Task list columns auto-fill with data

[derep]

We're getting to grips using your CRM. It's much better than the last we tried but we're still trying to fine tune it.

Unsurprisingly we need to make our CRM completely bespoke to our needs. I need to modify the Tasks table to suit how we work. What we need within our Task can be pretty much visualised with the table list overview which needs to look like so:

Target Name | Status       | Contact   | Telephone | Next Action   | Next Action Best Time
------------+--------------+-----------+-----------+---------------+----------------------
School A    | Hot Lead     | Mr. Head  | 0113....  | Send Brochure | 12:00pm 26-07-2018
School B    | Pending Sale | Mrs. Face | 0114....  | Arrange Demo  | 10:00am 02-08-2018

I can create this table view relatively easily but it requires a lot of manual input where there needn't be.

The Target Name is always going to be the Account name. In our case, the name of the School.

In our Accounts we know the Status of that account and the Telephone number. Similarly in the Contacts table we know the contacts that are linked to that Account.

Is it possible to modify the task creation so that the following steps happens:
1. Target name is chosen by selecting a Linked Account. E.g. When creating a Contact you can select the Account by clicking the arrow and choosing, or starting to type out the name.
2. Status and Telephone number are automatically pulled through and populated according to the linked account. They don't need to be manually entered or chosen.
3. Contact to be chosen by selecting relevant linked contact to the account. E.e. When creating an Opportunity you can select the Contact and the list of Contacts is automatically filtered according to the Account you have chosen.
4. This leaves just the Next Action and Best Time to be added manually.

Step 2 is the main one I am struggling with. While it may be the case you can click on the Account name to get those details that unnecessarily slows down the rate that the tasks can be worked upon. We do not want that.

We don't need the Tasks to work as comes out of the box with Espo, but what we like so far about this product is how easy it seems to be to customise it to our needs. Hoping we can customise the Tasks too!

Thanks for any help,
Joe

[tanya]

Hello,

if you don't need basic Task features - you can use this entity or create a new one.

https://www.espocrm.com/video/entity-manager/

1. Target name is the name field or additional. You can fill it with formula. You will the the changes after you save it.

https://www.espocrm.com/documentation/administration/formula/

ifThen(!name, name = accountName);

2. You can create a foreign field for status with Entity Manager. But for phone it's not possible with UI, but only with development.

https://forum.espocrm.com/forum/developer-help/28685-get-data-from-calculated-field-in-an-relation

3. requires development as well.

https://www.espocrm.com/documentation/development/custom-views/

https://github.com/espocrm/espocrm/blob/master/application/Espo/Modules/Crm/Resources/metadata/entityDefs/Opportunity.json#L38

https://github.com/espocrm/espocrm/blob/master/client/modules/crm/src/views/opportunity/fields/contacts.js

Regards,
Tanya

[derep]

Thank you for your response tanya. The Formula's that you linked to were just the answer we needed.

Should anyone happen-chance upon this thread in the future here is how we got around this.

The fields Telephone and Status were created as varchar and readonly. The following formula were added to automatically assign the correct data once the user clicks save:

ifThen(!accountStatus, accountStatus = account.status);
ifThen(!telephone,
      ifThenElse(
         contact.phoneNumber,
         telephone = contact.phoneNumber,
         telephone = account.phoneNumber
     )
);

The ifThenElse just gives precedence to using a contact phone number over the account phone number should one exist. A contact to us is a specific member of staff within the school so may contain an extension number to dial straight through to them. If not then the account (school) number will be used and go through reception.

Our only problem is with criteria no. 3 in the OP. Selecting a contact cannot be automatically narrowed down according to only showing contacts from the account that was selected (exactly like what happens with Opportunities), not without development of the code. This is something we will have to leave for the time being, and either it will be fixed by the Espo by the time we have so many contacts it's absolutely required, or we will code it ourselves.

Thanks again tanya.