You can add custom properties to any document type that appears in the outline: modules, sections, topics, questions, and assessments. Custom properties are metadata, which can be used to add searchable information to the item, such as author, author email, date, and so on. This information is included when you use the Find and Replace command in the Developer, so you can locate specific content more easily. In addition, you can include this table in document outputs. See the Customize Document Formats section of the Publish Content chapter in this guide for more information.

The property table is blank by default and does not contain prepopulated field names. There are three columns in the table. The Field column is for the name of the field, while the Value column is the content of the field. The Bookmark Name field is generated automatically from the text in the Field column. The bookmark name must be unique, as the bookmark can be used to add the custom property field to the document output on its own (not as part of the table), as duplicate bookmarks are not allowed. Using the bookmarks separately can be useful to place an author's name on the cover of a guide, for example. See the Use Bookmarks section in the Customize Document Formats section of the Publish Content chapter in this guide for more information.

You can add more rows to the Custom Properties table, delete rows, and move rows up and down to rearrange the order. The text in the first cell of the table appears in the Properties toolpane when you select a document that contains this custom property.

If a multiple document selection contains existing table text, the table dialog box displays the common table rows that appear in ALL of the selected documents. The common table row can appear in different row positions in the selected documents as long as the text in the row is identical. If the selected documents contain no common table rows, the table appears blank.

Warning! The changes made to a table for a multiple document selection affect all of the selected documents, and overwrite any existing values. Therefore, the table rows that do not appear in a multiple selection because they are not common to the entire selection are deleted.

To add custom properties:

1. Display the Properties toolpane.
    
2. In the Library or Outline Editor, select the document to which you want to add custom property values.
    
3. In the General category, click in the Custom properties cell.
    
4. The Custom Properties dialog box opens with a blank row ready for text entry.
    
5. Type the text in the appropriate cell. Press TAB to move from one cell to the next. A new row is automatically added.
    
6. Click OK to save the changes.
    
   You can also click Cancel if you do not want to save your changes.

Tip: All cells allow multi-line entries. You can create multiple lines in a cell by letting the text word-wrap or by pressing Shift+ENTER to insert new lines. Scroll arrows appear in multi-line cells for navigating through the text.

To insert a new row:

1. Select a row and click to add a new row before the selected row.
    
2. Type the text in the appropriate cell.
    
3. Click OK to save the changes.
    
   You can also click Cancel if you do not want to save your changes.

To delete a row:

1. Select the row you want to delete and click .
    
2. Click OK to confirm the deletion.
    
   You can also click Cancel if you do not want to save your changes.

To sequence a row:

1. Select a row and click or to move the row to a new position in this list.
    
2. Click OK to save the changes.
    
   You can also click Cancel if you do not want to save your changes.

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