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# How to Use Custom Fields in Workflows and Dynamic Teams

# How to Use Custom Fields in Workflows and Dynamic Teams

**In this article:**
* Overview
* Which Custom Fields you can use
* Conditions for each field type
* How to add a Custom Field condition to a Workflow
* How to build a Dynamic Team from a Custom Field
* Date cohorts in Dynamic Teams
* Renaming and deleting a Custom Field that is in use
* Things to keep in mind
* FAQs
* Who can do this

## Overview
Custom Fields such as Department, Cost centre, Contractor or Start date describe your people in your organisation's own terms. You can now use them as conditions in Workflows and Dynamic Teams, alongside the standard people fields (Position, Role, Manager, Country and State).

This lets you automate things like "when someone moves into the Clinical department, assign the Clinical induction", or keep a Dynamic Team of everyone who started in the last 30 days, without stuffing the value into Position or maintaining a static Team by hand.

## Which Custom Fields you can use
In the field list of a Workflow or Dynamic Team condition, your Custom Fields appear under their own **Custom fields** heading, below the **People fields** heading. They are listed in the same order as on **Settings → Custom Fields**.

A field is offered when:
* it is a field on people (User), and
* it is not a **File** field. File fields can't be used as conditions, and
* your role is allowed to see it. A field set to **Admins only** is offered to **Owners** and **Admins** only. A field set to **Managers & admins** is also offered to **Managers** and **People Managers**. Fields set to **Everyone** are offered to everyone who can edit the rule.

## Conditions for each field type
The operators you can choose depend on the field's type:

| Field type | Operators |
| ---- |
| **Text** | Equals, Is any of, Contains, Is not |
| **List** | Equals, Is any of, Is not |
| **Yes/No** | Is (Yes or No) |
| **Number** | Equals, Is any of, Less than, Less than or equal, Greater than, Greater than or equal |
| **Date** | Is on, Is before, Is after |

Dynamic Teams also offer three relative date operators for Date fields: **Is within the last**, **Is within the next** and **Is more than ... days ago**. See *Date cohorts in Dynamic Teams* below.

A few details worth knowing:
* **Is any of** lets one condition list several values, for example Department is any of Clinical or Allied Health. If you pick only one value, the condition is saved as **Equals**, because the two mean the same thing.
* For a **List** field, you choose values from the field's own options. The value box shows **Select a value**.
* For a **Number** field, the value must be a number. Typing anything else shows **Enter a number.**
* **Text** conditions ignore upper and lower case, so Cost centre equals Ward-7B also matches ward-7b.

## How to add a Custom Field condition to a Workflow
Custom Field conditions are available on the three Workflow triggers that are about a person: **Person joins**, **Profile is updated** and **Person is added to team**.

1. Go to **Settings → Workflows**.
2. Click **Create Workflow**, or open an existing Workflow.
3. Under **When**, choose **Person joins**, **Profile is updated** or **Person is added to team**.
4. Under **matching the following criteria**, open the field list and choose a field from the **Custom fields** group.
5. Choose an operator, enter or select the value, then click **+** to add the condition.
6. Repeat for any other conditions. With two or more conditions, choose whether a person must match **all** of them or **any** of them.
7. Under **Then**, choose the action, for example **Assign a content**, and select what to assign.
8. Click **Create Workflow**, or **Update workflow** if you're editing an existing one.

The Workflow list on **Settings → Workflows** shows each condition in plain words, for example *Contractor is Yes and Weekly hours greater than or equal 30*.

> **Good to know:** A **Profile is updated** Workflow with a Custom Field condition is checked again whenever any of the person's Custom Field values change, even a field your Workflow doesn't use. A Workflow with no Custom Field condition only runs when one of its people fields changes. Changing a detail that can't be used as a condition, such as a last name, does not run it.

> **Note:** Workflows only accept fixed dates (Is on, Is before, Is after). The relative date operators are for Dynamic Teams only.

