Custom demographics in your account

Custom demographics are a great way to capture and display personal information about your community users.

You can manage the custom demographics in your community in whatever way suits your community and your members. Custom demographics can be set to display on Profile pages so that your community users can easily share various types of personal information, such as education history, job history, and memberships.

NOTE: The type and amount of information that a user shares is completely voluntary; users decide for themselves what personal information they want publicized on their profiles.

Demographics on user profiles

Demographics are very often presented to users as "menu" options in a dropdown. Users can select one or more options (depending on how the demographic is configured), as shown below for a demographic called Career Stage.

Demographics can also present other types of input fields, such as:

• free-text fields (e.g., for "bio" details; "field of study" in their education), 
• date-picker fields (e.g., for start and end dates of previous jobs), and
• checkboxes (e.g., to indicate highest degree attained or current job/position).

Access your demographics

To access your demographics:

1. In the Admin Toolbar, click Admin.

2. Navigate to Users > Demographics.

The Demographics page lists the custom profile demographics in your account.

NOTE: If your community site is integrated with an AMS/CRM database, Higher Logic Support can "import" data from that external database as demographics. Those data will display on this page (such as the Field demographic in the image above), and can be managed as described in this article. Create a case with Support to learn more.

This page is where you can:

• create demographics and
• manage (e.g., edit, delete, publish) your demographics.

Your custom profile demographics are called Categories.

Manage the list display

The default display of the list is alphabetic, on the Name column. You have several options for managing the list display.

• Sorting - click any column heading to sort on that column; click again to reverse the sort order. An up arrow or down arrow indicates which column is sorted on and the sort order; as shown in the Name column in the image above.
• Columns - click the columns count below the list to add and remove columns in the current view.

NOTE: The Integrated column displays Yes only if:
            - your community site is integrated with an AMS/CRM database and
            - that demographic was "imported" from that external database (i.e., not created in Admin).

• Search - click the magnifying glass icon to open the Search field. Refer to Search & Export the list, below for details on this feature.

Create a demographic

The sections that follow describe how to create a custom demographic (a Category), which requires:

• configuring a few settings;
• adding the demographic's choices;
• optionally setting a "priority order" for the choices; and
• "publishing" the demographic to indicate where you want it included.

Configure the settings

Start by clicking the plus sign icon to the right of the page title; this opens the Add Category dialog in which you configure the demographic's settings.

NOTE: Settings that you configure during the "create" process can be subsequently managed by selecting the demographic and clicking the Edit Category button. The title of the dialog is "edit" instead of "add" but it is the same dialog with the same settings.

1. Specify a name for your demographic.

• Names can begin with a letter, a numeral, or a special character. The display order (shown in the image below) is:
  • names that begin with a special character; followed by
  • names that begin with a numeral; followed by
  • names that begin with a letter (alphabetized A – Z).

2. Provide a description of the demographic.
3. Configure the remaining settings by checking the relevant boxes; these are described in the table below.
4. Click Save to add your new demographic.

Category settings

Post-configuration notes

• Review the list on the Demographics page and verify that your new demographic is listed.
• If you want to edit the demographic, return here, select the demographic, and click the Edit Category button.
• You can also change some of the properties of the demographic in its dedicated fly-in properties panel, which is described in Manage your demographics, below.

The new demographic is now configured; continue with the sections that follow to:

• add choices (i.e., for users to select) to the demographic;
• optionally set a "priority order" for the demographic's values; and
• "publish" the demographic to indicate where you want it included.

Add choices to the demographic

Now that the demographic has been created, it has to be populated with choices for users to pick from.

For example, the Career Stage example that was shown earlier gives users several choices to indicate "where" they are in their careers:

TIP: Note that the choices display in alphabetical order in the example above. This is the default arrangement but you can manage the display order (by setting "priority" values) as described later in this section.

This section describes how to manually input choices for a demographic.

1. Select a demographic and click Edit Choices.
2. On the full-page Edit Choices dialog, click the plus sign to the right of the title and:

• specify the name of the choice (e.g., Apprentice, Retired),
• (optionally) provide a description (this is internal-only),
• (optionally) type a number in the field (or use the up and down arrows) to set the "priority" of the choice; 1 being the highest priority and 1000 the lowest priority (refer to Order choices by priority, below), and
  • Note that 0 is a "null" value; it's as if a value wasn't specified.
• click Save.

3. Repeat these steps to add more choices for users.

Review the list of choices and verify that they are as you expect.

TIP: The Priority column does not display by default. If you are using choice priorities, it's helpful to display this column and then sort on it to confirm your preferred order of the choices.

On the Edit Choices dialog, you can:

• Click a column heading to sort on that column; click again to reverse the sort order.
• Click the columns count below the list to add and remove columns in the current view.
• Click a choice to select it and remove it via the Delete button and/or manage it in the fly-in properties panel.
• Click the gear icon to manage whether the choices display to users according to the numerical values that you might have specified. Refer to Order choices by priority, below, to learn about Priority values and how and where they work.
• Click the magnifying glass icon to open the Search field to quickly find one or more choices in a long list.
• Click the down-arrow icon to export the current list of choices. (This functions in the same way as the export on the list page; refer to Search & Export the list, below.)

When you have finished managing the choices, click the X in the upper right to return to the Demographics list page.

Prioritize the choices

It's important to understand that — even if you assign priority numbers to choices — those designations have no affect unless you instruct the system to "prioritize" the choices.

