Building a Layout

A layout is a row, then an arrangement built in the layout builder.

Where to find it

Architect Panel → Layout & Pages:

• Data Layouts — the layouts, then Layout Builder on a row
• Record Layout — per-field sections and widths

Decide first

1. Which table, and which of its fields belong on this screen at all.
2. Who uses it, and what they are trying to do.
3. The order they work in.
4. What can be hidden or moved out of the way.

The fourth is the one that transforms a screen. Most records have fields that matter to a report and not to the person filling the form in.

Then build in this order

1. Create the layout against its table.
2. Open the layout builder from the row.
3. Add rows for each logical group.
4. Place fields into cells, widest first within each row.
5. Check it on a phone.
6. Have somebody who is not you complete a record with it.

Group by meaning, not by type

All the dates together is a grouping that helps nobody. The dates relevant to reporting a problem, next to the other fields relevant to reporting a problem, is a grouping somebody can work through.

Put required fields where they will be seen

A mandatory field at the bottom of a long screen is a field people reach after deciding they have finished. Required fields belong near the top.

Check it on a phone

Rows collapse on narrow screens, and a layout designed on a wide monitor can become a very long single column with the important fields somewhere in the middle.

If any of your users are on phones, this is not optional.

Beware of fields added later

A new field on the table does not place itself sensibly. Adding a field is the moment to revisit the layout, or it appears at the end where nobody looks.

Test with a real record

Not an empty one. Long values, empty values, a very long note — those are what reveal a layout that looks fine with placeholder text.

Ask somebody else to use it

The person who built a layout knows where everything is. The test that matters is somebody who does not, completing a real record, without being helped.

Worked example

A layout was built in four rows with the six required fields in the first two, checked on a phone where one row had collapsed badly, and then tested by a colleague completing a real case. Two fields were moved as a result of watching them scroll back.

Recommendations

• Decide what to leave off before arranging anything.
• Required fields near the top.
• Check on a phone if anybody uses one.
• Revisit the layout whenever a field is added.