Mick wrote:
Have a look at sugar-crm, or any other CRM application. Of course a
corporate database to manage customer info may be an overkill, but
that's what you're describing, if only at a personal rather than
corporate level.
I agree with both of these observations. I didn't get very far looking
at Sugar-CRM last time I thought about this problem... I found it rather
too cumbersome and seemed to make too many assumptions about the sort of
relationships I had with my contacts. For example integrated invoicing
or marketing would be inappropriate for my purposes. I'm trying to
manage diverse quasi-personal relationships - essentially I'm looking
for a tool to help me with 'social networking' in the real world...
where my biggest enemy is forgetting details about people I might only
speak to annually - or less often.
If running mysql, or postgresql is too much, check out the address
book features of most mail clients - they usually have space for
notes. You can write in there all trivia and non-trivia for each
contact. I am using kmail and its address book also has custom fields
that you can create as you need them. An address book search will
pick up words from within any notes and custom fields too. That
should hopefully do what you need.
Running a DB is no hassle - I already run both MySQL and Postgres...
Various unrelated requirements leave me with Windows on my desktop at
the moment - so kmail isn't an ideal tool for me... I've fiddled with
Thunderbird's address book but I found it rather lacking with respect to
annotating contacts... it has a lack-lustre search... and it isn't
client server - making it klunky if I intend to access the same data
from my windows desktop; ubuntu netbook and Symbian internet-enabled
mobile phone. I like the idea that a contacts management package should
allow me to initiate contact - so integration with email programs -
using LDAP, perhaps - would be desirable... though not necessarily
essential.
Joshua Murphy wrote:
Well, most tools that handle that functionality I know of are full
fledged CRMs, which are overkill for what you're after. You might take
a look at Simple Customer though, PHP & MySQL, and seems to take a
less 'enterprise' centric approach.
http://www.simplecustomer.com/
No idea if it's any good, though.
This is definitely looking as if it is heading in the right direction.
Features I hoped I would find, but seem to be missing are:
* Tagging of contacts - something a bit like a taxonomy in Drupal....
So, for example, I could tag Fred Bloggs as having UK residency;
Occupation: Plumber - etc. and so that I could, at a later date search
my contacts for a UK resident Plumber. (OK, it's a contrived example,
but, hopefully, it illustrates the idea.)
* Flexible search for contacts... perhaps by name, perhaps by email
address; perhaps just search notes.
* Good support for multiple communications technologies... including
non-US addresses; skype - etc. :)
* Good support for ageing data on a field-by-field basis... by this I
mean that it is relevant, for example, when addresses were established,
because people move home...
Many thanks for the suggestions so far - they've, at the very least,
helped me refine my ideas about what I want...
Steve
