Process Fields

Process fields are used to capture and carry information in your Processes. There are various field types to fit your needs.

Adding a Process Field to your Process

To add a process field, do the following:

Open the desired template by clicking Administration > Processes > Template Diagrams > The card of the process you want to edit
Click the Process field icon in the menu in the top right > New Process Field
Give your field a name and select a field type
Click the Save icon at the top of the panel

Editing a Process Field

Open the desired template by clicking Administration > Processes > Template Diagrams > The card of the process you want to edit
Click the Process field icon in the menu in the top right > 3 dot button to the right of the field you want to edit > Edit
Make desired changes and click the Save icon at the top of the panel

Types of Process Fields

Text (Single Line) and Text (Multiline) - Fields for holding text. The single-line field holds up to 4,000 characters. The multiline field grows as you type and has no practical length limit, so it suits long notes, pasted documents, and anything an AI Employee writes back into the process - but only the first 4,000 characters of a field are searchable
Conversation - A running thread of messages that your team and your customers both add to. Each message can carry files, and nobody can change a message once it is posted. See Conversation Fields
Drop Down List - Displays a list of options, only one option can be selected.
Radio Buttons - Displays a multiple choice style list of options, only one option can be selected
Checklist - Displays a list of options, multiple options can be selected
Date Picker - A field that allows you to select a date
Time Picker - A field that allows you to select a time
Date/Time Picker - A field that allows you to select a date and time
Date List - A field that holds a list of dates
Merge Document Link - A field that holds a created ProcessPlan merge document
File Attachment - A field that stores a file. Files up to 1 GB are supported
Rich Text Editor - A field that allows you to add a text editor into your process
Email Address - A field that stores an email address. A valid email address must be placed into the field
User List (Lookup) - A field that allows the user to select from a list of all users in the account. This field can be filtered based on the value of another field
User List (Limited) - A field that allows you to select a user from a preselected user group
User List (All) - A field that allows you to select a user group and then a user. You can limit it to certain groups and require a person; see Offering only certain groups in a User List (All) field
User List (Multiple) - A field that allows you to select multiple groups of users
User Role List - A field that allows you to select an option from a list of your user roles
User Group List - A field that allows you to select an entire user group
AI Employee List - A field that allows you to select one of your AI Employees
URL - A field that holds a URL. A valid URL must be stored in this field
Numeric - A field that holds a number. The number(s) in the field can be formatted for domestic and international formats
Percent - A field that displays its value as a percentage
Rating - A field answered with one click on a short scale: 5 stars by default, or a 10-point scale chosen in the field’s Scale setting. The 0 to 10 scale, the shape Net Promoter Score uses, is drawn as numbered buttons. The answer is stored as a number, so it filters, sorts and totals like a Numeric field, and a Rating with a Calculated Value such as =AVG can average several other Rating fields into an overall score. Put Rating fields on a public form to ask your customers how a process went Turn on This is the overall rating on one Rating field per process to make its value the run’s customer rating, shown as the Customer Rating column in process lists and read by the AI Strategist. See Customer Ratings
Digital eSignature - A field that holds a person’s e-signature. People sign it on a public form that shows it, or on a Merge Document that has a signature block for it. A signature made on a Merge Document appears, with its SIG code, only on that document. A signature made on a public form appears on every Merge Document of that process. Everywhere else, such as on a task, the field shows the signature but can’t be signed, and nothing requires it
Signature Canvas - A field where the user draws their signature with a mouse, finger, or stylus
Sequential Number - This field adds the next number in a sequence to your Process field in each instance of your process. Users can determine where the sequence starts.
Sequential Number (Subprocess) - This field counts the number of times a subprocess has been started
Password - A field for holding passwords. Values in this field are hidden by default. Records can be searched and sorted by a Password field, but its values are never shown: tables show bullets in their place, and the AI Strategist, the AI Assistant and AI Agent actions never see them. See Where a protected value travels, and where it doesn’t
Unique Number - This field adds a unique number to your Process field in each instance of your process
Process Table Lookup (Single) - A field that pulls in or “Looks up” a single value from another process. Clicking the value in the process field will take you to the source process table
Process Table Lookup (Multiple) - A field that pulls in or “Looks up” multiple values from another process. Clicking the value in the process field will take you to the source process table
Process Table Checklist - A field that pulls in and allows you to select multiple values from another process
Process Table Query - A field that allows you to select specific instances of a process
Process Table Radio Buttons - A field that presents instances from another process as a multiple choice list, only one can be selected
Process Table Sum / Average / Count / Median / Distinct Count - Fields that calculate a value (a total, an average, a count, and so on) across instances of another process. Count needs no field of its own; the rest read a numeric field on that process
Process Table Min (Number) / Max (Number) - The lowest or highest value of a numeric field across the instances that match, such as the largest order on an account
Process Table Min (Date) / Max (Date) - The earliest or latest date across the instances that match, such as the next renewal date or the last time an order shipped. Pick the variant that matches the field you are reading, and the list of fields to choose from narrows to the ones it can read
Subprocess Launcher / Line Items - A field that allows you to add more instances to a process table of your choice
Merge Document Lookup (Multiple) - A field that allows you to select a merge document from a specific process
Parent Process Link - A process field that provides a link back to the parent process that initiated the current process
Process Instance Link - A field that holds a clickable link to any process instance
Process Name Lookup - A field that allows you to select one of your process templates by name
Section Header - This field will provide a header/divider for your process fields
Display Only Text - A field that displays text that can’t be edited
Display Only URL - A field that displays a URL that can’t be edited
Display Only File - A field that holds a file. Once uploaded, the file can be downloaded but not edited
Saved Data Query - A field that is populated based on a query that has been saved in ProcessPlan
Custom Data Query - A field that is populated by a data query that is entered on the Process Field. The query holds up to 2,000 characters, counting each process field it names as about 30. A longer query is not saved. Put quotes around a token that holds text. See Using tokens in a query
JavaScript Code Source - A drop down list whose options are produced by one of your saved JavaScript functions. See Populating Drop Down Options with JavaScript
Automated Action Button - A button in the process that runs an automated action when clicked
Serialized Data - A field that stores structured data for use by automations and integrations
ConnectWise Company / Contact / Opportunity / Service Ticket / Project Ticket / Agreement / Member / Board / Ticket Status / Ticket Type / Ticket Sub Type / Ticket Item / Work Type / Work Role - Fields that search your live ConnectWise data and store the record the user picks. These types appear only when your account is connected to ConnectWise. See ConnectWise Manage

