Steven Zahm@ Nick S
re: The user also have access to the rich text editor’s menu like File, Edit, Insert, etc. Is there a way to block these features of the rich text editor for these two fields?
Take a look at the demo for the Form extension, it does not have a menu bar or the File, Edit, Insert, menu items. The Form extension and the core Connections plugin uses the core WordPress text editor with a good many of the core WordPress added items removed. The menu bar and items are not part of the core WordPress text editor, so my guess is that there is a plugin installed that is adding those to the editor. If that is the case there is probably not much I can do about other than suggesting that you deactivate the plugin that is adding the menu bar. If you can identify the plugin that is adding the menu bar, I’ll take a look to see if there is a way I can ensure it does not add itself to the text editor when used by Connections.
re: Ideally I want the user to just have a free-form text field with some basic options for styling like Bold, Italicize, bullet points, etc.
That all that should be showing, like mentioned above, it is like another plugin adding this to the editor.
re: Or would I be better off not using the built in Biography Info and Notes fields and just create a custom field?
Probably not.