Use custom syncing fields as People directory filters

The People category is a great tool for managing and sorting users across your intranet. When looking through the main navigation People directory, you can filter by Department, Location and Expertise by default. But you can add any number of other filters to this list as well, including custom syncing and profile fields. 

This will require your Salesforce System admin user, as we'll need to add a custom Salesforce syncing field in the backend (if this isn't already done). Once the Salesforce admin user creates the syncing field, the App manager can complete the rest of the steps. Here we'll walk through the steps to set up a custom field to use as a filter. 

For more information on setting up custom fields or People categories, check out the linked articles.

To get started be sure the custom field you want to add as a filter has already been created by the Salesforce system admin user. The link above on custom fields will walk you through those steps. 

Now we need to:

1. Head to Manage > Application > People > Profile fields to add our custom field as a User editable profile field. Scroll down and choose Add field. Find your Salesforce field from the. dropdown list and select. Check the box for User editable.
   
2. Click Save.
   

The key to making this field work as a filter is having the data filled in from the users. You as the Application manager can control this, but we recommend having your End users engage by filling out the profile field themselves. To do so:

1. Click your user profile icon and head to Profile & settings > Edit profile & settings. Scroll down to Additional details and find your custom field. Make the appropriate selections as shown below. Then select Update. 
   

   Note:

   The field does not have to be a dropdown picklist. The custom field can be any type when created in Salesforce.

Now we need to:

1. Head to Manage > Application > People > User syncing to add our field as a syncing field.
2. Add your custom field to the syncing menu in Manage > Application > People > User syncing.
   
3. Now type in the field exactly how the API name of it is labeled in Salesforce. For example, in the image below, the custom field is Favorite music genre, but the API name is Favorite_music_genre__c. That is what you'll need to enter in the Field to sync field back in Simpplr.
   
4. Enter the singular and plural versions of your field. Then ensure the checkbox is checked for Display filter on people listing for this field. Click Add.
   
5. From the main menu, click Save.
6. Scroll up to the Setup tab and click. Then click Schedulers. Find the SchedulerBatchInsertPeopleRecords, click the arrow and choose Run now. 
7. After a few minutes, the People filter will be available.
8. Head to the People tab on the main navigation. Click Filters > Add another and select your custom field. As long as data has been filled out by your users, you should see the applicable selection(s) to choose from.