Process Field Settings

Required - A value must be entered in this field everywhere the field is shown, on every task that displays it and at process start if it is displayed there. To require a value on only one task instead, use that task’s Task Field Settings (see Controlling Process Fields)
Secure - With this option enabled, a user must Log in to ProcessPlan to see this value. The value will not be displayed in Task Assignment emails.
Unique - A field marked Unique must contain a unique piece of data for every instance of this process
Read Only - Once a value is entered in a read only field, it cannot be edited
Display this field when starting the process - This field will be displayed to be filled out when the process is started
Share this field with parent processes - If this field is mapped in any subprocess, the value is passed back to the parent process each time someone changes and saves the subprocess’s fields, and again when the subprocess completes. A shared file field gives the parent’s field the same files as the subprocess’s field. If the subprocess’s file field is empty, the parent’s files are left as they are.
Read only on public forms - On public forms, once a value is entered into this field, it can’t be edited
Merge into emails and documents as HTML - Available on text fields. Normally, any HTML tags in a text field’s value appear as written when the field is placed in an email or merge document. Turn this on when the field holds HTML you built on purpose, such as a table row that an automated action assembles for an email, and that HTML is applied instead. Anything in it that could run a script is still removed. Only turn this on for a field whose value comes from your own team or your own automations: someone filling the field on a public form could otherwise change how your emails and documents look.

Offering only certain groups in a User List (All) field

A User List (All) field asks for a user group first, then a user in that group. Two settings on the field narrow that choice:

Offer Only These User Groups - Choose the groups the field offers. The group list then shows only those groups, in the order you chose them. Leave it empty to offer every group.
Require one person (no “Anyone in the group”) - The user list no longer offers Anyone in the group, so someone must pick a person in the chosen group. A task assigned from this field then goes to that person rather than to the whole group.

For example, a “Purchasing Review” field can offer only the “Purchasing” and “Purchasing 2” groups and require one person. Whoever fills it in picks one of the two groups, then a person in that group, and never has to search a combined list of both groups.

These settings apply wherever people fill in the field, including tasks and public forms. If a process already holds a group the field no longer offers, that value stays until someone changes the field; a group from the list must then be chosen. Automated actions and AI Employees are not limited by these settings. When an automated action fills the field with a person, ProcessPlan uses the first offered group that person belongs to, or their first group if they belong to none of them.

A User List (Limited) or User List (All) field only takes a person who is in its group. If a value names someone outside it, for example a default value that copies a person from another field, the form or the API is told Field Person Not In Group: Reviewer takes a person who is in Purchasing, and nothing is saved. Automated actions and AI Employees are not limited by this either.

Field Instructions

Field Instructions - Text entered into this field will appear when the process field is hovered over

Calculated Value

The calculated value field is where calculations can be performed using functions. The results of the calculation will be placed in the field. For more information on ProcessPlan functions, see Functions and Formulas. When and how often the calculations occur can be customized via the options below.

