Field Types¶

Each field has a type. The type decides how you enter the value (a calendar for a date, stars for a rating, a colour picker for a colour) and how it's shown in a list. Pick the type that matches the kind of information you're storing.

When you add a field, the type picker groups the types under headers — Text, Numbers, Date & Time, Choice, Media & Files, and Structure — so related types sit together. The sections below follow the same grouping.

Text¶

Text — a single line: a title, a name, a short note.
Rich Text — formatted text with bold, lists, and so on.
URL — a web link.
Phone — a phone number.
Email — an email address.

Numbers¶

Integer — a whole number: a quantity, a year, a count.
Decimal — a number with fractions, shown to as many decimal places as you choose.
Percentage — 0–100, shown with a %.
Currency — an amount plus a currency symbol.
Measurement — a size with its unit (a coin's diameter in mm, a watch case).
Weight — a weight in grams, ounces, kilograms, or pounds.
Rating — a row of stars you click to set the score; hover to preview, and click the star you're already on to clear it back to empty. Lists show the rating as filled stars against the empty ones, so you can read it against its maximum at a glance.
Auto Number — a whole number that fills itself in: every new item gets the next free number, so each train (or coin, or anything you number) ends up unique without you typing it.

Date & Time¶

Date & Time — a calendar date, optionally with a time. Turn on With time in the field's settings and each item also gets a clock: pick the hour on the dial, then the minute. Lists show the date (and time, when enabled) in your own format.
Date Range — a from–to span. Open one calendar, click the start day, then move the mouse to preview the span and click the end day. Once a start is set, earlier days grey out so you can't end before you begin, the « » arrows jump a whole year at a time, and a Clear button empties it. Lists show the span as "start → end" in your own date format.
Duration — a length of time (a film's runtime, a game's playing time).

Choice¶

Yes / No — a yes/no toggle. By default it's a plain checkbox (ticked means yes, unticked means no). Turn on Allow unanswered if you'd rather have three states — yes, no, or left blank — so an item you haven't decided on yet stays empty instead of silently counting as "no".
Single Choice — a dropdown, pick one.
Multi Choice — pick any number of options. Choose how it looks with the Display setting: Checkboxes shows every option inline (the default), while Dropdown collapses them into a single picker that opens a checklist — handy when a field has lots of options and you want to keep the form compact.
Tags — a set of keywords. Type into the field and press Enter to add each one; tags appear as chips right inside the box. Remove a chip with its × button, or press Backspace when the box is empty to drop the last one.
Country — pick a country from a list, shown with its flag. Because everyone records the same value, you can group or filter by country.
Linked Item — points one item at another (a minifig at its set, a lens at its camera body).

Media & Files¶

Image — one picture, for cover art or a photo of the item.
Image Gallery — several pictures in an order you choose (front and back of a coin, a few angles).
Audio Note — a short clip you record straight into the item. Press Record (the microphone button) to start and again to stop, then use the Play/Pause button to listen back. The button's tooltip reminds you that the microphone and playback device are chosen once, app-wide, under Settings → Audio — both default to your system's default device. A small gear button on the control is a shortcut straight to those settings; it saves the item first so you don't lose edits. Clips are saved with the item and travel with it through sync and backups. Recording works on the desktop and Android apps; in the browser the field tells you recording isn't available there. On Android the microphone permission is asked the first time you press Record — not at startup — so the app never prompts for the mic unless you actually use this field; if you decline, the field says microphone access is needed and records nothing.
File Attachment — keep documents with the item: manuals, warranties, certificates, receipts, instructions. Add as many as you like. Each file shows up as a small chip with its name and extension. Click the name and type to rename it — the extension stays put, so you can't accidentally break it. Right-click a chip for Save As… (write a copy somewhere of your choosing) and Delete. Renaming only changes the label you see; the stored file itself is untouched.
Color — a colour value in ARGB, RGB, Hex, or CMYK.
Barcode / QR — scan a code with a camera or from a photo, or type it. Reads EAN-13, UPC, ISBN, QR, Data Matrix, PDF417, and more.

The Scan… button opens a little menu with two ways in:

From file… — pick a photo of the code you already have and Collectary reads it.
From camera… — opens a live camera view right inside the app. Point it at the code and the moment it reads one it fills the field in and steps back automatically — no shutter button to press. If you have more than one camera (say a front and a back one), use Switch camera to flip between them. Tap Cancel to back out without scanning.

The camera option needs a working camera, so it lights up on phones and on desktops with a webcam. Where there's no camera — the web version, or a desktop without one — the option is still there but greyed out, so you always know it exists. On Android the camera permission is asked the first time you pick From camera — not at startup — so the app never prompts for the camera unless you use it; if you decline, it tells you and steps back. If the camera is already busy in another app, Collectary tells you and steps back so nothing hangs. You can type or paste a code by hand at any time. - QR Code — turns text (a shelf code, a box number, a link) into a QR you can print.

Structure¶

List — a repeating sub-list inside one item, where each entry has its own fields (an album's tracks, each with a title and length). List Entry describes those per-entry fields.
+ Group — not a field on its own, but a heading that boxes related fields together inside a collection. You'll find it at the foot of the type picker, under Structure.
Display Name — every collection has exactly one. It points at the field used to label each item in lists. You set it when designing the collection.

Type settings¶

Some types carry extra settings you adjust when you add or edit the field, under Type settings in the field panel:

Text — set a maximum length to stop entries running on past a limit you choose. Leave it blank for no limit.
Integer — set a minimum and/or maximum so the editor won't accept values outside the range. Leave either blank to leave that end open.
Auto Number — three choices. Let me edit the number decides whether the auto-filled number is yours to change or stays read-only. Next number is picks how the next one is chosen — either highest used + 1, or the lowest unused number so it fills the gaps left when you delete items. And when editing is allowed, if an entered number is already used lets you choose what happens on a clash: block saving, just warn, or allow it. A number, once given to an item, stays with it — the editor only ever picks a number for a brand-new item.
Decimal — choose how many decimal places to show, both while editing and in lists.
Yes / No — choose between a plain yes/no checkbox and the three-state Allow unanswered mode.
Rating — pick how many stars the scale runs to.
Date & Time — turn on With time to capture a time of day alongside the date (a clock picker appears on each item); leave it off for a plain date.
Currency — set the symbol shown beside the amount.
Color — pick the format (Hex, RGB, ARGB, CMYK).
Image — set the display size and how it scales.

Missing a type you need?

Adding a new field type only touches that type's own files — see Adding a field type.