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MetaVox Field Types

MetaVox supports various field types for capturing metadata on Team folders and documents. This guide describes each field type and its usage.

Basic Field Types

Text

A simple single-line text input for short values.

Use cases: Title, author name, document ID, short descriptions

Example: "Q4 Budget Report"

Options: None

Textarea

A multi-line text input for longer content.

Use cases: Descriptions, notes, summaries, comments

Example: "This document outlines the proposed budget for Q4, including projections for..."

Options: None

Number

Numeric input that only accepts numbers.

Use cases: Version numbers, counts, quantities, years

Example: 42

Options: None

Date

A date picker for selecting dates. Optionally, the field can also capture a time component.

Use cases: Publication date, expiry date, review date, meeting start, deadlines

Examples: - Date only: 2026-04-15 - Date + time: 2026-04-15T14:30:00

Options: - Include time component (default: off) — captures hours, minutes and seconds in addition to the date. Stored as a floating ISO 8601 string (no timezone), matching SharePoint's SPFieldDateTime with DisplayFormat = DateTime.

When creating or editing a Date field in admin settings, tick Include time component to enable the time portion:

Date field with Include time component checkbox

In the file sidebar and inline grid editor, the field then renders as a datetime picker that captures both date and time:

Datetime input in the file sidebar

SharePoint migration note: Columns with DisplayFormat = DateOnly map to MetaVox Date fields with this option off; DateTime maps to on. Existing pre-2.1.0 Date fields render as date-only — no data migration is performed. CSV import support is planned for a future release.

Checkbox

A boolean yes/no toggle.

Use cases: Approved status, confidential flag, published status

Example: ✅ (checked) or ☐ (unchecked)

Options: None

Select (Dropdown)

A dropdown menu with predefined options. Users can select one value.

Use cases: Status, category, department, document type

Example: "In Review" (from options: Draft, In Review, Approved, Archived)

Options: Define the available choices as comma-separated values in the field configuration.

Multi-select

Similar to Select, but allows multiple selections.

Use cases: Tags, applicable departments, related topics

Example: "Legal, Finance" (from options: Legal, Finance, HR, IT)

Options: Define the available choices as comma-separated values in the field configuration.

Advanced Field Types

URL

A URL input field with validation and a clickable external link button.

Use cases: Source links, reference URLs, related resources

Features: - URL format validation - Click button to open link in new tab

URL Field

User Picker

Select a Nextcloud user from a searchable dropdown. Shows user avatars.

Use cases: Document owner, reviewer, responsible person, author

Features: - Searchable user list - Displays user avatar and display name - Integrates with Nextcloud user database

User Picker Field

Browse and link to one or more files or folders within Nextcloud using the native file picker.

Use cases: Related documents, source files, attachments, parent documents

Features: - Native Nextcloud file picker integration - Multiple files per field — use Add file to link several files; remove any with the × button - Links are stored by file ID, so a reference keeps working after the target file is renamed or moved - The same file can't be added twice (duplicates are rejected) - Click a linked file to open it - Referenced by — on a linked file you can see which items reference it (backlinks)

File Link field with multiple linked files

Single-file links created with older versions keep working unchanged; you can add more files to them at any time.

Field Configuration

When creating a field in the admin settings, you can configure:

Setting Description
Field Name Internal identifier (no spaces, lowercase recommended)
Field Label Display name shown to users
Field Type One of the types described above
Description Help text shown below the field
Required Whether the field must be filled in
Options For Select and Multi-select fields: comma-separated list of choices

Default Values

Each Team folder can give its assigned file fields a default value. New files in that folder automatically receive the defaults, and existing files without a value are back-filled in the background — so a folder's documents start out consistently classified without manual data entry.

Defaults are configured per Team folder, with a type-correct input for every field type (text, number, date/time, dropdown, multi-select, checkbox, URL, user, file link):

Setting default values per field on a Team folder

  • Tick a field and enter its default in the Default value input that appears.
  • Leave the input empty to clear a default.
  • After saving, use Apply defaults now to back-fill existing files immediately (otherwise a background job applies them within a few minutes).

Who can set defaults: administrators (for any folder) and users who have the per-folder Manage fields permission. The latter configure fields and defaults for their folder from Settings → Personal → MetaVox, which lists only the folders they may manage. See Permissions.

Field Scopes

MetaVox supports two scopes for metadata:

Team Folder Metadata

Metadata that applies to the entire Team folder. Visible on all documents within the folder (read-only at document level).

Document Metadata

Metadata specific to individual documents within a Team folder. Editable by users with document edit permissions.

See Also