Re: [O] [Orgmode] Re: contact management in org-mode?

[Karl Voit]

Hi Russell!

* Russell Adams <address@hidden> wrote:
>
> First, I've found myself very lax updating my Contacts.org file. 

This is no technical issue :-)

> With a moderately large contact file column mode goes so slowly I
> find myself reluctant to use it. Thus my contact list is now
> significantly out of date despite my successful integration with
> mutt.

I do not use column mode (yet). So far I am using the inevitable
yasnippet templates to create an entry and manually filling out the
properties.

> Another issue with column view is that I can't make the first column
> (ie: Name!) sticky, so if I scroll right while filling in fields I
> have no idea who I'm working on. Editing individual fields in the
> property drawer is moderately ok.
>
> The final killer is lack of sync. 

Oh this is also something which I could not resolve yet.

Although I do think that given the fact that I am OK with a working
export mechanism (instead of 2-way sync), it should not be that
complicated to write a short tool that exports names, email
addresses and phone numbers (I really do not want more information
than these on my phone) in a format that Google can import.

Not a very good solution but I was thinking about this one for
myself.

> I have lbdb capturing incoming email addresses, and I find I use
> it constantly without thinking about it. I typically get contact
> information in signature lines with my customers and I've found
> myself doing fast searching in mutt and using a recent email
> instead of using Contacts.org. No sync with my Google account
> means my phone now has an independent contact list again.

I also love mutt and lbdb. Since I started to maintain my contacts
in Org-mode and not in .mutt_aliases and lbdb can query my
contacts.org, I am pretty happy with this situation.

Loose contacts get into my system via lbdb and close contacts get
their Org-mode entry.

> I did see someone created a org-contacts.el based on the format, but
> their site is now offline.
>
> So after a three year experiment, I think I can say my org-mode
> contact management has failed.

This is it?

What about having the possibility to use references to contacts
within Org-mode? I use them all the time.

What about organizing contacts in a hierarchy like family trees. I
can not resemble any other contact manager where it is that easy as
in Org-mode.

What about the possibility to mix TODOs and events with
contact? I love the fact that I can add appointments with my dentist
below his contact-headline ... and add a TODO if I have to transfer
him money or something like that.

These are all features that lets me accept missing sync features and
so forth.

> Thus I pose the question: What is a valid contact manager for a
> console-mode user with sync, fast searching and update?

Anyway, I am curious what other options are out there :-)

-- 
Karl Voit