The Profile Connect addon for the User Registration & Membership plugin allows you to create dynamic forms that automatically populate with user profile data. It also lets users update their WordPress profile information directly through your forms. This powerful addon bridges the gap between form submissions and user profile management.

Prerequisites:
- User Registration & Membership Pro installed and activated. 
- Profile Connect Addon.

Install User Registration & Membership Pro (If Not Installed) #

To use the Profile Connect Addon, ensure User Registration & Membership Pro is installed and activated. If not, purchase it from wpuserregistration.com and follow our guide on activating it with a license key. The addon is available for Plus and Professional plans.

Activate the Profile Connect Addon #

1. Navigate to User Registration & Membership > Extensions in your WordPress dashboard.
2. Locate or search for the Profile Connect Addon and toggle to Activate.

Here’s how you can use the addon:

Step 1: Accessing Profile Connect Settings #

Finding and configuring Profile Connect settings is your first step.

• Navigate to User Registration & Membership > Settings.
• Click on the Profile Connect tab to find the settings panel for the addon.

Here you’ll find the interface similar to the image below:

Step 2: Map External Plugin Fields #

Getting started with external field mapping requires selecting your target form and configuring the data source. These initial settings establish the foundation for all your field mappings.

• Select Registration Form: This dropdown lets you choose which form will receive the mapped external data.

• Select Table From Where You Want to Fetch Data of Selected Fields: This setting determines where Profile Connect will look for the data to populate your form fields. The choice between these options depends on your data structure and integration needs.

• Usermeta Table: WordPress’s standard user metadata table (wp_usermeta)
• External Table: Custom database tables from other plugins or custom applications. This means you’re connecting to custom database tables

If you select External Table, you must configure the following settings to define how Profile Connect should interpret your database structure:

• Table Name: This field specifies the exact database table that contains your external data. The table must exist in your current WordPress database and be accessible to the WordPress database user.
  • Format: Enter the complete table name (including prefix if applicable)
  • Example: wp_users (WordPress core users table)
• Column for User ID: This setting identifies which column in your external table contains the user identifier that links records to specific WordPress users. This creates the relationship between your external data and WordPress user accounts.
  • Example: ID (for wp_users table)\

Important: This column must contain valid WordPress user IDs.

• Column for Field Key: This column contains the field identifiers or metadata keys describing each record’s data type. Think of this as the “label” that tells Profile Connect what information it looks at.
  • Example:meta_key (for WordPress metadata tables).
• Column for Field Value: This column contains the data values that will populate your form fields. This is where the real information lives – the content your users will see pre-filled in their forms.
  • Example:meta_value (for WordPress metadata tables).

Step 3: Field Mapping configuration #

This is where you create connections between your external data and form fields. Each mapping you configure here creates a dynamic link that automatically populates form fields with relevant user data.

• External Field Keys: Specify the exact field keys from your database that you want to connect to your form. These must match the values stored in your “Column for Field Key.” So, manually enter the field key names.
• Form Fields: Let’s you select which form field should receive the data from your external source. This dropdown shows all available fields from your selected registration form.

You can add or remove the fields by clicking the plus (+) and minus (-) buttons. Click on the Save Changes button to implement the change.