As of writing this post, assets can only belong to a single category. However, this guide will show you a work-around that works for most use cases. By using field values to designate additional categorization, you can establish the same goal of having essentially a category within a category.
Let’s use the example of needing to track tools. You have a group of tools that need calibration. You can setup categories such as, “Insulation Testers”, “Multimeters”, etc.
To further nest or group these tools, as tools that require calibration, we will create a field called, “Requires Calibration” and save that to all categories.
Then click “New Field“
Name the field “Requires Calibration” and check “Required Field” and select a type, “Pre-populated list” and enter “Yes,No” and click “Save Field“
Next, drag the “Requires Calibration” field to any / all categories that you want to track whether or not they require calibration and click “Save Category“
Next, we’ll create a sample asset. Click “Create New” > “Asset“
Then, set an asset title such as “Barometer” and select a category and then, set the Requires Calibration field to “Yes” > “Save Asset“
Now, when viewing assets, select the column chooser and check the box for “Requires Calibration”. By doing so, you can see in your list of assets which tools require calibration or not.
(click to zoom)
Calibration Schedule
Saving a value of “Requires Calibration” on assets might be ideal because you may have tools requiring calibration and you want that aspect of them to be a reason to group them. When creating a calibration schedule, you can filter by your “Requires Calibration” field to find those assets and easily select them. You can then set a calibration schedule on them.
Showing Requires Calibration Column in Reporting
When running reports, you may want to include a column for “Requires Calibration”. By doing so, you can report on equipment for calibration. This will effectually show you how these items across differing categories can be grouped by a particular aspect.
When creating a report click, “SELECT FIELDS TO DISPLAY” and check the box “Requires Calibration“. When you run the report, you’ll see a column dedicated to that field.
