Introduction
In CiviPlus the standard way to collect information from event registrants is to use one or more Profiles. A Profile is simply a group of fields which are collected together to create a block of fields that can be used together in an online form, for example, to collect dietary preferences or accessibility requirements for a Gala Dinner event.
There are three steps to creating and using profiles as part of an event registration process:
Create the individual custom fields that will make up each profile (if they do not already exist).
Create a Profile, and add the relevant custom fields to it.
Add the profile(s) to the Online Registration tab of the event or event template
Creating event registration custom fields
Custom Fields are covered in detail here, but a brief summary is:
Navigate to Administer → Customise Data and Screens → Custom Fields to see the set of existing custom fields, and click the ADD SET OF CUSTOM FIELDS button if you need to add new ones for the registration profile.
Configure the Field Set which is the the collective name for the fields. (e.g. catering Requirements)
Add each individual custom field to the field set, defining the name, data type, input type, multi-choice options etc.
Once saved, the custom fields will be available to include in a Registration Profile. An example of a field set for dietary preferences is shown below:
Creating a Registration Profile
Once the custom fields are created, navigate to Administer -> Customise data and Screens -> Profiles to see the existing profiles in the system. Click the ADD PROFILE button to create a new one.
Enter the Profile Name and a Public Title that you would like to show to an end user (if different). The Profile Description allows you to provide a bit more information about the nature of the profile - this can be be helpful for administrators when there are several profiles that are similar.
The Used For field specifies how this profile is to be used - in this example we are simply going to use it on an online event registration form so we can leave the pre-selected options as they are:
[ x ] CiviEvent [ x ] CiviEvent_Additional [ x ] CiviContribute [ x ] soft_credit
The Order field simply says the order that this Profile will appear in a drop down list of profiles when adding it to the registration form.
Pre-form Help and Post-form Help are shown to the user when completing the online profile form, and finally check the Is this CiviCRM Profile active? field so that the profile can be used.
Note: There are a number of Advanced Settings fields which are not relevant for this simple use of the profile for online event registration.
Once you have completed the Profile form click the DONE button. You will then be prompted to add fields to your profile. Select the custom fields you created in the previous step and click 'Save'.
Add the profile to an online registration form
You can include one profile immediately after the introductory message and one or more profiles under any fees and payment details.
Top of Page Profiles
The Include Profile (top of page) field defaults to the "Your Registration Info" profile, which consists of three fields: first name, last name, and email address.
(Hint: Click the PREVIEW button to see what fields exist in any of the selected profiles ).
If you require fewer, or more, fields you could of course EDIT 'Your Registration Info' or a COPY of it, or indeed CREATE a brand new profile with fewer fields. However, if you choose not to collect email addresses, be sure to uncheck the option Send confirmation email? at the bottom of the page.
Best Practice: Be careful editing an existing profile while configuring your Online Registration page - the changes you make will apply to every event in which that profile is being used. Unless an existing profile exactly matches your requirements you should really copy the profile, then rename and edit the copy as required.
Bottom of Page Profiles
You can also add a profile gather additional information at the bottom of the page by choosing one from from the Include Profile (bottom of page) dropdown list. In the example below we are choosing to include the Dietary Preferences profile .
