Contacts

The contacts component uses KAddressBook. You can also start it separately with the command kaddressbook. Configure it with Settings+Configure KAddressBook. To search for a particular contact, use the search bar. With Filter, select to display only contacts in a certain category. Right-click a contact to open a menu in which to select from a variety of options, such as sending the contact information in an e-mail.

Figure 11.3. The Kontact Address Book

The Kontact Address Book

Adding Contacts

To add a contact with the name and e-mail address from an e-mail, right-click the address in the mail component and select Open in Address Book. To add a new contact without using an e-mail, select File+New Contact in the address component. Both methods open a dialog in which to enter information about the contact.

In the General tab, enter basic contact information, such as name, e-mail addresses, and telephone numbers. Categories can be used to sort addresses. Details contains more specific information, such as birthday and spouse's name.

If your contact uses an instant messenger, you can add these identities in IM Addresses. If you do this and have Kopete or another KDE chat program running at the same time as Kontact, view status information about these identities in Kontact. In Crypto Settings, enter the contact's encryption data, such as public key.

Misc has additional information, such as a photograph and the location of the user's Free/Busy information. Use Custom Fields to add your own information to the contact or address book.

Contacts can also be imported in a variety of formats. Use File+Import and select the desired format. Then select the file to import.

Creating a Distribution List

If you frequently send e-mail messages to the same group of people, a distribution list enables you to store multiple e-mail addresses as a single contact item so that you do not need to enter each name individually in every e-mail you send to that group. To create a distribution list, proceed as follows:

  1. Click Settings+Show Extension Bar+Distribution List Editor. A new section appears.

  2. Click New List.

  3. Enter a name for the list and click OK.

  4. Add contacts to the list by dragging them from the address list and dropping them in the distribution list window.

  5. Use this list like you would an individual contact when creating an e-mail.

Adding Address Books

[Important]Groupware Address Books

The best way to add groupware resources is with the Groupware Wizard, a separate tool. To use it, close Kontact then run groupwarewizard in a command line or from the Office group of the KDE menu. Select the server type, such as SLOX, GroupWise, or Exchange, from the list offered then enter the address and authentication data. The wizard then adds the available resources to Kontact.

Kontact can access multiple address books, such as shared ones offered by Novell GroupWise or an LDAP server. Select View+Address Books to view the current address books. Press Add to add one then select the type and enter the required information.

The check boxes in front of the address books show the activation status of each address book. To prevent the display of a book without deleting it, uncheck it. Remove deletes the selected book from the list.