[Status: Launched! 🚀] Lock Custom Fields

I understand Adrian Polden, but wanted to mention the access roles in case that could be helpful to other users in this thread. 

We currently don't have more updates to share on this as the locking items' research has begun recently. I'm sorry to hear about your disappointment. I'll definitely share your feedback with our Product team as well as your Account team at Wrike. 

Lisa Community Team at Wrike Wrike Product Manager Become a Wrike expert with Wrike Discover

Lisa Wrike Team member Become a Wrike expert with Wrike Discover

It seems this suggestion may be split between those wanting to restrict user's ability to change field settings aka edit properties (field name, type, shared with, etc) and those wanting to restrict users from changing the actual data for example a specific date selection so this may should be separate suggestions. Wrike partially addressed locking down field settings as noted here but it only applied for users added after 8/23/21 so for us, account level fields still carry a risk with about half of our users. I was thankful when space level fields came out since their field settings are locked only to space admins so I invested heavily in them.

The recent release to request forms has created a problem with mapping to space fields so now I'm back to looking at converting them to account level fields and losing the governance over them again. Those with users post 8/23/21 are lucky! For the cutoff, it would have seemed they could have at least made it where after 8/23/21, only the field creator and account owner had field property edit rights.

Thanks Ross Wilson excellent comment - from our perspective we need to "Lock" BOTH the properties and the content data (values). We need to protect the nomenclature and the data values - with that said, in our instance the Data Lock is the key - none of our people will change the properties but there is a strong chance they could accidentally overwrite the data values. Thx again for your excellent comments. 

I agree with Adrian Polden, MW - and Ross Wilson. To have lockable custom fields is very important for us as it will safeguard critical project information, prevent accidental changes and preserve data integrity. With the ability to lock custom fields, we can significantly reduce the risk of unintentional data overwrites, leading to more accurate and reliable project data.
I would also like to extend the purview of this thread to locking of due dates. Having locked due dates can provide several advantages:

1. Locking due dates ensures that the agreed-upon deadlines are adhered to. It prevents accidental changes that can lead to missed deadlines, which can be critical for project success.
2. When due dates are locked, it helps in managing task dependencies effectively. When one task's due date is locked, it signals that subsequent tasks should be planned accordingly to maintain the project's timeline.
3. Locking due dates contributes to data integrity by preventing unauthorized or unintentional modifications. This is especially important in projects where accurate scheduling and timing are essential.
4. By preventing changes to due dates, you reduce the risk of scope creep and delays. This is particularly valuable for projects with tight deadlines
5. Locked due dates ensure that project managers and stakeholders can trust the accuracy of reports and dashboards. It provides a clear picture of project progress without concerns about date manipulation.
6. Locking due dates encourages accountability among team members. When dates are set and locked, individuals are more likely to take their responsibilities seriously and meet their deadlines.
7. Locking due dates preserves historical data and provides a record of when tasks were originally scheduled. This can be valuable for post-project analysis and continuous improvement.
   Lisa @... I think you will again consider putting this into product development agenda.

thanks for a very well written comment SV -.  Our problems are similar and we too would benefit from control over which users may be allowed to change Due Dates and Custom Fields.  

Custom fields are not locked for users, which poses a significant risk of accidental data changes. As we rely heavily on these fields for critical project information, unintentional modifications can lead to errors and confusion.

We have experienced instances where team members inadvertently overwrite data values in custom fields, which can disrupt our project management and reporting processes.

We kindly request that Wrike consider introducing a feature that allows users with appropriate permissions to lock custom fields. This feature would prevent accidental changes and preserve data integrity.

With the ability to lock custom fields, we can significantly reduce the risk of unintentional data overwrites, leading to more accurate and reliable project data.

Lockable custom fields help maintain data integrity by ensuring that certain critical or sensitive information cannot be easily modified or deleted by unauthorized users. This is particularly important for fields that contain essential data, such as financial figures or personal information.

Lisa @... I have to agree with all comments posted above by Michele Mason , Kelli Wheelwright , Adrian Polden MW - and others. This is an important required feature to have which would impact the way we interact with teams in the organisation. Right now, in the absence of lockable custom fields and due dates, time gets wasted in the discussions reg the integrity of data. Having lockable fields and due dates will improve the efficiency and level of discussions. 
I request you to consider this and put in the development.

Hello everyone! Thank you very much for supporting this idea, your feedback has been shared with our dedicated team 👍

Currently, our Product Development Team is exploring options to create a feature that would allow you to lock information in your accounts. I understand this option is important for you and your teams and we will keep you updated about any changes.

Thank you once again for your comments and please let me know if you have any additional questions.

Thank You @..., very excited to read your post.  Having the ability to define which information is edited by certain members and visible to certain other will be a game changer.  It would allow for more transparency with a wider group of people, without losing control over certain data - that may only be edited by some members.   Shout out to Michele Mason , Kelli Wheelwright , Adrian Polden & SV - for sharing their ideas and use cases.  👍   👏

Hi Juan..... I assume your above use of the word BLOCK was a typo...? This thread is around LOCKING not Blocking... just to be clear.

