Add a profile variable

Add a profile variable to the application.

When you perform this task, you are essentially adding a new profile variable and its values to the application. You can then map the profile variable to a Profile action in a survey or recruitment survey. When participants answer the question, their responses are stored as profile variable values.

This method lets you define and enter the full range of profile variable values at the very beginning, even values members currently don't have. This is the recommended method over importing profile variables.

Example

You run a Community in the United States and you need to know members' home states. You know that there's a possibility you won't have members from all 50 states, so if you were to import member data you may be missing State values.

Instead, you create a State profile variable and add all 50 states as profile variable values. When you map the profile variable to a Profile action in a survey or a recruitment survey, all 50 state values will be readily available for profiling. When you report on survey data, or when you create member groups, you can see the distribution of members across all 50 states, giving you an overall picture of which states might have too many members or none at all.

Note: This task cannot be performed by Author or Analyst users.
  1. Open the Community app and click Community > Profile Variables at the top of the page.
  2. Click +Profile Variables.
  3. Type a Variable Name.
    Note:
    • The variable name cannot:
      • Exceed 400 characters (including spaces).
      • Contain commas.
      • Use the same name as a removed profile variable.
      • Use the names of reserved system variables as a profile variable name:
        • begindate
        • communityid
        • datasettype
        • enddate
        • memberid
        • panelid
        • password
        • salt
        • statusupdatedby
        • statusupdateddate
    • If you are using scripting in a power survey to get and post profile variables, changing Variable Name after the power survey is live will break this functionality. You must update the scripts with the new profile variable names.
  4. Type a Description.
  5. Optional: Click the Category drop-down list and select one or more categories to associate with the profile variable.
    Note: The Category drop-down list is only available if at least one category has been created on the Manage Categories page.
  6. Select the profile variable type.
    Profile variable type Description
    Single Choice

    A member can have one value for the profile variable only.

    The variable value cannot exceed 400 characters (including spaces).

    The recommended maximum number of values is 1000.

    Multiple Choice

    A member can have multiple values for the profile variable.

    The variable value cannot exceed 400 characters (including spaces).

    Text

    A member can have an open-ended value for the profile variable.

    The variable value cannot exceed 400 characters (including spaces).

    Date A member can have a date value for the profile variable.
    • The minimum value is 0001-01-01 00:00:00.0000000
    • The maximum value is 9999-12-31 23:59:59.9999999
    Calculated Date Dynamically calculates each member's age, years as a member, etc. when a member filter is applied.

    For more information, see Add a Calculated Date profile variable.

    Number A member can have a numeric value for the profile variable.
    • The maximum number of total digits is 14
    • The maximum number of decimal digits is 5
    • Leading and trailing zeros are ignored
    Table 1. Examples
    Valid numeric values Invalid numeric values
    • 99999999999999 (maximum)
    • -99999999999999 (minimum)
    • 999999999.99999 (maximum with 5 decimal digits)
    • 0.00001 (smallest fraction)
    • 100000000000000 (exceeds 14 total digits)
    • 0.123456 (exceeds 5 decimal digits)
    Note: Commas are supported in activities, filters, and reports; however, commas should be removed before assigning a number value to a profile variable or before appending a number value to an activity link.
    Identity

    A member is assigned a unique identity value for the profile variable.

    • The value cannot exceed 400 characters including spaces.
    • Can store text or number values.

    Use Identity profile variables if:

    • You already have unique IDs in an external system, and you want to map member records between systems.
    • You want members to add unique identifying information (for example, a social media handle or a phone number).
    • You want to use something other than Email or MemberId to identify members.

    Examples of possible Identity values include:

    • Twitter handle
    • Loyalty card number
    • Customer ID
    • Phone number
    Note: Community keeps a historical record of a member's Identity variable values after the value is updated or an Admin purges the member. For more information, see Identity profile variables.
  7. Optional: Select Treat this profile variable as sensitive data.

    This option controls whether the application purges personally identifiable information stored as part of this profile variable's data, for members who have become inactive. This option is available for the following profile variable types:

    • Text
    • Date
    • Number
    • Identity

    System variables such as FirstName, LastName, and email are flagged as sensitive data by default. For more information, see Sensitive data.

    Note: Admins can change this setting. To change this setting as a Power User, you must have Can access sensitive data enabled.
  8. Add and remove Variable Values.
    Note: The letter casing in profile variable values cannot be updated. It is recommended to use the correct letter casing when the values are created.
    1. Type a value in the field, and click add beside it.
    2. To remove a value, click the options menu beside the value, and select Delete.
  9. Optional: Change the order of the profile variable values.

    • Click the options menu beside a value, and select Move up or Move down.

    • Hover over the left side of a profile variable value until your cursor becomes a crosshair, and drag the value into the desired position.

    Note: Do not reorder profile variable values by switching text strings. For example, in the following image, if you type Female where Male is and vice versa, the switch will adversely affect member data by switching member values for Gender.

    Always use drag-and-drop or the options menu.

  10. When you are finished, click Save.