How does the "Profile Info" section work on a form?
Overview
When someone submits their first form, usually an application, Vome shares the basic profile information they used to create their account. The Profile Info section is where you choose which additional profile fields the form asks for.
The single most useful thing to understand is that the fields fall into three groups, and they behave differently after submission.
| Group | Always collected? | Can the person update it later themselves? |
|---|---|---|
| Required core | Yes, with every submission | Yes |
| Optional core | Only if you add it to the form | Yes |
| Additional | Only if you add it to the form | No. You must send a new form |
1. Which fields are always shared with me?
Four, because the person supplied them when creating their Vome account. They come with every form submission whether or not you ask.
| Field | Can it appear on the form? |
|---|---|
| First name | No |
| Last name | No |
| Yes, your choice | |
| Phone number | Yes, your choice |
Names cannot be shown on the form at all. Email and phone can be displayed if you want people to confirm or correct them.
2. Which optional core fields can I request?
Any of these can be made mandatory by turning on the Required switch.
Profile picture. Upload any file.
Date of birth. Chosen from a calendar.
Age. Calculated from date of birth rather than typed.
Please note: if you request Age without Date of birth, the person still has to enter their date of birth so Vome can calculate it. So if you are already asking for date of birth, add Age too. It costs the person nothing extra and gives you a value that updates itself every birthday.
Gender. A single-select dropdown with four options: Male, Female, I'd rather not say, and Other, which opens a free text field.
Occupation. A single-select dropdown with four options, two of which reveal a second required field.
| Choice | What follows |
|---|---|
| Student | A required Name of School text field |
| Professional | A required Name of Company text field |
| Retiree | Nothing further |
| Other | Nothing further |
Address. People start typing and pick a result from the Google Maps lookup, so addresses arrive in a consistent format rather than however someone chose to type it.
Skills. Chosen from a dropdown of over 100 predefined skills.
Languages. Chosen from a dropdown of over 30 predefined languages.
Bio. Free text. In practice it doubles as a note attached to the submission.
3. What are the additional fields, and why are they different?
Two fields sit outside the core set: Medical information and Emergency contact. Both can be made mandatory with the Required switch.
Attention: people cannot update these from their profile the way they can with core fields. If the information changes, the only way to refresh it is to send them a new form containing those fields. Plan for that if you collect them.
Medical information is two sub-fields: a checkbox asking whether the person wants to share relevant medical information, and an open text field that appears if they tick it.
Emergency contact is three sub-fields: Name, Relationship and Phone number.
4. What happens when someone updates a core field later?
The change appears in your database immediately. Core profile fields are live, not a snapshot taken at submission.
You can also prompt for a refresh at any time by sending another form that requests those fields.
Summary
- First name, last name, email and phone always arrive with a submission. Names cannot be shown on the form.
- Optional core fields are requested per form and can be made required.
- Asking for Age makes people enter their date of birth anyway, so request both.
- Core fields stay live and update your database when the person edits them.
- Medical information and emergency contact cannot be self-updated. Refreshing them means sending a new form.