Membership Widget - Custom Attributes – Vega

Overview

Custom Attributes allow you to add additional fields to your Membership Widget to collect information from your members.

Custom Attributes can be used to collect information such as:

Why someone is becoming a member
How they heard about your organisation
Whether they would like to receive further correspondence
Other information specific to your organisation

The information collected through Custom Attributes is recorded against the member's contact in Vega.

Please note: The Attributes and Attribute Types you want to use must be created in Vega before they can be added to your Membership Widget.

Open the Membership Widget

Go to Admin > Widget Configuration.
Find the membership widget you want to edit.

Select Edit next to the widget name.

Please note: If you are creating a new widget, select Create Membership Widget. We recommend starting with the Form Setup article in the Membership Widget article series for guidance on setting up a new widget.

Select Custom Attributes from the menu on the left.

Add a Custom Attribute

Each Custom Attribute field connects to either an Attribute or an Attribute Type.

The option you select determines what information is displayed on the membership form and how the information is saved to the member's contact.

Tip: Use clear, short section headings to help donors understand why you are asking for additional information.

You can use the Position and Row settings for your Custom Attributes to control where the fields appear within the relevant section.

Attribute Type

Selecting an Attribute Type makes all attributes within that type available as options.

For example, if you have an attribute type called How Did You Hear About Us?, containing:

Facebook
Google
Friend or family
Event
Other

These attributes will be displayed as options on the Membership Widget.

Individual Attribute

Selecting an individual Attribute displays that attribute as a single field.

This can be useful when you want to ask a specific question or capture a single piece of information.

An example could be:

Attribute: Member Communications
Option Type: Checkbox

☐ Yes, I'd like to receive member updates!

Option Type	Use with	How it works
Drop-down	Attribute Type	Displays the attributes as a drop-down list. The member can select one option.
Checkbox	Attribute or Attribute Type	Allows the member to select multiple options. Selected attributes are added to the contact.
Radio Buttons	Attribute Type	Displays the attributes as radio buttons. The member can select one option.
Text Box	Attribute or Attribute Type	Displays a text field for the member to enter information. The attribute is added to the contact and the entered information is saved as the attribute comment.
Text Area	Attribute or Attribute Type	Displays a larger text field for longer responses. The attribute is added to the contact and the entered information is saved as the attribute comment.
Date	Attribute or Attribute Type	Displays a date selector. The selected date is saved as the attribute value.
Yes/No	Attribute or Attribute Type	Allows the member to select Yes or No. The selection is saved as the attribute value.

Using an Attribute Type with Text Box or Text Area

When an Attribute Type is used with Text Box or Text Area, a separate field is displayed for each attribute within the type.

The information entered into each field is saved as the attribute comment.

Using an Attribute Type with Date

When an Attribute Type is used with Date, a date selector is displayed for each attribute within the type.

The selected date is saved as the attribute value.

The start date of the attribute will be the date the attribute is added to the contact.

Using an Attribute Type with Yes/No

When an Attribute Type is used with Yes/No, a Yes/No drop-down is displayed for each attribute within the type.

The selected value is saved as the attribute value.

This setting allows you to use the same set of attributes as the answer options for multiple attributes.

In other words:

The Attribute or Attribute Type you selected first determines what the contact is answering for.
Select Attribute Type for Dropdown determines the options the contact can choose from (attribute value).

This is particularly useful when you want to ask the same type of question for several different attributes, such as availability, ratings or preferences.

Example: Volunteer Availability

Suppose you have an Attribute Type called:

Please select the days you would like to volunteer

with the following attributes:

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday

What time are you available?

with the attributes:

Morning
Afternoon
Evening

In the Custom Attribute setup:

Attribute Type: Please select the days you would like to volunteer
Option Type: Drop-down
Select Attribute Type for Dropdown: What time are you available?

The Membership Widget will then display a drop-down for each day:

This allows the donor to select a different availability time for each day.

