MiaChiesaConfigure custom person fields
Switch on sections such as Residenza, prepare a new field with type, section and visibility and understand what becomes required, also for Excel imports.
Open configuration
From People → Records, select Manage fields. In pastoral-unit mode, the schema follows the active scope: the unit in Merged mode or one community in Bulk Operations.
Grey sections are system-defined. You may add fields to them but cannot rename or delete them.
Review sections and visibility
The page separates standard sections, community groups and ungrouped fields. Each field shows type, required state and app visibility.
Visible to followers grants reading; Editable by followers is a separate choice. Leave both off for a staff-only field.
Switch on Residenza and the other standard sections
In the Standard sections card (“Enable or disable the built-in registry groups for your parish”) each section has a switch. Dati Anagrafici, Contatti and Luogo di nascita are Always on; you can switch Stato civile, Residenza (region, province, town, address, street number, postcode), Salute, Documento di identità and Note on or off. After a change “Configuration updated” appears.
A switched-off section disappears from the person’s record and from imports: with Residenza off, the address columns of an Excel file stay on Do not import this column. Switch it on before importing a register with addresses.
Prepare the new field
Select New field, give it a clear name and choose short or long text, number, date, yes/no or list. Use Short text for phone numbers so spaces and the +39 prefix remain valid.
The capture fills Visit availability but does not press Save. The field is prepared and has not been applied to any record.
Assess before saving
Choose group, order, Required and visibility. A required field is requested in the forms that use the schema and also in Excel imports: the file needs a column for every required field and rows with that field empty are skipped. Avoid required fields you don’t really need.
Required standard fields, such as Telefono when it has the red asterisk, cannot be changed from this page: for a file without the children’s phone, put a parent’s number in that column.
Deleting a field later also deletes the values saved for every person. Before deleting, check whether the data must be exported or kept elsewhere.
What you have achieved
- You prepared a field whose type and visibility match its purpose.
- No field was saved in the demonstration capture.
Troubleshooting
I cannot open Custom fields
You need Manage records in the same workspace as the configuration.
I need to store a phone number
Use Short text rather than Number to preserve prefixes, spaces and leading zeroes.
I want to import addresses but they are not among the fields
Switch on the Residenza section in Standard sections: while it is off, address, town and postcode are not among the fields to match.