InfoQube IM - Community

Submitted by jan_rifkinson on 2009/01/22 10:54

Should user create a specialized 'contact' field or use the item field for the contact name?

Is there any advantage of using one over the other?

I'm assuming user keeps notes on mtgs etc in the html pane instead of being able to inserting sub-items that contain mtg / appt dates & mtg notes?

Or maybe the above is not the way to go.

Suggestions for an efficient contact / address book please where one can keep track of tel logs & mtg notes with the contact entry

Thank you.

Jan Rifkinson

Ridgefield CT USA

Comments

The Ecco way of doing things is to use the Item for the contact name, preferred format was Last name, first name.
Using dedicated fields for First Name and Last Name is also possible (use auto-assign rules to fill the item if desired, such as: AM:Item=LastName & ", " & FirstName)

IQ does not currently enforce any scheme. It may in the future

You may want to read 1. Introduction

Thank you Pierre. And I assume you see the user adding mtg notes & appts, etc in the html pane?

Jan Rifkinson

Ridgefield CT USA

HP Blackbird Vista Ultimate SP-1

Not really in the HTML pane, but as sub-items under the contact. Keep in mind that items/sub-items are vastly more powerful and flexible than simply content in the HTML pane. I tend to use:

HTML pane for web content clipping, text requiring formatting (letters, etc) and stuff which I'm sure I won't want to break down into smaller pieces, add values/tags to parts etc.
Items/sub-items for everything else

OK so this next question is going to sound really stupid.... but here goes:

user creates grid with the following columns:

Item | work tel | home tell | Cell Phone | etc

user creates new entry by adding item

user creates sub-item under what / where / which column?

If it's under item (which is contact name) & this is a grid, the cells are small

Are you suggesting that the other cells be hidden, that the user look to the form for tel #, etc & just use the item, i.e. contact as the parent of these notes?

What am I missing here? Sorry if I'm being particularly dense today. I think the drugs are wearing off sooner than expected.

Jan Rifkinson

Ridgefield CT USA

HP Blackbird Vista Ultimate SP-1

sub-items: what do these represent? info, tasks, appts, other contact, etc..
What to you mean by creates a sub-item under what / where / which column?
Which cells would be small? Are you adding more columns to your grid, columns specific to the sub-item? Is your HTML pane on the right, you can dock it under to get more width...
Forms are also great when you have too many columns in your grid and when grids show disparate info (contact, task, calls, etc). Each form can show relavant info

I must really be missing something basic to the structure of a contact list.

1. yes

2. if my contact view / grid is a series of columns as described: itme = name | tel | cell | address | ST | zip. so if I create a sub-item I have to put my cursor on item to create it. It therefore takes on the length of the item, i.e. 20 characters, 50 characters, 100 characters, whatever. All the columns come with the new sub-item

3. My html is on the right as I have 2 verticle groups which I find most convvenient for my work. I don't know how to cross two verticle groups w my html pane. What cells would be small? telephone, for example.

Maybe you can post an image of your contact list so I can see what you mean.

Jan Rifkinson

Ridgefield CT USA

HP Blackbird Vista Ultimate SP-1

> user creates sub-item under what / where / which column?

a sub-item is under (child of) another item - which column isnt really relevant - so if I contact you I could have, for example (in item field)

1. Rifkinson, Jan

1.1 2008-01-18 Re: Inbox Grid

1.2 2008-01-22 Re: Contacts Grid

In default Contacts grid there's the following fields - (are you using the default Contacts grid?)

Item (name) | Tel | Cell | Email | Address

> If it's under item (which is contact name) & this is a grid, the cells are small

Item Field is multi-line so you can put as much text in there as you want - you can also make it as wide as you want (read on)

I havent used it much this way but I'm experimenting putting in contact date & keyword(s) as sub-item (date in item field) and then related details (phonecall/email details) in the HTML pane (but havent really incorporated the email plugin into this "workflow")

e.g.

2008-08-21 Email ToDo etc
2008-08-26 F_Phone
2008-09-02 KeyPlan
2008-09-03 ignore
2008-09-04 N.Wall exts
2008-09-09 Keyplan

date so as it will sort proper like!

I know the default Contacts grid doesnt use full hierarchy but I'm not fully understanding that yes & made a query post about it here 1. Grid Display Modes

also Pierre posts about hierarchy in Contacts grid here www.sqlnotes.net/drupal5/index.php

BTW dont know am I particularly informal but I put name in Item Field with first name first, if I'm on first name terms with people (often I then cant remember their second names..)

