TimelyChurch — Knowledge base — Profile Sync Settings

Profile Sync Settings

TimelyChurch Forms includes a unique Profile Sync feature that automatically updates Person records in your People database when form submissions contain mapped fields. This article explains the three sync modes and the manual sync option.

What is Profile Sync?

When you map form fields to Person profile fields, the data submitted through your form can be written to the corresponding Person record. Profile Sync controls when this write happens.

Configuring Sync Mode

To configure the sync mode for a form:

Open the form in the editor.
Click the Settings tab.
Scroll to the Profile Sync Mode section.
Select one of the three options described below.
Click Save Settings.

For developers / API users: This setting is stored in the form's settings JSON column under the key person_sync_mode. Valid values are on_submit (the default if unset), on_approve, and disabled. The model exposes it as the person_sync_mode accessor on App\Models\Form.

Sync Mode Options

On Submit (Default)

When it syncs: Immediately when the form is submitted.

This is the default mode. As soon as a person submits the form, any mapped fields are synced to their Person profile right away. This is ideal for forms where you trust the data and want instant updates.

Best for:

Contact forms and visitor cards
Profile update forms for existing members
Simple registration forms

How it works:

Person submits the form.
TimelyChurch identifies or creates the Person record.
Mapped field values are written to the Person record immediately.
The submission is saved with status "Pending" (can still be reviewed).

Note: Even though the data syncs immediately, the submission still enters the approval queue with "Pending" status. You can still review and reject submissions -- but the profile data will already have been updated.

On Approval

When it syncs: Only after an admin approves the submission.

In this mode, no data is written to the Person profile until an administrator explicitly approves the submission. This gives you a chance to review the data before it touches your member records.

Best for:

Volunteer applications (review before adding to records)
Forms where data accuracy is critical
Registration forms that require vetting

How it works:

Person submits the form.
TimelyChurch identifies or creates the Person record.
Mapped field values are not synced yet.
An admin reviews the submission and clicks Approve.
Upon approval, mapped field values are synced to the Person record.
The admin sees a confirmation message showing how many fields were synced.

Tip: If you reject a submission, no data is ever synced to the Person profile.

Disabled

When it syncs: Never (automatic sync is turned off).

In this mode, form submissions are collected and stored, but mapped fields are never automatically written to Person profiles. You can still sync data manually on a per-submission basis.

Best for:

Survey forms where responses are for analysis only
Forms collecting data that should not update profiles
Situations where you want full manual control

Manual Sync Button

Regardless of the sync mode setting, administrators can always manually trigger a sync from any individual submission:

Go to the submission detail page.
If the submission has a linked Person and has mapped fields, a Sync to Profile button is available.
Click Sync to Profile to push the mapped data to the Person record.
A confirmation message shows how many fields were synced.

If the profile is already up to date (all mapped fields already have the same values), you will see a message: "No new fields to sync -- profile is already up to date."

Note: The manual sync button respects the same safety rules as automatic sync: identity fields (first name, last name, email) are never overwritten on existing records, and by default only empty fields are filled in.

Sync Safety Rules

Regardless of the sync mode, the following safety rules always apply:

Rule	Description
Identity protection	`first_name`, `last_name`, and `email` are never overwritten on existing Person records. They are only set when creating a new Person.
Fill-only mode	By default, sync only fills in fields that are currently empty on the Person record. Existing values are not overwritten.
Church isolation	Sync verifies that the submission and Person record belong to the same church. Cross-church syncing is blocked.
Data sanitization	All synced values are sanitized: HTML tags are stripped, emails and dates are validated, and string lengths are capped at 255 characters.
Sync tracking	Each submission records a `person_synced_at` timestamp so you can see when data was last synced.

Checking Sync Status

On the submission detail page, you can see:

Whether the submission is linked to a Person record
Whether a new Person was created from this submission
The sync timestamp (if synced)
The number of fields that were updated during the last sync

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What happens if someone submits a form but is not logged in and does not provide an email? A: If the system cannot identify or create a Person record (no email and no name provided), the submission is saved without a linked Person. No sync occurs, but the data is still available in the submission.

Q: Can I change the sync mode after submissions have already been collected? A: Yes. Changing the sync mode only affects future submissions and future approval actions. Existing submissions that have already been synced are not affected.

Q: What if I approve a submission that was already synced on submit? A: If the submission was already synced (e.g., the sync mode was previously "On Submit"), the approval will not re-sync. The system checks whether the submission has already been synced and skips duplicate syncs.