Contents

• Introduction
• Start Configuring List Fields
• Manage List Options
• Add List Options in Bulk
• Merge Duplicate Options
• Field Settings
• Recommendation
• Save Field Settings

Introduction

List fields are a type of profile field. They are useful when members need to choose an option in order to provide specific information, such as the city they live in. List fields let you create personalized lists for various areas of a member's profile.

You can find List fields in your Settings > Profile Fields area. All list fields are default and you can enable or disable them. Learn more about default profile fields. 

All list fields are optional - profiles will save without them containing any data.

Start Configuring List Fields

To start configuring a list field, click the corresponding Gear icon. Moving forward, we will be working with screenshots from the City field as an example. The other fields work the exact same way.

You will be taken to Lookup Management, where you can perform the following:

• Manage your list of options, where you can edit item names and view usage counts. 

• Add options in bulk by pasting values from Excel or a text editor.

• Merge values when there are duplicates,

• Field Settings where you can lock or unlock the field. 

Now, let’s look at each of these in detail:

Manage List Options

Here is what you can do within the Manage List section:

• View the list of all options that can be used within your People database, along with Usage Counts for each. 

• Add new options, using the Add button.

• Filter the list by Used or Unused, or Search for a particular option item.

• Edit existing options.

Add List Options in Bulk 

The Bulk Add section lets you import multiple options simultaneously from a spreadsheet or text list.

To add options in bulk and save time, you can make your list in Excel or any text editor, then copy/paste it in the first field in ChMeetings. Your items will be pasted starting with the second field, so you may need to delete the first one afterwards. Just make sure that each field is on a separate line within the file you’re copying from. 

You can also add new options manually, using the Add option.

Make sure to click Import when done, so your list gets saved.

Merge Duplicate Options

The Merge Values section allows you to merge duplicate options into one. 

There is a duplicate detection feature, so the only way to create duplicate options is to misspell their name. 

To merge duplicate options: 

• Choose the Source (the option item that will be removed) - For instance, this will be the misspelled item.

• Choose the Destination (the one that will be kept) - In our example, this will be the correctly spelled item. 

Field Settings

Here is where you can configure how members and admins can interact with this field. 

At the moment, the only setting is the lookup lock, which you can turn on or off. 

Lock Lookup controls how options are added to your database. 

• If the lookup is unlocked, then anyone who has access to editing people's profiles can add new options to the database by entering the name in the respective lookup field within the profile. Users who may be able to do this include members, group leaders, event managers, and admins. If you choose to allow this, we recommend that you regularly check your database and merge any duplicates caused by misspelling.

• If the lookup is locked, then members and others with profile editing access can only choose from a predefined list of options, which can only be updated by admins, from within the Manage List section of the field. The advantage of this approach is that there won’t be any duplicates due to misspelling, but people might be unable to add their own data, which may result in requests to add option items to the list, or to missing options (since the field is optional)

Recommendation

Even if it takes some occasional management work, we recommend that you keep the field unlocked. This allows people to add options themselves, ensuring that you don’t get asked to update the list whenever there’s someone who needs to enter an item that is unavailable - for example, their city or their education level (say you don’t have the city of Philadelphia or the PhD education level listed). Your data will also be more accurate since you won’t be missing options unless people explicitly choose not to add theirs.

Save Field Settings

Once you’re done configuring the field settings, make sure to click Save Settings.
 

When done working on your List Field, close its settings from the X at the top right, then click Save Settings within the main Profile Fields screen.