For an organization or individual profile, there are several fields for storing names.
Some include: Organization Name, First Name and Last Name, Report Name, and Sort Name. All of these are found in the Profile Edit screen.
Below is an explanation of these fields:
- Organization Name: This is used in emails sent from MC Trade that include special fields. Other places reference Organization Name as well. When adding an organization profile, the Sort Name and Report Name will default to the Organization Name.
- First Name and Last Name: These fields are found on an individual profile. The Sort Name will default to "Last Name, First Name" and the Report Name will default to the full name as "Prefix, First Name, Last Name."
- Sort Name: This is used by the database to for searching in places like the Profile Selector.
- Report Name: This is what will appear in the directory, the Member Portal, and on several screens and reports in MC Trade.
The most common case where the Sort Name and Report Name are different would be a business that has the word "The" in its name.
For example, The Golf Shop. The Sort Name might be Golf Shop so that it is alphabetized in the G section of a list, but the Report Name might be The Golf Shop, as that is technically the full title.
Another field in the Profile Edit screen is DBA, which means "Doing Business As", referring to a business that may be operating under a name that is different from its legally registered name. If used, it is common for that to also appear in parentheses for the Organization Name and Sort Name.
For example, ABC Publishing puts out a well-known publication called “Local Times.” Their Org/Sort Name might be “Local Times (ABC Publishing),” but their Report Name might be “Local Times.”
Once a Profile is created, if a change is made to their name for any reason, this will not automatically update the Sort and Report Names.