Document Attributes - Admin Reference/Setup – M-Power Software Help Centre

Document Attributes let you add your own typed fields to M-Power records without waiting for a software change. You define an attribute once — its name, its type, and which kinds of record it applies to — and it immediately appears on those records for your users. Values are entered on the records themselves; this article covers the administration side.

Attributes can be applied to: Companies, Company Addresses, Contacts, Leads, Quotes, Orders, Purchase Orders, Invoices, Despatches, Projects and Items (the item master — both products and materials).

Where users see the fields: on documents they live under More → Attributes; on a company, in the Profile tab; on contacts and addresses, in their edit windows; on items and projects, at the bottom of their detail panels. If nothing applies to a record type, the section hides itself entirely. See the companion article Using Attributes.

1. The Document Attributes screen

Go to Settings and open Document Attributes from the Lists section. Each row is one attribute definition:

Column	What it shows
Name	The attribute's unique name.
Type	Text, Number, Date, List or Multi-select.
Applies To	Badges for each record type the attribute is enabled on (e.g. Q quotes, O orders, Co companies).
Copy on Convert	Ticked when values carry across during conversion — see section 5.
Portal	Reserved for a future release (client portal visibility).
Active	Whether the attribute currently appears to users.
Sort	Display order on the record — lower numbers appear first.
In Use	How many stored values exist across all records. A quick way to see whether an attribute is actually being used before you change it.
Options	For List and Multi-select attributes, opens the option editor and shows how many options exist.

Use the document types dropdown in the toolbar to filter the grid to attributes enabled on particular record types — you can pick more than one.
Use Search to find an attribute by name.

2. Creating an attribute

Click Add Attribute.
Name — a unique name for the attribute. This is the stable identifier, so choose it carefully.
Label (optional) — what users see next to the field. If you leave it blank, the Name is shown. Use this when you want a tidy internal name but a friendlier on-screen label, and note you can re-word a Label at any time without affecting anything.
Data Type — one of the five types below. This cannot be changed after the attribute is created, so pick deliberately.
Applies To — tick each record type this attribute should appear on. At least one is required, and you can add or remove types later.
Sort — controls the order attributes appear in on the record.
Copy on convert — off by default; see section 5 before switching it on.
Click Add. For List / Multi-select attributes, now open Options and add the choices (section 4).

Choosing a data type

Type	Use for	Notes
Text	Free-form entries — references, short notes	Up to 255 characters.
Number	Quantities, measurements, ratings	Stored as a true number, so future filtering and sorting is numeric (10 comes after 9, not after 1).
Date	Deadlines, review dates, expiry dates	Entered with a date picker.
List	One choice from a controlled set	You maintain the option list; users can't invent values.
Multi-select	Several choices from a controlled set	As List, but users can pick more than one option.

Prefer List over Text whenever the values are knowable in advance. Controlled options keep the data consistent, which matters as soon as you want to search or report on it.

3. Editing, deactivating and deleting

Use the pencil button to edit. Name, Label, Applies To, Sort, Copy on convert and Active can all be changed; the Data Type cannot.

Removing a record type from an attribute

If you untick a record type that already has stored values, you'll be warned how many records are affected and asked to confirm — confirming deletes those values. Values on the types that remain ticked are untouched.

Deactivate vs delete

	Deactivate (untick Active)	Delete
What users see	The attribute disappears from all records	The attribute disappears from all records
Stored values	Kept — everything returns intact if you reactivate	Deleted permanently, along with the attribute and its options
Safety	Fully reversible	If values exist you're shown the count and must confirm; there is no undo

When in doubt, deactivate. Delete is for attributes created by mistake or genuinely never used — the In Use column tells you which is which.

4. Managing options (List and Multi-select)

Click Options on the attribute's row. From the option editor you can:

Add — type the option and click Add. Option names must be unique within the attribute.
Rename — edit the text in place. The change shows everywhere the option is already selected, so a rename is safe.
Reorder — change the Order value; options are listed in that order in the dropdown.
Deactivate — untick Active to retire an option. Records that already have it keep it (shown as (inactive)), but it can no longer be newly selected.
Delete — permanently removes the option. If records currently have it selected you'll be warned how many, and confirming clears it from those records.

As with attributes themselves: retire options by deactivating them rather than deleting, so historical records keep their meaning.

5. Copy on convert

When a quote is converted to an order, M-Power can carry attribute values across automatically. A value copies only when all of these are true:

The attribute has Copy on convert ticked (it's off by default — copying is opt-in per attribute).
The attribute applies to both the source and target record types — for a quote-to-order conversion, both Quote and Order must be ticked.
The order doesn't already hold a value for that attribute — conversion never overwrites an existing value.

This applies to every way a quote becomes an order, including automatic conversions from deposit payments and conversions made by customers through the client portal.

Quote → order is the conversion covered today. The same per-attribute rule is designed to extend to other conversions (order → invoice, order → despatch, lead → quote) in a future release.

6. Good practices

Name for the long term. The Name is the attribute's identity — use the Label for anything cosmetic you might want to re-word later.
Scope tightly. Only tick the record types where the field genuinely matters; every extra type is another screen your users see the field on.
One fact per attribute. "Site Requirements" as free text ages badly; Requires Ladder (List: Yes/No) plus Ladder Height (Number) stays reportable.
Check In Use before restructuring. The count tells you whether a change affects live data before any warning prompt does.

7. Frequently asked questions

Who can manage attributes?

Anyone with access to the Settings area. There is no separate permission for the Document Attributes screen.

I picked the wrong data type — what now?

The type is locked once created. If no values exist yet, delete the attribute and recreate it with the right type. If values exist, create a new attribute alongside, re-enter the data, then deactivate (or delete) the old one.

Is there a limit on how many attributes I can create?

No fixed limit. Screen usability is the practical constraint — if a record type is accumulating a long list, review whether they all still earn their place.

Can attributes appear on quote letters, invoices or other printed documents?

Not yet — attributes are internal-screen fields today. Report and client-portal exposure are planned; the Portal flag on the attribute is reserved for that.

Can I filter a list screen (e.g. the Orders list) by an attribute?

Not yet. The data is structured so attribute columns and filters can be added to the list screens in a later release.