Using Custom Fields

Custom Fields allow you to make the RKStudio experience more dynamic for your participants. You can save information from participants and then use those fields in your survey.

Creating Custom Fields

To set up a custom field for your project:

1. Open your project and go to the "Project Settings" tab.
2. Select "Custom Fields."
   
3. Give the field a name, then click "Add".
   

If you have multiple projects under one organization, you must create the custom field in the settings for each project that wants to use that field. Projects that do not have the field defined will not populate data for that field.

Once a field is created, you can change its data type (text, integer, date, etc.). When you edit a custom field in the participant viewer, the system will ensure that the value matches the selected type. For example, if the type is set to "integer", the system will reject values like "1.3" or "abc" that don't fit that type.

The "Editable?" check-box may be deselected to make the field read-only. Read-only fields cannot be changed in the participant viewer or populated by surveys. This is normally used only for fields created and managed by CareEvolution.

Click the trash icon next to a custom field to delete it. Deleting custom fields will not affect previously collected survey data.

Be sure that no surveys are using a custom field before deleting it. Surveys referencing non-existent fields will have errors.

Setting Custom Fields

There are several ways to set a custom field for a participant:

• Specify the field data when inviting a participant.
• Manually enter the field data in the participant viewer.
• Populate the field data based on a participant's survey results.

You may use any combination of these tools, described below, in your project.

Setting Custom Fields in Invitations

When inviting participants, you can include their individualized custom field values in the CSV data on the invitations screen.

1. Create a column for the custom field in your CSV file.
2. Enter the field value for any participants where it's known.

Make sure you've set up the custom field in the project settings before attempting to use it in invitations. The column title for your custom field must exactly match the field name you used in the project settings.

Setting Custom Fields in the Participant Viewer

You can manually update the participant's field information on the participant viewer. Select a participant and then select the "Participant Info" tab.

Setting Custom Fields in Surveys

On a question step or form step, you can choose to save the participant's answer in a custom field.

Using Custom Fields in Questions

Custom field values can be used for text substitution in survey questions. Use <% CustomField.FieldName %> in survey text to insert the value of the custom field. For example, if you had a custom field for Medication1, you can have a survey question ask the user: When was the last time you took <% CustomField.Medication1 %>?

The custom field data must be available before the participant starts the survey. You cannot set a custom field and use it in the same survey.

The custom field name must exactly match the way you defined it in the project settings, including spacing and capitalization. If your field name is Medication1:

Using Custom Fields to Schedule Surveys

You can use custom fields to select which participants receive surveys. See Setting Project Survey Schedules.