Enabling a custom entity

Video transcript

If you need to track something new, which doesn’t exist in Shotgun by default, then you’ll want to enable a Custom Entity. For example, you might want to track Seasons for your TV series.

To enable a Custom Entity, first head to Site Preferences under the Admin menu.

Expand the Entities section and choose one which isn’t enabled. The available entities will appear as a light grey.

Enable it by selecting “Yes, use custom entity...” Then give it a new name, such as "Seasons."

Next, decide if that entity needs to have Tasks, Versions, or Pipeline Toolkit/File Publishes. Save the changes and you’re done!

Note: If you choose to enable Tasks, once the new preferences are saved, two things will happen: Tasks will be linkable to the newly configured entity type, and it will support the use of Task Templates.

Seasons will now appear under Projects > Other. And you can add it to the Project Navigation bar if you need to.

To learn how to link your new custom entity, see part 2 of the video: "Linking a custom entity."

Creating a connection entity with a custom entity

To create a connection entity with a custom entity, follow these steps:

1. Enable your custom entity. One example of a custom entity is Outstanding Items.
   
2. Add a new record and some information about it.
   
3. Create a multi-entity field on your custom entity that links to another entity. For example, to link Outstanding Items to Shots so that you can track which items are outstanding for which Shot, choose Shot from the list of entities to link. You will then see a new Shots field on your Outstanding Items page, and a new Outstanding Items Shots field on your Shots page.
   
4. Design the detail page of your custom entity. Add the tab for the entity that it is linked to, and remember to save when you are done.
   
5. Click on Configure Columns, and hover over the name of the connection to find the field name.
   
6. Under Site Preferences > Advanced, add the connection entity type on the Enable List Pages for Connection Entity Types pref. Use the name of your entity and field:
   • Connection
   • For example: CustomEntity05_sg_shots_Connection
     
   • Remember to save your changes.
7. Now you will be able to see and access the page for your new custom connection entity.
   

For more on connection entities, see “Using Connection Entities.”