Custom Fields

Custom fields are available on Business accounts and up. All users, except for collaborators and external users, can create custom fields and their properties.

⏱10 min read

• Overview
• Important Information
• Create, Add, and View Custom Fields
• Field Properties
• Share Custom Fields
• Edit Custom Fields
• Custom Field History
• Roll Up Custom Fields
• Roll Up Custom Field Data
• Aggregate and Sort Custom Field Data
• Custom Field Data Rollup vs. Data Aggregation
• Arrange Custom Fields on the Table View
• Hide Custom Fields on the Table View 
• Usage Tips

Overview

Use custom fields to track and enter information at the task, folder, project, or Space level. Once you enter data in a custom field, it is visible on the Table view, Task view, as well as on folder, project, or Space info panels. Use share settings to keep custom field data private or share fields with teammates to keep everyone on the same page.

Custom fields are available to regular and external users on Wrike Collaborators cannot create, edit, or fill in custom fields.

Important Information

• You can add custom fields to individual folders, projects, or Spaces or to chains of folders/projects and subfolders/subprojects.
• There is no limit to the number of custom fields you can add to a folder, project, or Space.
• Use filters to display tasks based on custom field criteria.
• Custom field data is automatically exported when you export a folder, project, or Space to Excel.
• Types of custom fields that allow you to add values manually, e.g., text, don't limit the number of characters you can enter.​

Create, Add, and View Custom Fields

Create a Custom Field

1. Select a folder, project, or Space from the workspace’s left-hand Navigation panel.
2. Switch to the Table view. 1
3. Click the “+” sign 2 that appears on the right-hand side of the table.
4. Type in a name for your new field and press “Enter” on your keyboard.
5. Specify field properties on the pop-up which appears. You have options to:
   • Edit the field name 3
   • Choose a field type 4
   • Default aggregation (available for numeric custom fields: Number, Percentage, Currency, and Duration)
   • Select where to apply your custom fields 5
   • Designate who the field should be shared with 6
6. Click "Create."

Your custom field is created and added to the locations you specified in step 5.

Add an Existing Custom Field

1. Select a folder, project, or Space from the workspace’s left-hand Navigation panel.
2. Switch to the Table view.
3. Click the “+” sign that appears on the right-hand side of the table.
4. Begin typing the name of the custom field you would like to add.
5. Select the custom field from the dropdown list when it appears.

View Custom Fields

In order to view a custom field:

• The project or folder where the custom field is visible must be shared with you (you must have access to it).
• The project or folder where the custom field is added* must be shared with you (you must have access to it).
• You should be a member of a Space, in which the custom field is added/visible.
• The custom field must be shared with you.

*The folder, project, or Space where a field is added may be different from the folder, project or Space where it is visible. For example, if a field is added to a parent folder/project it may be visible on all of its subfolders/subprojects. In this case, a user must have access to the folder/project where the field is added in order to be able to see the field on a subfolder/subproject.

Field Properties

Types of Custom Fields

Use field types to designate what type of information can or should be entered in a custom field. There are 10 field types to choose from:

Field Type	Data Type	Suggested Use Case
Text	text or numerals	use when you need to enter data in multiple formats
Dropdown	users select an entry from a list of options specified by the field creator	use when you need to limit selections to specific options
Checkbox	users check or uncheck a box	use when you need to sort data based on yes/no criteria
Number	numerals (decimal places built in)	use when you need to work with numerical values
Percentage	numerals, a % symbol is automatically added	use when you need to track data as a percentage
Currency	numerals, the designated currency symbol is shown	use when you’re tracking expenses or working on a budget
Duration	users enter the number of hours the task, folder or project should take to complete	use to see, at a glance, how much time a project should take
Date	dates	use when you want to add sensitive dates to a task, folder or project (apart from the start or due date)
Users	select a user or users - can be from a predefined list of users or any user who is part of the subscription	when you need to associate users with a task, folder or project
Multi-select*	users select multiple entries from a list of options specified by the field creator	use when you need to select multiple options from a predefined set of options
Formula	The field shows calculated results for the custom formula you created. You can use the following types of fields while creating a formula: Number, Currency, Percentage, Duration, and Date.	Use it when you need to calculate custom values.

 

*Multi-select custom fields can be created only from within Table view. Data entered into this field type can be edited from the Table view and Task view.

