Attributes

Section Title

Identifies the active tab and provides a brief overview of its purpose and functionality.

Action Toolbar

Select Attribute to Edit Panel

Click the Select Attribute to Edit panel header to display the list of attributes. By default, attributes are sorted by type, with each type displayed in a different color. An attribute must be selected from the list before it can be edited.

Next / Previous Attribute

Click the Next or Previous buttons to view the next or previous attribute in the list. By default, navigation buttons are located on the panel header. When the panel header is not visible Next, Previous, and Scroll to Top buttons will be displayed at the lower right corner of the screen, as illustrated below:

Attribute Id

Each attribute is assigned a unique id. The attribute id may be needed in certain circumstances, such as assigning the attribute to a multi-value attribute when the multi-value attribute's value type is set to id.

Attribute Name

The attribute name is used to uniquely identify each attribute.

Enable Checkbox

Check or uncheck to enable or unenable the selected attribute. Unenabled attributes will be unavailable for assignment to members and will not appear in the interactive.

NOTE: Check the Show Filter Options checkbox and select the Show Unenabled Attributes option to display unenabled attributes in the list. Unenabled attributes will be grayed out but can be edited. Only unenabled attributes can be permanently deleted.

Attribute Types

There are several attribute types, each with its own properties and options, including:

■ Fixed Value

A Fixed Value attribute is an attribute whose value is fixed, such as the name of a specific sport like Volleyball. The value of the attribute is its name. The value type of fixed value attributes is always text.

■ Name/Value Pair:

A Name/Value Pair attribute is an attribute whose value can be changed, such as a person's First Name which can be assigned a value such as John.

The value of a name/value pair attribute must be assigned a value type. The value type is set as text by default, but can also be defined as a number, year, date, or time. The value type will affect how the attribute can be used in menus and formulas. For example, in order for an attribute to be used to search for members by year, it must be set to the value type year or date.

When a number or date value type is selected the display format can be configured as well. Numbers can be displayed with a set number of decimal places, and dates can be displayed in one of several formats ranging from just the year (1970) to a fully written out format (Thursday, January 1, 1970).  

■ Multi-Value:

A Multi-Value attribute is similar to a name/value pair attribute except it can contain multiple values. For example, an Employee of the Month attribute can include several dates. Each value must be separated by a comma.

A multi-value attribute must be assigned a value type. The value type is set to year by default, but can also be set to date or attribute id. When a multi-value attribute is assigned to a menu a member will be included in the search results for each matching value assigned to them. For example, in the case of an Employee of the Month attribute a member will be listed under all of the months that are assigned to them.

When a multi-value attribute is displayed within written content each of it's values will be separated by a comma, with the last value having the word 'and' prepended. For example, if the values '1992,1993,1994' are entered for the attribute's value they will be displayed as '1992, 1993 and 1994' in the content.

When the date value type is selected the display format can be configured as well. Dates can be displayed in one of several formats ranging from just the year (1970) to a fully written out format (Thursday, January 1, 1970).  

■ List:

A List attribute is an attribute that contains several fixed value attributes, but whose assigned value is restricted to one only of them. For example, a member's Primary Sport can be restricted to one of several sports such as Volleyball, Field Hockey, or Basketball. Attributes included in a list attribute can be sorted alphabetically or manually.  See Sorting Nested Attributes for more information on sorting nested attributes.

■ Group:

A Group attribute is an attribute that contains other attributes. For example, a Name attribute, can include other attributes such as First Name, Middle Name, and Last Name. Only attributes with the type function, list, name/value pair or fixed value can be included in a group attribute. Attributes included in a group attribute can be sorted alphabetically or manually.  See Sorting Nested Attributes for more information on sorting nested attributes.

■ Function:

A Function attribute is a special type of attribute whose value can be dynamically generated based on the value of other attributes or data. There are two types of functions, Age and Formula:

Age
Age is used to calculate the time between a start date and an end date. The display format of the elapsed time can be rendered in one of several formats, selected from the Display Format options menu during the creation of the attribute. When a display option includes multiple measurements such as Years, Months, and Days, any measurement with a value of zero (0) is dropped. For example, if the elapsed time is 0 years, 3 months, 7 days, it will be displayed as 3 Months, 7 Days. If all calculated measurements are zero, the smallest measurement will still be displayed: for example in the case of 0 years, 0 months, 0 days, 0 Days will be displayed.

The start date and end date for each member are entered on the Edit Attribute Values panel on the Members tab. When left blank, the start date is set to the date the attribute was assigned to the member, and the end date will change daily to always represent the current date. Leaving the end date blank allows for dynamic calculations of age as time passes. Dates must be entered in the format mm-dd-yyyy. For example, January 21, 2000 must be entered as 01-21-2000. 

Formula
Formulas can be used to calculate dynamic data such as a member's Batting Average. The values used to calculate formulas are entered individually for each member on the Edit Attribute Values panel on the Members tab. Shortcodes can be used in formulas, as well as numbers, text (strings), and math operators (+, -, *, /, =). For example, to create an attribute used to calculate a member's Batting Average, first create two Name/Value Pair attributes for Hits and for At Bats, set their value type to number, and enable shortcodes for both under Advanced Options, setting their shortcode identifiers to hits and at-bats, respectively. Next, create a new Function attribute named Batting Average, set the function type to Formula, and enter the formula ([hits] / [at-bats] ) * 100 in the Formula field. When assigning the attribute to a member on the Members tab, all of the attributes used in the formula must also be assigned to the member.

