Adding custom fields to a VS2012 MVC4 SimpleMembership system
Add custom columns/fields to your MVC4 SimpleMembership “UserProfile” table MVC 4 in Visual Studio 2012 introduces the new SimpleMembership Provider as its default web-based authentication system. While this system is much simpler than the earlier ASPNETDB system that it replaces, there definitely are a few new and neat tricks to be learnt. One of them is: How do I add custom fields to my MVC 4 registration system? It can be done in just 4 simple steps: 1. Start up VS 2012, and create a new MVC 4 web project. Set up your SimpleMembership registration system - for some help, please see my blog post on [setting up a SimpleMembership Provider in a VS2012 MVC4 project.](http://www.dwdmbi.com/2012/09/visual-studio-2012-uses.html) 2. Next, run the project and navigate to the login page, so that the tables get created. It is not necessary to create a user at this point. 3. Then, in your database, alter the table UserProfile, and add a column: FullName (nvarchar(50)). 4. Next, add/reference the new FullName field in the following programs in your project: In class UserProfile, in *AccountModels.cs* (to ensure the class matches the table columns): [Table(“UserProfile”)] public class UserProfile { [Key] [DatabaseGeneratedAttribute(DatabaseGeneratedOption.Identity)] public int UserId { get; set; } public string UserName { get; set; } // Customization: Field(s) added public string FullName { get; set; } } In class RegisterModel, in *AccountModels.cs* (to enable handling on the registration form): public class RegisterModel { // Existing code // … // Customization: Field(s) added [Required] [Display(Name = “Your full name”)] [DataType(DataType.Text)] public string FullName { get; set; } } In the *Register.cshtml* view (so it’ll appear on the user registration form), add a new li element with the following content: @Html.LabelFor(m => m.FullName) @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.FullName) In the [HttpPost] *Register* ActionResult, in *AccountController.cs*, modify the call to the CreateUserAndAccount method (to write the new column to your database): // Customization: Field(s) added when creating a new account WebSecurity.CreateUserAndAccount( model.UserName, model.Password, new { FullName = model.FullName } ); Now run your program and register a new user, supplying a value for the FullName field… success! The new row created in your database table contains the value supplied for the new column! **Note:** This post covers how to create a custom column. A near-future post will explain how to *access the value* of that column from within your VS 2012 MVC 4 projects. Please re-visit my blog occasionally :) *Happy coding!*