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Overview
The Multiple Select field is the Single Select field with the option to select multiple. It is key to managing data and driving your organization's workflow, allowing work to be grouped, filtered, tracked, and charted.
Single Select and Multiple Select fields can be easily converted into each others field type.
Display/Style Options
Solution Managers can quickly add custom values, select display formats, and add colors to each choice to visualize values.
Choose from three display formats below, listed with simple best practices we use at SmartSuite when working with Multiple Select fields:
Use the Colored Pill for records with few values list fields, or when you want selections to stand out.
Use Grey Pill with Color Dot
Use Text Only by default, particularly when working with a large number of choices.
Select the Display Type as either a Dropdown list or Checkboxes on the record.
Required/create new choice options
Solution Managers can make Multiple Select fields Required for users when creating new records.
They can also choose to Allow users to create new choices, which is an option that should be used sparingly to maintain quality data integrity. An example of where you may allow this is in Customer Support, where reps may be allowed to add incident categories or type values.
Check out quick articles on Setting Default Field Values and Adding Help Text to fields.
Note: Default values are used often in Single Select fields.
Ordering Choices
Drag & Drop to reorder choices, or sort Alphabetically (ascending or descending).
Adding Descriptions to Multiple Select Fields
Solution Managers can add descriptions to choices in the Advanced Settings page of the Multiple Select field.
Descriptions are great for custom processes or service offerings like a home cleaning provider with an array of services.
Use Predefined Lists
Just like with the Single Select field, Solution Managers can choose from a library of global values lists that can be imported in the advanced settings of the Multiple Select field.
Default Multiple Select values
Is there a certain set of multiple select fields in your workflow that exists in every new record? Would you like to eliminate the time-consuming work of adding the same selections to each new item one at a time?
Use the default option for Multiple (or Single) selects to quickly and easily set up a default selection that will be applied to all new records in your app.
Add Numeric Values to Choices for Calculations
Solution Managers can add numeric values to Choices in the advanced settings of the Multiple Select field.
Numeric values are often used in combination with the Formula field to calculate scores.
For example, consider the Priority Score field in the Features app within the Software Product Management solution available in the Solution Library.
Product managers can qualitatively assess:
Reach the feature will have across the customer base
Value of the feature to the customer base.
Confidence level in the estimates to develop the feature.
Effort level to develop the featue.
Each Choice in these fields have an associated value that are referenced by the Formula field Priority Score to calculate a score between 0-3.
The formula field below provides an at-a-glance view of how the NUMERICVALUE function is used to pull the values above into a calculation.
Learn more about how to use calculations with values in Select list fields within the Advanced Formulas section of the Formula Examples article.
Examples of Use
Customer Support Issue Management
The Multiple Select field is perfect for categorizing customer issues or tracking preferred contact methods.
Marketing Campaign - Content Formats
Industry-Specific Apps
SmartSuite's flexibility makes it easy to tailor industry and custom processes, such as restaurants managing catering events.
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