Your own record types and form layouts

Add your own lists next to Leads and Deals (Properties, Vehicles, Students, Projects), link them to contacts and deals, and arrange every form your way - sections, required and read-only fields, and rules.

Leads, Deals, Contacts and Companies fit most sales work. But many businesses keep something else too: a real estate agent has properties, a car dealer has vehicles, a school has students, a builder has projects. Record types let you add those lists yourself, in a couple of minutes and without any coding.

Make a record type

Admins and managers open Settings > Record types and click New record type. You can also start from one of the ideas shown (Properties, Vehicles, Students, Projects, Machines, Events) and rename it.

After saving, you land on Settings > Custom fields for the new type. Add the details you keep for each record - for a property: Address, Price, Bedrooms, Type (Flat / Plot / House), Status (Available / Sold) and so on. Every field type works: text, numbers, amounts, dates, dropdowns, multi-select, yes / no, email, phone, website.

You can drag the record types to change their order in the menu. A record type can be deleted once it has no records.

Link records together

Choose the field type Link to a record to join records. For example, give Properties a field Owner that links to Contacts. Then:

• On the property's form, you search and pick the contact.
• The contact's page shows a card Properties listing every property they own, with a + Property button that adds a new one already linked to them.

A link can point to contacts, companies, deals, leads or another record type. You can add link fields to deals and leads too - for example a Property field on deals, so each deal shows the property being sold, and the property lists its deals.

Work with the records

Each record type gets everything Leads and Deals have:

• A list with search, filters (owner, tag, any dropdown or yes / no field), your chosen columns and sorting. Tick records to delete them or give them to someone.
• Excel: download the list, or Import a sheet - the columns are matched to your fields for you.
• A record page with the details (click a value to change it), linked records, tags, files, and the activity feed: notes with @mentions, calls, meetings and tasks, and the full history of changes.
• Follow a record to hear about changes.
• Search (Ctrl + K) finds records by their name or number.
• Reports: in Reports > New report, choose your record type under Report on. Group by owner, any dropdown or link field, or the date added; show the count, or the total / average of any number or amount field.
• Workflows: in Settings > Automation, a workflow can start when a record is added, changed or given to someone. It can create a follow-up, alert someone, change the owner, add a tag or send the record to a web address.
• API and webhooks: other software can read and write them (/records?type=properties) and be told when one is added, changed or deleted.
• Custom roles (Security & audit) have a switch Custom record types to choose how much each role sees and what it can do.

Your plan sets how many record types you can have: Standard 2, Professional 10, Business 25. If you move to a smaller plan, the extra types stay - you can still see and export them, but not add to them.

Arrange a form (form layouts)

Open Settings > Form layouts and pick the form: Leads, Deals, Contacts, Companies or one of your record types. Nothing changes until you save, and Back to the standard form undoes it all.

• Sections: group fields under titles such as Basics, Address, Requirements. Click Add a section, type its title, and drag fields into it.
• Order and width: drag a field to move it; the ½ / Full button makes it half or full width.

• Click a field's cog button to set:

  • Required - it must be filled in before saving.
  • Hide it from the form - for fields you never use. What was saved stays.
  • Read-only for Managers and / or Sales - they see it but can't change it. Admins can always change everything.

The record's name (and a deal's pipeline and stage) always stays on the form.

Layout rules

A layout rule shows or requires fields only when they are needed. Click + Rule under Layout rules:

1. When - pick a field, how it compares (is, is not, contains, is more than, is less than, is empty, is filled in) and the value.
2. Show these fields - they stay hidden until the condition is true.
3. Make these required - they must be filled in while the condition is true.

Examples:

• When Status is Junk, show and require Reason.
• When Type is Plot, show Plot area (it stays hidden for flats and houses).
• When Amount is more than 500000, require Approval note.

Validation rules

A validation rule stops a wrong value when saving. Click + Rule under Validation rules, pick the field and the check:

• numbers: more than, at least, less than, at most;
• dates: not in the past, not in the future, after or before a date;
• text: at least / at most so many characters, digits only.

Add your own message if you like, e.g. The amount must be more than zero. The rule is checked only when the field is filled in.

Rules and required fields are checked on every save - from the form, a change in place on the record's page, or the API - so they can't be skipped.

The form designer is in the Standard plan and above; layout and validation rules are in Professional and Business.