Custom Action Types

Custom action types let you go beyond the built-in categories (Vehicle, Building & Maintenance, IT, etc.) to define action types that match exactly how your brigade works. Each custom type can have its own name, colour, notification recipients, and custom fields to collect the specific information your team needs.

Creating a Custom Action Type

Go to the Actions page
Click the Action Settings gear icon in the top-right toolbar
In the Action Types panel, click New Action Type
Fill in the details:
- Name — what this type will be called (e.g. Building Maintenance Request, Uniform Order, Station Suggestion)
- Badge Colour — the colour shown on the action badge in lists and on the detail page
- Notification Recipients — who gets notified when an action of this type is created (see Notifications below)
- Custom Fields — additional fields shown on the create form for this type (see Custom Fields below)
- Public Portal — whether this type appears as an option on your brigade’s public issues page
Click Create Action Type

Notifications

Each action type can notify a different set of people when a new action is created or becomes overdue. You can combine any of the three recipient options:

Brigade Admin — automatically notifies all brigade and organisation administrators
Appointment Types — notifies anyone currently holding a specific appointment (e.g. Station Officer, Maintenance Officer). Only appointment types relevant to your unit are shown.
Specific Members — always notify named individuals regardless of their role or appointments

If no recipients are configured, no notification emails are sent for that type.

Custom Fields

Custom fields let you collect structured information when someone logs an action of this type. Instead of relying on free-text notes, you can require specific details upfront — the right room, the right vehicle, the right fault category.

Adding Custom Fields

In the action type form, scroll to the Custom Fields section and click Add Field. For each field, configure:

Field Label — the question or prompt shown on the form (e.g. Room / Location, Fault Type, Contact Name)
Field Type — how the field is answered:
- Short Text — a single line of free text
- Long Text — a multi-line text area for more detailed descriptions
- Dropdown — a fixed list of options the person must choose from
Required — tick this to prevent the form from being submitted without an answer

For Dropdown fields, enter each option on its own line in the Dropdown Options box.

Click Add Field again to add more fields. Fields can be removed with the × button before saving.

Example — Building Maintenance Request

A brigade receiving building maintenance requests through the public portal often gets vague descriptions (“the light is broken”). Adding custom fields forces submitters to provide the context needed to act on it:

Field Label	Type	Required
Room / Location	Dropdown	Yes
Fault Type	Dropdown	No
Additional Detail	Long Text	No

With dropdown options like Hall, Apparatus Bay, Toilets, Kitchen, External for Room / Location — and Electrical, Plumbing, Structural, Cleaning, Security, Other for Fault Type — every submission arrives with actionable context.

Where Custom Fields Appear

Custom fields are shown:

On the Create Action form when the custom type is selected from the Category dropdown
On the public issues form (if the type has Show on public issue portal enabled)
On the action detail page under the Action Details section, displaying each field label and value

Fields with no value entered are not shown on the detail page.

Using a Custom Action Type

When creating an action, select the custom type from the Category dropdown under the Custom optgroup. Any custom fields defined for that type will appear immediately below the category selector.

Custom types can be used from:

The Create Action modal on the Actions page
The public issues form on your brigade’s public portal (if the type is marked as publicly visible)

Editing and Deleting Custom Action Types

To edit an existing type, click the Action Settings gear icon on the Actions page and select the type from the list.

You can update the name, colour, notification recipients, and custom fields at any time. Changes to custom fields take effect immediately for new actions — existing actions retain the values they were submitted with.

To delete a custom action type, use the Delete button at the bottom of the edit form. Actions that were created with the deleted type will remain, but will no longer show a type name or custom field values.

Public Portal

To allow the public to report issues using a custom type, enable Show on public issue portal when creating or editing the type. It will then appear in the Category dropdown on your brigade’s public issues page.

Any custom fields on the type will be shown on the public form, including required validation. This is particularly useful for structured community reports — building maintenance, hall bookings requests, equipment suggestions — where you need specific information from people who don’t have an account.

See Public Brigade Page for information on enabling the public issues portal for your brigade.

This is separate from Public by default, which controls whether new actions of this type automatically show up on the public issues page once created — see Public Action Visibility.

Manage Actions — general guidance on creating and working with actions
Action Notifications — how notification emails work across the actions system
Public Brigade Page — setting up and managing your brigade’s public portal