Tag Management

Overview

Tags are user-created keywords or phrases that can help users find, group, and classify large amounts of data by common attributes that may not be defined via basic database fields. Sugar® stores tags as individual records in the Tags module. Modules using the Sidecar user interface (e.g., Accounts, Contacts, etc.) contain a Tags field where users can create and share tags that can be used to identify records in filters, dashlets, and reports. For more information about Sidecar modules, please refer to the User Interface documentation in the Application Guide.

While tags can be created and used by regular Sugar users, some actions in the Tags module are only available to administrators and users with Developer-level role access. This documentation will cover these administration options which allow you to manage the system-wide tag repository. For information about tag functionality which is available to regular users, please refer to the Tags documentation in the Application Guide. For instructions concerning views and actions which are common across most Sugar modules, such as creating, editing, and deleting tags, please refer to the Working With Tags section of this page.

Note: The Tags module is not configurable in Studio.

Understanding Tag Behavior

The act of relating a tag to a Sugar record is referred to as "tagging". By default, modules using the Sidecar user interface (e.g., Contacts, Leads, Accounts, etc.) are enabled for tagging and include the Tags field in the layout. Tags can be related to multiple records across any Sidecar module, so a single tag can appear on multiple records. Likewise, a single record can have multiple tags. Unlike other Sugar modules, users can see all tag records regardless of their team memberships. Additionally, users will be able to edit Tag fields to add existing tags or create new tags regardless of any role restrictions their user has for the Tags module.

Please note that only administrators and users with Developer-level role access may create, edit, merge, and delete tags in the Tags module. To assign a Tags Administrator role to a Sugar user, please refer to the Creating a Tags Administrator section of this page.

Note: While the "Find Duplicates" functionality is disabled for all users of the Tags module, users with administrator access to the Tags module can find and merge duplicate tag records via list view. For more information on merging records, refer to the User Interface documentation.

For more information on tag usage guidelines and interacting with tags in Sugar, please refer to the Tags documentation in the Application Guide.

Tag Fields

The Tags module contains a number of stock fields that come out-of-the-box with Sugar. For information on using and editing various field types, refer to the User Interface documentation. The definitions below are suggested meanings for the fields, but the fields can be leveraged differently to best meet your organization's needs.

Consolidating Synonymous Tags

Sugar prohibits users from saving duplicate tag records, but with many users working in and importing new records to Sugar, it is possible for synonymous tag records (e.g., computer and computers) to accidentally occur in the system.

Before creating a new tag record, a good practice is to first check that a similar tag does not already exist in Sugar. You can locate candidates for cleanup using the list view search from the Tags list view. Searching for tags with similar names or other information can turn search into a powerful, duplicate-finding tool. If synonymous tag records are detected, perform a merge as described in the User Interface documentation.

Note: While the "Find Duplicates" functionality is disabled for all users of the Tags module, users with administrator access to the Tags module can find and merge duplicate tag records via list view.

Creating a Tags Administrator

By default, only administrator or developer users have the ability to create, edit, delete, and merge tags in the Tags module. It may be helpful to delegate these administrative tasks to one or more designated user(s) without giving them full administrative permissions in Sugar.

Use the following steps to create a Tags Administrator role:

1. Navigate to Admin > Role Management.
2. Click the triangle in the Roles module tab and select "Create Role".
    
3. Enter a name (e.g., Tags Administrator) for the role then click "Save".
4. On the Role Chart screen, click "Tags" in the module's list to the far left of the page.
   
5. The following screen will display the role settings specific to the Tags module. The Access and Access Type columns will default to "Not Set". Click the "Not Set" in both columns and select the following options::
   
   • Access: Enabled
   • Access Type: Admin
   Note: All other role settings can remain as "Not Set" since the Admin access type will ensure full access to the remaining options.
   
6. Click "Save" to preserve the changes.
7. Scroll to the Users subpanel on the bottom of the screen and click "Select User". Search and select the user(s) you wish to assign this role to.
   
8. After selecting the user(s), navigate to the user's profile to view their access information via the Access tab. Confirm that the Tags Administrator role is displayed in the Roles subpanel and the Tag module's access is set to "Admin".

Any user assigned to the Tags Administrator role will have the ability to access increased functionality such as creating, editing, deleting, and merging records in the Tags module. For more information on creating roles, please refer to the Role Management documentation.

Working With Tags

While the Tags module has some features that only apply to contacts, it also uses the Sidecar user interface that most Sugar modules are based on. The following sections detail menus, views, and actions common to Sidecar modules and contain links to additional information within the page or links to the User Interface documentation.

Menus

The Tags module contains various options and functionality which are available via menus in the module tab, list view, and record view. The following sections present each menu and its options with links to more information about each option in the User Interface documentation or, for Tags-specific functionality, within this page.

Module Tab Menus

The Tags module tab is typically found by clicking the arrow to the right of the navigation bar tabs at the top of any Sugar screen. The additional modules will appear on the list and you can click "Tags" to access the list view. Once the Tags module tab displays on the navigation bar, you can click the triangle within the tab to display the Actions, Recently Viewed, and Favorites menu. The Actions menu allows you to perform important actions within the module. The Recently Viewed menu displays the list of tags you most recently viewed. The Favorites menu displays the list of tags you most recently marked as favorites.

The module tab's Actions menu allows you to perform the following operations:

For more information on module tab menus including reasons a module may not be included in the menu, see the User Interface documentation.

List View Menus

The Tags list view displays all tag records and allows for searching and filtering to locate specific tags. You can view the basic details of each record within the field columns of the list view or click a tag's name to open the record view. To access a module's list view, simply click the module's tab in the navigation bar at the top of any Sugar page.

List View Mass Actions Menu

The Mass Actions menu to the right of the checkbox option in the list header allows you to perform mass actions on all currently selected records. You can use the checkbox on each record's row to select individual tag records or click the checkbox in the list header to select all records displayed on the current set of list view results.

The Mass Actions menu allows you to perform the following operations:

Note: While the "Find Duplicates" functionality is disabled for all users of the Tags module, users with administrator access to the Tags module can find and merge duplicate tag records via list view. For more information on merging records, refer to the User Interface documentation.

List View Record Actions Menu

The Record Actions menu to the far right of each record's row allows you to perform actions on the individual tag directly from the list view.

The options in the Record Actions menu allow you to perform the following operations:

Record View Actions Menu

The Tags record view displays a single tag in full detail including its relevant fields and subpanels of related records. To access a tag's record view, simply click a hyperlinked tag name from the Tags list view, Tags list view dashlet, or from report results. The record view's Actions menu appears on the top right of the page and allows you to perform various operations on the current record.

The Actions menu allows you to perform the following operations:

Common Views and Actions

The following links will open specific sections of the User Interface documentation where you can read about views and actions that are common across most Sidecar modules.