Overview
VueMinder Ultimate 9.0 adds the ability to define custom data fields for contacts, events, tasks, and notes. Custom data can also be imported or exported, and will sync over a local network when using VueMinder Server.
Note: This feature is not available in the Pro or Lite versions. It's exclusive to the new Ultimate version, which provides a number of other high-end features.
Defining a Custom Field
Custom fields are defined on the "Custom" tab of the Contact, Event, Task, and Note Editors. Each editor type has its own set of custom data fields. To define a new custom field, click the "New Field" button on the Custom tab.
After clicking the "New Field" button, a "New Custom Field" window will appear where the field name and type can be specified.
The type will default to "Text", but other types are also supported.
After the custom data field has been defined, it will appear in the "Custom" tab of the editor window, both for the item currently being edited as well as all other items of the same type. For example, if a new custom field is defined on the Contact Editor, the new field will now be available when editing any other contact. In the example below, four custom fields have been defined for contacts. Most fields will be blank until data values are entered.
Entering Custom Data
After custom fields have been defined, data can be entered on the Custom tab, simply by clicking in text field to the right of the custom field and entering a desired value. Depending on the field type, editing the value may vary. For example, the "Yes/No" field type will present a drop-down list consisting of "Yes", "No", and "Maybe". The "Number" field will be a numeric editor, where letters can't be entered. The "Date" field will include a drop-down button for picking a date from a calendar. The "Text" field is the most generic and allows entry of almost any value.
In the example below, values have been entered for several custom fields.
Reordering Custom Fields
Custom fields will be arranged based on the order in which they were defined. However, fields can be re-arranged using the "Move Up" and "Move Down" buttons. Click in the field you'd like to move up or down, and then click the "Move Up" or "Move Down" button. The new field order will be used in all editors of the current type.
Deleting Custom Fields
To delete a custom field, click the "Delete Field" button and then pick the field to be removed. Next, click the OK button and confirm deletion.
List Views
Custom field values will be displayed in columns of the Contact, Event, Task, and Note list views. You can select which custom columns should be visible by right-clicking the column header and checking or unchecking the custom field names under the "Custom" sub-menu. All the other column features, such as filtering, sorting, resizing, re-arranging, printing, exporting to Excel, etc., will also work with the custom field columns.
Importing and Exporting Custom Data
The Ultimate version improves importing from Excel, CSV, or tab-delimited text files by automatically creating new custom fields for any column names that aren't recognized or don't map to an existing field. During the import, a window will appear where the field mapping can be specified. Any new fields will be highlighted in yellow, so the user can determine if a new field should be created or if the imported data should map to something else.
Exporting custom fields works much the same as exporting the other data fields. For example, when exporting to Excel, custom fields will be exported as columns. When exporting to ICS, custom fields will be an extension to the file and can be imported by other users into VueMinder Ultimate. The custom fields will be ignored if importing into VueMinder Lite or Pro.
Sharing Custom Fields and Data
When data is shared over a local network, any custom data fields added on one computer will automatically propagate to other computers. Nothing needs to be done to enable this feature. It will happen automatically for any installations of VueMinder Ultimate that are configured via the Sharing Options to share data over the local network. Instructions for sharing data can be found here.
