This article provides detailed explanations on how to use Custom Lists in PPO:
- Custom lists and custom list items;
- Adding a custom list;
- Custom list view page;
- Editing a custom list;
- Adding and editing custom list items;
- Deleting a custom list and custom list items.
Have a look at this short video that shows how the custom list functionality works:
Custom lists and custom list items
Drop-down lists are called custom lists in PPO and can be maintained by the client‘s PPO Administrator. To access Custom Lists, hover over Administration and select Custom Lists.
A distinction is made between a custom list and custom list items. The term “custom list” is used when referring to the list in its entirety. Phase custom list as per the example below.
Custom list items are the individual values found in the list:
When navigating to the Custom Lists list page, you have the ability to see whether the custom list is being used in fields on PPO. This is very handy for Administrators to assist with clean-up/deleting unused custom lists.
Adding a custom list
To add a custom list click hover over the Administration Menu and then click on the Custom Lists item. Click on the Add button.
Specify a name and description for the custom list.
We recommend you use the entity on which the custom list will be used, together with the name of the field the custom list will be linked to. For example, if you are creating a Department custom list for the Employee and Project entity, the name of the custom list will be Employee & Project - Department.
To add a custom list item you simply click on the '+' icon as shown above.
If you want the list items to be sorted automatically (i.e. alphabetically), mark the “Sort automatically” checkbox as true. Certain custom lists require a specific sort order (such as project statuses or months) and in these cases the Sort automatically field must be left as false.
You can also optionally specify a color to be associated with a custom list item by checking the "Show colour?" checkbox and selecting a color from the colour picker or entering a hex color code. When you are done, click on the Submit button. For more information, refer to this blog article.
Under the Custom List Items heading, you can start building on your custom list by selecting the ‘+’ icon. Once you have added your custom list items click on the Submit button to add the custom list.
Custom list view page
On the custom list view page it also shows whether this custom list is being used in fields on PPO. The example below indicates that the Custom is being used on the Employee entity in the Department field as well as on the Project entity Department field.
Custom List Items columns:
Key: The key can be copied if you need to specify it in calculated fields.
Sort Key: The order in which the custom list items were added.
Description: This is the name of the custom list item.
Weighting: The weighting attribute can be used in a variety of calculations, including Risk Rating, Prioritisation, Quality and Governance score calculations. For more information, refer to this blog article.
Editing a custom list
To edit a custom list, hover over the Administration Menu and click on the Custom Lists menu item. From the List page, select the applicable custom list, which will then open the Custom List View page for the selected custom list.
On the Custom List View page, the following options are available regarding the custom list itself:
Edit: This option allows you to change the name, description, sorting, colours and weighting of the custom list and custom list items.
Delete: This will be discussed in detail below.
Re-order List Items: This option allows you to re-order the items in the list into a specific order. To change the order of the list items move the items to the block on the right in the order you want them to appear on the list and then click on the Submit button.
Adding and editing custom list items
To add custom list items to an existing custom list, simply hover over the Administration Menu and then click on the Custom Lists menu item. A list of all the custom lists on the entity will open. Select the applicable custom list. On the Custom List View page for the selected custom list, click on the "Edit" button.
If you want to add an additional custom list item simply click on the ‘+’ icon. If you want to edit the caption of an existing custom list item you can do so in the grey description fields as above.
Deleting a custom list and custom list items
This option allows you to delete the entire custom list. Custom lists can only be deleted if they are not standard custom lists, i.e. not linked to standard PPO Data Fields. PPO has a list of standard data fields that cannot be deleted as they form a core part of the standard reports and dashboards. Also, custom lists cannot be deleted if they are being used in a dependency.
To delete a custom list simply click on the Administration Menu and then click on the Custom Lists menu item. From the Custom Lists List page select the applicable custom list. From the Custom List View page for the selected custom list, click on the Delete Custom List button.
Custom lists cannot be deleted if they are being used in a field as indicated below.
A pop-up message will be displayed asking whether you are sure that you want to delete the custom list. Simply click on the OK button. If the custom list is protected the following message will be displayed on your screen:
To delete a Custom List Item click on the applicable Delete Item button and Submit.
If you delete a Custom List Item that is used in a Global Filter, you will get an error notification indicating where it is used. You will first need to update the Filter under Administration by removing the custom list item.
In the below example, the custom list item is referenced in a User Group Filter that is applied to the PPO Administrator User Group.