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In ResourceFirst, Lists are another word for “dropdown fields.” For instance, the Sponsors list will allow users to select from a list of predefined project sponsors.
To access List administration, click Administration->Lists:
You’ll see a sub-tab for each list:
Note that these are standard/system lists, with the sole exception of the UDFs list, which allows for defining list items for User Defined Fields (UDFs).
There is a subtle, but important distinction between them in how the system operates.
Since the standard/system lists are fully relational, any modifications such as revisions to a list value name (e.g., changing an overhead item from “consulting” to “general support”) or adding a new list value (e.g. adding a sponsor or a new primary skill) will automatically update any instances or dropdowns on views or forms throughout the database that reference that list.
However, any similar changes to a UDF list value name will NOT automatically update and will require manually reselecting from the list on the appropriate views or forms to synchronize.
For most lists, you have the option of having each list item active and/or designated to a specific partition. For example, in the list of Primary Skills below, certain skills could be made available only in a specific partition (see Using Partitions for more on partitions). You can only choose one partition per list item. Likewise, any list item could be made inactive by unchecking the Active box.
When making list changes or additions, it is a good practice to refresh your browser if you are going to immediately use the lists in views or forms.
Below are examples of the available lists.
Here you can add new users, associate login IDs with resource names, update passwords, set access and activity levels, and designate a user as a Project Manager (PM). The Users list also shows the login status and recent login history of the user.
You can define Partitions, which are used to group users so that content can be shared with groups. For more, see Using Partitions.
This list shows the business sponsor of each project. Below is an example.
This list can be used to identify various business platforms or domains. Targets can be set for each business, which can be used in advanced portfolio reporting. Below is an example.
Here you can specify project categories, which are used in some dashboards and views. This can be used for however you wish to break down your project portfolio. The image below is merely representative of one potential use.
Domain (which some customers rename to Platform) is another such list, which can be used along with Category (or completely independent of it) for an additional or alternative classification of work. Domain allows for a target effort percentage for use in portfolio analysis.
This designates the various Project stages (i.e. states) that a project may go through in its lifecycle. This is used in reports and in defining lifecycle workflows. Example states are shown in the image below, but you can change the names, drag to reorder, delete items, or add new items.
You can also lock assignments or time tracking during individual states as desired by clicking the appropriate check box.
Lock Assignments; On a project with a Project State set to a state that is locked for assignments (such as Complete, Canceled, or Closed in the screenshot above), labor and financial forecasts and actuals are locked.
Lock Time Tracking; On a project with a Project State set to a state that is locked for time tracking (such as Complete, Canceled, or Closed in the screenshot above), timesheets cannot be entered when in that state.
For more on the types of data locks available in ResourceFirst, see Data Locking in ResourceFirst.
A code is a project classification that can be used at your discretion to distinguish different types of projects.
This list allows for creating default phases and milestones that can be used for projects. These defaults appear in drop-down lists when assigning phases and milestones to projects, though the user can create their own phase and milestone names on the fly as well. Likewise, templates can be saved for various types of projects, each with their own phases and milestones.
To add a phase or milestone to the list, simply click the 
symbol at the top left of the respective section. Assign a sequential abbreviation, beginning with P for phase or M for milestone. The system uses that internally to match project phase and milestone dates and status to the phases and milestones on the status report.
This list is used to define the skills that will be used for resource and skill assignments. It’s best to keep this within a reasonable amount for ease of reporting and adding assignments. Too few and it’ll be tough to zero in on the right resources. Too many and reports will get convoluted. A good way to determine the roughly right level of skills is to think about what skills a project manager would say he/she needs to successfully execute the project.
Note that one approach to assigning rates is to assign rates for each skill. This is also useful for posting labor cost for skill assignments.
This list defines the Proficiencies dropdown when selecting proficiencies that go along with secondary skills for resources (defined on the Skills Grid on the Resource Data page).
Effort States can be defined, applicable to Assignments, and specifies the order in which “Allocate First” assignments should be allocated. In the example below, Committed and Hard Booked assignments would be allocated first, before Proposed or Soft Booked assignments, and within those “Allocate First” states, allocations would be processed according to the remainder of the Allocation Algorithm (by default, Unit Priority and Project ID, as defined in Server Settings).