To ensure choices display as prioritized:

1. Select a demographic and click Edit Choices.
2. On the full-page Edit Choices dialog, click the gear icon in the upper right to open the "prioritize" prompt.

3. Review the information and check the Order by priority box.
4. Click Save.

When you have finished managing the choices, click the X in the upper right to return to the Demographics list page.

Prioritization affects

As the prompt indicates:

• Demographic choices will display based on the "priority" value that was specified.
• Demographic choices that have "lower" priority values (e.g., 1, 2) will display above those that have "higher" priority values.
• Demographic choices that have a priority value will always be listed above those that do not have a priority value.
• Demographic choices that do not have a priority value display in alphabetical order.

Prioritization example

The image below shows the "priority" values of the choices for the Career Stage demographic.

The images below demonstrate the same demographic's choices:

• presented in the default sort-order, alphabetical, and then
• how the sort order changes when the Order by priority box is checked and the "priority" values are applied.

Career Stage demographic choices (original default order; i.e., alphabetized)	Career Stage demographic choices ('Order by priority' applied)

Other affects of prioritization

If the demographic supports multiple choice-selections and the Order by priority feature is enabled:

• the choices are listed by priority on a user profile if the user selects more than one choice.
• the choices are listed by priority on your site search if either Search setting was enabled for the demographic (refer to the next section for information on including a demographic on your site search).

NOTE: Both of the above scenarios are per demographic, based on whether the Order by priority box is checked. Other choices might behave differently, based on whether the Order by priority box is checked for the individual demographic.

Publish the demographic

The final step is to "publish" the demographic. Publishing is how you make a demographic "live" on user Profile pages and searchable on your site.

1. Select a demographic and click Manage Publication.
2. On the Manage Publication dialog, optionally check the boxes to include the demographic:

• on the account creation page;
• on users' Profile pages on your main site and/or microsites; and/or
• in searches on your main site and/or microsites.

3. Click Save to publish the demographic as configured.

TIP: To manage these settings for a demographic, return here, click Manage Publication, make your changes, and click Save to republish the demographic.

NOTE: The "microsite" settings are applicable only if your organization licenses the Microsites module.

Manage your demographics

In addition to managing a demographic's settings during creation, you can return to the Demographics page to make changes to a demographic's properties, choices, prioritization, and publish settings.

To manage a demographic, you must select it in the list. This enables the action buttons in the upper right:

• Click Edit Choices to manage (the name, description, and priority value) a demographic's choices.
• Click Edit Category to manage a demographic's properties.
• Click Manage Publication to manage a demographic's publish settings.

To the right of these buttons is the More button with Copy and Delete options, and when you select a demographic, a "properties panel" flies in on the right; it, too, has a few management options.

Let's look at options...

Copy and Delete options

Copy Category generates an exact copy of the demographic, with "(copy)" appended to the name. On the Copy Category dialog, you can:

• edit the name and description;
• check and uncheck boxes to manage the settings;
• click Save to create the new demographic.

Delete Category performs an irreversible delete, as indicated on the dialog.

• Click Delete to continue.

NOTE: Deleting a demographic from a Community also removes all associated users from the Community.

Properties panels

There are two places where a "properties" panel flies in on the right and in which you can manage a few properties.

Demographics page

When you click to select a demographic on the Demographics page, the panel displays:

• The dotted underlines indicate the fields that can be edited by simply clicking them.
• The Category Choices Order field presents a dropdown from which you can select either Alphabetical or Priority as the display order of the demographic's choices.

• Setting Alphabetical here overrides (i.e., unchecks) the Order by priority setting that is described above in Prioritize the choices.

NOTE: The Category Choices field is an information-only field that defaults to listing the choices alphabetically.

The Save button does not display at the bottom of the panel until/unless you make a change; click it to preserve your changes.

Edit Choices full-page dialog

When you click to select a choice on the Edit Choices page, the panel displays and lists the number of users who have selected this choice.

• The dotted underlines indicate the fields that can be edited by simply clicking them.
• You can set (or change) a choice's Priority value here.
• Click the value of Category (as shown above) to display a list of all your demographics.
  • A green checkmark indicates the current demographic.
  • Click a different demographic to move that choice to the selected demographic.

The Save button does not display at the bottom of the panel until/unless you make a change; click it to preserve your changes.

Search & Export the list

At the top right of the list, you can use:

• the search feature to quickly find demographics and
• the export feature to download the list of demographics.

Search

Click the magnifying glass icon to expand the search field.

• The search field is not case sensitive.
• The list automatically updates with each typed character and displays all matching records.
• The search queries the Name, Description, and Integration Key fields.
• Click the X to clear the search field and restore the original list.

Export

You can export the list of demographics if, for example, you want to share it with colleagues or to have an editable list that you can customize.

• The export generates a .CSV file, Demographics.csv, that includes the complete list of demographics.
• The export file includes all of the list columns, including any that are currently hidden.
• The "complete list" is irrespective of any search refinements that affect the current display.

Click the down-arrow icon at the top right to generate Demographics.csv.

After the download is complete, you can customize the file (rename it, move and delete rows and columns) in your preferred spreadsheet application.

Related articles

You can assign point values to your demographics in order to encourage your community users to share information about themselves with other community members. You can then activate the profile completeness bar so that members can easily see how "complete" their profile is.

• To learn about this feature, see Profile Completeness.