AppColl allows users to define up to 16 custom text fields and 4 custom date fields that are accessible via the Matters module. These fields have internal names in AppColl of UserString1, UserString2, UserDate1, UserDate2, etc.
There are five things that would greatly improve these custom fields:
a) Significantly expand the number of custom text and date fields available to users (or make it not capped at all). It is often the case that we use the custom fields to store client-specific data where there is no appropriate field available in the default field set. Ideally, we'd store the data in a custom field with the same name used by the client for that data so that there's no uncertainty as to which custom field has that data. However, with only 16 text fields to work with, we often have to use the same custom field to store different types of data for different clients. Expanding the number of custom fields would allow us to avoid having to make a custom field serve multiple different purposes for different clients.
b) Related to (a), it would be nice if one could optionally specify one or more clients for each custom field; AppColl would then only show a custom field in the MatterDetails interface if it either a) had no client specified (i.e., generic to all clients) or b) had a client specified that matched the client of the matter being displayed.
c) Also related to (a), in the column picker for Matters/Tasks, it would probably be a good idea to either put custom fields as a separate tab or allow the user to include/exclude them from the list of fields/columns. Or maybe include them at the bottom of the list, separated from the other list members (so you'd have an alphabetical list of default AppColl columns, followed by an alphabetical list of custom fields/columns. I'm just thinking that if the cap on # of custom fields is increased or removed, there might be a lot of them in some accounts to wade through.
d) Allow for a group name to be assigned to custom fields; this would only be used in laying out the MatterDetails interface--essentially, any fields that have the same group name would be clustered together within a common region, possibly enclosed within a frame or other visible boundary. This would allow the presentation of such fields to be more organized (and allow the admins to adjust such presentation).
e) Allow for users to control the order in which custom fields are displayed on the MatterDetails interface. Right now, the custom fields are displayed in the same order as they are listed in the Settings page. In many cases, there may be related custom fields that are defined at different points in time and are thus separated from one another in the sequence of custom fields in the settings interface, with other, unrelated custom fields in between them. This fractured presentation is then replicated in the MatterDetails interface. Note that if (d) is implemented, then (i) the user should also be able to specify the order that groups are displayed in and (ii) the order specified for fields should be followed within each group with respect to the fields within that group, but should not override the groupings.
These would all be really helpful features to add and would make AppColl much more flexible for users.
