Extend user data in Sharetribe Web Template

This guide shows you how to expand the user data model in your marketplace with code. We’ll have a look on how the user can be configured so that the data gets added, and how it can then be presented.

Adding new attributes to the data model relies on extended data. In Sharetribe Web Template, starting from release v5.0.0 , top-level user extended data can be configured in the configUser.js  file.

As of November 2025, public and private user fields can be configured in Console. Protected data user fields still need to be configured in configUser.js.

In addition, Console allows configuring up to 100 user fields. If you have more than 100 user fields configured in Console, for example if you have a complex user type and user field setup on your marketplace, you will need to configure the rest of your user fields in configUser.js.

• src
  • config
    • configUser.js

Configuring the user data this way allows you to

• declare the attribute and its possible values
• show the attribute selection inputs in the signup page, and
• optionally show public attribute values on the user’s profile page

Add a new top-level protected data attribute

Let’s extend the default user data by adding a protected data attribute ‘arrivalInstructions’ to allow providers to share how customers can get to their service facility. Adding the attribute as protected data allows us to expose the attribute to the other party of the transaction – see these instructions for more details.

The full configuration looks like this:

{
    key: 'arrivalInstructions',
    scope: 'protected',
    schemaType: 'text',
    showConfig: {
      label: 'How do people arrive at your facility?',
    },
    saveConfig: {
      label: 'How do people arrive at your facility?',
      displayInSignUp: true,
      isRequired: true,
    },
  // If you have defined user types, you can limit
  // individual user fields to specific user types:
  userTypeConfig: {
    limitToUserTypeIds: true,
    userTypeIds: ['provider'],
  },
},

Declare the attribute and its possible values

Extended data attributes in the configUser.js file need to be defined, at minimum, by key, by scope, and by schemaType.

    key: 'arrivalInstructions',
    scope: 'protected',
    schemaType: 'text',

This attribute is defined as protected, so it will be saved into the user’s profile as protectedData.arrivalInstructions. The schemaType attribute determines the shape of the data being saved:

• enum attributes are saved as a single string value from a list of predefined options
• multi-enum attributes are saved as an array of string values from a list of predefined options
• boolean attributes are saved as true or false boolean values
• long attributes are saved as long i.e. as an 8-byte whole number
• text attributes are saved as a single text entry

If the schema type is enum or multi-enum, you will need to define an array of enumOptions for the attribute. This allows the user profile page and signup page to show the options when your user creates or edits their profile.

Configure the signup page

The ProfileSettingsPage and AuthenticationPage are configured to show specific inputs for specific schema types. This means that you only need to configure how the attribute shows up in the panel.

By default, public user fields are collected on the profile settings page and shown on the public user profile page.

All configured user fields are collected on the authentication page. If you want to hide a field from the signup page, you will need to set displayInSignup as false.

You can separately determine the label for editing the attribute and displaying the attribute, if it is displayed publicly. You can also set the attribute as required.

    saveConfig: {
      label: 'How do people arrive at your facility?',
      displayInSignUp: true,
      isRequired: true,
    },

Configure the profile page for public fields

Protected and private user fields are managed on the ManageAccountPage, and they are not displayed on other pages. For these scopes, in other words, there is no display configuration.

For public user fields, the configuration for showing top-level extended data on the profile page is straightforward. By default, all public user config attributes with a showConfig.label are shown on the user’s public profile page, but by setting displayInProfile to false on an attribute with schema type enum, long, or boolean, you can hide the attribute from the Details section on the profile page.

// showConfig: {
//   label: 'Do you offer other services besides bike rentals?',
//   displayInProfile: true,
},

And that is it! With this configuration, a custom user attribute can be added to the user’s extended data on authentication page, and public fields can be shown on the user’s profile page.