Things to Know About Profile Data
The unique information that identifies a registrant is called profile data. The Certain platform includes over 40 standard data-entry fields that you can include on registration forms to gather profile information. Profile data is stored at the account level.
Examples of standard data-entry fields include First name, Last name, Company, Email address, and Phone. Profile data storage at the account level saves data-entry time. Profile data storage at the account level helps record-keeping. Profile data can be reused whenever the person registers for any event associated with that Certain account.
Video: Custom Profile Data (1.5 min)Using Custom Questions to Collect Additional Profile Data
An administrator can add one or more custom questions to a registration form to collect profile data from registrants that cannot be gathered using available Certain data fields. This custom questions feature is useful for gathering information that is not likely to change if the person attends multiple events.
Examples of custom question prompts include “What division of the company are you in?” and “Social Security Number:”. Because there is no pre-existing data field designed to collect that information, the administrator needs to create a custom question. The administrator may supply answer choices when appropriate.
Custom questions and their corresponding answer fields can take various forms. Some custom questions can be yes/no questions. Some custom questions can require text entries. Some custom questions can be answered using check boxes.
Typically, a registrant provides answers to custom questions during the registration process. In some cases, event management staff may wish to supply or edit profile data.
> Note: When the registrant answers a custom question of type Text in a registration form, their answer will be reformatted to match the option set for the event. > The event option set is configured in Plan > Configure > Options. > The account-level setting is configured in Account Settings > Registration > Data Format. > This reformatted behavior is usually the default.
Custom Questions for All Profiles in this Account
This section lists the custom profile questions in the current account. This section may be a multi-page list. An account may have up to 40 custom question fields for its profile records.
Click Add New to display the Questions page in a pop-up window. The pop-up window is used to create custom questions.
The list includes the following items:
Type
The type of custom question is one of: Text, Textarea, Radio, Checkbox, Select, Select Multiple, Ticket, Date, Time, Date-Time, Number, Integer, File, Image, or Rating (1–5).
Question
The Question value is the name of the custom question.
Assignment
The Assignment value is a system-generated label for the custom question.
The assignment label shows the category with which the question is associated.
The assignment label also shows the order in which the question appears.
The category can be Profile, Registration, Program Item, or Event. An example assignment label is “Profile Question 1”.
Actions
Copy question
The Copy action opens the Questions page in a pop-up window.
The pop-up window is populated with the same values.
You can change at least the Name.
Delete question
The Delete action prompts you to confirm your action.
To edit a question, click the question in the list. You can also click the pencil icon to open the Questions page in a pop-up window.
Re-order Questions
The preview box shows which custom questions are associated with the current account.
To re-order questions:
1. Select a question. 2. Click the Move Up or Move Down button as many times as necessary. The selected question moves to its new position in the list.
Default Profile Fields
The fields in the Fields to Display box on the right are the default profile fields to be included in the registration forms of all events in this account. Those fields are also available for use in 'Display Questions' Inline Actions in a Logic section on a registration form.
To add another profile field, select it in the Available Fields list box. Click -» to move the selected field into the list of Fields to Display. You can click »» to move all available fields.
To remove a field from the list, select it in Fields to Display. Click «- to move the selected field back to the Available Fields list. You can click «« to move all fields.
The fields in the Fields to Display box are listed in a table below the two boxes. The table updates whenever you save changes.
For each field in that table, you can select the Required check box. Selecting Required makes that field required in forms. You can customize the Text to Display value. Text to Display is the label used for that field on a form.
Users may modify the default set of profile fields in their individual events. The default set of profile fields is available in new events. New events can be built in classic mode or wizard mode. Changes to default profile fields in this screen do not affect events and forms already built.
Video: Custom Profile Default Fields (1 min)Default Import Mappings
The fields in the Fields to Import box on the right are the default profile fields available for mapping to imports of registrations into an event.
(See Import Registration Data, accessed via Manage > Registrations > Import. Note: Users can change the list of fields there for each import. That import includes profile and registration fields.)
To add another profile field (including any Custom Questions set up on this page), select it in the Fields Available for Event list box. Click » to move it into the list of Fields to Import. You can click »» to move all fields.
To remove a field from the list, select it in the Fields to Import list. Click « to move the selected field back to the Available Fields list. You can click «« to move all fields.
To change the order of fields in the default import mapping, select fields in the Fields to Import list. Use the Top / Up / Down / Bottom buttons. The order changes by moving selected fields to new positions in the list.
Default States Available
Select the countries for which you want the default states to be available to this account. These selections control what states are available in the State/Province drop-down lists.
> Note: States are not available for all countries.
Default Countries Available
Select the countries you want to be available by default to this account. (All 247 are selected by default.)
Note that the settings for countries and states cascade down to the form level in an event. At the event form level, the settings can be changed per form.