Can admins create user fields that are only visible/editable in the admin panel?

[ToddZ]

@copymonopoly

I noticed a setting in the admin called “Staff user custom fields”. I’m not entirely sure what it’s for or how to use it.

I wasn’t sure about this either but found a couple of clues…

It makes more sense next to the companion setting Public user custom fields:

And they have to do with who can access which records via the API:

Using the API to retrive the value of a custom user field from a user

If you whitelist a user custom field in public user custom fields site setting then you can get it in /u/USERNAME.json API endpoint. Else if you whitelist in staff user custom fields setting then you can get it in the same API endpoint if you used a staff user’s / global api key.

Interestingly, the fields above don’t seem to select from available user custom fields, but take any text input – so you’d have to enter the field names precisely read this doc carefully.