You've created a custom object and set up its relationships. Now let's put it to work. We'll use a Pets object, like a veterinarian might, related to Contacts so each pet has an owner. Remember, custom objects need a Dynamic CMS package on your account.
Every custom object gets its own collection in the main navigation. To add a record, open the collection and click the New button at the top. Fill in the fields and save. The record title at the top shows the fields you picked when you set up the object.
New custom object records start with only the standard system fields, so add your own, like type, breed and birthday. Hover over your object, then click Settings, then Field Editor. Click Add Field at the bottom of a section, name it, choose a type and save. To delete a field, click its trash can icon and type DELETE. That deletes its saved data too, so export first. Fields created by a relationship can only be removed by deleting the relationship.
Your collection opens in Table View. Use the column editor to choose which fields show as columns. That matters, because search only looks in fields you've added as columns. You can also save groups, which work like saved searches, such as all your cats.
Custom object collections also have Card View, for managing records across stages.
To connect a pet to its owner, click into the relational field on the pet's record and choose the contact. Or work from the other side. On the owner's record, click Add in the Pets subcollection and select the pet. We'll go deeper on this in the relationship management lesson.
Now the pet's record shows its owner, and the owner's record lists every pet they own. Click a pet's name in that list to open its record. To show a related record's data right on a record, add a Related Object Data field, like a company's description on a contact.
Rollup fields calculate across a subcollection. A Count rollup could show how many pets each owner has, and others can sum or average a number field.
To check a record without leaving the collection, hover over it and click the Quick View icon. It works for custom object records too. A contact's Quick View has a Custom Objects widget, so you can add and update their related records right there.
Select records in the collection, or a whole group, and the action bar appears. You can send an email, assign a task, add tags, add records to an automation, change a field, export or delete. A few actions are only for contacts. And on a parent record, you can take the same actions on the child records in its subcollection.
Pets don't have email addresses. That's where the Send email to field comes in. Hover over your object, then click Messages, then New message. In the email settings, Send email to lists every address you can reach through the record's relationships.
For a Pets email, choose the owner's email, and each message goes to that pet's owner. Owner email reaches the team member assigned to the record, and any custom user relationships, like an account manager, show up too. Send it as a broadcast from the action bar, or use it in an automation. One note: an email field on a custom object counts toward your contacts limit, even if it stays empty.
Each object has its own automation maps. Hover over the object and click New Automation. In any automation, an Update contact element can set a one-to-one or parent relationship, and the Update relationship element connects records in a many-to-many relationship.
Forms are in your object's menu too. When you build a form on an Ontraport page, the object you choose decides which kind of record it creates or updates, and that can be a custom object. Click the arrow next to a related field to include the related record's fields. Multi-object forms get their own lesson.
To bring in records you already have, hover over your object, then click Settings, then Import, and upload a CSV. And later in this course, you'll use these records to power dynamic pages with the Dynamic CMS.
So: add records and fields, connect them to related records, act on them from the action bar, and use Send email to so your messages reach the right person. Next up: Contacts, the special object that works a little differently from the rest.