In many companies, the requirements for a contact view differ considerably – sales needs different information at a glance than accounting or customer service. Classic CRM systems usually impose a fixed structure in which all fields are arranged the same way for every user, regardless of their actual needs. In practice, this often means that important information only becomes visible after scrolling several times, while rarely needed fields take up prominent space. For users, this frequently means unnecessary detours in their daily work, because relevant details first have to be pieced together instead of being available at a glance. That is why 1Tool offers a form builder that lets you design detail page layouts individually for each object type. This allows the view of a contact or another object to be tailored precisely to your own requirements, instead of having to work with a rigid, predefined layout.
Assembling layouts by drag & drop
Administrators put together the detail view of an object type directly by drag & drop. The available building blocks are individual fields, columns and nested rows, which can be arranged freely. A field can, for example, be placed in a narrow column next to another one, while a new row follows below with further fields, again divided into columns. This nesting makes it possible to build a structure that matches exactly the information density and order that make sense for the use case at hand – from a compact overview to a detailed, multi-column detail page. Since the building blocks are moved visually, no programming is needed for the design. The result is a layout that does not have to be developed externally after the fact, but can be adjusted by the people who know the business requirements best. If it becomes apparent in daily work that an arrangement is not ideal, the layout can usually be adjusted at short notice, instead of having to initiate a change through a separate project.
A suitable view for every object type
The form builder is not only available for contacts, but in principle for different object types. This means that each kind of object can have its own, independently designed detail view based on its content. A contact view can thus be structured differently from, say, the view of a project or another object – each with the fields and layout relevant to that area. For companies that use 1Tool across several departments, this means the software adapts to existing processes and not the other way round. If requirements change over time, the layout can be adjusted again at any time without having to change the underlying data model. The detail view thus remains a tool that grows with you, rather than being defined once and then left unchanged. Especially when several departments work with the same objects but have different priorities, this flexibility pays off in the long term, because no department has to make do with a compromise layout that was actually intended for another department.
Field-level visibility by contact group
In addition to the general arrangement, a visibility exception by contact group can be defined for individual fields. This means certain fields can be shown only for selected contact groups, instead of being visible for all contacts alike. This is relevant, for example, when information only makes sense or applies to a particular category of contacts and would otherwise just take up space. Thanks to this fine-grained control, the detail view stays clear even as the number of fields grows, because each contact group only sees the information relevant to it. This combination of free layout design and field-level visibility makes the detail view a tool that can be tailored very precisely to different types of contacts and use cases, without having to maintain several completely separate views. Instead of creating a separate view for each contact group, a shared basic structure is enough, in which individual fields are shown or hidden depending on the group.
Frequently asked questions
Is programming required to customise the form view? No. Layouts are assembled by drag & drop from fields, columns and rows, without having to write any code. Does a customised detail view only apply to contacts? The form builder is in principle available for different object types, so not only the contact view but also the view of other objects can be designed individually. Can individual fields be made visible only for certain contacts? Yes. A visibility exception by contact group can be defined for individual fields, so that these fields are only displayed for selected contact groups. What does the ideal contact view look like for your company?