Fields

Fields define the structure of your notebook. Every note in a notebook shares the same set of fields. This page covers how to add, manage, and configure fields, along with a full reference for all 23 field types.

How Fields Work

When you add a field to a notebook, it appears on every note in that notebook, both existing and new. If you have a "Contacts" notebook with 50 notes and you add a "Birthday" date field, all 50 notes will gain that field immediately.

Fields have a type that determines what kind of data they hold and how they look in the app. A Short Text field gives you a single-line text input. A Rating field gives you tappable stars. A Date field gives you a date picker. And so on.

Each notebook can have as many fields as you need, and you can add, remove, and reorder them at any time.

Adding a Field

1. Click the gear icon in the toolbar to open notebook settings.
2. In the Fields tab, click Add Field.
3. Pick a field type from the grid. Types are organized into nine sections: Text, Contact, Numbers, Date, Selection, Rich Content, Measurement, Scanning, and Layout.
4. Enter a name for the field.
5. If the type requires configuration (like a currency code or tag options), fill in those settings.
6. Optionally, turn on Show in note list to display this field's value as a subtitle on note cards in the sidebar. You can also toggle this later from the field list.
7. Click Add.

Managing Fields

Open the Fields tab in notebook settings to see all your fields in a list.

Reordering

Drag fields up and down in the list to change their order. The order here determines how fields appear in the note detail view and as columns in the table view.

Renaming

Tap or click the three-dot menu on any field and choose Rename. Type the new name and press Enter.

Deleting

Tap or click the three-dot menu and choose Delete. A confirmation dialog appears. Deleting a field removes it from every note in the notebook, along with all its values. This cannot be undone.

Editing Configuration

For field types that have configuration (Currency, Tags, Reference, Description, Formula, Image), tap the three-dot menu and choose Edit Settings.

Field Visibility

Each field has an eye icon toggle that controls whether it shows as a subtitle line in the Notes view note list. This is a display preference, not a data change. Hidden fields still appear in the note detail panel and in the table view.

The first field in your list has a star icon instead. This indicates it's being used as the note title (if you have "Use first field as note title" enabled in notebook settings).

Text Fields

Short Text

A single-line text input. Good for names, titles, short descriptions, or any brief piece of text.

Long Text

A multi-line text area that expands as you type. Use this for longer content like notes, descriptions, or paragraphs.

Secret

A text field that's hidden behind biometric authentication (Face ID or Touch ID). The value displays as dots until you tap to reveal it. Useful for passwords, PINs, or other sensitive information.

In Notes view, tap the eye icon to authenticate and reveal the value. In Table view, each secret cell shows an eye icon — tap it to authenticate with Face ID or Touch ID, then click to select and click again to edit, just like other text fields.

On web forms, secret fields render as regular text inputs (the biometric protection only applies within the app). Secret fields are excluded from search results and the REST API for privacy.

Contact Fields

Email

A text field for email addresses. Tap the value to open a new email in your default mail app.

Phone

A text field for phone numbers. Tap the value to start a call.

URL

A text field for web links. Tap the value to open it in your browser.

Number Fields

Number

A numeric input. Whole numbers display without decimals. You can use the stepper controls or type a value directly.

Currency

A numeric input with a currency symbol. When you create a Currency field, you pick the currency code (USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, and many others). The value displays with the appropriate currency formatting.

Rating

A 1 to 5 star rating. Tap or click a star to set the rating. Tap the same star again to clear it. Ratings display as filled and unfilled stars throughout the app.

Formula Fields

Pro: Formula fields require a Neatbase Pro subscription.

Formula fields compute a value automatically from other numeric fields in the same notebook. They're read-only: you can't edit them directly.

Write your formula using field names in curly braces and standard arithmetic operators:

• {Price} * {Quantity} — multiplication
• {Subtotal} + {Tax} — addition
• {Total} / {Count} — division
• {Revenue} - {Expenses} — subtraction

Formulas can reference Number, Currency, Rating, Duration, and Percent fields. They skip other Formula fields to avoid circular references.

Error states:

• #REF? — The formula references a field name that doesn't exist.
• #ERR! — The expression is invalid or can't be evaluated.

Date

A date field that displays as a tappable pill. Tap the pill to open a calendar date picker. Dates display in an abbreviated format (e.g., "Apr 5, 2026"). When a date is set to today, the pill turns red so it stands out.

Options

Date fields have two optional settings you can enable from the field editor:

• Notify on date — Sends a local notification at 9:00 AM on the date as a reminder. You can also turn off all date reminders globally in the app's notification settings.
• Add to Calendar button — Shows a calendar button next to the date pill. Tap it to add the date as an all-day event in your default calendar. The calendar event includes a link back to the note in Neatbase, so tapping the event URL opens the note directly in the app.

Selection Fields

Toggle

A yes/no switch. Useful for marking things as done, active, paid, or any other binary state.

Tags

A multi-select field with predefined options. When you create a Tags field, you enter the available options as a comma-separated list (e.g., "Design, Marketing, Engineering"). Notes can have any combination of the available tags.

You can optionally enable single-select mode in the field's configuration, which limits each note to one tag at a time instead of allowing multiple selections.

Reference

Pro: Reference fields require a Neatbase Pro subscription.

A Reference field links to a note in another notebook. When you create the field, you pick which notebook it should link to. You can then pick a specific note from that notebook as the value.

For example, a "Projects" notebook could have a Reference field that links to notes in a "Clients" notebook.

Back-References

When a note is referenced by notes in other notebooks, a back-references section automatically appears below the fields in the note detail view. This shows you every note across your notebooks that links to the current note, grouped by source notebook. Each back-reference is tappable to navigate directly to the referencing note.

Rich Content

Checklist

A list of to-do items with checkboxes. Each item has a title and a checked/unchecked state. The field displays a counter showing how many items are done (e.g., "3/5 done").

You can add new items, toggle their completion, and swipe to delete them.

Image

An image field that accepts photos and pictures. You can add an image by:

• Using the Photos picker to select from your photo library (iPhone and iPad)
• Clicking the field and using the file picker
• Dragging and dropping an image file onto the field (Mac)

The image displays as a preview in the note. Supported formats include PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP, and SVG.

Color

A hex color value. In Notes view, the field shows a native color picker, a text input for entering hex values manually (e.g., #FF5733), and a swatch preview of the selected color. You can use either the picker or type a hex code directly.

In Table view, the color displays as a small colored swatch next to the hex value.

Measurement Fields

Duration

A time duration stored as hours, minutes, and seconds. In Notes view, the field shows three separate numeric inputs for hours (h), minutes (m), and seconds (s), along with the formatted total (e.g., "2h 30m").

In Table view, the duration displays in its formatted form. Duration values are stored internally as total seconds, so they can be referenced in Formula fields.

Percent

A numeric value between 0 and 100, displayed with a progress bar. In Notes view, the field shows a text input for the percentage value and a colored progress bar that fills proportionally. The bar turns green when the value reaches 100%.

In Table view, a compact progress bar and the percentage value are shown side by side. Percent values can be referenced in Formula fields.

Scanning Fields

Barcode

A text field for barcode values. You can type a barcode string manually, or on iPhone and iPad, tap the Scan button to open the camera and scan a physical barcode. The app generates a visual Code 128 barcode image below the text field when a value is entered.

Barcode values are plain text strings. The scan button uses the device camera and appears only on iOS devices that support barcode scanning.

QR Code

A text field for QR code values. You can type a value manually, or on iPhone and iPad, tap the Scan button to open the camera and scan a QR code. The app generates a visual QR code image below the text field when a value is entered.

QR code values are plain text strings — they can contain URLs, identifiers, or any other text.

Layout Fields

Layout fields don't store any data. They're visual elements for organizing the look of your notes.

Divider

A horizontal line that creates a visual separation between fields. Useful for grouping related fields together within a note.

Description

A read-only text paragraph that displays the same static text on every note. When you create a Description field, you enter the text in the field's configuration. This is useful for instructions, reminders, or section headers within your note layout.