## How to build a Dynamic Team from a Custom Field
1. Go to **Settings → Teams** and click **Create Team**, then choose the **Dynamic** type. To change an existing Dynamic Team, open it and choose **Actions → Edit team**.
2. Add a **Has people fields that match specific criteria** rule.
3. Open the field list and choose a field from the **Custom fields** group.
4. Choose an operator, enter or select the value, then click **+**.
5. Add any other conditions, then save the Team.

The preview count updates as you add conditions, so you can check the Team will contain the people you expect before saving.

For more on combining rules, see *How to Set Up Dynamic Team Rules*.

## Date cohorts in Dynamic Teams
For a **Date** field, a Dynamic Team can use a rolling window instead of a fixed date:

| Operator | Example | Who is in the Team |
| ---- |
| **Is within the last** | Start date is within the last 30 days | People whose start date falls in the past 30 days |
| **Is within the next** | Start date is within the next 60 days | People whose start date falls in the next 60 days |
| **Is more than ... days ago** | Start date is more than 365 days ago | People who started over a year ago |

When you choose one of these, the date picker is replaced by a number box for the number of days, with the hint **Counted in whole days. Membership updates every day.** You can enter a whole number from 1 to 3650.

Because Dynamic Teams are worked out each time they're used, these Teams keep themselves current with no extra setup. Someone who started 31 days ago simply drops out of a "within the last 30 days" Team.

## Renaming and deleting a Custom Field that is in use
**Renaming.** Conditions point at the field itself, not its name. If you rename a field on **Settings → Custom Fields**, every Workflow and Dynamic Team that uses it shows the new name straight away. You don't need to edit or re-save anything.

**Deleting.** You can't delete a Custom Field while any Workflow or Dynamic Team uses it. When you click the trash icon on a field that is in use, SuperPath shows a **[field name] is in use** message instead of the usual confirmation. It lists:
* every **Workflow** that uses the field, including disabled ones (marked **Disabled**), with its trigger and action, and
* every **Dynamic Team** that uses the field.

Each item has an **Open** link that opens it in a new tab. Remove the field from each listed Workflow and Dynamic Team (or delete them), then delete the field again. Deleted Workflows and Teams don't count.

## Things to keep in mind
* Custom Field conditions can't be added to Workflows that start when content, a Pathway, a Roadmap, a Form or an Event is completed. Only **Person joins**, **Profile is updated** and **Person is added to team** accept them.
* Relative dates are counted in whole days using the UTC date, not your local time zone. Around midnight, someone may move in or out of a date cohort a few hours earlier or later than you expect.
* When someone moves into a date cohort Dynamic Team because time has passed, this does not count as being added to a Team, so a **Person is added to team** Workflow does not run for them.
* There is no "is blank" or "is not blank" operator for Custom Fields yet.
* The AI Assistant can't build Workflows with Custom Field conditions yet. Add those conditions yourself on **Settings → Workflows**.

## FAQs
**Why does my "Is any of" condition say "Equals"?**
You picked only one value. A list of one value is the same rule as Equals, so it is saved and shown that way. Add a second value to keep **Is any of**.

**Why isn't one of my Custom Fields in the list?**
File fields are never offered, and fields your role isn't allowed to see are hidden. Check the field's type and access level on **Settings → Custom Fields**.

**Can a Workflow use "Start date is within the last 30 days"?**
No. Workflows use fixed dates only (Is on, Is before, Is after). Relative dates are available in Dynamic Teams.

**Will my existing Workflows and Dynamic Teams change?**
No. Rules built on the standard people fields work exactly as before. The only visible change is the new **People fields** heading in the field list.

**Why can't I delete a Custom Field?**
It is used by at least one Workflow or Dynamic Team, possibly a disabled Workflow. The message lists them all. Remove the field from each, then try again.

## Who can do this
**Owners** and **Admins** can create and edit Workflows and Dynamic Teams, including their Custom Field conditions. A **Manager** who is set as a Team's Primary Manager can edit that Team's rules, and sees the Custom Fields their role is allowed to see. **Employees** and **Restricted** users can't create Workflows or Dynamic Teams.

Which Custom Fields appear in the field list also depends on each field's access level, as described in *Which Custom Fields you can use*.