In addition to the standard properties available within Entra ID, the need often arises to enrich the user profile data with additional information. In this scenario, the 15 custom attributes within Entra may be populated and mapped into the Directory Plus webpart. Once mapped, custom attributes may be displayed within the directory and profile views, used for excluding users from the directory with Directory Exclusion Filters, or used for metadata-driven user refinement.

The first step to mapping custom attributes is noting which pieces of information are stored in which extension properties within Entra.

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For this example, the following data properties have been set. Note that in this case, the selected user has no data for Attribute 2, so that attribute is not shown in Entra. You may need to check multiple users, or refer back to the process used to import the custom attribute data into Entra, in order to be sure what data is housed in what attribute.

• Attribute 1: The user’s pronouns

• Attribute 2: A comma separated list of the user’s professional certifications

• Attribute 3: A comma separated list of the user’s languages

• Attribute 4: The user’s hire date in M/D/YYYY format

• Attribute 5: The user’s birthday in M/D/YYYY format

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Edit the Directory Plus web part, navigate to Page 2 of the web part properties pane, and click the “Configure Custom Attributes” button to open the mapping wizard.

For each of the applicable attributes, select the data type, and provide a title for the field. Depending on the data type chosen, additional configuration fields may be displayed.

NOTE: Titles may not be the same as any of the default Entra ID properties.

NOTE: For dates, it is critical that the data stored in the Entra extension attribute is consistently formatted, and that the input format entered in the Directory Plus mapping wizard matches that format. In this example, all data is in the M/D/YYYY format.

Data Types

• Birthday: When selected, the value of this attribute will override the native Birthday field from Entra. Birthdays receive additional processing to ensure the year is never displayed. Where possible, the native Entra ID Birthday field should be used as it is more performant than loading and parsing a custom attribute.

• Boolean: When used, Directory Plus will attempt to parse the data in the extension attribute as a boolean value. Truthy values (such as 1, true, True, TRUE) are evaluated. All other values are considered False.

• Email Address: Used to include additional email addresses in a user’s profile, such as a shared mailbox.

• Generic Date: Used to include any additional date value in a user’s profile that is not a birthday or hire date.

• Hire Date: When selected, the value of this attribute will override the native Employee Hire Date field from Entra. Where possible, the native Entra ID Employee Hire Date field should be used as it is more performant than loading and parsing a custom attribute.

• List: Used to include list data, such as professional certifications or languages in the employee profile. The delimiter of the data must be set, and is commonly either the comma (,) or pipe (|) character.

• Phone Number: Used to include additional phone numbers in the user’s profile, such as a department or call center lines.

• Text: Used to include any additional plain text in the user’s profile.

• Unused: Any attribute that Directory Plus should ignore should be set to “unused”.