Your school's own student fields

Anything your school records that isn't on the Add Student form, such as a house, a previous school or a transport route, can be added as a field of your own. You can have up to 25.

Adding a field

An owner or admin opens Settings → Student Fields. Under Custom fields, press Add field:

1. Give it a name (what staff will see, and the column name in imports).
2. Choose its type: short text, long text, a number, a date, a choice from a list (type the options) or yes/no.
3. Add help text if staff need a hint.
4. Switch on Required if every student must have it.
5. Switch on Restricted information for anything private (health, family matters, beliefs).

Names and options appear exactly as you typed them, in every language.

Where it appears

On Add Student and Edit Student in a More Information card, and on the student's profile under Additional Information. A restricted field sits in Restricted Information instead, next to religion: only staff allowed to see religion can see or change it, and it never appears in the student list export.

Required fields

A required field must be filled in when a student is added or edited, and in every imported row. Students already recorded aren't affected until someone edits them. You can also make State of origin and LGA, Place of birth and Religion required with the switch under each.

Changing, archiving, deleting

Use ⋮ on a field:

• Edit changes the name, help text, options, Required or Restricted. Once any student has a value, the type can't change; archive the field and add a new one instead. An option students already have can be archived (they keep it, nobody can choose it again) but not removed.
• Move up / Move down changes the order on the forms.
• Archive hides the field from the forms and the import template. Nothing is lost: students keep their values, shown read-only on the profile, and Restore brings the field back.
• Delete works only while no student has filled the field in. Otherwise it's greyed: archive it instead.

Importing and exporting

Download the template on Import Students: your fields are there as columns, with a note on each. Name a column exactly like the field and it's picked up by itself. For a choice, write the option's name; for yes/no, write yes or no; dates as DD/MM/YYYY.

• A value Palmgrade can't read never stops the student being added: the field is left blank and the preview lists it under Imported with a field left blank.
• A row missing a required field is not imported, and the preview names the field.
• Restricted fields are saved only if you may edit restricted information; otherwise the preview says they weren't saved.

The student list's Export adds your fields as columns (restricted ones never), and the file imports straight back. Data Export has two files: the fields you added, and every student's values.

Offline

Your fields and their values (except restricted ones) are kept on the device, so the forms and the profile work without a connection, and a student added offline arrives with their values. Changing the fields, editing values on the profile and restricted fields need a connection.