Editing Choices on Drop-Down Menus (Picklists)
Table of Contents
This article will explain how to add options to multiple-choice fields, called “Picklists,” in Salesforce.
If you want to collect information in a multiple-choice/dropdown format, you'll use a “Picklist,” a type of Salesforce field that you can read more about in this Trailhead module. There are some picklist fields included with HomeKeeper, and as an administrator, you can add or remove options from these picklists.
Video Tutorial
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Identify the field you want to edit
Find the field that you want to modify and note which Object it's located on. For this example, we'll use the ‘Neighborhood’ field on the Property object.
2. Navigate to it in Setup
From that page, click the gear icon in the upper righthand corner and select ‘Edit Object’.
3. Find the field in Object Manager
Click ‘Fields & Relationships’ and use the search bar to quickly find the field that you wish to edit. You can tell if it is a picklist from this screen by looking at the Data Type column. To edit the field, click the field label in blue.
4. Add/Remove the picklist value
To add a new picklist value: scroll down to the Values section and click New. Then, and enter the values you'd like to appear on the dropdown, then click Save.
To remove picklist values, you have two options:
- Deactivate (Recommended) - Click Deactivate next to the values you want to remove. This preserves existing data, but prevents users from selecting that option in the future, and allows you to reactivate it in the future.
- Delete - Clicking Del deletes the picklist value, prompting you to reassign all existing entries to a different value. You cannot reactivate deleted picklist values.
6. Reorder picklist values
Once you've selected the picklist values you want to display, you can choose the order they display in. Click Reorder button, next to New.
- To recorder picklist values, select a value to change its position. Once it is highlighted in blue, you can use the arrow buttons to move it up and down the list.
- You can also check the box to order them alphabetically.
- Click Save once you've made your updates.
Default Picklist Field Values
Maybe you want to take it a step further and set default values for your picklists. You can do that too! The process is slightly different for picklist fields versus other types of fields, and also differs based on whether or not the Object where the field is located has multiple Record Types.
Set a Default on an Object with No Record Types
Navigate to Setup → Object Manager → Select the Object where the picklist appears → Click “Fields and Relationships” → Click into the field you would like to update (do not click “Edit”)
Then scroll down to the “Values” section and click “Reorder”
At the bottom of the Values, use the Default Value dropdown to select your new default → Click “Save”
Set a Default on an Object with Multiple Record Types
If you use multiple record types (for example, Homeownership and 1-1 Counseling, or any custom record types), you will need to set the default for each record type.
Navigate to Setup → Object Manager → Select the Object where the picklist appears → Click “Record Types” → Select the Record Type where the picklist appears.
Find your Picklist under the “Picklists Available for Editing” section and click “Edit”
Select your default value for that Record Type at the bottom of the page → Click “Save”
CAUTION: If the picklist appears on multiple Record Types, repeat the steps above for each Record Type where you would like to set a default.
EXAMPLE: Select Default Program for Homeownership Files
- Find the field that you want to set the default value for. In this example, we'll set a default for the ‘Program’ picklist on the Service File object. This would be helpful for organizations that only use one Program.
- Click the gear icon in the upper right-hand corner and select ‘Edit Object’.
- In the left navigation bar, select ‘Record Types’. Click the name of the Record Type that you want to set the default for - in this example, ‘Homeownership’.
- Scroll down to ‘Picklists Available for Editing'. Click ‘Edit’ next to the picklist field you want to edit, in this example ‘Program’.
- In the default dropdown, select the value that you want to set as the default. Then, click ‘Save’ to finalize the change.
- Now, when we create a new Homeownership Service File, you'll see that Program has defaulted to the selected picklist value. You can always edit it afterwards.
If you use multiple record types (for example, Homeownership and 1-1 Counseling, or any custom record types), you will need to set the default for each record type.
You can use this method to set a default for any picklist field in your HomeKeeper!
CAUTION: For certain HomeKeeper fields, the default value is managed, which means you cannot edit the default value.