In some cases, application users simply have access to your application; they can sign in, enter data, run reports, and so forth. However, you can also develop an application that incorporates data about your users. For example, you may have developed a project management application that allows you to assign tasks to your users and track their progress. In the "Assigned to" field, you'll want to be able to select from a list of users.
For applications like this, QuickBase lets you create dropdown menus which list your application users. Not surprisingly, these are called User fields. The Assigned To field in the following image is a good example of a user field.
User field values are tied directly to a user's QuickBase user account. This means that you can perform a lot of nifty tricks with user fields. You can use them to generate automated email notifications. For example, when a new task is created, you can specify that QuickBase notify the user listed in the Assigned To field. You can also use user field values to control access permissions or to create reports that focus each staff member's attention on only those records that apply to them. Read more.
Who Appears in a User Dropdown List?
You determine who appears in a dropdown list of users. When you add a user to an application, QuickBase automatically adds that user to the Default Set of users. Users in the Default Set always appear on user dropdowns, unless you specify otherwise (which you'll learn to do in a minute). You can see who's in the default set, by selecting Users > Manage Users. On the Manage Users page, a Default Set checkbox column displays membership. If a user's checkbox is on, he or she is a member of the default set and appears on user dropdown lists. To remove a user from your application's user dropdown lists, turn off the Default Set checkbox.
Note: Sometimes, QuickBase forms include user fields that are actually reference fields from other tables. For instance, imagine you're working with a project management application that includes two tables: Tasks and Resources. If you create a relationship between these two tables, QuickBase will create a reference Resources field within the Tasks table. When you create a task, you'll be able to select a resource using this reference field. Your Default Set settings DO NOT apply to user fields that are reference fields. In this case, the Resources reference field will display all resources who reside in the resources table, regardless of the users who've been added to the Default Set.
FAQ - Why do my user names appear
in red?
When you click a dropdown list in a user field, one name appears in red,
while the others appear in black. Why? The red color means that the user
isn't a member of the application's default set. The name appears in the
list because at some point, you've selected the user to populate this
field. So, QuickBase displays the user in red to prompt you to add the
user to the default set. Once you do so (by turning on the user's Default
Set checkbox you read about in the preceding paragraph) the user will
appear in black, just like the other users in the list.
What if you want a user to appear on some lists but not others? No problem. You can tell QuickBase who should appear on a user list. In the table bar on any application page, click the table whose fields you want to manage. Within the menu that appears, select Customize --tablename-- table > Fields. Next, create or locate the user field, then open this field's properties by clicking on it. Within the User Set section, select Custom user set and click Add Users. Add only the users that you want to appear in the drop-down list and save changes.
Note: If you don't see the User Set option on the field properties page, you are attempting to edit a built-in user field created by QuickBase. These built-in fields (Like Record Owner and Last Modified by) don't let you create a custom user set, because in order to function properly, they must include all application users. For example, if a user's not in the Default Set, but creates a record (and therefore becomes the "record owner"), QuickBase must be able to record that user's information.
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