Apply Custom Fields to Select Folder Levels

When you create or edit a custom field, you can choose what levels the field should be applied at. Apply the field to:

• Spaces, folders, projects, tasks and subtasks to add the field to descendent folders, projects, tasks and subtasks. This is the default option selected.
• Folders and projects to add the field to descendant subfolders and subprojects, but not to tasks or subtasks.
• Projects to add the field to descendant subprojects only.

Share Custom Fields

You can share a custom field independently of who a Space, folder, or project is shared with. Someone can have access to a Space, folder, or project (and all tasks within them), but if a custom field isn’t shared with them, then they won’t be able to see the field.

How to Share a Custom Field

1. Create a custom field or edit an existing custom field.
2. Click the sharing option at the bottom of the field properties pop-up.
3. Share the field with the users who should have access to the field. The default sharing setting for a custom field is “Shared with everyone.”

What Sharing Entails

What it means to share a custom field depends on whether or not a user has access to the folder, project, or Space where the field is visible.

Option 1: Share a Field with Data and as a Template

Users who the folder, project, or Space is shared with:

• Can see field data which has been entered for items in the folder, project, or Space
• Can add the custom field as a template (see below)

Option 2: Share the Field as a Template

For users who do not have access to the folder, project, or Space where the field is added, the field is shared as a template. These users:

• Remain unable to access the folders, projects, or Spaces where the field was added. Custom field sharing settings do not change a Space, folder, or project's share settings.
• Do not automatically see the custom field on associated subfolders or subprojects, but they can add the field by clicking the "+" icon 1 on the right-hand side of the table and then selecting it from the custom field dropdown 2. When they add the field, they will see any field data which has already been entered for tasks in the subfolder/subproject.
• Can add a custom field with the same name and field properties as yours, to their own folders, projects, or Spaces. However, none of the cell data from your field is carried over to them.

Edit Custom Fields

1. Select a folder, project, or Space from the workspace’s left-hand Navigation panel.
2. Switch to the Table view.
3. Hover over the name of the custom field you would like to edit.
4. Click the dropdown arrow which appears to the right of the field’s name.
5. Select “Edit column type”.

The field properties pop-up appears and you can edit your field’s: name, type, where the field is applied, and who it should be shared with. Click “Save” when you’re done to apply your changes.

Note! Editing custom field properties doesn't affect the existing field values. Even if you change the field's type, the current value stays the same until you change it.  

Custom Field History

Custom Field History is available for regular and external users on Business and higher accounts.

Use Custom Field History to see how custom field values changed over time. Once an admin enables it in Labs, all regular and external users can see the Custom Field History on the Task view and folder/project info panels.

1. Open a Task view or folder/project info panel.
2. If you don't see custom fields, click the square icon in the toolbar at the top of the window, to expand them.
3. Hover over a custom field whose previous values you want to see.
4. Click the clock icon.
5. In the overlaying window, which opens, you will see:
   • All values which were entered in the field. They appear in a chronological order: older values appear closer to the top.
   • The name of the user who'd entered a value.
   • The date of the change.

Roll Up Custom Fields

You can make a custom field added to a subfolder or subproject visible on its parent folder or project. To do this:

1. Click the gear icon in the table’s upper left-hand corner.
2. Check or uncheck the box next to a column name to show or hide that column from view.

You will be able to view and edit field data for the parent folder/project and all tasks and subfolders/subprojects inside it. Note, that the field won't be visible in the Task view or project or folder Info panel of items where the field wasn't explicitly added.

Roll Up Custom Field Data

Regular users can enable custom field data rollup for projects and folders. 

You can roll up data from the Number, Percentage, Currency, and Duration custom fields in the project/folder info panel and Table view.

When you enable custom field data rollup:

• Wrike takes all values of this custom field from the subprojects/subfolders*, tasks, and subtasks within the project or folder; automatically calculates the sum or an average; and enters the result in the project’s or folder's custom field.
• Wrike calculates the rolled up value for the project/folder as sum or average according to the default aggregation set for this custom field.
• If you or other users manually entered a value for this custom field in the project/folder before, it’ll be cleared and replaced with the rolled up value.
• The project/folder’s custom field will not be editable until you disable the data rollup.

