With Members360°, you can store as much member data as you need. You can create custom database fields, each of which is available to either individual or organization members. You can also create custom address, phone, web address, and email fields, which apply to both individuals and organizations. You can pick an appropriate field type (String, Number, Date, etc.) for each field, organize the fields into groups to make editing information easier, and adjust the names of fields at any time.
The system provides you with several generic fields, such as First/Middle/Last Name, Organization Name, and Member ID. See Generic database fields for explanations and descriptions of these fields, so that you do not accidentally duplicate a field that already exists.
Note: If you wish to create contact information fields (addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, or web address fields), you will not create them as custom individual or organization fields. Instead, see Contact information fields.
The custom fields you create will either apply to Individual members or to Organization members. (For an explanation of the difference, see Member types.) Therefore, when creating a custom field, you must decide first whether it should be an organization field or an individual field. If you need the field for both types of members, you will create it twice - once as an individual field, and once as an organization field.
To create or modify custom fields, navigate to Members > Tools and Customization. Then click the Customize the profile fields link. You'll see a page like the following:
This page will show you a list of all your current custom individual or organization fields. The individual (People) fields are shown by default; to view or create organization fields, click the Organizations tab.
To create a new field, make sure you've clicked on People or Organizations depending on the kind of field you wish to create, then click add field in the upper right. This will take you to a page like the following:
Here's how to create your field.
In the Field name box, type in the name of your new field (for example, Title or Join Date). This will identify the field to both administrators and members, so make sure to choose a name that's appropriate and not too long.
In the Data type pulldown, choose an appropriate field type for this field, depending on what will be entered:
Boolean: Use this for Yes/No or On/Off fields. You should only choose this type if you're going to be choosing Checkbox as the UI type below.
DateTime: Use this for storing dates, times, or combinations of dates and times. By choosing this format for your date fields, you will be able to use this field in dues rules and report rules and have it behave as you expect.
Decimal: Use this for number fields that might include decimals, such as dollar amounts or percentages.
Image: Use this to create a custom image field, which will include a Browse... button to upload the image. This is useful for logos and other images you wish to store for members. (Keep in mind that individuals automatically have a generic Personal Image field.)
Integer: Use this for whole number fields, such as Number of whatever fields or a money field that only involves whole dollars, such as PAC Donation.
Note: Do not use this field type for zip codes, social security numbers, or other numbers that may include formatting, or are not appropriate for calculations. For these types of numbers, choose the String type.
String: Use this for fields that can contain text, numbers, or both. This is the default type and probably the most common data type you'll choose.
In the UI type field, choose how this field will display on the form:
Checkbox: This UI type will display a standard checkbox. You should choose Boolean as your data type when you choose this UI type.
DropDownList: This UI type will display a dropdown list of values, and you'll be able to choose one (and only one) value for each member. Normally, you will choose String as your data type when you choose this UI type, unless your pulldown will contain all numbers, all dates, etc.
When you choose this type, the screen will change and you'll see the following:
From here, you'll add the possible values for your field one at a time. For example, if this is a dropdown of regions, and you have East as one of the possible values, type East and click the Add link. Repeat this for West, North, etc. until you've created all the possible values.
Note: Values will automatically display in alphabetical order, regardless of the order in which you add them.
To remove one or more values you no longer want, click the value (or control-click multiple values) and click the Remove Selected Values link. You cannot alter existing values, but you can easily remove a value and replace it with a new one, which will have the same effect.
Note: If you wish to choose one value as the default value for the field (so that it's chosen by default when you create a new member), just make sure you highlight that value before you save. If you later edit the field, you'll need to again select the desired value to have it be default. If you don't highlight a value before saving, the default will be "No value."
MultiSelectDropDownList: This UI type is just like the DropDownList described above, except that you can choose one or more values for each member. The field values are added in the same manner described above. So, for example, you could create a multiselect dropdown of Specializations and designate one member as having multiple specializations.
RadioButton: This UI type allows you to create a list of possible values, each with a radio button next to it, and you can pick one value for each member. This behaves exactly like the DropDownList option above, except that the possible values will be displayed as radio buttons rather than a pulldown list. You add possible values to the field the same was as you do for dropdown lists.
TextArea: This UI type allows you to enter multiple lines of text, including line breaks, for the field in question. You should only use this type for comment fields, note fields, and the like. You should always choose String as the data type when you choose this UI type.
TextBox: This UI type allows you to enter a single line of text for the field in question. This is the default UI type and probably the most common type you will choose.
In the Field group box, choose a field group if you wish. Multiple fields assigned to the same group will display together when you or a member edits member information. For information on creating field groups, see Field groups.
The Public field is not currently used by the system, so feel free to leave it blank.
The XML field name field will auto-fill with the name of the field, with all spaces or other special characters removed. This is what's used when importing data to identify the fields. You can normally leave this as its default. For more information, see Data transfer.
Click the 
button at the bottom
when finished.
You can modify certain properties, such as the name, of a field at any time. To do so:
Click the name of the field you wish to modify.
Change the Field name if you desire. This will update the field name as used throughout your Members360° system.
You cannot change Field type. (If you need to change field type, you'll need to create a new field and then move data into it using a data transfer.)
You can change the UI type if desired - for example, from a dropdown to a radio button. Be careful that you choose an appropriate type. (For example, if the field is an Integer field, don't change its UI type to Checkbox, as this combination doesn't make sense.)
You can assign the field to a different field group if you wish by choosing a different Field group value. Remember that this only changes how the field is grouped and displayed when you edit members; see Field groups for more information.
Save your changes by clicking at the bottom.
Changes you make to a field take effect anywhere on the site the field shows up, including member detail pages, searches, and new member registration forms.
You can delete custom fields at any time. Simply
click the 
button next to a field.
If you notice that the delete button is grayed out 
next
to a field, this means that the field cannot be deleted. When
you roll over or click the delete button, you'll see the reason. Usually,
it's because the field is being used in a member registration form (see
Member
forms and pending registrations). You
will need to look through your forms and remove the field in question
from any forms that reference it; then you can return and delete the field.
Note: When you delete a field, all data in the selected fields will be deleted as well. Use caution!
Take special care when you modify pulldown values for a pulldown or radio button field that's already in the database. For example, let's say you have a field called Color with three values: Green, Yellow, and Red. You want to remove Yellow and add Orange. If you remove Yellow, and any members have the value of Yellow for that field, they will still have the value of Yellow, even though the field value is no longer available. However, if you edit a member with Yellow as a value, you will have to choose a different value (or none at all). The following screen shots illustrate this situation: