What is the difference between "Profile Tags" and "Custom Fields" in the database?
The Pro plan only offers Profile Tags as a way to customize your database.
- You cannot import profile tags but can only assign them during the import process or once profiles are in your database.
- A profile tag can be anything you need it to be. It is simply a string of text to track a custom data point.
Profile tags are visible to admins only!![](https://static.zohocdn.com/zoho-desk-editor/static/images/info.png)
Common examples of the use case for profile tags:
- Active, Inactive, Archived
- Group labels
- Tags for reporting purposes
- Communications lists
- T-shirt sizes
- Demographic breakdowns (Adults, Minors, etc.)
Profile tags have two main benefits:
- Grouping people by a label for communication and reporting purposes.
- Using the advanced reservation restriction option when publishing shifts. Learn more
The Enterprise plan offers Profile Tags and Custom Fields as a way to customize your database.
- You can create unlimited custom fields and choose the field type/format for each field to keep your database organized and dynamic (i.e. text, date, dropdown, number, etc.).
- You can import custom field values in the Mass import process.
![](https://static.zohocdn.com/zoho-desk-editor/static/images/caution.png)
Custom fields are visible to admins only!
![](https://static.zohocdn.com/zoho-desk-editor/static/images/info.png)
Common examples of the use case for custom fields and their respective field types:
- Active Status (Single selection)
- Date Started (Date)
- Date Ended (Date)
- Training Completion (True, False)
- T-shirt size (Single selection)
- Race/Ethnicity (General or Single selection)
- Document storage (Attachment)
- Meal Preference (Single selection or Multi selection)
Custom fields have two main benefits:
- Importing custom data into your database to ensure you are tracking all the data you need for communication and reports!
- Having better and more organized reports when exporting data.