What Is a Display Field?
A display field is the field that represents a record whenever it is referenced elsewhere in the CRM. It is the human-readable label that appears in dropdowns, links, search results, and relationship columns — instead of a technical identifier.
A simple example
Section titled “A simple example”When you link a contact to a deal, the deal record needs to show which contact it belongs to. It could show:
- A technical ID like
a4f8c2d1-9b3e-...(unhelpful) - The contact’s name like “Sarah Chen” (useful)
The display field tells the CRM to show “Sarah Chen.” For contacts, it is typically the name. For companies, the company name. For deals, the deal title.
Why it matters
Section titled “Why it matters”Display fields appear everywhere:
- Lookup dropdowns — When you pick a related record, you see the display field
- Subgrid columns — Related records show the display field, not an ID
- Search results — Each result shows the display field as the title
- Activity timelines — “Call with Sarah Chen” instead of “Call with record a4f8c2d1”
- Notifications — “New deal: Website redesign for Acme Ltd”
Without a display field, the CRM would show meaningless identifiers everywhere, making it impossible to navigate.
How HARi CRM handles it
Section titled “How HARi CRM handles it”Every entity in HARi has a designated display field, set by the administrator:
- Contacts — Typically full name (first name + last name)
- Companies — Company name
- Opportunities — Deal title
- Custom entities — You choose which field to use when creating the entity
The display field is configured in the entity settings. You can change it at any time, and all references throughout the CRM update automatically.
Learn more: What Is an Entity? | Add a Custom Field