Adding phone fields

I'd like to add a phone field to the signup process, but amember recommends using a common field instead of mysql.

If I choose common field, how does this effect the mysql dbase? Is it part of the mysql at this point or is it stored somewhere else in a different file format? Will it then be part of the backup process? Can it be reloaded later if a restore is needed? Will it be part of the rebuild function?

Any help is greatly appreciated

How to backup Common Field files

Are these common field files backed up along with the regular mysql backups or is there another file that should be downloaded as the backup?

The "members" table is in your mysql database and "data" is a field in "members" so when you back up your database, you will see this info in the mysql dump.

In short... it will be backed up when you back up your database.

AmemberPro user

I've also been very curious about this... What are the pros/cons of using either? Are common fields not searchable? I'm assuming there's got to be some trade-off, or why the choice?

Forgive me if this question is pretty basic, but all of the documentation is written with the assumption that I know the difference, and therefore, there's no explanation.

Thanks in advance!

The common field that Alex spoke of is the information saved in serialized from means that 1 field (common) can carry more user details using a prefix of the information that follows ie: phone: 12333 32222 mobile:849389333

This is easier to transport over to a third party database rather than lots of separate SQL fields

I think I nearly got the facts rights

Amember user