■ Menu:

A Menu attribute is a special type of attribute used to build custom defined menus that expand on the built-in button target types. Menus are used to filter down a list of members based on specific criteria. For example, a Men's Sports menu can be created to locate male members by sport. See the Building Custom Menus topic for more information on the menu attribute.

Select Attributes to Include Panel

Open the Select Attributes to Include panel to select attributes to be included in a group or list attribute.

NOTE: When an attribute is already checked, clicking it will display a context menu with options to Add/Duplicate an instance of the attribute, or to Remove all instances of the attribute.

Sort Nested Items Select Menu

Select whether to sort nested attributes alphabetically or manually. When manual sorting is selected, each nested attribute will be displayed and can be dragged to a new position. Attributes at the top of the list are rendered first in the interactive, from left to right.

Sort Handle

Hold and drag an attribute's sorting handle to move it to a new location.

Duplicate Attribute

Click to add an additional instance of the attribute to the group.

Remove Attribute

Click to remove the attribute from the group. To remove all instances of the attribute from the group, open the Select Attributes to Include panel, click the attribute and select Remove all instances from the context menu.

Enable Checkbox

Check or uncheck to enable or unenable the selected attribute. Unenabled attributes will be unavailable for assignment to members and will not appear in the interactive.

NOTE: Check the Show Filter Options checkbox and select the Show Unenabled Attributes option to display unenabled attributes in the list. Unenabled attributes will be grayed out but can be edited.

Advanced Options Panel

Advanced options will vary depending on the attribute type. Options include:

Enable Shortcode
Pertains to Function, Group, List, Name/Value Pair, Multi-Value, and Fixed Value attributes

Shortcodes are used to automatically insert attribute values into content. For example, in the sentence "[name] was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame in [year-of-induction]" the shortcodes [name] and [year-of-induction] will be replaced with the member's name and year of induction, respectively. Using shortcodes can be more accurate and efficient if global changes need to be made to a value when it has been entered in several different places.

When the Shortcode checkbox is checked a text field with the shortcode identifier will be displayed. Enter a desired identifier for the shortcode or accept the default value. Do not use brackets '[ ]' in the shortcode identifier, the brackets are only used when entering a shortcode into content. When adding a shortcode to content, it must be surrounded by brackets, there must be no space between the brackets and the identifier, and the identifier must be an exact match including upper and lower case letters and spaces. Shortcodes will only be rendered if the shortcode checkbox for the specific attribute is checked.

When using the built-in text editor, shortcodes can be entered using the Insert Shortcode tool.

NOTE: Shortcodes add processing overhead and should only be enabled if needed.

Force Rendering When Empty
Pertains to Function, Group, List, Name/Value Pair, and Fixed Value attributes

When checked, the attribute will be rendered even if its value is empty. This feature may be of use when an attribute uses a Prefix or Suffix that should be rendered even when the value of the attribute itself is empty. 

Do Not Render When Next Item is Empty
Pertains to Function, List, Name/Value Pair, and Fixed Value attributes when used within a Group

Pertains only when the attribute is used in a group. When checked, the attribute will only be rendered if the next attribute in the group has a value. 

Do Not Render When Last
Pertains to Function, List, Name/Value Pair, and Fixed Value attributes when used within a Group

Pertains only when the attribute is used in a group. When checked, the attribute will only be rendered if one or more of the following attributes in the group has a value.

Do Not Render When Previous Item is Empty
Pertains to Function, List, Name/Value Pair, and Fixed Value attributes when used within a Group

Pertains only when the attribute is used in a group. When checked, the attribute will only be rendered if the preceding attribute in the group has a value.

Do Not Render When First
Pertains to Function, List, Name/Value Pair, and Fixed Value attributes when used within a Group

Pertains only when the attribute is used in a group. When checked, the attribute will only be rendered if one or more of the preceding attributes in the group has a value.

Remove Leading Space
Pertains to Function, List, Name/Value Pair, and Fixed Value attributes when used within a Group

Pertains only when the attribute is used in a group. When checked, the space between the attribute and the preceding attribute will be removed. This is useful, for example, when the attribute is a punctuation mark such as a comma.

Remove Trailing Space
Pertains to Function, List, Name/Value Pair, and Fixed Value attributes when used within a Group

Pertains only when the attribute is used in a group. When checked, the space between the attribute and the attribute that follows will be removed. This is useful, for example, when the attribute is a punctuation mark such as an opening quotation mark.

Select Icon
Pertains to attributes used in Menus

Associates an icon with an attribute when it is used as a part of a menu. An icon can only be assigned to an attribute after the attribute has been saved. A different icon can be assigned to the attribute for each menu. To assign an icon to an attribute:

1.Select a menu from the Select Icon menu. To assign the same icon to all menus, leave the selection set to "Select Menu"

2.Click the image    icon

3.Select or upload an image to be used as the attribute's icon (changes are saved immediately)

NOTE: Custom icons must be created at a specific size and saved in a specific format. Download the Photoshop (.psd) Icon Template from the Resources tab under My Account for assistance with proper sizing and placement of an image within the alloted space. Uploaded custom icons will be added below the list of built-in icons, under a dotted line.

Attribute Type

Additional Options

Additional options will vary depending on the assigned attribute type: