Hello, I would like to create a "combined" field on an opportunity module to track next steps changes. I was thinking of creating the following: 1. Text field Next Steps and adding a datetime field to it which will be automatically updated whenever a sales rep updates Next Steps field OR 2. Create a text field Next Steps, but with an option to add a new separate note (just as Email Field on Contacts - please see the screenshot) and adding a datetime to each of the new notes - this would be my preferred solution. To start with the second approach - do you know how to add a field that has an add (+) button next to it? Thanks! Ada

Hi Ada Option 1 can be easily implemented via custom date field + sugarLogic formula to update it whenever the text field is not empty and date field is empty. Option 2 may requires a subpanel create + a custom module to be rendered inside its. It is quite difficult to implement the strategy of the email field for another field. Whenever customers require something similar to the emails' behavior we suggest a subpanel create instead. They love the feature.

Hi Ada Napierala You can use existing functionality, 'view audit log' for this, just enable for the 'Next Steps' field in Studio. this will then track the before and after contents of that field, with date/time and user unless I've totally misunderstood your requirement?

Creating a field to track next steps on an opportunity

Ada Napierala over 2 years ago

Hello,

I would like to create a "combined" field on an opportunity module to track next steps changes. I was thinking of creating the following:

1. Text field Next Steps and adding a datetime field to it which will be automatically updated whenever a sales rep updates Next Steps field

2. Create a text field Next Steps, but with an option to add a new separate note (just as Email Field on Contacts - please see the screenshot) and adding a datetime to each of the new notes - this would be my preferred solution.

To start with the second approach - do you know how to add a field that has an add (+) button next to it?

Thanks!

Ada

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0 Chris Raffle over 2 years ago

Hi Ada Napierala,

With regards to option 2, have you considered using the Comment Log field for this purpose? It's not clear from your description if the comment log feature where past entries are uneditable would be a benefit or a hindrance, but it does provide the ability to enter timestamped records so the entire history of 'next steps' would be visible.

With regards to the first option, if your main purpose is so that users viewing the opportunity know when it was last changed by someone, we have a plug-in, Upsert Last Modified By, that cleanly displays who and when the field was last changed.

Chris

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0 Ada Napierala over 2 years ago in reply to Chris Raffle

Hi Chris Raffle

What do you mean by comment log field? I am only aware of Comment Log in as a dashlet, and I skeptical on using this because it's not reportable.

For the plug-in, it's interesting, I will explore it - thanks :)
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0 Chris Raffle over 2 years ago in reply to Ada Napierala

Hi Ada Napierala,

The Comment Log feature can be added to the record view layout of modules or used via the dashlet. If you go to the module's record view layout in Studio, you should see Comment Log as an available field to add if you do not already have it on the layout.

If reporting is a primary need for this use case, then André's solution is likely the most appropriate. Both the comment log feature and our Upsert Last Modified By plug-in leverage backend data that are not accessible through the standard reporting features. You could leverage Advanced Reports to get desired data from either of those solutions. Advanced Reports requires a foundational knowledge of Sugar's database structure for storing the appropriate data and writing database queries to target that data.

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0 Ada Napierala over 2 years ago in reply to Chris Raffle

Hi Chris Raffle

The comment log on the layout looks really good, however yes I do need to be able to create summaries of comment logs per opportunity.

For Sugar database structure - could you please recommend documentation to learn more about it?
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0 Ada Napierala over 2 years ago in reply to Chris Raffle

Hi Chris Raffle

The comment log on the layout looks really good, however yes I do need to be able to create summaries of comment logs per opportunity.

For Sugar database structure - could you please recommend documentation to learn more about it?
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0 Chris Raffle over 2 years ago in reply to Ada Napierala

Hi Ada Napierala,

The schema for each version of Sugar is linked from the support site under their 'Product Guides' section:

https://support.sugarcrm.com/Documentation/?docVersion=12.2&docEdition=Sell

From there, you can learn how tables are related to one another. For the Comment Logs feature, the comments are stored in the commentlogs table and you can see which tables it connects to in the docs:

https://apidocs.sugarcrm.com/schema/12.2.0/ent/tables/commentlog.html

To pull specific comment logs related to an opportunity, you would connect opportunities > commentlog_rel > commentlogs.

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0 Ada Napierala over 2 years ago in reply to Chris Raffle

Superb, thanks!

The comment log field maybe have a lot of comments - is it possible to collapse the comments?
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0 Chris Raffle over 2 years ago in reply to Ada Napierala
You cannot collapse the field itself. Sugar has an enhancement request (81830) tracking this requirement. I recommend opening a support case with Sugar referencing that enhancement to help them weigh customer impact.

Your options to avoid excessive scrolling when there are a lot of comment log entries are:

Place the field in its own panel on the record view layout. Panels can be expanded and collapsed by users.

Use the Comment Log dashlet instead of the record view field.
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