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4 Replies Last post: Sep 25, 2008 2:49 PM by AndrewLawniczak  
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AndrewLawniczak
5 posts since
Jan 14, 2007
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Sep 23, 2008 6:02 AM

Keyword-Based Contact Groups


Hello everyone! If this has been discussed before, I apologize.

I am currently using (and like) the Address Book app on my iMac. However, I don't like the limited options I have for making groups and smart groups. I used to enter "keywords" into the "notes" portion of the contact, and then set up smart groups to search these contacts. Unfortunately, that became slow and unstable as the number of contacts grew (I own a business and have a lot of contacts). So, I started over and began to use basic groups, dragging contacts into the different groups. Much faster and more stable, but it really isn't what I want either. I have no way of telling what all the groups are for a given contact, whether a contact is in a particular group, etc.

What I'm hoping to find is a program or addon that will allow me to create common KEYWORDS (just like iPhoto and such) where I can create groups of contacts based on those keywords. Has anyone found anything? I did quite an extensive search a few months ago, but didn't find one that fit well. I'd also be open to suggestions on how to come closer to what I'm wanting to do within Address Book as well.

Any help (and assurance that I'm not as crazy as I think I am for requesting such features) would be great!!


Thanks in advance!

Andy Lawniczak

www.CreativeImagingStudios.org

www.CustomTractSource.com

Reply Tags: address_book, addon, contacts, smart_groups, keywords
Click to view rab777hp's profile Old Hand
rab777hp
1,196 posts since
Jun 11, 2008
1. Sep 25, 2008 2:16 PM in response to: AndrewLawniczak
Re: Keyword-Based Contact Groups
Just to help you a little bit, if you select a contact and hold down the option key, it will show what group they're in.

Since you own a business, something like Bento may help you, in addition to everything it can do to help you manage both your business and personal life, it lets you do all sorts of things to contacts, like have groups, smart groups, keywords, etc. it uses a similar layout to address book and imports automatically from it.
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AndrewLawniczak
5 posts since
Jan 14, 2007
2. Sep 25, 2008 2:33 PM in response to: rab777hp
Re: Keyword-Based Contact Groups

Thanks! I wasn't aware of that feature, and I will use it from now on. However, I would still like to have the feature I was searching for. I own Bento, and it is a good program, but it seems a bit limited. For example, if I add a field, I can't have it show up in Address Book unless it was already there. Am I seeing that correctly? And correct me if I'm wrong; the smart groups within Bento can only be built using the same criteria as Address Book, right?


Thanks for your help!

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rab777hp
1,196 posts since
Jun 11, 2008
3. Sep 25, 2008 2:40 PM in response to: AndrewLawniczak
Re: Keyword-Based Contact Groups
Well- I don't own Bento, however I do know a little bit about it. In Bento you can add extra fields to contacts that are not available in address book.
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AndrewLawniczak
5 posts since
Jan 14, 2007
4. Sep 25, 2008 2:49 PM in response to: rab777hp
Re: Keyword-Based Contact Groups

Yes, you can add all the fields you want. Unfortunately, Address Book will not read them and you cannot make smart groups from those fields :o(


Thanks again!
Andy


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