Lookups User Guide

How to edit Lookups in Colleague.

Lookup Maintenance

What Is a Lookup?

A Lookup is a dropdown field containing predefined values. These values help standardise data entry and streamline workflows.

Administrating Lookups

The Lookups area in Admin allows administrators to manage the dropdown values used across the system.

This guide outlines how to access and configure lookups, including regularly edited fields like Candidate Status, Custom Lookups, Document Types, History Codes, and Skill Categories.

Accessing the Lookups Area

• The Lookups icon is located under the System Row in the Admin.

• Access is controlled via User Group Permissions:

  • Navigate to your Admin Permissions Group.

  • Under the Admin Permission Folder

  • Ensure the Lookups section is set to Full Access.

  • Once enabled, the Lookups option will be visible in the Admin interface.

Managing Lookup Values

Example: Candidate Status

• Select Candidate Status from the Lookups list.

• You’ll see:
  • Lookup Values on the left-hand side.
  • Lookup Codes on the right-hand side.

As a minmum, each code will include:

• Description - The name of the code.
• Default - Sets the default value when a new record is created.
• Sequence - Determines the order in which values appear in the dropdown list.

Use the Sequence numbering to prioritise frequently used values by placing them at the top.

To add a new Lookup Code to a Lookup, select the Lookup Field (i.e. Candidate Status) and press "New Lookup".

To delete a Lookup Code, select the Lookup field (i.e. Candidate Status) and press "Delete Lookup"

Note: Deleting a Lookup Code will update any record using that is using the code. If you want to stop further use of the code, but not affect existing records, you can update the 'Allow Selection' field to 'No'. This will hide the lookup code moving forwards, but leave the code in place on all existing records.

Custom Lookups

Custom Lookups are used when creating a Custom Field with a dropdown list.

Steps:

1. Within the Lookups area, go to Custom Lookups.
2. Create a Parent Lookup (name it after the custom field).
3. Add Child Values under the parent.
4. In the Custom Fields area, reference the parent lookup to link the dropdown list.

This setup enables tailored dropdowns for custom fields.

Document Types

Document Types will include additional settings beyond the standard lookup fields:

• CV Type - Indicates if the document is a CV (used with the Latest CV function).
• Default for Parsing - Sets the default document type during CV parsing.
• Allow API Access - Controls visibility of the document to third-party API users.
• Default Index - Assigns an index for the document search functionality.

These settings enhance document handling and integration capabilities.

History Codes

History Codes will include standard lookup settings plus other additional options:

• Allow Selection - Enables the code to appear in the dropdown when creating a history entry.
• Update Last Contacted - Updates the Last Contacted field when using the history code.
• Allow Edit/Delete - Controls whether users can edit or delete history entries.

Padlock Icons

• Padlocks indicate System Lookup Codes tied to workflows.
• These codes cannot be deleted.
• Non-padlocked codes can be deleted using the Delete Lookup option.

Permissions

• Editing and deleting history entries require additional authorisation via User Group Permissions under the Global Permission Group.
• Set to Full Access to enable these actions.

Reporting Options

• History codes can be included or excluded from Activity Reporting using Yes/No settings.

Skill Categories

Although visually distinct in the UI, Skills are also managed within the Lookups area.

Similiar to creating a Custom Lookup, Skills are managed within a tree structure with Parent and Child Lookups.

There is no limit to the levels of the tree structure (i.e. you can create a parent within another parent within another parent).

Key Settings:

• Including Parsing - Ensures skills in the folder are checked during CV parsing.
• Skills Alias - Allows alternate names for a skill to be recognized during parsing.

Note: Use Skills Alias to capture variations in terminology and improve parsing accuracy.