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In Pega's Constellation UI, the Followed Items widget allows users to easily access cases and objects they are tracking. By default, the Followed widget view displays basic information about the items a user is following. However, some business scenarios may require extending this view with custom fields to provide users with more context and information. Below there is a default configuration of Followed Items widget. Four columns are displayed: Case ID, Label, Status and Priority.

In most scenarios it is just fine. This article explains how to add custom fields from Case/Work classes to the widget, enabling the creation of more informative and functional user interfaces in Pega applications. Please remember that the field that you want to add to the widget must be available on Work- class, meaning it is a generic field that make sense to all your case types.

In sample application “Emergency Response” we will add new Boolean field EPA to the widget. This field denotes if given case falls under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations. This information is of crucial importance for the business, so it needs to be also visible on Followed Items widget. Here is what we will configure.

Challenge

When attempting to add a custom field from a Case/Work class (e.g., a EPA field) to the List of followed items List view accessed from Channel Configuration -> Home, the field doesn't appear in the list of available columns, despite being correctly configured in the Case/Work class.

Solution

To effectively add custom fields from Case/Work classes to the List view, follow these steps:

1. Make a field visible for App Studio and Constellation

If you have a field on Work- class already defined make sure it is marked as relevant so you can see it on view configuration.

2. Configure the Data Page with Report Definition

The Followed Items widget is powered by a Data Page that uses a report definition to retrieve data:

1. Locate the Data Page responsible for retrieving data for pyListOfFollowedItems List View Items, this is D_pyMyFollowedCases Data Page
2. Navigate to the report definition used: pyGetAllFollowedCases
3. Resave it to your application and add the custom field (e.g., "EPA") to the report's column list

This step is critical otherwise you will not see EPA field on view configuration.

4. Expose the Column in the Database

To ensure optimal performance, it's important that the custom column is properly exposed in the database

4. Add Data-Portal object to application       

In order to be able to configure pyListOfFollowedItems List View that is behind our Followed Items widget we need to add Data-Portal data object to our application:

• Open application definition
• Go to Cases & Data tab
• Add Data-Portal object in Data section

5. Add the Field to the pyListOfFollowedItems View

After completing the steps above, the custom field should appear in the list of available columns in the view configuration:

1. Open Portal data object and go to UX tab - > Other views
2. Go to the List of followed items List view
3. Open the view configuration
4. Locate the custom field in the list of available columns
5. Add the field to the view
6. Save changes and test the functionality