Colouring form fields by their values in Base by Zaweba

A form shows every field the same way, and that is often the problem. The overdue invoice looks just like the paid one. The low stock item sits quietly among the healthy ones. Conditional formatting in Base by Zaweba lets a text box on a form change colour when its value meets a condition, so the records that need attention stand out the moment you reach them.

The colours are red, amber, green, blue and grey, and you can make the text bold as well. Those cover the traffic light idea most people know, plus two calmer colours for information rather than warning.

Conditions you can set

A text box can change colour when a value is over, under or between given figures, equal to a value, contains some text, or is empty. That covers a lot of everyday checks. A stock level under the reorder point. A balance over zero. A status equal to Overdue. A notes field that contains "urgent". A phone number field that is empty.

The condition can test the text box's own field, or another field of the same record. That second option is powerful. A customer name can turn red when the account balance is over a limit, so the warning sits on the field your eye goes to first, even if the balance itself is further down the form.

Using colour sensibly

Use red for things that need action now, amber for things that need watching, and green for things that are fine, and stick to that meaning on every form. Blue and grey work well for information, such as a record that belongs to a particular category or is no longer active.

Less is more. If half the fields on a form are coloured, nothing stands out. Pick the one or two things that would change what someone does next, and colour those. Bold is best saved for the most important warning of all.

Colour shouldn't be the only signal either. Some people find red and green hard to tell apart. If a status matters, show it as words in a field as well, and let the colour be a quick extra rather than the only clue.

Pairing it with the rest of Base

Conditional formatting works best on fields that hold clean values. A status from a value list, a number with a validation rule, or a calculated field such as a line total gives the condition something reliable to test. A free text field that one person fills with "late" and another with "LATE!!" is much harder to colour consistently.

It suits forms with sub-forms too. On an invoice form with its lines underneath, the invoice's balance can turn amber when part paid and red when overdue, while the lines below carry on as normal.

A few patterns that work

A stock form where the quantity goes red under the reorder level. A members form where the membership type goes blue when it equals Junior, so junior records are obvious at a glance. A jobs form where the priority goes bold red when it equals High. A contacts form where the email box goes grey when empty, as a gentle reminder.

Set one up, page through a few records to check it behaves as expected, and adjust the figures until the colours mean exactly what you want them to.