Answers.Body: <p>Coleman's answer is the correct one; however, this doesn't satisfy the second part of your question, copying your data to the new field.  The easiest way to do this is via SQL.</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>First, do as Coleman suggests and create a new field of type "Notes".</li>
  <li>Next, back up your database.</li>
  <li>Find the custom group ID.  Go to <strong>Administer menu > Customize Data and Screens > Custom Fields</strong>, then click the corresponding "View and Edit Custom Fields" link. The URL will end in "&amp;gid=x", x being the custom group ID.</li>
  <li>In MySQL, run "SHOW TABLES", and find the group starting with "civicrm_value" and ending in your custom group ID.</li>
  <li>Still in MySQL,run "DESC {tablename}" to find the field names of your old and new field (should be fairly obvious).</li>
  <li>Finally, run "UPDATE {tablename} SET '{newfield}' = '{oldfield}'.</li>
  </ul>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-06-15T03:22:02.647Z
Answers.Text: I created a new notes field called "Notes", and copied the data from my old "Comments" field, worked correctly. Now, if I use the custom fields form and delete the old Comments field, will the value table column for this be deleted? I would like for it to be deleted, but I didn't drop the column in the sql editor out of caution.
Answers.UserDisplayName: P a u l
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-06-15T04:26:01.480Z
Answers.Text: Yes, it will be deleted - and a good thing you didn't drop that column!  There would still be references to it in other tables. You'd start seeing DB errors. Best only to delete custom fields through the web UI or the API.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Jon G - Megaphone Tech
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-06-14T05:10:33.987Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2015-06-14T05:10:33.987Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Jon G - Megaphone Tech
Answers.Body: <p>You can set the data type to "Note" and the input type to either "TextArea" or, if you prefer a wysiwyg editor, "RichTextArea".</p>
  
  <p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/usACN.png" alt="enter image description here"></p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-06-13T23:00:52.973Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2015-06-13T23:00:52.973Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Coleman
Body: <p>We have a set of custom fields for memberships, including one that is "Comments". I set the alphanumeric size to 1028. Problem is that the text box really should be a memo area.. the text box is just too small. I don't see Memo as one of the options for creating a custom field. Ideally it would be best to convert the existing field over to a memo control without changing the database too much. Could this be accomplished within the system or would you have to edit a template or something?</p>
  
Tags: <civimember>
Title: How to add memo type comment field for memberships?
ThreadText: # How to add memo type comment field for memberships?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2015-06-13)
  
  We have a set of custom fields for memberships, including one that is "Comments". I set the alphanumeric size to 1028. Problem is that the text box really should be a memo area.. the text box is just too small. I don't see Memo as one of the options for creating a custom field. Ideally it would be best to convert the existing field over to a memo control without changing the database too much. Could this be accomplished within the system or would you have to edit a template or something?
  
  **Tags:** civimember
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2015-06-14. Score: 2 | Accepted answer
  
  username_2's answer is the correct one; however, this doesn't satisfy the second part of your question, copying your data to the new field. The easiest way to do this is via SQL.
  
  * First, do as username_2 suggests and create a new field of type "Notes".
  * Next, back up your database.
  * Find the custom group ID. Go to **Administer menu > Customize Data and Screens > Custom Fields**, then click the corresponding "View and Edit Custom Fields" link. The URL will end in "&gid=x", x being the custom group ID.
  * In MySQL, run "SHOW TABLES", and find the group starting with "civicrm\_value" and ending in your custom group ID.
  * Still in MySQL,run "DESC {tablename}" to find the field names of your old and new field (should be fairly obvious).
  * Finally, run "UPDATE {tablename} SET '{newfield}' = '{oldfield}'.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: I created a new notes field called "Notes", and copied the data from my old "Comments" field, worked correctly. Now, if I use the custom fields form and delete the old Comments field, will the value table column for this be deleted? I would like for it to be deleted, but I didn't drop the column in the sql editor out of caution.  
  > **username_1**: Yes, it will be deleted - and a good thing you didn't drop that column!  There would still be references to it in other tables. You'd start seeing DB errors. Best only to delete custom fields through the web UI or the API.  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2015-06-13. Score: 5
  
  You can set the data type to "Note" and the input type to either "TextArea" or, if you prefer a wysiwyg editor, "RichTextArea".
  
  ![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/usACN.png)
  
  
  ---
  
  