To support users as they fill in records, you can include helpful text in two ways: Short Description Text and Guidance Text. Each serves a slightly different purpose and appears in different places on the record.
Short Description Text is a brief line of text that appears directly below the attribute name on the form. It’s always visible and should be used to give users a quick understanding of:
- What the field is for
- Whether it’s mandatory
- Any quick tips for completing it
Example: For a field called "Incident Date", you might use a short description like: "Enter the date the incident occurred. This field is mandatory."
Guidance Text allows you to give more detailed help using rich text formatting. This includes:
- Bold or italicized text
- Bullet points or numbered steps
- Hyperlinks to external resources or internal guidance documents
Unlike Short Description Text, Guidance Text appears in a collapsible section below the attribute. Users can click to expand it if they need further support.
Example: For a field like "Risk Mitigation Plan", your Guidance Text might include:
Need help writing a plan?
Describe the steps being taken to reduce risk.Include timelines and responsible parties.
Click here to view a full example mitigation plan.