> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.retailgrid.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Add columns > Add custom standard, formula, single-select, or analytical-metric columns to your grid for notes, calculations, status pills, margin analysis, and more. The **Add Column** feature allows you to create custom fields directly in Retailgrid. You can add manual columns for notes or inputs, single-select columns with auto-colored value pills, calculated columns that automatically compute values using formulas, or analytical-metric columns that draw from a curated library of pre-built retail metrics. This makes Retailgrid flexible for pricing analysis, margin calculations, data enrichment, status tracking, and operational workflows. Add Column toolbar button

## 1. How to add a column ### Step 1: Open the Add Column menu * Click **Add Column** in the top toolbar. ## 2. Select column type You will see four options: Column type picker (four options)

### Standard column * Create a column with a fixed data type * Used for: * Notes * Flags * Manual inputs * Tags ### Single Select / Status * Create a column whose values come from a fixed set of choices, each rendered as a colored pill * Colors are mapped automatically and consistently per value * Used for: * Product roles (KVI, Core, Niche, Seasonal) * Workflow states (Draft, In Review, Approved) * Risk tiers (Low, Medium, High) ### Formula column * Create a column calculated from other columns * Used for: * Margin * Revenue * Price differences * KPIs ### Analytical metric * Pick a single pre-built retail metric (margin, revenue, price index, elasticity, etc.) and choose its timeframe. * Best for dropping in one extra metric without leaving the Add Column flow. * For adding several metrics at once - each with its own timeframe - use the dedicated [Metrics picker](/grids/metrics) in the top toolbar instead. Choose **Standard** for manual input, **Single Select** for status / categorical pills, **Formula** for custom calculations, or **Analytical metric** for ready-made retail KPIs. ## 3. Standard column Standard column configuration form

### 4.1 How it works * Type or pick a value in the cell. Existing values are offered in a dropdown; new values are accepted on the fly. * Each unique value is assigned a color from a fixed palette. The same value always gets the same color across the grid - so KVI is always blue, Core is always orange, and so on. * The mapping persists across reloads. You don't configure the colors manually. ### 4.2 When to use it over Standard - Text Use Single Select when the value space is bounded and you want at-a-glance grouping. Use Standard - Text for free-form notes where every cell is unique. Good Single Select use cases: * **Product role** (KVI, Core, Niche, Seasonal, Promo) * **Workflow status** (Draft, In Review, Approved, Rejected) * **Risk / priority tiers** (Low, Medium, High) * **Source channel** (Online, Store, Both) ### 4.3 New values When you type a value that hasn't appeared in the column before, Retailgrid adds it to the dropdown and assigns the next available color. There's no separate "manage values" screen - just typing creates the value. ## 5. Conditional color highlighting Conditional color highlighting drives a cell's color from a formula result or a value condition - similar to conditional formatting in Excel. Use it to make at-a-glance grids: green for high-margin SKUs, red for products below the margin floor, blue for KVIs.

Conditional color highlighting configuration UI

### 5.1 When to use it Conditional highlighting is most useful when the value that drives the color is **derived** rather than set by a person. If a column already stores a bounded set of values you maintain by hand (KVI / Core / Niche), prefer a **Single Select / Status** column - the colors come for free and the pill UI is clearer than a tinted cell. Pick conditional highlighting when: * The color should follow a formula result that updates as inputs change (e.g. margin tiers). * The same condition needs to apply across many cells or rows. * The classification logic lives in a formula that you might iterate on later. ### 5.2 How to configure 1. Open the column header's three-dot menu on the column whose colors you want to drive. 2. Choose **Conditional color highlighting**. 3. Map each value or formula result to a color. Retailgrid offers the same palette used by Single Select columns. 4. Preview the result on the visible rows, then save. You can drive the color from either a value column (e.g. a string column with `"High Margin"` and `"Low Margin"`) or directly from a formula column. The most common pattern is the formula route - use an `IF()` to classify a row, then map the classification to a color. ### 5.3 Worked example - margin tiers Add a formula column called `Margin Tier`: ```text theme={null} IF({Margin} > 0.20, "High Margin", IF({Margin} > 0.10, "Mid", "Low Margin")) ``` Then open **Conditional color highlighting** on `Margin Tier` and map: * `High Margin` → green * `Mid` → grey * `Low Margin` → red Every row now shows its margin tier at a glance, and the colors update automatically whenever `{Margin}` changes. ### 5.4 Interaction with Single Select Conditional color highlighting works on any column type. If you apply it to a Single Select column, the conditional rules override the automatic Single Select palette for the values you map. Values you don't map keep their automatic Single Select color.