There are four types of custom fields. Consider your end goal when selecting a custom field type. If the field data will be valuable in reporting, think about how you would like it to display in reports and consider setting up some sample data and reports in your Sandbox site. The custom field type cannot be edited once created.
Dropdown
The dropdown field type is used to hold a list where the user can select a single option. A common use would be for coding. Examples include demographic (such as age range), population (such as ethnic background) coding, or school district coding. For example, if a field showing which school district the grant was administered to is needed, a dropdown field like the example below can be created.
There is no character limit for values. Keeping them short, 50 characters of less, improves the user experience since long values can make the user scroll over to see the entire value, especially at large resolutions.
Values can be renamed or inactivated. When a value is deactivated, existing records will still show that value if assigned, but it will not be available in the list to be assigned to new records. If a value is renamed, the new value will display on records that already had the previous value. For instance, consider a dropdown with a list of possible values that are 1, 2, and 3. Later on, those are changed to A, B, and C. When that is done, every profile that had a 1 will show an A, every profile with a 2 will show a B, and so on. If the coding is modified, consider whether deactivating values and adding additional values, or renaming values, will best fit the need.
Multiselect
The multiselect field type allows the creation of a list of options where multiple selections can be made by checking one or more boxes in the field. For example, this field could be utilized to show the type of grant that is being administered. Multiple selections could be chosen if required.
The same notes as Dropdown apply for changing, rearranging, and inactivating values.
It is important to consider reporting needs before choosing a multiselect field. When reporting on a multiselect field, the report will show all selected values in a single field. A filter can be used for an individual value. A dropdown field is a better option for having each value in a separate column in reporting.
Date Field
The date field allows for the collection of a date in the MM/DD/YYYY format. This might be something like a review date or an anniversary where it can have a wide range of values. It must have a month, day, and year. If tracking something that is part of a date (e.g. birth month only), use an alternate field type.
Text
The text field allows for the collection of any form of text information such as a description. Text fields can hold long text values, up to about 65,000 characters. Text fields are not standardized and are generally not used for reporting.