Tags are short, color-coded labels you attach to records in BlueSuite so you can group and find them your own way. Mark a contact as VIP, flag a job as Warranty Work, or label an invoice Needs PO. Tags are for your team only. Customers never see them on quotes, invoices, emails, or in the client portal.
A record can carry as many tags as you want, and every list in BlueSuite can be filtered by them, so tags are the fastest way to answer questions your statuses and fields do not cover.
This is the one thing worth understanding before you start. Every tag is created for a single module, and it only appears on records in that module. A tag you create for Jobs will not show up on invoices, contacts, quotes, or requests.
Tags are available on these five modules:
If you want the same label in more than one place, create it once per module. You can reuse the exact same name, so a Commercial tag on Contacts and a Commercial tag on Jobs can happily coexist. Within a single module, tag names have to be unique.
Go to Settings > Workspace > Tags and click + Tag. All of your tags live on this one tab, listed together with a Used for column showing which module each one belongs to.
In the create window, fill in:
Click Save Tag and it is immediately available on every record in that module. If you are adding several tags for the same module in a row, the module stays selected for the next one so you do not have to keep resetting it.
Any member of your workspace can create, edit, and apply tags. You do not need to be an admin or owner.
Open any contact, request, quote, job, or invoice and look for the Tags field on the record. Click it, then pick one or more tags from the list. Each option shows its color dot so you can spot the right one quickly.
On a record that already exists, tag changes save the moment you make them. You do not need to click Save on the record itself. On a brand new record you are still creating, your tag selections are held until you save, and then applied along with everything else.
If you have not created any tags for that module yet, the field will say so and link you straight to the tags tab in settings.
Tagging pays off in the list views. There are three ways to put your tags to work.
Each of the five module tables has a Tags column showing the colored badges on each row. If you do not see it, turn it on from the column picker for that table.
Open Filter above the table and choose Tags, then select the tags you care about. One important detail: selecting more than one tag returns records carrying any of them, not records carrying all of them. Picking VIP and Commercial on Contacts gives you everyone who is either one. If you need the overlap, use a single combined tag instead.
Tag names are part of the search index, so typing a tag name into search will surface the records carrying it, right alongside matches on names, addresses, and numbers.
From Settings > Workspace > Tags, use the actions menu at the end of a tag’s row to edit or delete it.
Renaming a tag or changing its color updates it everywhere at once, on every record already carrying it. That makes renaming safe, so do not be shy about tidying up your wording later.
Deleting is the one to be careful with. Deleting a tag removes it from every record it was applied to, and that cannot be undone. The records themselves are untouched, but the labeling is gone and you would have to reapply it by hand. If a tag has just fallen out of use, consider renaming it with a prefix like “Old” instead of deleting it.
One thing you cannot change is a tag’s module. If you created a tag on the wrong module, delete it and create it again on the right one.
Tags and custom fields both let you track information BlueSuite does not ask for out of the box, and they solve different problems.
| Use a tag when | Use a custom field when |
|---|---|
| A record either is or is not something | You need to store an actual value like a date, number, or file |
| A record can be several things at once | Every record needs the same field filled in |
| You mostly want to filter lists by it | You want the information printed on the record |
| Your team invents new labels as they go | The list of options should stay fixed and controlled |
Plenty of businesses use both. A Lead Source custom field records where a customer came from, while a Repeat Customer tag marks who keeps coming back.
If you are starting from scratch, here are tags other service businesses get real use out of. Start with a handful. It is easier to add tags later than to clean up thirty of them nobody agrees on.
| Module | Tag | What it is good for |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts | VIP | Customers who get priority scheduling and a callback the same day |
| Commercial | Separating business accounts from residential in every list | |
| Do Not Service | A visible warning before anyone books more work | |
| Slow Payer | Deciding who needs a deposit before you start | |
| Requests | Emergency | Pulling urgent inquiries to the top of the pile each morning |
| Out of Area | Tracking demand outside your service radius | |
| Referral | Seeing how much work word of mouth is bringing in | |
| Quotes | Follow Up | Building your callback list for the week |
| Price Shopping | Knowing which quotes are up against a competitor | |
| Big Job | Flagging the ones worth a site visit before you send pricing | |
| Jobs | Warranty | Keeping callbacks and rework visible and measurable |
| Needs Permit | Making sure paperwork is pulled before crews roll | |
| Two Person | Spotting jobs you cannot send one tech to | |
| Photos Needed | Marking work you want documented for your portfolio | |
| Invoices | Needs PO | Commercial accounts that will not pay without a purchase order |
| Disputed | Separating genuine disputes from ordinary late payments | |
| Tax Exempt | Keeping exempt billing easy to pull at tax time |