Auto Number Field

Auto Number Field

Auto Number Field in Zoho Projects' Custom Modules, enables users to define a structured, unique ID format. By adding this field to a custom module layout, teams can automatically generate structured, unique IDs for every work item tailored to their workflow, team, or project type. Every work item gets a meaningful, auto-generated ID the moment it's created and makes it immediately clear what type of work item the ID represents and where it belongs.



NotesAvailablility:
Only for custom modules layouts. Not available for default modules and their layouts.

Why Customize?

Different organizations have different numbering requirements. Instead of changing the application's code, a project manager can configure the desired ID format from the settings.

Additionally it enables,
  1. Uniqueness: Every work item gets a distinct ID.
  2. Consistency: All IDs follow predefined pattern.
  3. Customization: Different departments or projects can define their own ID formats.
  4. Automation: Users don't need to remember or create IDs manually avoiding manual errors.
  5. Traceability: IDs make it easy to search, track, and audit work items

Idea
Use Case:
A software company managing three product teams frontend, backend, and QA within a single Zoho Projects workspace used IDs (ISSUE-1, ISSUE-2, ISSUE-3) to track work items across custom modules like Change Requests, Incidents, and Release Notes. With over 200 active records, teams frequently referenced the wrong items in stand-ups and reviews, and couldn't identify whether a record belonged to a specific module or team without opening it.

The Auto Number Field lets each team define a structured ID format tailored to their custom module for example, CR-FE-001 for frontend Change Requests, INC-BE-002 for backend Incidents, and RN-QA-003 for QA Release Notes. With a configurable prefix, sequence length, and suffix, every record became instantly identifiable by module and team no more opening items just to know what they are.

Add Auto Number field

  1. Navigate to  > Customization > Layouts.
  2. Go to the custom module tab and select the layout.
  3. Drag and drop the Auto Number Field in the desired section.
  4. Enter details. Check the box "Update existing records" if you want to update the existing ID records as per the new Auto Number Field details.
  5. Click Add to Layout.
The field will show up in the layout and their associated projects.

Edit Auto Number Field 

  1. Navigate to   > Customization > Layouts.
  2. Go to the custom module tab and select the layout.
  3. Hover over the Auto Number Field and click .
  4. Update details and click Apply changes.
The field details will be updated in the layout and their associated projects 

Mark as default

Marking as default sets the auto number field in the current layout as the first column when viewed in List view. When there are more than one Auto Number fields in a layout, one of them can be set as default. 

The Auto Number field that is added first to the layout is automatically marked as default and cannot be unchecked. But, when a second Auto Number field is added to the same layout, it can be marked as default. This action would automatically uncheck the "Mark as Default" for the first auto number field. Users can add multiple auto number fields to generate custom IDs and mark one as the default.

For reference, First added Auto Number Field:


Second Auto Number Field:

Auto Number Field can be marked as default while adding a new auto number field or while editing it.

Delete Auto Number Field

  1. Navigate to the   > Customization > Layout.
  2. Select the layout where the Auto Number field is added.
  3. Hover over the field and click .
The field will be deleted from the layout. To permanently delete the Auto Number Field
  1. Navigate to   > Customization > Fields.
  2. Hover over the Auto Number field you want to delete and click .