Contacts - MikeBlyth/mission_database GitHub Wiki

Each person in the database can have one or more contact records. Each of those records represents a particular type of contact: self on the field; home country; emergency contact; family member; etc. Each contact record can include up to two phone numbers and email addresses as well as a physical address, blog address, Skype and Facebook names, and a URL for photos.

The main members listing includes a column for contacts, as shown in the screenshot below.

To view someone's contacts, just click on the contents of the person's contacts column, and a sub-list will open beneath the person's main row, like this:

Only the main contact items are shown in that sublist. Click on the Show button at the right side of the contact line to show all the information such as blog and Facebook addresses.

To add a new contact for someone, click on the Create New link in the contacts sub-list. That will give you a form like the one below. Fill the form and click Create to save it.

Most of the information is self-explanatory, but some things to note are:

• The contact name is the just that, not the person owning the contact. For example, an emergency contact would include the name of the person to contact, along with that person's phone number and so on. The name is not required.

• Primary contact is the one that will be shown on the organization's directory and used for sending messages.

• Phone number format. The system tries to interpret phone numbers in a variety of formats, but stores them in a standardized way (a plus sign followed by country code and the phone number, digits only with no spaces, dashes, etc.). If the number entered on the form starts with a plus sign, it is interpreted as a full number with country code. If it starts with a zero, the zero is removed and the default country code is added. If the format does not fit the standard one defined for the given installation (the system for a given organization), then it is stored unchanged. This allows unusual formats (perhaps with an extension), but those numbers cannot be dialed automatically by the system.

  Thus, for Nigeria, 0816-555-5555, 08165555555, 0816.555.5555, and +2348165555555, would all be converted to the standard format.

• Privacy flags. Phone numbers, email addresses, and the Skype name can be flagged as private. Private numbers are visible to administrators and users with the right privileges, but are hidden to others. They are not included on directories or other reports. The system can send messages to addresses marked as private.