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 (General Information tab).
Below is an explanation of these fields:
- Organization Name: This is used in emails sent from MC Trade if you include special fields. There are also other places that reference Organization Name. If you add an organization profile, the Sort Name and Report Name will default to the Organization Name.
- First Name and Last Name: This can be defined for an individual profile. The Sort Name will default to "Last, First" and the Report Name will default to the full name as "Prefix First MI Last."
- Sort Name: This is used by the database to look up sort different grids (e.g., the Profile Selector) and other screens according to this.
- 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 because that's how it should appear.
Another field in the Profile Edit screen ("General Information" tab) is DBA. When this becomes necessary, 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 just be: “Local Times.”