Add notes, tags, and custom fields
Every sales order carries three annotation tools on its detail page: freeform Notes for team context, quick-label Tags for organizing and filtering the list, and structured Custom Fields for the data your own workflow needs. This guide covers all three.
All three live as tabs near the bottom of the sales order page, alongside the order's line items. The examples use the demo order SO-DOCS-0001 — customer Blue Bottle Retail, store Main Store.
Before you begin
| Requirement | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| An existing sales order | Open it from Orders → Sales Orders, then scroll to the Notes, Tags, and Custom Fields tabs below the line items. |
The Update sales orders permission (sales_orders.update) | Adding notes, pinning, deleting, changing tags, and editing custom fields all require it. Without it, the Notes and Tags tabs stay readable but their add fields and controls are hidden, and the Custom Fields tab shows a read-only message. |
Notes, tags, and custom fields are all metadata — none of them changes the order's status, fulfillment, or financials.
Add and pin notes
Notes are freeform comments for your team. Each note records who wrote it and when, and you can pin the important ones so they stay in view no matter which tab is open.
- On the order, open the Notes tab. The tab shows a count badge when notes exist.
- Type your note in the Add a note... field.
- Click Add, or press Enter. The Add button stays disabled until you type something. Your note appears at the top of the list, stamped with your name and the date and time.
Notes list newest first. Each entry shows the note text, the author's name (or System for system-generated notes), and a timestamp. When an order has no notes, the tab reads No notes yet.
Pin a note so it stays visible
Pinning lifts a note out of the regular list into a highlighted band that sits above the tab bar — so it stays on screen even when you switch to the Tags, Custom Fields, or another tab.
- Find the note in the list and hover its pin icon (tooltip: Pin).
- Click the pin icon. The note moves into the highlighted Pinned Note band above the tab bar, visible from any tab on the order.
- To unpin, click the Unpin icon (on the pinned note in the band, or on the note in the list). It returns to the regular list.
A pinned note is marked with a Pinned label and a warning-colored left border wherever it appears.
Delete a note
Hover the note and click its trash icon to remove it.
Deleting a note opens a Delete Note confirmation — Are you sure you want to delete this note? — so an accidental click won't remove it. Confirm with Delete to remove the note permanently; there is no undo once confirmed. You can delete a pinned note directly from the band above the tabs.
Adding or deleting a note refreshes any queued packing slips for the order, so a slip printed afterward reflects the current notes.
Tag a sales order
Tags are short labels you attach to an order to group and find it later — for example rush, wholesale, or a project name. Tag changes save on the spot; there is no separate save step.
- Open the Tags tab. The tab title shows a count chip when tags exist.
- In the Type to add a tag... field, type the label you want.
- Press Enter to apply it. (On a phone, tap the Add button below the field instead.) The tag appears as a chip. Adding a label that's already on the order does nothing — each tag applies once.
Each applied tag shows as a chip. To remove one, click the x on its chip and confirm in the Remove Tag dialog — Remove the tag "..." from this order? — then click Remove.
Because each add or remove saves the moment you make it, a Tags updated confirmation appears on success. If the save fails, the tag change is undone and an error is shown — you never end up with a half-applied change.
Tags carry no financial or fulfillment effect. Their job is to help you group, scan, and filter orders. Tags you add here surface on the sales orders list, where you can filter and search by them. See List columns and filters.
Fill in custom fields
Custom fields are structured, admin-defined fields specific to your business — for example a project code, an account manager, or an internal reference. An administrator defines which fields exist for sales orders; you fill in their values per order.
- Open the Custom Fields tab. The tab badge shows how many values are set.
- Enter or select a value for each field. A field flagged to also appear on the order summary carries an eye icon labelled Visible in order details.
- Click Save Changes. The button stays disabled until you change something, and the panel shows an Unsaved changes, then Saving…, then Saved indicator as you go. To abandon your edits, click Discard.
What you'll see: the Saved indicator once the values are stored, and the tab badge updates to reflect how many fields now have a value.
If no custom fields have been defined for sales orders yet, the tab reads No custom fields defined for this record type with a Define some in Settings → link. To add or change the field definitions themselves, use the Manage in Settings link at the top of the panel, which opens Settings → Custom Fields → Sales Orders.
Custom field values are editable while you edit the order header. In that case the pending values are saved when you save the header, rather than from this tab. For header editing, see View and edit a sales order.
Unlike the Notes and Tags tabs, the Custom Fields tab needs the Update sales orders permission to show values at all. Without it, the tab reads You do not have permission to edit custom fields.
Next steps
- View and edit a sales order — edit the header, where custom fields can also be saved.
- List columns and filters — filter and scan the list by your tags and custom fields.
- Order detail and mobile reference — the full tab bar, including the read-only Activity log that records who changed what.
- Glossary — definitions of sales-order terms.
- Sales orders overview