When you see a field on some records, but can't find it on others...
Custom fields are configurable and can be restricted to only certain member types or only certain record types. For example, you may want to show Birthday on an individual's record, but you wouldn't necessarily have that same field on a company's record. Or you may ask for Area of Expertise for your Supplier Members, but not your Individual Members.
Check to see if the field you're looking for has any restrictions by going to Fields > Custom Fields and clicking on the field in question to edit it.
Then, check the details of the custom field for whether there's a restriction on the member types or types of records where this field will appear.
When you know you used to have a field on records, but not anymore...
It's possible to deactivate a custom field if you no longer plan to collect data using it. Unless the field is then entirely deleted, the data previously collected using that field could still be there.
Go to Fields > Custom Fields and change the filter to look for Inactive custom fields, or click "Clear Filter/View All" to see both active and inactive fields.
Then, open the field you want to reactivate and flip the toggle to Active.
Note: Depending on when the field was deactivated, you may have an incomplete or unreliable set of data. Consider whether you want to reactivate or start fresh.
When you think a field used to have a different value on a record, but now you're not certain...
Novi has an incredibly comprehensive audit log that tracks nearly every change made within the system. This can be extremely useful when researching who, when, where, and why someone made changes to member records. The default display includes before and after values, so "old" information is never lost.
You can also use the audit log to see changes in other places, like attendee registrations.
When you thought you had a record for a member, but now you can't find them...
If a record is not coming up in your search, consider whether they may have been deactivated. To search all records, including deactivated ones, update the Filter on your record list.
Updating Active in QuickBooks Online to any will search all records including deactivated. Updating to Inactive will search only deactivated records.