Custom Columns Overview

Use custom columns to define the columns available to users, or groups of users, on rich user interfaces in PSA. Resource, Project, and Staffing Managers can then create their own preferred view into their data by customizing the appearance and visibility of available columns—without leaving the interface. Once defined and enabled, custom columns are remembered as a user preference and ready to go when the user next reloads the interface. Certain standard columns, for example, Project Name, always display on the interface.

Custom columns are an optional feature of these interfaces in PSAWinter 2023:

  • Resource and Project Planners
  • Project Task Gantt
  • Gantt

For more information, see Configuring Custom Columns.

Custom Columns Configuration

Warning:

The values in the Column Preferences Settings custom setting populate automatically and you should never need to edit them. If your organizationClosed A deployment of the Salesforce/FinancialForce applications with a defined set of licensed users. Your organization (org) includes all of your data and applications, and is separate from all other orgs. is at risk of reaching Salesforce limits, your administrator can enable the Use sObject for Column Preferences field on the Common Settings custom setting. For more information, see Configuring Custom Columns.

Custom columns are managed and applied through the following settings and field sets:

Setting Name Custom Setting Field Name Applies To
Columns Field Set Planners - Resource Resource_Planner_Columns Resource Planner
Planners - Project Project_Planner_Columns Project Planner
Project Task Gantt Settings Gantt_Columns Project Task Gantt
Tip:

When a user opens Project Task Gantt, the fields in the default Gantt Custom Columns field set—the API name of which is referenced by the relevant Columns Field Set setting—load as columns, ready to be customized by the user. Standard columns, like Name and Assignment, always load.

The preceding settings are hierarchy custom settings: this means you can personalize settings for specific profiles or users, and therefore make different groups of columns available for, say, your Consultant, Operations, and Project Manager profiles.

Tip:

To learn more about hierarchy custom settings, search for "Custom Settings Overview" in the Salesforce Help.

These additional settings control whether preferences are automatically saved and restored when users edit column attributes on the interface:

Setting Name Custom Setting Applies to
Save Column Preferences Planners - Resource Resource Planner
Planners - Project Project Planner
Project Task Gantt Settings Project Task Gantt

How Users Set their Column Preferences

Image: Custom Columns Editing Attributes

Users can customize these attributes on the interface:

  • Order (apart from the Name column, which always appears first)
  • Visibility (hidden columns are available by clicking the arrow icon on the column header)
  • Width.

When the user customizes column attributes on the interface, related information is saved to the Column Preferences Settings custom setting. This allows users' preferred column layouts to be remembered between sessions, without any direct interaction on the part of the user.