Every SmartSuite Table has a Record Title (Primary Field). This field is intended to describe and serve as a short representation of that record. It is used as the label for the record when users need to select the record.
As a system field, it cannot be deleted, moved, hidden, or duplicated.
You can adjust whether the Title field requires entries to be unique and if it is required to have an entry in the field.
How is the Record Title field displayed in different views?
Grid View
In Grid View, the primary field is the title of a record. It's displayed as the first column in the Grid (only the Auto-Number field can take its place) and is always included in the view.
You'll see the Primary field listed at the top of the Fields to Display selector - the field is labeled "Primary Field" and its position is fixed. The field itself also cannot be removed from the list, as shown below,
As mentioned above, the Auto Number field is the only field that can "swap" with the Primary field for the first position in the Grid. When placed in this configuration the Primary field will be displayed as column number two.
Card and Kanban Views
The Primary Field value is used as the title of record cards in Card View and Kanban View, as in the image below:
Calendar and Timeline Views
Primary fields and are used to identify records in Calendar and Timeline, displaying its value as the label (or as much of the text that fits - longer primary field values will be truncated with a "..." indicator).
Map View
Clicking on a Map view location pin will pop up a dialog that is labeled with the Primary field. The Primary field also displays prominently in the expandable record list to the right of the map.
Working with the Record Title Field
Record Title Properties
There are a few other properties that makes this field different than others including:
Text Type: The Record Title Field's "type" is always Text, as it is meant to be a user-friendly label that identifies the record.
Conversion: Unlike other fields, the primary field always stays the primary field - you can only change the field to an Auto-Generated field.
Require Entries to be Unique
Record title fields are intended to serve as a label that can identify individual records, and therefore can be set to require unique values. Under this setting, if you try to create or update a record and the Record title field's value matches another record exactly, you will be prompted to change the value.
Require an Entry
For the same reasons that Record title fields may need to be unique, you can select the option to require an entry - you need to be able to identify your new record and have it display properly in Saved Views.
To change these properties, select the Record Title dropdown, and under the Manual Input tab, check the options of your preference.
Changing Record Titles to Auto-Generated
Through the Record Title dropdown, select the Auto-Generated tab.
From there, you can build a custom Record title by combining static text with fields from your data as variables.
Read more about using the Auto-Generated Title Field and its supported fields here.
Learn more about the Auto-Generated number field (Auto Number) here.