Skip to main content
What you’ll learn: how the “Allow new values” setting (allow_additions) lets submitters propose new options, how those options are created only on approval, and how per-taxonomy option filtering (filter_options) shows a different subset of the same picklist to each taxonomy.What you’ll build: one two-level UTM Mediums / UTM Sources hierarchical picklist with “Allow new values” turned on, plus two dropdown fields (utm_medium, utm_source) that form the second cascade.Prerequisites: Part 5: Hierarchical picklists.

​
Why this matters

UTM sources mutate faster than any governance model keeps up with. Marketing spins up a new newsletter, launches on a new paid channel, tries a partner network, and none of it should require a ticket to get partnerstack added to a list. “Allow new values” is the escape valve: submitters propose new options as they fill a submission, reviewers catch typos before the option is created, and the picklist grows without admin babysitting. The other half of this part, filter_options, solves the opposite problem. Three taxonomies share the same utm_medium field, but each should only see its own medium: Email should never offer social or cpc. You wire filter_options for real in Part 8; here you just meet it.

​
Concepts first

​
”Allow new values” (allow_additions)

A setting on a Static picklist, labeled Allow new values in the editor. When it is on, any dropdown backed by that picklist lets a submitter type a value that is not in the list yet. The typed value attaches to that submission row as a proposed option with a “new” badge. It is local to the submission: other submissions do not see it, and the picklist itself is unchanged while the submission is a draft.

​
Proposed options are created on approval

A proposed value becomes a real picklist option only when the submission is approved. At that point Terminus walks the approved rows, finds the proposed options, and adds the missing ones to the picklist so every future submission can pick them. Reject or cancel the submission and the proposed values disappear with it; the picklist never changed.

​
Gated by the published revision

Whether a picklist accepts new values is read from the governance model’s published revision at approval time, not from the live setting. If you toggle “Allow new values” off but submissions are already in flight against an older published revision, those submissions still follow the contract they were built against. This keeps an admin’s mid-flight change from silently rewriting what an in-progress submission is allowed to do. Publishing is covered in the publish a revision guide.

​
Per-taxonomy option filtering (filter_options)

Where “Allow new values” adds options, filter_options hides them, per taxonomy. On a taxonomy’s copy of a dropdown field you can either include a chosen subset of codes (an allowlist: only those show) or exclude some codes (a blocklist: everything except those shows), never both. The picklist itself is untouched. This is how one utm_medium field can appear on three taxonomies and show a different single medium on each.

​
Step-by-step

1

Create the UTM Mediums / UTM Sources picklist

Open the Marketing GM, click Picklists, then Create new and choose Static Picklist. Name it UTM Mediums. In the first level, add email / Email, social / Social, cpc / Paid search and ads. These are your mediums.
2

Add a second level for sources

Click Add level to add a child level for sources. Under email, add newsletter / Newsletter, drip / Drip campaign, transactional / Transactional. Under social, add facebook / Facebook, instagram / Instagram, linkedin / LinkedIn, twitter / X / Twitter. Under cpc, add google / Google Ads, bing / Bing Ads, meta_ads / Meta Ads.
3

Turn on Allow new values

In the picklist editor, turn on Allow new values. This is the user-facing name for allow_additions: submitters can now propose sources that are not in the list yet. Save the picklist.
4

Create the utm_medium Dropdown field

Go to Fields and click Create new field. Name: utm_medium. Type: Dropdown. Picklist: pick the top (medium) level of UTM Mediums. Leave option filtering alone; you set it per taxonomy in Part 8, once the taxonomies exist. Save.
5

Create the utm_source Dropdown field

Click Create new field again. Name: utm_source. Type: Dropdown. Picklist: pick the source (child) level. Save. The editor wires the cascade to utm_medium automatically, and the field inherits the “Allow new values” behavior from its picklist.
📸 Screenshot coming soon: part 06 utm hierarchy

​
Check your work

  • A single UTM Mediums picklist exists with two levels: three mediums (email, social, cpc) and the source options nested under each.
  • The picklist has Allow new values turned on.
  • Two new fields exist: utm_medium (Dropdown on the medium level, no filtering yet) and utm_source (Dropdown on the source level, cascading from utm_medium).
  • The GM has eight fields total: the six from Parts 3 to 5 plus utm_medium and utm_source.

​
What you just built

A second cascade, with a twist. The medium and source levels behave like Countries and Regions (pick social, see only Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X / Twitter), but submitters can also propose, say, threads at submission time and it flows through review like any other change. filter_options is ready; Part 8 sets it.

​
Gotchas

  • “Allow new values” is a Static-picklist setting only. Automated picklists source their options from another taxonomy’s records, so a “new option” there would have no meaning; the toggle does not appear on them. See automated picklists.
  • Rejected and cancelled submissions create nothing. A proposed value only becomes a real option on approval. If a reviewer rejects a submission that proposed newsleter, that typo is discarded with the submission and never lands in the picklist.
  • The published revision decides, not the live toggle. Turning “Allow new values” off does not retroactively block submissions already in flight against an older published revision. Republish to change the contract for new submissions.
  • Reviewers should spot-check proposed values before approving. Nothing stops a submitter from typing Newsletter with a capital N and creating a near-duplicate. Glance at any proposed (newly badged) options before you approve; the submissions reference covers the review step.
  • filter_options is a per-taxonomy override, not a picklist setting. You configure it on each taxonomy’s copy of the field. Part 8 sets three different filters for the same utm_medium field on three taxonomies. See filter options per taxonomy.

​
Next up

Part 7: Computed fields. The payoff. Wire utm_campaign, tagged_url, short_url, and qr_code into a four-level chain. For the standalone version of this part, see letting submitters add options.