MW - thank you, please rest assured that we will share more updates with you if there are any available 👍

Adrian Polden you are right, I've edited my previous comment, sorry for the confusion. The Team is exploring options to lock information.

@... Thank you, excited to know that Wrike team is exploring options. Waiting to get these features soon. MW -Adrian Polden

@... Would you share update on the Lockable custom field development?

Thx SV 

Juan & Team....

Folks is this ability to "Lock Custom Field Columns - for Admin edit only" still important to the group...??

Feedback from my Wrike Customer Support Leader is encouraging but we need to 'maintain the rage'

by way of frequent and often forum messaging - it is apparent that the 60 Vote threshold is not really enough to drive a 'prioritised' response.

Thx again SV for maintaining this thread which has origins back to 2018....!!!!   Lightspeed is great from most POVs but a fix to this would have been much more benefit to us.... WRIKE Development please keep looking at this as a priority... 

Hi Adrian Polden, completely agree with your viewpoint - this is a crucial feature for us to be able to take Wrike usage and value to the next level.  Not having 100% reliable data in the Custom Fields [by allowing Admin's to define which users are allowed to edit those fields] forces to to maintain parallel systems to monitor certain metrics - which is painful and expensive.  

How do we get more users aware of this problem and hence engaged, to drive Wrike to prioritize this ? 

Hi MW

We just need EVERYONE to up-vote... c'mon team lets 'run this flag up the pole'...

Hi folks, thank you all for your continued support here! 

Our team is currently researching the possibility of locking certain elements of work items, but we don't have an update for locking custom fields at the moment. We'll be sharing updates if we have them and we'll also continue passing your feedback to the respective team. 

Lisa Community Team at Wrike Wrike Product Manager Become a Wrike expert with Wrike Discover

Lisa Wrike Team member Become a Wrike expert with Wrike Discover

Lisa reg: "don't have an update for locking custom fields at the moment."  this is a key element as each company has their own list of critical Fields.  The thrust of most of the comments in this thread has been that unless we can control access of who has edit / view access to these fields, their manfulness remains limited.  Please prioritize admin / author control over the Custom Fields.  

Jeremy Ames, you started this thread about 5 years ago.  We just transitioned to Wrike this year and are finding the absence of this feature a major hurdle in managing our work , while maintaining control over key data points [for which we are using Custom Fields]. Would you mind sharing, how have you managed during this time as the feature has not yet been implemented... ? 

Dear Wrike Development... 

I have just wasted two and  a half hours due to me (and thank god it was me) deleting a significant portion of our FY-2024 Budget Data as I try to find column total filtered field values, within the new Table View... 

I have had to go to each and every value to recover the number from the cell history and my records of the original upload...

I am now VERY concerned my team (who are much less familiar with the Wrike tool), will do something similar as they attempt to obtain similar data in the future - and YES we do understand there are ways to report and, other ways to obtain the data - BUT this highlights AGAIN to me the need to be able to select "Administrator Edit Lock" on any Custom Field to make the tool robust.

This is also unfortunate this occurred on the very day I gave our CEO view access - so his question, where is this block of data...!!??
This opens the option for him to request we view OTHER software options in accordance with our Procurement Policy, in-lieu of a solid Sole Source option - as all our Future CAPEX Plans are contained within Wrike so lack of this feature complicates the control process and presents a very high future risk to our operations. 

PLEASE arrange for the ability for Administrators to LOCK ACCESS to Custom Data Fields

Very sorry to hear about your ordeal Adrian Polden.  Given that this feature may take a while yet, would you consider Smartsheets or Airtable ? both do a decent job with managing data.  We tend to keep most of our data intensive tables in Smartsheets or Sheets with table or cell links back to Wrike.  

OF course this is not ideal as it restricts visibility of key information in the task - that could be available if we had Admin Lockable Custom Fields.  

Thanks for the info MW - the new Lightspeed tables seem to have some bugs as I cannot get totals for filtered data... hence my mistake. I will take a look at Airtable but I think Smartsheets might be a step backwards... Planview/Clarizen is our next choice - but Wrike just need to step up here.

MW - this is very interesting.... NOT Wrike

& these fields are customizable - lock controls for specific users? that would be great !  thanks for  sharing Adrian Polden

Hi MW - Adrian Polden, thank you for your comments. We understand the concerns you've raised about the need to lock custom fields for better data management and control. We realize how crucial this option is for you and your teams and we appreciate your patience and suggestions for improvement.

All your feedback is being passed on to our Product Team, and, as Lisa mentioned, our Team is currently investigating alternatives to implement a feature that will enable users to lock data in Wrike, providing you more control over the information within your workspaces.

As soon as we have an update or any progress on this feature, we will share it in this thread. Please don't hesitate to let us know if there is anything else we can help you with.

Application signed. We are in for this feature, too.