Articles in this section

How to Apply a Custom Field Value
  • Updated

Now that your Custom Fields have been created and added to the site, we can begin assigning values and collecting data. The custom field Target you chose will determine the location where the custom field values exist and where it can be manually edited within the site. This article will walk through how to manually and automatically apply custom field values to each of your Targets.

In this Article...

 

How to Apply a Custom Field Value to a User

This section will walk through how to apply a Custom Field Value to a User. This will apply to when you are creating a custom field under one of the three following targets:

  • Applicants
  • Reviewers
  • Recommenders

There are two methods that can be used to apply custom field values to a user

 

Apply a Custom Field Value to an Individual User

  1. Go Manage Users
  2. Select the Role tab based on the type of user you are updating the custom field for.
  3. Click on the user's name to access the user's profile.
  4. Optional: Click More Options and then Show Full Screen to open the profile in full screen
  5. Under the User* Custom Fields section, you can edit the user custom field

*This terminology will change depending on the role the user is a part of. For example, if they are an applicant, it will read "Applicant custom fields". If they are members of multiple Roles, the custom fields will appear under the corresponding roles.

 

Apply Custom Field Values to Users in Bulk

In some cases, you may wish to apply Custom Field values to users in bulk. If this is the case, you can do so using the Add User Import.

  1. Go Manage Users
  2. Click Add User
  3. Click Import Users
  4. Select the Role you are updating the information for. Each role will need to be updated separately.
  5. Click Download Template
  6. Populate the downloaded template which will include the First Name, Last Name, Email, and custom fields for each user.

    TIP! Export the users from the site to populate the spreadsheet with all of this information. As long as the uploaded CSV is in the same format as the template, you will be able to upload it back to the site.

  7. Within the custom field column(s), enter the values you wish to apply to the user in each row.
  8. Within the site click Choose File to upload your CSV file back to the site.
  9. IMPORTANT! Choose how to handle Duplicate Emails.
    Skip: Will skip over any email that already exists within the site. If you are looking to update existing users, don't use this option.
    Overwrite Existing Fields: If a value already exists within the custom field, and you wish to update it, use this option.
    Update Missing Fields: Only update fields that are currently blank within the site.
  10. Click Import

 

How to Apply a Custom Field Value to an Application

This section will walk through how to apply a custom field value to an Application. This will apply to when you are creating a custom field under the following target:

  • Application

Custom Fields where Application has been selected as the Target can be viewed in the Manage Applications page.

Through the Columns dropdown on this page, you will be capable of adding individual custom field columns to your administrative view.

To manually edit Custom Fields in the administrator application preview:

  1. Go into the Admin Application Preview.
  2. Beside Custom Fields, click on the Edit icon
  3. Update the available custom fields
  4. Click Save

 

How to Apply a Custom Field Value to a Program

This section will walk through how to apply a custom field value to a program. This will apply to when you are creating a custom field under the following target:

  • Program

In order to apply a custom field value to a program:

  1. Go to the Program Settings section of the program
  2. Click on the Extras tab
  3. Beside the Custom Fields section enter the applicable value for your available Program Custom Field

 

How to Apply a Custom Field Value to an Application Decision

This section will walk through how to apply a custom field value to an Application Decision. This will apply to when you are creating a custom field under the following target:

  • Application Decision

In order to apply a custom field value to an Application Decision:

  1. Award your applicant(s)
  2. During the Awarding process, enter the Application Decision custom field value
  3. Click Submit

 

How to Automatically Apply a Custom Field Value

In some cases, you may require that custom field values be applied within your site based on an automated action. If this is the case, you can set up an automation which will apply a specific value to one of your targets based on an activation.

For example, you may require that when an applicant completes their application form, the Applicant custom field is populated with the mailing address of the user.

Automatically Apply a Custom Field Value to a User

If you wish for a User Custom field to be updated based on a specific action within the site, you can set this up using Automations.

In order to set this up:

  1. Create your automation
  2. Set up the Activation to determine when to apply the value to be updated
  3. Optional: Add a Condition to narrow down who the automation will fire for
  4. Add your Actions to determine what the automation will do when it fires
    i. Click -- Select an Action --
    ii. Click Custom Fields
    iii. Select Update User Custom Field Value
    iv. Determine the Value that should be applied when this automation fires.
  5. Click Save

Example:

In this example, we want the user Custom field automatically updated when the applicant has been awarded for a program. This is for the case where we don't want the applicant to be awarded to more than one program.

