> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.deandesk.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Profile forms & metadata
> Configure which profile sections appear on user accounts and define custom metadata fields scoped to adults, children, and admins.
**School-level feature** — managed within your school portal at `yourschool.deandesk.com`.
DeanDesk lets you customize the profile form that users see when signing up, completing applications, or editing their account — both at the level of which **standard sections** appear and the **custom metadata fields** you want to collect.
Open **Admin Dashboard → Profile Form Settings** to manage both.
## Standard sections
Profile forms are made up of standard sections plus any custom fields you add. **Basic Information** (name, email, phone) is always required and cannot be turned off. The rest are toggleable per audience.
| Section | Adult profiles | Child profiles |
| ---------------------- | ---------------------------- | --------------- |
| **Basic Information** | Always on | Always on |
| **Date of Birth** | Optional toggle (default on) | Always required |
| **Grade** | Not applicable | Always required |
| **Address** | Optional toggle | Optional toggle |
| **Emergency Contact** | Optional toggle | Optional toggle |
| **Health Information** | Not applicable | Optional toggle |
For child applications, first name, last name, date of birth, and grade are all required before the child record can be submitted. The validation message is: *First name, last name, date of birth, and grade are required.*
### Customizing child grade options
The Grade picker on a child profile defaults to Pre-K, K, and grades 1–12. You can replace this list with your school's own grade labels under **Profile Form Settings → Child Profiles → Basic Information → Grade Options**.
Expand the **Grade Options** section under the Child Profile tab.
Edit the list to match the grades your school uses (e.g. "Nursery", "KG1", "KG2", "Year 1", etc.). You can mix the defaults with custom labels.
Drag grades into the order you want them to appear in the dropdown.
Save. The new list is used on every new and existing child profile immediately.
Go to **Admin Dashboard → Profile Form Settings**.
Use the **Adult Profiles** or **Child Profiles** tab depending on which audience you want to configure.
Turn each optional section on or off. Changes apply immediately to all surfaces — application flow, the Profile tab in User Management, and the Child Application Manager.
## Custom metadata fields
Custom metadata fields let you collect information that isn't covered by the standard sections — anything from "preferred pronouns" to "bus route" to "scholarship status".
### Field scope
Every custom field is scoped to a specific audience so you only collect what's relevant for each user type:
| Scope | Where the field appears |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **All** | Both adult and child profiles |
| **Adult** | Adult profiles only (parents, teachers, admins, adult students) |
| **Child** | Child profiles only |
| **Child application** | Child applications only — collected during the parent's onboarding flow, not on the child's standing profile |
| **Admin only** | Visible only to admins, never shown to the user themselves |
You can also scope a custom field by **role** — applicant, parent, student, member, teacher, or admin — so the field only renders for users in those roles. This is useful for role-specific data like "Volunteer hours interest" (parents only) or "Background check date" (teachers only).
### Field types
| Type | What it stores | Example |
| ---------------- | ---------------------------- | --------------------------------- |
| **Text** | Single-line text | "Bus route", "Preferred pronouns" |
| **Textarea** | Multi-line text | Notes, allergies |
| **Number** | Numeric value | "Years at school" |
| **Date** | Calendar date | "Sibling birth date" |
| **Yes / No** | Boolean toggle | "Photo release on file?" |
| **Dropdown** | Single choice from a list | "T-shirt size: S / M / L / XL" |
| **Multi-select** | Multiple choices from a list | "Interests: Sports / Arts / STEM" |
| **File upload** | Document or image | Vaccination record, ID card |
### Categories
Group related fields together with **categories**. Each field can be assigned a category key, label, and order. Fields appear on profile pages grouped under their category heading.
For example, you might create a **Health & Safety** category that contains "Allergies", "Doctor's contact", "Vaccination record" — three different field types presented under one heading.
### Public vs admin-only fields
Each field has a **visibility** setting:
* **Public** — the user can view and edit the field on their own profile
* **Admin only** — the field is editable only from the admin's view of the user's profile, never shown to the user
Use admin-only for internal notes, scholarship status, or any sensitive information you don't want the user to see.
### Required fields
Mark a field **Required** to block submission until it's filled in. Required fields are enforced both during application onboarding and when admins edit a profile.
## Adding a metadata field
Go to **Admin Dashboard → Profile Form Settings**, pick the audience tab, and scroll to **Custom Fields**.
Pick the field type from the list.
Set the field name (used as the data key), label (shown to users), description (helper text), category, scope, visibility, and whether it's required. For dropdown and multi-select fields, also enter the list of options.
Save. The field is live immediately on every relevant profile and application surface.
## Where metadata appears
Once configured, custom fields appear in the following places:
| Surface | What's shown |
| ----------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Application onboarding** | Public fields are shown as part of the relevant step (adult profile, child application, etc.) |
| **User profile (admin view)** | All fields, grouped by category, editable by admins |
| **User profile (self-edit)** | Public fields only |
| **Admissions Queue** | Public + admin-only fields, surfaced on the applicant detail panel |
| **Bulk import** | Custom fields can be set via CSV columns and are validated against the field schema |
Ordering fields within a category is drag-and-drop. Use it to put the most-asked questions at the top of each section.
## Reordering and removing fields
* **Drag** fields up or down within their category to reorder them.
* **Delete** a field to remove it from the schema. Existing data on user profiles is preserved on the server but is no longer surfaced anywhere in the UI.
Deleting a field hides its data from the UI but does not erase it. If you need to permanently delete data for a privacy request, contact DeanDesk support.