Configuring user profile templates

A user's profile can include biographical and professional information, along with links to content they've contributed. You can use configure the fields that show up in profiles and set up visibility options.

User profiles, like other content, can be found on searches. Because of this, what people say about themselves — including interests and areas of expertise — can be a great source of information for people looking to have a question answered.

On the Profile Settings page, you can see the Availability and Location and Other Profile Fields sections, where you can define the exact profile template you want to provide users so they can complete their profile. You can see the Featured Profile Fields highlighted in the top left of user profile if they are marked visible.

The rest of the sections (User Profile Fields and Other Options) give you a way to let others control their own settings. For more information about them0, see Letting users control their own settings.

The application includes several commonly used fields by default, and you can add custom fields, as described in Creating new user profile fields. Order the fields in the same order you want users to see them. Note that if you allow people to register themselves, you can define a form with a subset of these customized fields for a person to complete when they register.

You can change the behavior of profile fields by clicking the attribute icons under Manage Properties. These icons define the field's behavior in the system, such as who can see it or whether it's editable. We recommend that you consider the field visibility. For example, in external-facing communities, people might not want their phone number widely visible.

The attributes should reflect how people use profiles. For example, making too many fields required could have the effect of discouraging people from completing them. The following list describes the attributes you can assign the profile field.

• Required: People are not able to save a profile when they leave a required field empty.
• Filterable: When a field is filterable, people can type or select values of the field to make a list of people shorter. For example, someone viewing a long list of people in the community could make the list shorter by filtering on the hire date, specifying that the date to be no earlier than last year.
• Searchable: A searchable field is available to the search engine.
• Editable: People can edit their editable profile fields.
• Externally Managed: Enables users to set this field to their own visibility preferences.