WHEN TO APPLY

Source Event
Decision
Application has been awarded

CONDITIONS

Not required for this scenario

DO

Action Source Action
Custom Fields Update User custom field value

 

Custom Field Has been Awarded?
Value Yes

You would then be able to reference the user custom field when making your decision to ensure that if you have multiple programs in your site your applicants are only awarded for one.

 

Automatically Apply a Custom Field Value to an Application

Automations can also be used to apply a value to a Custom Field based on a specific action within the site.

To set this up:

  1. Create your automation
  2. Set up the Activation to determine when to apply the value to be updated
  3. Optional: Add a Condition to narrow down who the automation will fire for
  4. Add your Actions to determine what the automation will do when it fires
    i. Click -- Select an Action --
    ii. Click Custom Fields
    iii. Select Update Application Custom Field Value
    iv. Determine the Value that should be applied when this automation fires.
  5. Click Save

Example:

Updating the custom field with the current semester. 

WHEN TO APPLY

Source Event
Application Application has been created

CONDITIONS

Conditions to match: ALL

Current Date is is after 09/30/2016
Current Date is is before 12/31/2016

DO

Action Source Action
Custom Fields Update application custom field value

 

Custom Field Semester
Value Fall

If necessary, you could then duplicate the automation then update the conditions and the action for the Winter semester as well.

 

Automatically Apply a Custom Field Value to an Application Decision

If you are making your award decisions and wish for the application decision field to be applied automatically when the decision is made, you can set this up using Automations.

In order to set this up:

  1. Create your automation
  2. Set up the Activation to be "Decision: Application has been awarded"
  3. Optional: Add a Condition to narrow down who the automation will fire for
  4. Add your Actions to determine what the automation will do when it fires
    i. Click -- Select an Action --
    ii. Click Custom Fields
    iii. Select Update Award Decision Custom Field Value
    iv. Determine the Value that should be applied when this automation fires.
  5. Click Save

Example:

In this example, we want the Award Decision Custom field automatically updated when the applicant has been awarded for a program. This is for the case where we want to keep track of the year that the transaction is for.

NOTE: This would need to be updated for every new year.

WHEN TO APPLY

Source Event
Decision
Application has been awarded

CONDITIONS

Not required for this scenario

DO

Action Source Action
Custom Fields Update Award Decision Custom Field Value

 

Custom Field What year is this transaction for?
Value 2017

 

Applicant Custom Field vs. Application Custom Field

A common question that gets asked is "What is the difference between Applicant Custom Fields and Application Custom Fields?"

The difference between this is that the Applicant Custom Field gets applied to the User's account, it's typically used for information that is specific to the user when they log in to the site. No matter how many applications the user creates, that custom field is going to be consistent across all applications. For example, the user's address, or their school student number, or even their favourite colour. That information is based on the Applicant that is logging into the site to create the application.

An Application Custom Field, on the other hand, is applied to the application they create, and in cases where an applicant has multiple applications within the site, the values in the custom field may vary from application to application. An example may be if you wish to input the semester that the application is applying for. So if you have multiple cycles or semesters where an applicant can apply to the same program, you can keep track of the Fall application vs. the Winter application.

Example:

Let's use the example of our applicant, Tom Jenkins:

We created an Applicant Custom field and enabled "Add to User Sign Up form." The field we created was for Phone Number so that we can easily contact the user by phone in the future.

Now when we access Tom Jenkins's user profile we can quickly access his phone number that he input during registration.

However, Tom Jenkins is creating multiple applications in the site:

  • First application to Program A
  • Second application to Program A
  • Application to Program Z

From each of these applications, we want to keep track of the semester in which the application was created. For example, "First Application to Program A" is Tom Jenkins's application in the Fall to Program A, and "Second Application to Program A" is his application in the Winter to the same program.

Therefore, we set up two automations to apply the custom field when the application is created, with the condition based on the dates the application is created.

As the "First Application to Program A" was created between September 1st and December 31st we can set an automation to apply the custom value of Fall to the Application Custom Field.

Now the custom fields will appear as such:

Applicant Name Applicant Custom Field "Phone Number" Application Name Application Custom Field "Semester"
Tom Jenkins 123-456-7890 First Application to Program A

Fall
    Second Application to Program A

Winter
    Application to Program Z

Fall

As you can see from the example above, only one user response is required to collect the user's phone number. However, as the semester information is different for each application, an Application Custom Field is used.

Related articles