Why use this setting?

This is useful when you want to apply the same answer options to multiple attributes without having to create the same options individually for each attribute.

For example, you could use this functionality for:

Volunteer availability – Morning / Afternoon / Evening
Event feedback – Very Poor / Poor / Average / Good / Excellent
Programme ratings – 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Preference levels – Low / Medium / High

Tip: Think of the first Attribute Type as the questions and the Select Attribute Type for Dropdown as the answers. The same set of answers will then be available for each question.

Using the same setting for ratings

This functionality is also useful for creating consistent rating questions.

For example, you could create an Attribute Type called Rating with:

1 – Very Poor
2 – Poor
3 – Average
4 – Good
5 – Excellent

You can then use this Attribute Type as the Select Attribute Type for Dropdown for multiple attributes, such as:

How would you rate our service?
How would you rate our communication?
How would you rate your overall experience?

Each question will use the same five rating options, making the responses consistent and easier to compare.

Custom Attribute Position

After selecting the attribute and option type, choose where the field should appear on the Membership Widget.

Our next step in the configuration is to decide on the position of our field in the donation form:

Custom Attribute Formatting

You can customise the size and layout of your custom attribute fields using the formatting options.

The Membership Widget uses a 12-column layout.

For example:

12 = full width
6 = half width
4 = one-third width
3 = one-quarter width
2 = one-sixth width

Additional Custom Attribute Settings

The final settings allow you to add additional functionality to your custom attribute.

Next steps

Once you've configured your Custom Attributes, continue with the next section of the Membership Widget setup:

Discounts – Configure membership discounts that can be offered through the widget.

> Next, Discounts

“Some content in this article may have been developed with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by staff.”

Custom Attribute Position	Explanation
	Displays the custom attribute between the member's Name and Email fields.
	Displays the custom attribute after the Email field within the Personal Information section.
	This will display the attribute at the bottom of the Personal Information section:
	Displays the custom attribute below the Submit button.
	Displays the custom attribute on the Thank You page after the membership form has been submitted. If no Thank You page has been configured, the custom attribute information will be displayed using the standard confirmation message.
	The collation setting determines the order of custom attributes within the same section. The lowest number is displayed first. Tip: If you have several custom attributes in the same section, use the Position setting to control the order in which they appear.

Custom Attribute Format	Explanation
	Row The Row setting determines the order of custom attributes within the same section of the form.
	Select/Field Width Use this setting to control the width of the custom attribute field. For example, setting the width to 6 displays the field at approximately half the width of the Membership Widget. Setting it to 2 creates a much narrower field. Note: A small width works well for fields such as Yes/No selections, but may not provide enough space for longer text responses.
	Label Width Use this setting to control the width of the label. For example, setting the label width to 6 displays the label at approximately half the width of the Membership Widget. When both the Label Width and Field Width are configured, the label and field can appear on the same row. If the combined values are greater than 12, the field will move onto the next row. Both options set at 2: This setting can only be used with: Drop-down Text Box Text Area
	Default Formatting If both the label and field width settings are left blank, the custom attribute will default to approximately half the width of the Membership Widget, with the label displayed above the field.

Custom Attribute Setting	Explanation
	Attribute Comment Enable this option to display a text box below the custom attribute. The member can enter additional information, which is saved as the attribute comment on their contact. For example, you could ask: How did you hear about our organisation? and provide an additional text box for the contact to provide more detail.
	Mandatory Enable Mandatory to require the member to complete the custom attribute before they can proceed. A *red asterisk ()** will be displayed next to the attribute label to indicate that the field is required. The member won't be able to continue until the required information has been provided.
	Active Enable Active to display the custom attribute on the Membership Widget. If the attribute isn't active, it won't be displayed to donors.

Articles in this section

Membership Widget - Custom Attributes

Overview

Open the Membership Widget

Add a Custom Attribute

Label

Section Headers

When to use a Section Header