[quote=jan_rifkinson]

Thank you Pierre. And I assume you see the user adding mtg notes & appts, etc in the html pane?

Jan Rifkinson

Ridgefield CT USA

HP Blackbird Vista Ultimate SP-1

[/quote]

I don't disagree with Pierre's way, but please be aware there is no "right" way.

I started off with a lot of info in the html pane, which does work very well, but am gradually moving over to Pierre's way.

There is a lot of power in this program, but you don't have to use it unless you need it.

[quote=KeithB]

I started off with a lot of info in the html pane, which does work very well, but am gradually moving over to Pierre's way.

[/quote]

I guess the thing about the html pane is it's not easy to get an overview of it (for a grid) so the easiest way is to have a good indication in the item field what's in there (in the html field)

EDIT/ - PS-

Agreed, of course there's no "right way" - me, I'm only starting to use contacts grid to keep track of things so I'm very curious how other usíng it!

I am not using the address book included w the program but, still, it shouldn't be that hard to organize an address book w tasks, etc but -- for some reason -- I'm having a helluva a time following this thread. I still don't know how to set up an address book.

Are we saying that we have a list of contacts and then link that to a grid w all the tel info, etc & then under the contacts we insert appts: notes, phone logs, etc?

Or using a form in conjunction with a list of items, i.e. contacts?

Jan Rifkinson

Ridgefield CT USA

HP Blackbird Vista Ultimate SP-1

ah,

well I would recommend starting with the "Adrsbook" grid - it used to be called "Contacts" which probably confused you even more

But really doesnt matter if you create your own too

Have a look at the default Addressbook grid (you may have to create a new file to do so) and expand all items - gives you an idea of one possible way of approaching things

Pierre (!)

whats the CallDate field in "Adrsbook" - well I understand title but why are some numbers red, others not ?

I see from conditional formatting that they are red because - "LastCallNbDays>110" which leads me to:-

"LeadNbDays" = "Nb of days since the contact lead was created" - what's a contact lead ?

[quote=Tom]

ah,

well I would recommend starting with the "Adrsbook" grid - it used to be called "Contacts" which probably confused you even more

But really doesnt matter if you create your own too

Have a look at the default Addressbook grid (you may have to create a new file to do so) and expand all items - gives you an idea of one possible way of approaching things

[/quote]

Jan, have a look at my current AdrsBook/Contacts list; maybe this will help a little. (I started with the default AdrsBook, and modified it heavily towards my needs).

(This is very much a work in progress).

I really like having first all the "A's" together, etc, then being to expand/unexpand them.

The first entry, Adams,...(there is a first name there also), has a huge html pane of info by the way. Today I added a subitem "health" to put a note about a specific health problem this friend's having. I'll add a brief comment about that in the comments field, and probably some more detailed info in the HTML pane for it. I'll likely add the "research" (Yes/No) field to this grid also, and mark it yes.

Note, to add the subitem, I can click anywhere along #2.4, under the item field, under the bday field, etc, and then add the subitem from there; I believe that was one of your questions.

As to "where one can keep track of tel logs & mtg notes with the contact entry", I could see you doing something similar. Under Adams, you could create subitems for each telephone conversation, and maybe a brief synopsis for each in the comment field, and detailed info in the html pane if you wish.

Finally, you may you'd probably want to add the CallDate field from the default AdrsBook for your purposes also, and possibly the LeadNBDays. From a quick look at the default AdrsBook grid Tom mentioned, the "Joe Clarkes" part, looks exactly like what you want, with my Comments field, and possible the html field.

I hope this helps a little more than it confuses...

Keith,

This is great. People using the same tool in different ways. I never thought of grouping by letter, I use filter-on-type, auto-search or the AlphaFilter toolbar. But your method is also an elegant way to group contacts. Plus, if the A, B, C, etc do not have AddressBook checked, then you can show/hide these using the Grid > Context Parents setting.

Thanks. I plan to put it up as a sample soon.

I also plan to split out all the various grids of the sample file as I dissect them, and post them as separate files; I think they would be much less overwhelming to beginners, to be able to explore a piece at a time, say the Addressbook (contacts), or music_library...

Creative as always. I can't wait to you see your example. Thanks for sharing this Keith.