This article ties in with a few other Frontly articles relating to User Management.
We encourage you to carefully review and consider the options in each of these settings before finalizing your app set-up.
User Roles, Groups & Permissions
Edit Profile
Frontly stores your basic user data like name, email and password in a secure internal database so that you don't need to store that in a sheet.
As for storing the rest of your user fields and values, you have the flexibility to decide one of one of two options:
Create a Custom User Field and store the data directly within Frontly's user system, just like your basic user data.
Sync Frontly's user system with a Custom Users Table and we'll pull all the fields from the matching user in real time.
Both of these options are accessible from the app's Custom Fields User settings and can be used interchangeably or even together. Read on to learn more about the advantages and benefits of both!
Custom User Fields
Custom user fields can be defined and readily stored into your Frontly app without needing to set up a designated data source for it. To create one, click on the '+ Add Field' button to create a new field and you'll have an overview of the following settings.
Name - The name of the field, used for storage and for reference throughout the app. Changing this will affect any references to this field.
Type - The Type validates the data when user profiles are created or updated, ensuring they meet the correct format. Most fields will be Text, but some situations might require a Select Dropdown, Number, or Boolean (true/false) values.
Default Value - This determines the value that is used when creating a new user. This is an optional field.
Include in Signup - If the 'Enable User Signup' switch is active in your app's 'Authentication' settings, toggling 'Include in Signup' will enable your users to fill this field in themselves when creating an account.
Editable By User - If 'Enable Profile Editing' has been turned on from your User Settings 'Edit Profile' tab, active users can edit their inputted values for this custom field when updating their profile.
Benefits of Custom User Fields
One of the key advantages of working with custom user fields is the CRUD functionality of the fields and their individual user values all within the Frontly admin dashboard.
Clicking into any of your users from through the Users tab makes it really easy for you to view and update any of their individual field values, in addition to the other useful user related functions.
Other benefits of user custom fields, aside from ease of access, include slightly faster data loading since they are sourced internally and enhanced security, as they remain under Frontly's direct control.
Users Table
By choosing to use a Users Table instead of the custom user fields, you'll be able to source and store user data through an imported data source (Google Sheets, Supabase, Airtable).
A vital component of any users table setup is the inclusion of an 'email' field (case sensitive). When set up correctly, Frontly will automatically find the matching row in your users table every time your user logs in and makes those fields available inside the user data source all throughout your app.
Note: Any first and last name fields you include into your data source will not sync with the first and last name fields of Frontly's user management system. These values can only be changed in Frontly's user management settings.
Note: The data structure rules described in this article will apply to the users table as well.
Benefits of the Users Table
One of the many benefits to the users table is that it provides a more organized and holistic overview of an app's users and their custom field value, especially the case if there many of them. Changes to the users table update in real time, and can save app admins ample time from clicking into
The users table is also helpful for more technical use cases as well, making it easier for users to use live data source for any automation processes they have set up outside of Frontly.
How to Use Custom User Fields
Once the custom user fields have either been created internally or through your users table, they will appear as selectable fields through the dynamic variable injector under 'User'. However, they can also always be manually entered in most Frontly set-up fields using the {{user.Field}} syntax.
