Overview

This feature is designed to let you add help or links to other websites above and below custom data fields.

Let's take a closer look at how this works:

Note: This article is written assuming that the reader is already familiar with how to create, navigate to, and edit custom data fields within an Action Type. For a detailed explanation on adding data collections and fields please see out Custom Data Collections and Data Fields user guide article. Additionally, we would like to take this moment to provide some navigation assistance to a couple of screens referenced in this article.

Edit Data Collection screen: Admin > Matter Types > {your matter type} > Matter data > Edit

Edit Data Collection screen: Admin > Matter Types > {your matter type} > Matter data > Fields

Adding custom HTML to a data field

Data collection Settings:

Prior to entering your custom HTML you'll need to decide where you want your message to display. This is controlled through the data collection.

At the bottom of your Edit data collection field Collection screen you will see a Custom styles toggle. This will prompt the program to display this field when viewing the data field.

Adding Custom HTML to the Data Field:

You will add the custom HTML from the Edit Each custom data field has an "HTML to display below field on edit forms" and/or an "HTML to display above field on edit forms" which you can utilize to add instructions or links. These fields differ from traditional label fields because they allow you to manipulate the formatting of the text in the field using HTML.

Note: By default the field provides a rich-text editor. To use HTML, select Tools > <> Source code

In the image above we've entered HTML below our "VIN Number" field. The custom HTML provides a link to the VIN lookup website.

Here we see the result of that custom HTML.

Using HTML within Actionstep

Note: The guide below exists for the purpose of defining approved use of HTML within Actionstep. Any attributes, styles, elements, or properties not defined below will not be supported by Actionstep. To learn more about HTML we would suggest this resource.

The custom HTML fields within Actionstep are designed primarily to allow our users to do some basic manipulation of the size, formatting, or color of text and to include links. Any use of HTML beyond this can not be officially guaranteed or supported by Actionstep.

Adding Links

To add a link above or below an Actionstep custom data field your HTML will need to meet all of the following requirements:

Does not include an Actionstep URL

While linking to another page within Actionstep may work initially, due to our regular update and release schedule, URLs for destinations within your database may change frequently. For this reason we cannot recommend or support linking to pages within Actionstep

Does reference an absolute URL

An absolute URL is the full url including
- ```
protocol://domain/path
```
To reference an absolute URL we would use the <a> tag and the href attribute. A simple example of this would be
- ```
<a href="http://www.google.com">Google</a>
```
Does include a target attribute with the value of _blank. This will tell the program to open the link in a new window. This must be done for security reasons. An example of this would be
- ```
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.google.com">Google</a>
```

Since the example above does not include an Actionstep URL and does include an absolute URL and a target attribute with a value of _blank it can be used within Actionstep. The result would look like this

So to recap, if you wanted to place a link within above or below a custom data field within Actionstep you would want it to use the following syntax

<a target="blank" href="protocol://domain/path">text to display</a>

Adding Text

When adding text fields to your HTML we recommend using the <p> element and then applying some simple styles or formatting.

Here's a list of some simple formatting elements you could use:

Tag	Description
<b>	Defines bold text
<em>	Defines emphasized text
<i>	Defines italic text
<small>	Defines smaller text
<strong>	Defines important text
<sub>	Defines subscripted text
<sup>	Defines superscripted text
<ins>	Defines inserted text
<mark>	Defines marked/highlighted text

Here's an example of one of those formatting elements in use:

<p><b>This text is bold</b>.</p>

When adding styles you'll need to use the following syntax

style="property:value;"

Note: This method of applying style is referred to as "Inline Style" and is the only method supported by Actionstep. External and Internal Style sheets are not supported.

Property	Description
background-color	used to define the color of the background
color	used to define the color of the font
font-family	used to define the text font
font-size	used to define the text size
text-align	used to define the text alignment

Here's an example of one of those formatting elements in use

<p style="color:blue;">This is a heading</p>

The value in the example above is "blue" since the list of possible values for all of the styling elements listed above is too large to include in this user guide article we cannot provide a list of approved values.

Help Center

Custom HTML for Data Fields