Updating a Field
Not every field setting is created equal. Some things you can change freely after a field has records. Others are locked the moment real data goes in. Knowing which is which saves you from a migration you didn't plan for.
TLDR
- Safe to change any time: Field Label, description, placeholder text, required/optional toggle, default value, Is Searchable, display order, and visibility on layouts. The API uses field slugs, not labels, so renaming a label never breaks integrations or scripts.
- Safe to add, not remove: Dropdown and Multi-Dropdown options. You can add new options at any time. Removing an option that records are already using will leave those records with a value that no longer exists in the list.
- Never safe to change once data exists: Field Type and Field Slug. Both are permanent once records have data in the field.
What is safe to change
Field Label
The label is the name users see on forms and in the record detail view. Changing it is cosmetic. The field still stores its data under the same slug, so no records are affected. You can rename a field as many times as you like.
Description and placeholder text
These are display hints only. Changing them updates what users see when filling out the field, but has no effect on stored values.
Required / optional
Toggling a field between required and optional changes validation on new record saves going forward. It does not affect records that already exist, even if they have no value in the field. Existing records will not fail validation retroactively.
Default value
Changing the default value only affects new records created after the change. Records already in the system keep whatever value they had (or no value, if the field was blank).
Display order and layout visibility
Where a field appears on a layout, and whether it is shown or hidden, is entirely separate from data storage. Reordering fields or hiding them from a layout does not touch the underlying records.
Is Searchable
Toggling whether a field is included in search is safe to change at any time. Turning it on means the field's values will start appearing in search results going forward. Turning it off removes the field from search without affecting the stored data.
Adding options to a Dropdown or Multi-Dropdown
You can add new options to a Dropdown or Multi-Dropdown at any time. Existing records are not changed. They keep whatever option was selected when the record was last saved.
What is not safe to change
Field Type
The field type controls how data is stored. A Yes/No field stores true or false. A Dropdown stores the selected option as a string. A Date field stores a formatted date. These formats are not compatible with each other, and Engine Awesome has no way to automatically convert one to another.
Changing the field type is not possible once records have data in the field. If you need a different type, you have to:
- Add a new field with the correct type.
- Migrate the data, either by editing records by hand or by writing a script using the Engine Awesome API.
- Hide or remove the old field once the migration is complete.
Field Slug
The slug is the internal identifier Engine Awesome uses to read and write data for the field. It is set when the field is created and cannot be changed after records have data in it.
If you change the slug, the existing data is still stored under the old slug. The field will appear empty to users and to the API, even though the data is still there. The old slug becomes inaccessible through normal means.
Removing options from a Dropdown or Multi-Dropdown
This is a partial-safe operation. You can remove options that no records are using. If you remove an option that one or more records have selected, those records will hold a value that is no longer in the list. The data is not deleted, but the value will appear as an unrecognized option in reports and filters until you either restore the option or update the affected records.
Before removing an option, filter your records by that option to see how many are affected.
Quick reference
| What you're changing | Safe? |
|---|---|
| Field Label | Yes, always |
| Description / placeholder | Yes, always |
| Required toggle | Yes (affects new saves only) |
| Default value | Yes (affects new records only) |
| Layout visibility / order | Yes, always |
| Is Searchable toggle | Yes, always |
| Adding Dropdown options | Yes, always |
| Removing unused Dropdown options | Yes |
| Removing Dropdown options with data | No — leaves orphaned values |
| Field Type | No — requires migration |
| Field Slug | No — breaks data access |