*Values from subprojects are taken into account only if they were entered manually. If the subproject’s custom field value was also rolled up, it won’t be counted.

To roll up custom field data for a project/folder:

1. Select a project/folder from the left-hand Navigation panel.
2. Open the project/folder’s info panel.
3. Hover over the custom field you want to roll up the data for.
4. Click on the “Aggregate values from children”  icon*.

The rolled up value is automatically entered in the custom field of the project/folder. To disable data rollup for this project/folder, simply click on the icon from Step 4 again and the custom field will become editable.

*If you do not see the rollup icon, that means this custom field’s default aggregation is set as “None.” You need to change it to “Sum” or “Average.”

To enable or disable data rollup for multiple projects:

1. In the left-hand Navigation panel, select a folder, project, or Space that contains all projects you want to enable or disable the rollup for.
2. Switch to the Table view.
3. Click the caret icon next to the name of the field you’d like to roll up.
4. In the menu that appears, hover over "Roll up."*
5. Select “Enable/Disable for all projects.”
6. Confirm your decision in the pop-up that appears.

*If you don’t see this option, that means this custom field’s default aggregation is set as “None.” You need to change it to “Sum” or “Average.”

Values in this field are immediately rolled up for all projects that are currently on the view. Or, if you choose to disable, the rollup is disabled and the custom field becomes editable.

Wrike Tip! Rollup is also available for project dates.

Aggregate and Sort Custom Field Data

Aggregating data allows you to automatically run calculations for custom fields* with numeric values (all text entries are omitted). There are two types of aggregation:

• Sum — Wrike automatically sums up all numeric entries and displays the total.
• Average — all entered values are added together and then divided by the total number of entries.

To use the aggregation feature on the Table view:

1. From within the Table view, find the custom field with the data you would like to aggregate and click the caret icon which appears to the right of the field’s name.
2. Hover over “Aggregation”.
3. Select the type of aggregation: “Sum” or “Average”.

1. Click on the caret icon which appears to the right of the field’s name.
   
2. Select “Edit Custom Field”.
   
3. In the pop-up that appears scroll to the “Default Aggregation” field.
   
4. Select the preferred type of aggregation.
   
5. Click “Save”.

Sort Data

Need to sort tasks depending on their priority tag in custom fields? To sort data: 

1. Select a folder, project or Space and switch to the Table view.
2. Find the custom field with the data you would like to sort.
3. Click on the field’s name or the arrow icon which appears next to the field’s name.
4. Click the field’s name again to change the sorting.

Custom Field Data Rollup vs. Data Aggregation

1. The purpose of data rollup is to automatically fill in a project’s custom field based on the custom field values of its tasks and subtasks. The purpose of aggregation is to calculate the sum or average of all custom field values for all projects, tasks, and subtasks that you add on the Table view currently.
2. Data rollup automatically calculates custom field values of tasks and subtasks within a project and sets the result of the calculation as the project’s custom field value. Data aggregation calculates the custom field values and displays them on the Table view.
3. Data rollup can be enabled in the project’s info panel and the Table view. Data aggregation is only enabled on the Table view.
4. Data rollup’s type cannot be changed from the Table view because it depends on the custom field’s setting; you need to edit the custom field and change the default aggregation type. On the other hand, with data aggregation, you can change the type to “Sum”, “Average,” or “None” right on the Table view.

Arrange Custom Fields on the Table View

On the Table view, each custom field appears in its own column and you can rearrange the order which columns appear in. To do this:

1. Click on a column's title.
2. Drag the column to the place where you would like it to appear and then release the mouse button.

Hide Custom Fields on the Table View

You can hide custom fields when viewing the folder, project, or space in the Table view. In that case, the field is only hidden from the Table view but it's still visible in other views.

1. Open the relevant folder, project, or space in Table view.
2. Click the gear icon on the left side of the table.
3. Uncheck the box next to the custom field you want to remove.

Alternatively, you can hover over the title of the custon field column, click the arrow that appears to the right, and select ​"Hide column​​".

Usage Tips

• You can use custom fields and the checkbox field type to quickly get together the relevant information for your weekly report. Detailed instructions on how to do this here.
• More usage inspiration and real-life applications of this feature are available on our blog: https://www.wrike.com/blog/personalize-wrike-new-custom-fields/.