How to Use Field Dependency for Creating a Cascading Dropdown

Field dependency creates a parent-child relationship (cascading effect) between two fields. For example, the parent field can be a Country while the child field can be a State. By using Field Dependency, you can set up a cascading dropdown. Example: Country, State, City, and Region.

Check out this video tutorial.

Accessing the Field Dependency List

To access the Field Dependency list, follow the steps below:

1. Go to, Admin Panel > Field and Forms > Field Dependencies.
2. In the field dependency table, you can view the following details:

Adding a Field Dependency

To add a new field dependency, follow the given steps:

1. Open the Field Dependency module.
2. Click the Add Field Dependency button on the right for the dependency Field selection to pop-up.

3. Fill in the Dependency Field selection appropriately.

The Dependency Field selection has three properties namely,

• Module – Displays a list of Tickets, Contacts, and Contact Groups.
• Parent Field – Displays a list of fields in the single-select dropdown list.
• Child Field – Displays a list of fields in which either single-select or multi-select field can be selected.

Mapping Field Dependency

To map a field dependency, follow the steps below:

1. Select a Parent Field on the left panel first,
2. Click on the corresponding child fields on the right panel.
3. Map the value of the child field to the parent field.

For example, in the image below, the country of the USA is mapped to the following states (Alaska, Louisiana, New Mexico, and New York). When the Country is set to the USA, only these four states will be displayed in the State field.

Multi-level dropdown

In BoldDesk, multi-level dropdown fields, also known as cascading dropdowns, are fields that create a hierarchical relationship between dropdown options. This means the options shown in one dropdown depend on the selection made in another. To create multi-level dropdown fields in BoldDesk, you need to use the Field Dependency feature hierarchically to map a parent-child relationship between dropdown fields. This dependency will involve the first child as the next parent.

1. Log in to your BoldDesk Admin Portal.
2. Navigate to Admin Center > Fields and Forms.
3. Create or select existing Dropdown (single-select) or Dropdown (multi-select) fields.
4. Scroll to or select the Field Dependency section.
5. Choose the module where you want to apply the dropdowns:

• Ticket Fields
• Contact Fields
• Contact Group Fields

Setting Up Multi-Level Dropdowns

Suppose you want to create a multi-level dropdown involving Country, State and City, please refer to the example below.

1. Ensure that you have created the fields Country, State, and City, and added the relevant information in all the fields as a dropdown.
2. Go to Field Dependency in The admin module, under fields and forms:

• Select Parent Field (Country)
• Select Child Field (State)

3. Map values (if Country is USA, show States as Alabama, Alaska, California)
4. Repeat for deeper levels (State → City)

Country to State

State to City

City to Sub-city

Activating or Deactivating Field dependency

Deactivating Field Dependency

To deactivate the field dependency, follow the given steps:

1. Open the Field Dependency module.

2. Click the more options menu and select Deactivate.
3. A confirmation dialog will appear, Click Yes, Deactivate button.

Activating Field Dependency

To activate the field dependency, follow the given steps:

1. Open the Field Dependency module.
2. Click the more options menu and select Activate.

3. A confirmation dialog will appear, Click Yes, Activate button.

Deleting Field Dependency

To permanently delete the field dependency, follow the given steps:

1. Open the Field Dependency module.

2. Click the more options menu and select Delete.
3. A confirmation dialog will appear, Click Yes, Delete button.

Permission for mapping field dependency

To map the field dependency, you must enable the Manage fields and forms permission.