# Adding and editing user custom fields
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/adding-and-editing-user-custom-fields/26498
**Category:** Bug
**Tags:** user-custom-fields
**Created:** [March 19, 2015, 12:15am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/adding-and-editing-user-custom-fields/26498 "2015-03-19T00:15:10Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@watchmanmonitor](https://meta.discourse.org/u/watchmanmonitor)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2015, 12:15am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/adding-and-editing-user-custom-fields/26498/1 "2015-03-19T00:15:10Z")
Here’s my experience with a custom field, as added via the Admin-\> customize feature.
1. Admin interface → Add a custom field
2. Mark it: Not editable after signup, required at signup, show on public profile (see below)
3. have a new user register - All works as expected
4. [[Grumble](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-can-we-require-a-full-name/26089/3) that Full Name is still optional]
5. View the new user in Admin area
- user field is visible, but not editable
1. View the user’s preferences page, Custom Field isn’t shown
- Field is not visible to the user when logged in as him/her
1. As the admin, looking at my acount in admin, I can’t edit the field
As I see it, 5 and 6 are not working as expected.
I’d like to see the custom field on the user’s profile page, and I’d like the Admin to be able to edit the field from the UI at all times.
Thanks!
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### Author:  [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2015, 12:21am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/adding-and-editing-user-custom-fields/26498/2 "2015-03-19T00:21:39Z")
OK, this boils down to
1. User fields that are **not** “Editable after signup?” are not editable by admins
2. If “show on public profile?” is unchecked, the user with the custom field can not see the field on profile page, nor can admins.
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### Author:  [@watchmanmonitor](https://meta.discourse.org/u/watchmanmonitor)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2015, 1:48am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/adding-and-editing-user-custom-fields/26498/3 "2015-03-19T01:48:49Z")
1 - Is that intentional? how are they supposed to be corrected if there’s a mistake?
2 - In my example, `show on profile` _was_ selected. Will edit to add a picture.
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### Author:  [@watchmanmonitor](https://meta.discourse.org/u/watchmanmonitor)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2015, 12:28pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/adding-and-editing-user-custom-fields/26498/4 "2015-03-19T12:28:02Z")
I just saw these two admin options
`staff user custom fields`
and
`public user custom fields`
perhaps I’m missing a step as it relates to those… where can I see more information about the expected workflow?
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 12:19am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/adding-and-editing-user-custom-fields/26498/5 "2015-03-20T00:19:16Z")
I agree that admins should always be able to edit these custom user fields on the user page, is that not the case @eviltrout ?
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### Author:  [@eviltrout](https://meta.discourse.org/u/eviltrout)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/adding-and-editing-user-custom-fields/26498/6 "2015-03-20T18:13:04Z")
I just checked, as an admin you can edit the fields by visiting the user’s preference page (as well as their other fields).
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### Author:  [@watchmanmonitor](https://meta.discourse.org/u/watchmanmonitor)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/adding-and-editing-user-custom-fields/26498/7 "2015-03-20T18:50:19Z")
> [@eviltrout](#):
>
> I just checked, as an admin you can edit the fields by visiting the user’s preference page
Unless they are not “editable later”.
Our need is for admins to do all their work on one page, the Admin view of the user, and always be able to edit the fields.
Without that, I’m jumping through hoops making them visible/not-visible, editable/not-editable, and on the admin page/user pref page. All of it taking extra time, but not providing any real controls because it’s all editable at some point.
the tl;dr summary:
Please put the User’s full name field, and all custom fields on the admin’s view of each user, all in an editable state.
Thank you
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### Author:  [@riking](https://meta.discourse.org/u/riking)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/adding-and-editing-user-custom-fields/26498/8 "2015-03-20T19:10:26Z")
Note that there can be other custom fields added by plugins, and they might have a strict structure, which I think is why this hasn’t been done. For the “private notes on a user” plugin, it wouldn’t exactly do to expose your ‘private’ notes to the moderators when they went to a user’s page.
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### Author:  [@eviltrout](https://meta.discourse.org/u/eviltrout)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 7:23pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/adding-and-editing-user-custom-fields/26498/9 "2015-03-20T19:23:39Z")
> [@watchmanmonitor](#):
>
> Unless they are not “editable later”.
Aha, that is indeed a problem. I’ve fixed it in this commit:
[https://github.com/discourse/discourse/commit/6d38005a2294a23e1754573f2ce3089fb9f12077](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/commit/6d38005a2294a23e1754573f2ce3089fb9f12077)
Staff can now edit user fields even if the fields are uneditable.
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/adding-and-editing-user-custom-fields/26498/10 "2015-03-20T19:52:18Z")