Collecting Information with Signups

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You can use signups to gather all kinds of information from people. To use the information you gather, choose the type of information you need and follow the steps to gather it.

Profile Information

Profile information is saved to a person's Planning Center profile and determines whether someone fits any age, grade, or gender requirements for selections and assignments.

You can gather profile information using selections or a form, depending on the information you need.

Selections

Collect as much personal information as possible through your selections first.

All the available options in the Profile information to collect section in each selection's settings, except for the Emergency Contact field, are connected to each attendee's profile in People. Answers in these fields will instantly update the attendee's profile information.

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Tip

To view a full history of changes made to a person's profile through the selections in a signup, go to the Activity tab in their People profile.

People Forms

Update other profile information not included in the selections settings by adding Profile Fields to a form and attaching the form to your signup. This can include any custom profile fields you've created in People.

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Tip

Profile information gathered with signups can be used to create lists in People.

Event Preferences

You may need information from attendees that's specific to your event and doesn't need to be saved to profiles. You can use questions, selections, forms, and add-ons to collect information like T-shirt sizes, childcare preferences, financial aid needs, chosen activities, and more.

Group Preferences

You can use up to five questions to gather group preferences. These questions are asked once to the registration contact and apply to the overall registration, not individual attendees.

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Individual Preferences

To gather preferences for each attendee, use selections, forms, and add-ons.

Selections

Selections will be the first preference you gather from each attendee, so use them to help you organize and find attendees easily later on. Use selection names to have people choose things like:

  • a class or service to attend

  • the age group they belong to

  • meal preferences or a dish to bring

  • volunteer positions

  • a specific room or table to reserve

Add-Ons

Use add-ons when you need to set a capacity limit or a cost for the available options. Check out our Common Uses for Add-Ons article for ideas to get started!

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Tip

Answers given to the attendee info form and add-ons can be used to filter attendees.

Attendee Info Form

Adding questions to the attendee info form is the most direct and versatile way to gather individual preferences. It's also the only option that allows you to require answers before a registration can be confirmed, and the questions can be hidden or shown based on the selection.

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External Forms

People forms allow you to add conditional questions based on previous answers given, and workflow fields add attendees to different workflows based on their answers. When you need attendees to upload a file or image with their registration, use a People form.

Notice

Information gathered in a People form is saved in Planning Center but can only be seen on the form submission in People, not in the signup. You can view submissions in a form's Submissions tab or a person's People profile under the Forms tab.

External linked or PDF forms are great for gathering signatures and other information you don't need to track within the signup. No information gathered in an external form is saved in Planning Center.

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