Tags and Segments

This article covers how to organize, label, and segment people in your TimelyChurch directory. It also answers a question we hear a lot: does TimelyChurch support person-level tags?

Are There Tags on a Person?

Person-level tags are not currently supported. You will see a "Tags" feature elsewhere in TimelyChurch (notably on Groups). Small groups, classes, and teams can be tagged for filtering, but the person record itself does not have a tag field.

If you want to attach freeform labels to individuals, the closest equivalent in TimelyChurch is one of the three approaches below.

Three Ways to Segment People Without Tags

1. Custom Fields (Most Flexible)

Custom fields are the right answer 90% of the time. Create a field once (with the type, validation, and visibility you need) and every person record gains a place to store that information. Custom fields automatically become filter options on the People page, so you can answer questions like "show me everyone in the Worship ministry" or "show me everyone with the Mercy spiritual gift."

Recommended custom-field types for tagging-style use cases:

Once a custom field exists, it shows up automatically under Custom Field Filters in the Filters panel on the People page. Picking a value and clicking Apply narrows the directory to just those people. See Custom Fields for full setup details.

2. Membership Status

If your "tag" is really a stage in someone's church relationship, use Membership Status instead of a custom field. The nine built-in statuses (Member, Regular Attender, Visitor, Participant, In Progress, No Longer Member, Inactive, Former, Campaign Donor) cover most lifecycle stages.

Members, Visitors, and Regular Attendees each have a one-click entry under Quick Filters in the People page's Views dropdown, and Membership Status is the first option in the Filters panel, so segments built on it are easy to access. See Person Profile Overview for what each status means.

3. Saved Lists

Saved Lists let you save a combination of filters ("Members without email," or "Kids 5–12," for example) under a name and reopen it in one click. A list stores the filters, not a fixed set of people, so it stays current on its own: it re-runs against your live directory every time you open it, and shows a live count. This is the fastest way to keep a segment you check often. See Saved Lists (Smart Lists) for the full guide.

Group Tags vs. Person Tags

TimelyChurch does support tags on groups (small groups, classes, and teams). Group tags organize the Group directory and are unrelated to person-level segmentation. If you came here looking for that feature, see the Groups section of the knowledge base.

Workflow Examples

"Find everyone in our Hospitality ministry"

1. Create a Multi-Select custom field called Ministry Interests with options like Worship, Hospitality, Tech, etc.
2. As you talk with people about serving, fill in the field.
3. From the People page, open Filters, expand Custom Field Filters, select Ministry Interests = Hospitality, and click Apply.
4. Click Save as List so it is one click away next time.

"Find everyone who is part-way through the membership class"

1. Create a Dropdown custom field called Membership Class with the options Signed Up, In Progress, and Completed.
2. Update the field as people move through the class.
3. Filter People by Membership Class = In Progress. (A filter only finds people who have a value in the field, so set a value for everyone you want to track.)

"Find everyone who showed up to the campaign but is not yet a member"

1. Set their Membership Status to Campaign Donor when you add them.
2. Filter the People page by Membership Status = Campaign Donor.
3. Use this list to plan a follow-up cycle.

Related Articles

• Custom Fields
• Person Profile Overview
• Managing Your People Directory
• Follow-Ups

Verified against TimelyChurch 8.205.308 on 2026-10-23.