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Managing Dropdown List Values

Written by Jonathan Marbutt

Many fields in CoolFocus are dropdowns: Request Type, Activity Type, Fund, and so on. Some fields, like Topics on calls, let you pick more than one value instead of just one. Either way, the choices in those lists are yours to manage, so they match how your organization actually works.


Where to manage a list

You don't need a separate settings screen. Wherever a dropdown or multi-select field appears, an administrator sees a Manage List option right on the field. Open it to add, rename, or remove the choices for that list.

Manage List is an administrator feature. Most staff just pick from the list, admins curate what's in it.


What you can do

  • Add a new choice so it's available going forward.

  • Rename a choice to fix wording or standardize it.

  • Remove a choice you no longer use.


Colors show up wherever the list is used

Some lists, like appointment types and Visit Board statuses, let you set a color on each choice. Wherever that field appears as a dropdown, combobox, multi-select, or picker, CoolFocus shows a small colored dot next to each option that has a configured color, both in the closed field and in the option list, not just on the screen where you set it. A staff member filling out a booking form, filtering a list, or picking a walk-in appointment type sees the same color they'd see on the scheduler calendar or Visit Board, so colored values stay recognizable at a glance across the app. Choices without a configured color show as plain text, with no dot.


Activity Type is shared across notes, calls, tasks, and attachments

The Activity Type field is one list shared by notes, calls, tasks, and attachments, so a type you add shows up as a choice on all four. An activity type can also be marked restricted, which hides it (and anything tagged with it) from user groups that haven't been granted access. Restricted-type access is granted per user group from the Activity Type Access tab on that group's edit screen. See User Groups: What Staff Can Open and Change.

A few activity types, Counseling, Pregnancy Test, Sonographer Notes, Ultrasound Nurse Notes, and Physician Notes, also key into CoolFocus 3, which still looks for these exact names to show a visit's notes. Renaming one of these specific types is blocked, with a message explaining why; every other activity type can still be renamed freely.

Love INC affiliates (Community Assistance) don't see the Activity Type field on notes, calls, tasks, or attachments at all, since its system-default values are geared toward pregnancy center medical contexts and don't apply to community assistance work. This is handled automatically based on your organization's configuration; there is nothing to hide or remove through Manage List for these organizations.


Fund is managed as a full record

The Fund dropdown looks like any other list, but each fund is actually a full record (the same kind of record shown on the Funds tab, see Funds and Sources). Adding, renaming, or removing a fund from Manage List updates that record directly, so the change is reflected consistently everywhere funds are shown, and removing a fund that's already tied to gifts or other records is handled the same way it would be from the Funds tab.


Affiliations mixes your own choices with shared ones

The Affiliations list, used on a person's Affiliations field, works like a normal manageable list with one difference: some choices come from your own organization and some are shared or global entries provided by CoolFocus.

  • Your organization's own affiliations can be added, renamed, or removed from Manage List the same as any other list.

  • Shared or global affiliations still show up as choices, but they stay read-only. Trying to rename or remove one shows a message explaining it's managed centrally rather than by your organization.


Changes apply everywhere the field is used

A list's values are shared across your organization. If you rename or remove a choice, that change shows up everywhere the field appears, and it affects filtering and reporting on that field too. A couple of habits keep this clean:

  • Rename instead of duplicating. Two near-identical choices ("Food" and "Food Assistance") make reports harder to read. Standardize on one.

  • Think before removing a choice that's already in use on existing records, removing it can leave those records without a label. When in doubt, rename rather than delete.


Some lists are system-managed

A small number of lists back built-in features (for example, event table types and similar system enums). Those lists are read-only: they can't be renamed or deleted through Manage List, even though the option is visible.

If you try to save a rename, or delete a choice, from one of these lists, CoolFocus shows a clear message explaining that the option is system-managed and can't be edited or removed. If you see this message and believe the value genuinely needs to change, contact support rather than retrying.

If you try to delete a choice that existing records still use, CoolFocus blocks the delete and tells you why: the option is still used by existing records, so it can't be deleted. Instead, merge it into another option, or switch it to inactive to keep it off new records while leaving existing records untouched.

Examples of read-only lists:

  • Event status and other event-related system values.

  • Inventory Type.

  • Dependent Relationship on dependent records. This list uses standard options (Child, Spouse, Sibling, Parent, Grandchild, Other). If your data already contains other saved relationship values, those will still appear as selectable options on your forms so you can keep using them.


Coming from CF3? Some values need to be set up again

CF3 values do not always carry over to CoolFocus 5 automatically. Marital Status and medical-history fields are common examples: after a migration, an administrator often needs to open that field's Manage List and add the choices your center actually uses before staff can pick them.

If a value you expect is missing after a migration, check Manage List on that field first. If it's still not there, contact support, they can check whether the value exists in your migrated data.


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