Custom Fields | Yext Hitchhikers Platform

What You’ll Learn

In this section, you will learn:

• Standard field types that can be used for Custom Fields
• Additional custom field configuration options
• How to create a custom field

Custom Field Configuration Options

When you define a custom field, the most important thing you define is its type – which as covered above can either be a Standard type defined by Yext or a Custom Type defined by You. You cannot change a field’s type after you create it.

After that, there are a few other options that you have:

• Field Name: This is what users will see when editing the field in the Graph so it’s important that you name it something that people will understand. You don’t want to use code names or abbreviations if they don’t make sense to others. We also index the field name for Search so the algorithms can try to understand what data it is storing to provide the best results. You can change a Field’s name after creation.

• ID: This is how the field will be referenced via the API. While you can change this, doing so could break integrations so please be careful!

• Field Settings: This is the field’s type and the validation as covered above. You cannot change a field’s type after creation but you can update the validation in most cases. For types that aren’t already a List (like the Gallery, Text List or Entity Relationship field types), you can also choose to make the item a List here.

• Alternate Language Behavior: If you are storing multiple language profiles for an entity, this setting allows you to control whether the values of this field can be modified or inherited by alternate language profiles. This will default to Primary Only. You can learn more about this in the Help Center , or in our Multi-Language Profiles Module .

• Field Availability: If you’re ready to add this custom field to an entity type, you can select one or more types here. If you want to keep it in a “draft-like” mode, you can set it to No Entity Types.

• Custom Field Permission Group: Custom Field Groups allow you to group custom fields together for permission purposes. Once fields are in a group, you can assign permissions on that group using Custom User Roles. You can learn more about this in the Users & Custom Roles module .

• Tooltip Description: Optionally, you can add a description of the field that will appear as a tooltip to users on Entity Edit. You can use this to help guide other users in the account so they understand what the field is or best practices on how to fill it out.

How to Create a Custom Field

There are 2 ways to create a custom field in the Knowledge Graph:

• From Configuration > Fields
• From Configuration > Entity Types > Edit Fields screen via the Add Field modal

Creating a Field via Custom Fields

This option is recommended for creating new fields to add to multiple entity types at once.

1. Navigate to Knowledge Graph > Configuration > Fields. Click “+ Add Field” to get started.

2. Select the type from the list of Standard and Custom Field Types. This cannot be changed later. Once selected, the relevant information for that field will populate on the page.

3. Enter the field’s name. Remember to make this something that is clear and obvious to other users.

4. Enter the field’s ID. Remember that you can change this later but do so carefully as you don’t want to break any integrations or Search experiences.

5. Set the Field Availability. You can easily add or remove it from Entity Types later from the Custom Field > Edit Field screen or from the Manage Entity Types > Edit Fields on Type screen.

6. Optionally, enter any additional validation or set the options if an option field. You can also choose to “Make it a List” if you’d like.

7. If applicable, add the field to a Custom Field Permission Group.

8. Set the Alternate Language Behavior. This can be changed later.

9. If applicable, add a Tooltip description to make it easy for other users of the platform to understand what the field is or best practices for filling it out.

10. Click “Save Field” or “Save and Add Another” if you have more fields to add.

Creating a Field via Entity Type > Edit Fields

This option is recommended for creating new fields to add to a single entity type.

1. Navigate to Knowledge Graph > Configuration > Entity Types and click “Edit Fields” on the relevant Entity Type.

2. Choose which Field Section you want to add the field to. If you’re not sure, add to “Core Information” and you can always move it around later. Click the “+” below the field section and select “Add Field”.

3. A modal will appear that will allow you to browse through all existing built-in or custom fields. You can search for the field by name or browse by Field Type. If a field already exists that suits your needs, you can add that field here. Otherwise, you can click the link below the search bar to “+Create Custom Field”

4. Select the type from the list of Standard and Custom Field Types. This cannot be changed later.

5. Enter the field’s name. Remember to make this something that is clear and obvious to other users.

6. Enter the field’s ID. Remember that you can change this later but do so carefully as you don’t want to break any integrations or Search experiences.

7. Optionally, enter any additional validation or set the options if an option field. You can also choose to “Make it a List” if you’d like.

8. If applicable, add a Tooltip description to make it easy for other users of the platform to understand what the field is or best practices for filling it out.

9. If applicable, add the field to a Custom Field Group.

10. Set the Alternate Language Behavior. This can be changed later.

11. Click “Create Field”.

12. If you want to add an additional field, repeat steps 3-11. When you’re done adding or selecting fields, click the “Add Fields” button to exit the modal. You can then rearrange fields within a section or move fields to new sections, which we’ll cover in-depth in the Field Sections Module . Don’t forget to click “Save” to finish updating your entity type.