Conditional Rules
Conditional Rules change a field or layout item’s appearance or visibility according to values in the current record. They are useful for highlighting important information, drawing attention to incomplete records, and showing a field only when it is relevant.
You can create rules in two places:
- In a field’s properties, click the Edit Rules button beneath the Conditional Rules heading.
- In the Universal Layout editor, select a field item and choose Edit in the Conditional Rules section of its properties.
Rules on a field apply wherever that field is shown. Rules on a layout item apply only to that item in that layout, so they are useful when the same field needs different behavior in different layouts.
Create a rule
1. Open the Conditional Rules editor.
2. Choose Formatting or Visibility at the top of the rule list.
3. Click Add Rule.
4. Select the rule, then configure its result and the conditions under When.
5. Click Save.
Use Add Condition to test additional fields. Choose All conditions when every condition must be true, or Any condition when one matching condition is enough. A rule with no conditions never matches.
Formatting rules
A formatting rule changes the displayed value when its conditions match. It can apply:
- Text colour
- Background colour
- Bold
- Italic
For example, to flag overdue tasks:
1. Add a Formatting rule to the Due Date field.
2. Set the condition to Due Date is less than the appropriate (ISO 8601) date, or use a relative-date condition.
3. Set a red text colour or background colour, and optionally enable Bold.
4. Save the rule.
To highlight high-priority records, choose the Priority field, set it to is equal to `High`, then choose the formatting you want.
Formatting is not combined across matching rules. The last matching formatting rule supplies the complete formatting result. If that rule does not set a colour or style, the value uses its normal appearance for that property.
Visibility rules
A visibility rule determines whether the target field or layout item is shown for the current record. Each rule’s result is either Show or Hide.
For example, to show an Approval Notes field only after approval is requested:
1. Add a Visibility rule to Approval Notes.
2. Set Action to Show.
3. Under When, choose the Approval Requested checkmark field and set it to is true.
4. Save the rule.
When a target has visibility rules, it is visible by default unless a matching rule changes that result. If more than one visibility rule matches, the last matching rule wins. Put broad rules first and more specific exceptions later.
Conditions and operators
Choose the field to test, then choose an operator. The available operators depend on the field type.
- Text and number fields support comparisons such as is equal to, contains, is greater than, is empty, and is not empty.
- Checkmark fields use is true and is false in visibility rules.
- Photo fields support is empty and is not empty.
- Date fields also support is today, was yesterday, is tomorrow, was last week, was in the last, and is in the next.
For was in the last and is in the next, enter a positive whole-number amount and choose hours, days, weeks, months, or years. For example, Due Date is in the next 7 days matches dates from now through seven days from now.
Numeric values are compared as numbers when possible. Dates entered for direct comparisons must use an ISO 8601 date YYYY-MM-DD or date-and-time YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ssZ value. Text comparisons use the displayed value and follow the system’s localized comparison behavior.
Rule order
Rules are evaluated from top to bottom, and the final matching rule takes precedence. Drag rules in the list to reorder them.
A practical pattern is:
1. Put a general rule first, such as “Hide when Status is Archived.”
2. Put an exception after it, such as “Show when Status is Archived and Keep Visible is true.”
The exception wins when both rules match.
Tips
- Test rules with representative records, including empty values and boundary dates.
- Name fields clearly; the editor uses field names in rule summaries.
- Prefer layout-item rules when a condition should affect one layout only.
- Delete a rule or remove its conditions when it is no longer needed. Removing a condition changes only that rule; it does not delete the field or its data.
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