How to Choose and Arrange the Columns in a List
On the Calls list and the Customers list you decide which columns are shown, in what order and how wide. Everything starts from the column headings: right-click any heading for Hide column and Choose columns…, drag a heading to move it, and drag its right-hand edge to change its width.
How do I add a column to the list?
Right-click any column heading and choose Choose columns…, then click the column you want in the Available pane and press Apply. The column appears in the list straight away with its data.
- Right-click any column heading on the Calls list or the Customers list.
- Choose Choose columns…. The Choose columns dialog opens with the cursor in its search box.
- Type part of the column's name to find it, or scroll the Available pane.
- Click the column. It moves to the Shown, in order pane on the right.
- Press Apply at the bottom of the dialog.
The Available pane lists every column that is not on screen, alphabetically, under headings that say where each column comes from. The list's own columns come first, under Calls and Action Fields on the Calls list or Customer Fields on the Customers list. Any extra columns and custom fields your company has added follow under headings of their own: Calls Custom Fields and Actions Custom Fields on the Calls list, Customer Custom Fields on the Customers list, and a heading named after the source for any other extra columns your company has set up. Click a heading to fold that group away; typing in the search box opens every group again so nothing is hidden from the search. The search also matches the group headings, so typing Custom Fields lists every custom field that is not already on screen.
The Apply button says what it will cost: "Apply 3 new columns" when you have added three, or plain Apply when you have only moved or removed columns.
How do I hide a column I don't need?
Right-click the column's heading on the Calls list or the Customers list and choose Hide column. The column goes at once, and the list stays on the page you were reading because hiding a column does not change which rows you see. In the Choose columns dialog you can also press the × beside a column in the Shown, in order pane (its name is "Hide" and the column's name), then Apply. The one exception is a column the list is grouped by: hiding it in the Choose columns dialog also removes that grouping, which changes how the rows are gathered, so the list goes back to page 1 and lets go of the row you had marked.
The first column cannot be hidden, because it carries the link that opens a record: Call on the Calls list and Name on the Customers list. Its heading menu has no Hide column, it cannot be moved, and nothing can be placed in front of it. In the Choose columns dialog its × and its drag handle explain why instead of acting: "The call number carries the link into a call, so it cannot be taken off." on the Calls list, and "The name carries the link into a customer, so it cannot be taken off." on the Customers list.
A hidden column is not lost: it waits in the Available pane of Choose columns… until you add it again.
Why can't I add more columns?
A list shows at most 20 columns at a time. The meter under the Shown, in order pane counts them (for example "11 / 20") and turns amber when you reach the limit. Clicking a twenty-first column is refused with a message such as "A page shows at most 20 columns. Take one off to add Contact." Hide a column you use less, then add the new one.
The same limit of 20 applies on the Calls list and the Customers list, and it is checked in the dialog before anything is asked of the list, so you are told straight away rather than getting an error. The Calls list opens with 11 columns, so there is room for nine more. If you often need different sets of columns, save each set as its own layout and switch between them from the Layouts control at the top of the filter rail.
How do I move or resize a column?
To move a column on the Calls list or the Customers list, drag its heading sideways and drop it where you want it; a line between the headings shows where it will land. If you carry the heading up and out of the heading row instead, the list is grouped by that column rather than moved. Dragging a heading needs a mouse or a pen; on a touch screen, reorder the columns in the Choose columns dialog instead.
To make a column wider or narrower, drag the right-hand edge of its heading left or right. The new width is kept when you come back to the list, and it is saved in a layout along with the order. A width can only be changed by dragging: there is no key for it, and double-clicking the edge does not fit the column to its contents.
You can also reorder columns in the Choose columns dialog, whose Shown, in order pane is numbered in the order the list draws the columns. Drag a column by the handle at the left of its row, or, from the keyboard, press Tab to reach a column's handle and use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys to move it one place at a time. The dialog says where it went, for example "Status moved to position 4 of 11." Press Apply at the bottom of the dialog to put the new order on the list.
Moving or resizing a column keeps you on the page you were reading.
How do I undo my column changes?
In the Choose columns dialog, Reset to default puts back the list's own columns in their own order; press Apply to use it. It leaves the widths you dragged as they are. Nothing you do in the dialog reaches the list until you press Apply, so Cancel, the Close button, the Escape key or a click outside the dialog throws away everything you did in it. The dialog says "Every column is already on screen." when there is nothing left to add, and "No column matches" your search when the search finds nothing.
To put back the whole screen, not just the columns, and the column widths with it, choose Default Layout from the Layouts control at the top of the filter rail.