Skip to main content
All CollectionsMember ManagementThe Member Record
Updating a Person's Email Address: Professional Contact Info vs User Account
Updating a Person's Email Address: Professional Contact Info vs User Account

Learn the difference between a person's contact email address and their user account email, and how to update both.

Melanie Dupont avatar
Written by Melanie Dupont
Updated over a week ago

Changing a person's email address on their record in Novi is a common update, so it is important to know whether they only want to change their professional contact email address or if their user account (login) should also be updated. This article explains the difference between the two and where they're located.


Update the Contact Email Address

From the Backend (Association Admin)

The email address on the Details tab of the person's record, in the Professional Contact section, is their contact email. 

This is the email address that will be used for communications, such as:

  • Dues Invoices

  • Confirmations / Notifications

  • MailChimp & Constant Contact campaigns

Updating the Contact Email in the Member Compass

On the frontend, when a member is logged in to the site, they are able to update their professional contact information. 

To make edits from the Member Compass, click the Profile button on the left.

  • Please Note: Changes to their contact email address will NOT change their user account email. That can be updated in the Login & Password tab.


Updating the User Account Email Address

The Account Email/Login Email is the individual's username for logging in to the website.

Users have the option to update their own login email and password within the Member Compass by selecting the Login & Password tab.

An Association Admin can also view the email address on the Settings tab of the person's profile, in the Account Details section.

This may or may not be the same as their professional contact email address. Therefore, when an admin changes the contact email address, they should consider whether or not their user account may also need to be updated. 


Scenarios & Examples

In any situation where the user account email is changed, don't forget to notify the member that their username has been updated and they should look for a password reset email.

The member changed their name:
If a member contacts the admin with a new email address because their name changed (e.g. they got married and have a new last name), the admin should review their user account to see if that email address may need to be updated as well. 

The member has a new employer:
If a member changes companies and contacts the admin with their new business email address, the admin should review their user account email as well. 

  • In this case, if the user account is tied to their previous job's email, they would not be able to reset their password because that email address no longer works. Therefore, the admin should update the contact email address and the user account email address.

  • However, if the user account is tied to a personal email, the member may want to keep their user account email address as is.

The member is using a personal email address to login:
If a member is updating their professional email address (on the Details tab) but they're using a personal email for their user account login (on the Settings tab), the admin should ask if they want to change both. When it comes to personal emails, some people continue to use the "old" email address as their login, even after their name changes.

Notification For Differing Contact Email/Login Email 

When a professional or personal contact email address that was previously matching the user's account email is changed to something else, a notification will appear. 

For Example: Let's say that John Smith has a professional contact email AND an account/login email of johnsmith@company.com. If his professional contact email is changed to a different email address, the message will appear. 

However, if his contact email was johnsmith@company.com, his login email was johnsmith123456789@gmail.com, and the professional contact email is changed, the message would NOT appear.

If you (an admin) are updating the contact email, you'll see...

Note: This is just a prompt for transparency. Novi will not automatically change the emails to match. To update the Account Email, additional steps must be taken:

  • If an admin sees this message, they should ask the member if they want to change their Account Email (login) to match their new contact email address. If yes, then the admin should make the update on the Settings tab of the member record.

Keep in mind, some of your users may log in to the site using Social logins or with a personal email address for other reasons. This is totally fine. The contact emails and login emails don't need to match and you don't necessarily need to change their login email unless it makes sense to (ex: the user left the old company the login email relates to) or the user requests it.


Related Articles

Did this answer your question?