Calculate Only Once (Default Value) - The value in this field will be placed in the field as a default value
Calculate Only If Field Is Empty - The value in this field will be recalculated if the field is empty
Calculate If Field Token Value Changes - The value in this field will be recalculated only if the new value is different from the previous value
Calculate Always - The value in this field will be recalculated every time an update happens in the process

A calculated value holds up to 4,000 characters. Each field token counts as about 30 characters, whatever length its label shows in the box. The other formulas on a field hold less: 2,000 characters for the validation and background color formulas, and 1,000 for the minimum, maximum and hide formulas. A formula that is too long is not saved: you are told how long it is, so you can shorten it and save again.

Validation Formula

The Field Validation Formula (Fail If False) prevents a field from being saved when the formula returns false. Use it to enforce rules a field type alone can’t express, such as requiring a number to fall in a range that depends on another field. Use the field token button to reference other fields in the formula.

When a person saves a value that fails the formula, they see a message naming the field, such as Field Validation Failed: Amount, and none of the fields they changed are saved until they fix it. Automated actions aren’t held to the formula.

Background Color Formula

The Field Background Color Formula calculates a background color for the field, shown on both process forms and process table columns. The formula should return a color in hexadecimal format (for example #f0f0f0), or no value for no background. Background colors are useful for visualizing metrics and highlighting key values.

Hiding Process Fields

Process fields can be hidden from tasks and public forms if the result of a formula is true

To enter a “hide” formula, do the following:

Open the desired template by clicking Administration > Processes > Template Diagrams > The card of the process you want to edit
Click the Process field icon in the menu in the top right. On the field you want to hide, click the 3 dot navigation button > Edit
Scroll to the Hide Field Formula section and enter your formula

A hide formula can depend on who is looking at the field. For example, =NOT(=ISCONTEXT(<HR user group ID>)) hides a field from everyone outside the HR group, and a formula that compares one of the Current User tokens, such as the viewer’s email address, hides it from everyone but the people it names. Either way the field is decided fresh for each person who opens the record.

A hide formula keeps your forms and tables tidy for the people using them. It isn’t a security feature, because you decide where else the field’s value goes. To keep a value from people, use a Password field, or keep it in records they can’t open using process visibility.

Where a protected value travels, and where it doesn’t

A Password field is protected everywhere. A field hidden by a who-is-looking formula is left out of a few places, and everywhere else you decide where its value goes.

Process tables and AI chats leave out a field hidden from you. Your process tables and exports don’t show its value, including in their totals and summary charts. When you ask the AI Strategist or the AI Assistant about the process, it doesn’t see the value either. Both can still search, sort and look up records by the field, as you can.
The AI Strategist leaves them out of its findings. Its findings are read in chat by everybody, so it doesn’t quote these fields, total them or compare groups of records by them. If a focus area is set to read one, for example as the field holding your customers’ names, the AI Strategist stops and tells you why. A detail it can do without, such as a customer’s city, is skipped and the rest of its work carries on. A field hidden from everyone equally, by a formula about the record’s own values rather than about who is looking, is used as usual.
The default process name leaves them out. The default name uses your first three fields, which nobody picked on purpose, and a process name shows in process tables. So a Password field or a field hidden this way comes out blank there.
Anything you set up can use a field hidden this way. You decide where its value goes. A calculated value, an action that updates a field, a subprocess’s field mapping, a PDF template box, a public form’s text, a process name you wrote, a conversation author label, a field token in an email, a webhook or Zapier payload, and the “all fields” blocks can all use it, even when the person whose save runs them can’t see the field. The value then shows to whoever can see where you put it. For example, a calculated field that copies it becomes an ordinary field with its own column in process tables, and a public form’s text shows it to anyone with the link.
AI Employees and AI Agent actions can read a field hidden this way. You author their work, so a hide formula doesn’t keep the value from them.
A Password stays out of all of it. A Password can be copied only into another Password field, and anywhere else the copy arrives blank. That applies to formulas, a subprocess’s field mapping, a process name and a public form’s text, and to the milestone page, merge documents and task pages that people open from a link without signing in, even when you add the field’s token there. The “all fields” blocks skip it, process tables show it as bullets, and a record’s history says it changed without showing it. The AI Strategist and the AI Assistant never see it, and an AI Agent or AI Prompt action gets a blank even if you add its token. An AI Employee gets a Password only when you add its token to one of its steps, for example to type a login. When a subprocess shares a Password field back to its parent, a parent field that isn’t a Password field keeps its own value.
Records can still be searched and sorted by them, but the value doesn’t come back. Anyone who can open a process table can filter or sort it by a Password field or by a field hidden from them, and so can a Process Table Lookup’s own filter. The rows that come back show a password as bullets and leave a hidden value out. A search does tell people which records match, though, so someone could narrow a value down by trying different searches. Keep a value that must stay secret in records those people can’t open at all, using process visibility.