Linking People to User Accounts

People and user accounts are separate records in UnionConnect. People are directory entries (names, contact info, bios) that appear in your local’s directories. Users are app accounts that members use to log in.

You can link a person to a user account to connect the two. When linked, the person entry shows which user account it belongs to, and the user account shows which person entry it’s connected to.

Why Link People and Users?

Linking keeps contact information consistent. When sync is enabled, changes to a user’s name, email, or phone automatically update the linked person entry. This means you don’t have to manually update directory listings when members change their contact details.

How to Tell If a Person Is Linked

On the People page, a linked person shows a “User Account” line with the linked user’s name and a green synced badge (if sync is enabled).

On the Users and Devices page, a linked user shows a Directory entry line with the linked person’s name in the row’s name cell.

Linking from the People Page

Link a Person to a User Account

1. Go to People in the sidebar.
2. Find the person you want to link.
3. Click the dropdown arrow next to Edit and select Link to User Account.

4. A modal appears listing all user accounts. Use the search box to find the right user by name or email.
5. Select the user by clicking their radio button.

6. At the bottom, the “Automatically update this person’s name, email, and phone when the user updates their account” checkbox controls sync. It is checked by default.
7. Click Save to create the link.

Unlink a Person from a User Account

1. Find the linked person on the People page.
2. Click the dropdown arrow next to Edit and select Unlink User Account.

The person and user are now separate records again. Sync is automatically disabled.

Linking from the Users Page

Link or Create a Person Entry for a User

If a user doesn’t yet have a matching person entry, you can either link them to an existing entry or create a new one — both flow through the same modal.

1. Go to Users and Devices in the sidebar.
2. Find the user who needs a person entry (use the search box if needed).
3. Click the dropdown arrow ▾ next to the green Edit button on their row and select Link person.

4. A modal appears. If existing people entries match the user’s name or email, they are shown at the top with Link buttons so you can connect to an existing entry instead of creating a duplicate.

5. Choose one of three options:
   • Link — Connect the user to an existing person entry that matches.
   • Search for a different person — Browse the full list of people to find and link a specific entry.
   • Create new entry — Create a brand new person entry, pre-filled with the user’s name, email, and phone.
6. The sync checkbox at the bottom controls whether future user updates automatically flow to the person entry.

Search and Link an Existing Person

If you click Search for a different person from the Link Person modal, or if you want to browse available people entries:

Search by name or email, select a person with the radio button, then confirm to create the link.

Unlink a Person from a User

1. Find the linked user on the Users and Devices page. Linked users show a Directory entry line in the row’s name cell.
2. Click the dropdown arrow ▾ next to the green Edit button and select Unlink person.

How Sync Works

When sync is enabled (the checkbox is checked during linking), the following fields are automatically copied from the user account to the person entry whenever the user updates their account:

• First name
• Last name
• Email
• Phone

Sync is one-way only: changes flow from the user account to the person entry, not the other way around. Editing a person’s contact info directly will not update the linked user account.

To stop syncing, unlink the person from the user. Relinking later will re-enable sync if the checkbox is checked.

Smart Matching

When you use Link person from the Users page, UnionConnect automatically searches for existing people entries that might match the user. It checks:

1. Email — Exact match (case-insensitive)
2. Name — First and last name both match (case-insensitive)

Email matches are shown first, followed by name matches. This helps prevent duplicate person entries when a matching record already exists.