog. |
3. Field list
The grid shows one row per field definition with the columns:
Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
Internal Name | The system identifier of the field. |
Context / Entity | Case, Epidemiological Data or Exposure. |
UI Group | The form section where the field is shown. |
Field Type | The data type (e.g. TEXT, DATE, COMBOBOX). |
Active | ✔ / ✘ – whether the field is currently displayed in forms. |
Read Only | ✔ / ✘ – whether the field is blocked for data entry. |
Row actions
Action | Icon | Effect |
|---|---|---|
Edit | ✏ (pencil) | Opens the field in the edit dialog. |
Clone | ⧉ (copy) | Copies the field with a new name (all settings are copied). |
Enable / Disable | ✔ / ✘ | Toggles the Active flag. Data already entered is kept. |
Delete | 🗑 (trash) | Deletes the field definition and all values entered for it (after confirmation). |
4. Creating and editing a field
Click Create to define a new field, or click the pencil icon on an existing row to edit it. Both open a dialog with the same sections. Differences when editing:
the Field Type cannot be changed anymore (the selector is locked),
the dialog title shows the field's internal name (e.g. Edit Customizable Field – myField).
The dialog is a single page with the following sections:
4.1 Basics
Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
Internal Name | ✔ | The field's system identifier. Max. 512 characters. Unique within its context. Use a short, descriptive, machine-friendly name (e.g. |
Field Type | ✔ | The data type (see 03 – Field Types Reference). Choose carefully — it cannot be changed afterwards. |
Description | – | Optional notes explaining the field's purpose. Shown as the field's help text/description in forms (and translatable, see 4.6). |
Default Value | – | Optional value automatically pre-filled on new records. The input control adapts to the field type (see below). |
Default Value input by field type:
Field type | Default value control |
|---|---|
TEXT / TEXTAREA | Free text (single line) |
NUMBER | Whole number (integers only) |
DECIMAL | Decimal number |
DATE | Date picker |
DATE_TIME | Date and time picker |
CHECKBOX | True / False selection |
YES_NO_UNKNOWN | Yes / No / Unknown selection |
COMBOBOX / CHECKBOX_LIST / RADIO_BUTTON_LIST | Dropdown containing the Field options defined below |
If you enter a Default Value that does not match the field type(e.g. letters in a NUMBER field), the dialog shows a validation error and does not save.
4.2 Field options
This section only appears for list-type fields: Combo Box, Checkbox List and Radio Button List.
Click the + button to add an option.
Each option is entered as plain text in its own row; the 🗑 button removes it.
The options become the selectable values for the field in forms.
The Default Value dropdown contains exactly the options you define here.
Tip: Empty option rows are ignored and surrounding whitespace is trimmed from each option value when saving. Enter each option only once — duplicate options in
the list are confusing for data-entry users.
4.3 Placement
Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
Context / Entity | ✔ | Where the field lives: Case, Epidemiological Data or Exposure. |
UI Group | ✔ | The form section that shows the field. The available groups depend on the selected context (e.g. Case Data General, Exposure Investigation, …). |
Line Position | – | Sorting number within the UI group. Lower numbers are placed higher on the form. Fields with the same line position are placed side by side. Empty = field is placed at the end of the group, on its own line. |
Line Weight | – | Proportional width of the field (e.g. |
Note: When you change the Context / Entity, the UI Group selection is reset, because each context has its own set of groups.
4.4 Behavior
Checkbox | Effect |
|---|---|
Active | When checked (default for new fields), the field is rendered in forms. Uncheck to hide the field while keeping its data. |
Read Only | When checked, the field is shown but users cannot change its value. |
Mandatory | When checked, the form cannot be saved until the field has a value. |
4.5 Visibility
Visible for Diseases – optional list of diseases (shown as a multi-select checkbox list, 3 columns).
Nothing selected → the field is visible for all diseases.
One or more diseases selected → the field is only rendered when the record's
disease is one of the selected diseases.
Example: a field ICU admission date restricted to COVID-19 will only be rendered on COVID-19 cases.
4.6 Translations
Provide the field's name and description in additional languages.
Click + to add a translation row.
Each row has a Language dropdown, a Name field and a Description field.
A row is only saved if a language is selected and at least one of the two text
fields is filled.If no matching translation exists for a user's language, SORMAS falls back to the
Internal Name and Description from the Basics section.
4.7 Saving
Click Save to store the field. Validation failures are shown inline at the affected fields and the save is blocked. After a successful save you are returned to the field list. Discard closes the dialog without saving.
5. Cloning a field
Cloning creates a full copy of an existing field (type, placement, behavior, visibility, options, default value and translations) under a new internal name.
Click the copy icon on the field's row.
In the Clone Customizable Field dialog, enter the new Internal Name
(required).Confirm.
The new name must be unique within the same context. Cloning is handy for creating variants of a field that only differ in a few settings (e.g. the same field for another section, or a similar field with different visibility).
6. Enabling / disabling a field
Use the ✔ / ✘ icon in the Active column to toggle a field on or off.
Disabling hides the field from all forms immediately. All values already
entered are retained — re-enabling brings the field back with its data.This is the recommended way to retire a field you may need again later.
7. Deleting a field
Click the trash icon on the field's row.
Confirm the deletion and optionally add a deletion reason.
⚠️ Deleting a field also deletes ALL values that were entered for it across all records. This cannot be undone. If you are unsure, disable the field instead of
deleting it.