Working with Records

A record is an individual entry inside a custom section. If a section is a spreadsheet, a record is a row. If a section is a contacts list, a record is a person. Records hold whatever data your template defines : text, dates, numbers, files, picklist values, and more.

Every custom section has its own records. Records in one section are independent of records in another, though they can be linked or converted between sections if your admin has configured that.

Creating a Record

Open any custom section and click the + New button in the top right. This opens a form built from the section's template. Fill in the fields and save : the record appears in the section index immediately.

You can also create a record by converting or cloning an existing record from another section.

The Record Show Page

Click any record in the list to open its show page. This is where everything about the record lives: its template fields, any linked contacts or companies, notes, to-dos, files, communications, and activity history.

Tabs or select list

Depending on how your ORCA instance is configured, the different sections of a record's show page are either displayed as tabs along the top or as a dropdown select list. This is a Super Admin setting and applies account-wide : if you'd like it changed, speak to your ORCA administrator.

Editing a Record

From the show page, click Edit to open the record in edit mode. You can update any of the template fields and save. Changes are recorded in the activity log at the bottom of the show page, so there's always a trail of who changed what and when.

Deleting a Record

From the edit screen, a Delete option appears at the bottom of the page. Deleting a record removes it permanently : there's no recycle bin, so check with the team before deleting anything shared.

Views: List, Kanban, and Gallery

By default, records in a section are displayed as a list. Depending on how the section has been set up, two additional views may be available: kanban board and gallery. The view switcher appears in the top right of the section index when one or more alternative views are enabled.

ORCA remembers which view you last used per section, so you only need to switch once.

List view

The default. Records appear as rows with columns defined by the template. Not every field needs to appear in the list : each field has a Show in List View toggle in the template settings, so admins can keep the list focused on the columns that matter most for scanning. See Creating Templates for details.

The list view also has a small toolbar of controls above the table:

• Freeze - pins the first column (the record title) to the left edge so it stays visible as you scroll horizontally through a wide table. The button turns indigo when active. Click again to unfreeze.
• Columns - opens a dropdown listing every visible field. Untick any column to hide it from the list; tick it again to bring it back. The button shows how many columns are currently hidden. The title column cannot be hidden.
• Search - when a section is not using group mode, a search box appears inline in the section header to filter the visible records by title. This is a quick local filter, separate from Global Search.

Both Freeze and Columns preferences are saved per section, so they persist across page loads without needing to be reset each visit. On smaller screens, Freeze and Columns collapse into a single ⚙ icon that opens a combined settings panel.

Kanban board

Records appear as cards arranged in columns, one column per picklist option. You can drag cards between columns to update a record's status without opening it. The board is useful for pipelines, project tracking, and anything where status is the primary thing you're managing at a glance.

Kanban has to be enabled per section in Settings, and relies on the section having a Group Records picklist configured. See Creating Sections for the setup steps, and Kanban Board for how to use it day to day.

Gallery view

Records appear as image cards using the first image from a file-type field. Useful for talent rosters, product catalogues, site photos, or anything where scanning visually is more practical than reading a table.

Gallery also has to be enabled per section in Settings, and requires the section's template to include at least one file field. See Creating Sections for the setup steps.