Cascading Custom Fields in Plans & Boards

Lee Dussinger Updated by Lee Dussinger

Cascading Custom Fields in Plans & Boards

Cascading Custom Fields is a powerful feature designed to ensure key information is included, while eliminating the need for manual entry. When you set a value for a cascading custom field on a parent block within a Plan (like a Campaign), that value is automatically inherited by all of its child blocks like sub-campaigns and individual Moments. Cascading custom fields allow both the presence of the field as well as the information entered into that field to be passed down. This feature is currenlty on available on multi-select fields.

This ensures that critical information, such as target audiences, product SKUs, or regional markets, remains consistent throughout an entire initiative. It saves time, prevents data entry errors, and provides a reliable foundation for organizing and reporting on your work. In addition, having this information on plans and Moments will be crucial in leveraging the forthcoming feature: Smart Swimlanes.

How to Use Cascading Custom Fields

  1. Click the Opal Options (...) menu in the top-left corner and navigate to Configure Workspace.
  2. From the configuration menu, select Custom Fields.
  3. You can either Create a new custom field or click the three-dot menu next to an existing one and select Edit.
  4. In the details panel that appears on the right, find the Cascade Selected Values option and toggle it on. A description will confirm that "Values selected will cascade from parent to child blocks, unless overridden."
  5. In Configure Workspace, navigate to the Types section.
  6. Select the Type that will serve as the parent block in your plans (e.g., "Campaign").
  7. In the edit panel, scroll down to the Fields section.
  8. Search for and add the custom field you just configured. It will appear in the list with a "Cascading" tag, visually confirming its behavior.
  9. Navigate to Plans and open the relevant plan.
  10. Select a parent block that uses the Type you configured in Part 2.
  11. In the details panel on the right, find the cascading custom field and set its value. Now, open any child block nested under that parent. You will see that the custom field is already populated with the value you set on the parent.

How Inheritance Works

- Child blocks inherit values from the nearest parent with an explicit value set

- Values cascade through multiple levels (Campaign → Sub-campaign → Phase → Moment)

- If a middle level has the field disabled, grandchildren still inherit from the grandparent

- Inheritance only works for multi-select custom fields

Overriding Inherited Values

While the value in cascading fields is that you can set inheritance, you can always manually override the specific information.

When you manually update a cascading field on any block:

- That block's inheritance from its parent is broken

- The block's children will now inherit the new overridden values

- Other sibling blocks remain unaffected and continue inheriting from the original parent

Example: If a Campaign has "North America, EMEA" and you change a Sub-campaign to just "EMEA", all children of that Sub-campaign inherit only "EMEA" while other Sub-campaigns still inherit "North America, EMEA"

Most Common Use Case

From what we've seen of how users leverage this feature, the most common use case enables setting specific tactics per geographic region. Customers start by setting a cascading custom field that lists all of the possible tactics the brand employs. Regional plans are added to that parent campaign, and as a result, they come with a custom field that lists all of the possible tactics. On a region-by-region basis, users can remove the marketing tactics that won't be used in the specific region. This makes it easy to ensure that the correct tactics are always reflected in the plan for each region.

Troubleshooting

Why don't I see inherited values?

- Ensure the custom field is enabled for both parent and child block types

- Check that the parent block has explicit values set

- Verify the custom field has "Cascade Selected Values" enabled

What happens if I disable a custom field for a block type?

- Blocks with explicit values keep their data

- Blocks with only inherited values will no longer show the field

- Re-enabling the field restores inheritance behavior

Note: If you change a block's type or disable a cascading field, inherited values may be lost

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