The “order” defined for each of the effort states determines which order they would appear in any drop down lists. The order is also used to determine in which order multiple effort states flagged as “Allocate First” should be allocated.
You can also lock any effort state from updating when an assignment is in that state. For more on Effort States in the allocation process, see Assignments and Allocations Overview.
Locked; On an assignment with an Effort State set to a state that is locked (such as “Proposed” in the screenshot above), labor and financial forecasts and actuals are locked. For more on the types of data locks available in ResourceFirst, see Data Locking in ResourceFirst.
This is used to define statuses that can be used when creating project scenarios.
For each scenario status, you can lock the forecast and/or project data for scenarios in that status.
Project Data Locked; For a scenario with a Scenario Status (state) set to a state that is locked for project data, projects can not be added to or updated in the scenario.
Forecast Locked; For a scenario with a Scenario Status (state) set to a state that is locked for forecast data, labor and financial forecasts can not be added to or updated in the scenario.
For more on the types of data locks available in ResourceFirst, see Data Locking in ResourceFirst.
This list can be used to set up cost and bill rates for various types of resources (e.g., contractors, employees, temps, etc.) along with regional differences. This is one example of how rates can be assigned using Cost Categories. Each resource can be assigned to a Cost Category. Costs are in U.S. Dollars.
The Financial Items list is used to define items that will appear on the financial budget. For each financial item, specify a Financial Category (these are defined in the Financial Category list, so that list should be completed first). To add a new financial item, click the + symbol on the upper left. The “Category” field is no longer used.
Financial Categories can be defined here, which are used when creating Financial Items.
If using financials, you MUST have Capital, Expense, Labor, TOTAL FTE, and TOTAL TARGET defined. The rest are optional.
ResourceFirst comes with many User Defined Fields, in each of the Resources, Projects and Assignments areas. They are initially named Field1, Field2, etc., but can be renamed to suit your purpose in Column Headings administration. Once a particular UDF field is renamed for a given purpose, you may want to create a list of valid values for that field. Click UDFs to begin this process.
Note: UDF lists that are updated or modified will not automatically propagate to occurrences of that list in views or forms throughout ResourceFirst. You must go to those instances and reselect the list for any changes to take effect.
A window will appear allowing you to choose which type of UDF fields (Resource, Project, Assignment, Event, or Team) to view or create/modify an entry:
To add a new list for a UDF field (e.g., Resource Type), click the 
symbol in the Lists pane, select a field from the list, click Add, then define the list items in the right pane. In the image above, a Resource UDF called “Resource Type” was selected and the list items defined on the right.
If you delete a list, the system will ask you if you also want to clear the values from any system records that are using any of the list’s items (Delete and Clear All).
When importing data, an invalid UDF list value CAN be imported and will appear in the record. However, if the user then edits the cell, the incorrect value does not appear in the list. Pressing the Enter key clears the value. Or, to maintain the imported value without editing, click the ESC button.
Countries can be defined, which are used in Resource Data and Assignments. In addition, a Geographic Region can be defined, which can be used in advanced reporting.
Project Risks and Issues are two types of events that can and should be defined. Other event types can also be created, such as Outcomes, or Facilities.
For each event type, you can customize which fields appear and what they should be called for that type. There are also 15 additional placeholder fields that you can use for whatever purpose you wish. If you need any of them to be dropdown lists, you can define those in the UDFs list (described above) under the Events type.
Don’t forget to click the save button in the upper right after making your changes.
This is where you can set up Resource/Assignment Locations. The Locations field can be used in tandem with Skill Required and Assignment Organization to sharpen the focus on where skill needs must be filled. You must also specify which country the location is associated with. Thus, the Country list should be completed first. Don’t forget to click the Save button in the upper right after adding or changing data.
This is where you can keep track of various types of overhead (such as Jury Duty, Sick Leave, Vacation, etc.), for use in time reporting. Another approach is to forego using Overhead entries and create a project instead for each overhead item.
Feature Types can be defined for use with Agile features. Some examples are:
Feature States can be defined for use with Agile features. This would define the stages that your Agile features go through, such as:
