[gentoo-user] Web application for contact management...

[gentoo-user] Web application for contact management...

[Steve]

I am looking for a web-application to manage contacts... but I'm not 
looking for "just an address book"... I guess this isn't especially 
gentoo, but I'd ideally like to run a server on my gentoo box, so I hope 
I can be forgiven for asking here.

Personally, I'm absolutely awful at remembering people's names or 
dates... I'm not so bad at remembering their jobs; where I met them; 
their opinions about cuisine or cars etc. etc.  The snag I find is that 
I tend to forget the details that would be most useful to remember - 
while I remember all the trivia.  I forget when I last spoke to 
occasional acquaintances - and about details that don't mean much to me 
at the time... for example, about spouses or partners if I meet in a 
work environment.

What I'm looking for is some software to help me to collate details 
about my occasional contacts... the idea being that if I expect to meet 
someone I've not met for a while, I've an aide memoir about whom 
introduced me - and the last time we spoke.

Does anyone know of any application to do this?  An open-source 
web-application would be perfect as it would allow me to run a private 
server - hence eliminating potential security and privacy concerns - 
while making the information available independent of the kit I have on 
my desk.  Key features would include some sort of standard form to help 
jog my memory to enter details I might forget - while being flexible 
enough not to try and pigeon-hole the people I meet.

Any suggestions?  Any good experiences?  I guess I could even pay for an 
application like this - if it was good... though not a lot, of course, 
since this would be a personal purchase.

Ideas?

Re: [gentoo-user] Web application for contact management...

[Mick]

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On Sunday 14 June 2009, Steve wrote:
> I am looking for a web-application to manage contacts... but I'm not
> looking for "just an address book"... I guess this isn't especially
> gentoo, but I'd ideally like to run a server on my gentoo box, so I hope
> I can be forgiven for asking here.
>
> Personally, I'm absolutely awful at remembering people's names or
> dates... I'm not so bad at remembering their jobs; where I met them;
> their opinions about cuisine or cars etc. etc.  The snag I find is that
> I tend to forget the details that would be most useful to remember -
> while I remember all the trivia.  I forget when I last spoke to
> occasional acquaintances - and about details that don't mean much to me
> at the time... for example, about spouses or partners if I meet in a
> work environment.
>
> What I'm looking for is some software to help me to collate details
> about my occasional contacts... the idea being that if I expect to meet
> someone I've not met for a while, I've an aide memoir about whom
> introduced me - and the last time we spoke.
>
> Does anyone know of any application to do this?  An open-source
> web-application would be perfect as it would allow me to run a private
> server - hence eliminating potential security and privacy concerns -
> while making the information available independent of the kit I have on
> my desk.  Key features would include some sort of standard form to help
> jog my memory to enter details I might forget - while being flexible
> enough not to try and pigeon-hole the people I meet.
>
> Any suggestions?  Any good experiences?  I guess I could even pay for an
> application like this - if it was good... though not a lot, of course,
> since this would be a personal purchase.
>
> Ideas?

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.

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.
-- 
Regards,
Mick

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Re: [gentoo-user] Web application for contact management...

[Joshua Murphy]

On Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 4:30 PM, Steve<gentoo_sjh@shic.co.uk> wrote:
> I am looking for a web-application to manage contacts... but I'm not looking
> for "just an address book"... I guess this isn't especially gentoo, but I'd
> ideally like to run a server on my gentoo box, so I hope I can be forgiven
> for asking here.
>
> Personally, I'm absolutely awful at remembering people's names or dates...
> I'm not so bad at remembering their jobs; where I met them; their opinions
> about cuisine or cars etc. etc.  The snag I find is that I tend to forget
> the details that would be most useful to remember - while I remember all the
> trivia.  I forget when I last spoke to occasional acquaintances - and about
> details that don't mean much to me at the time... for example, about spouses
> or partners if I meet in a work environment.
>
> What I'm looking for is some software to help me to collate details about my
> occasional contacts... the idea being that if I expect to meet someone I've
> not met for a while, I've an aide memoir about whom introduced me - and the
> last time we spoke.
>
> Does anyone know of any application to do this?  An open-source
> web-application would be perfect as it would allow me to run a private
> server - hence eliminating potential security and privacy concerns - while
> making the information available independent of the kit I have on my desk.
>  Key features would include some sort of standard form to help jog my memory
> to enter details I might forget - while being flexible enough not to try and
> pigeon-hole the people I meet.
>
> Any suggestions?  Any good experiences?  I guess I could even pay for an
> application like this - if it was good... though not a lot, of course, since
> this would be a personal purchase.
>
> Ideas?

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.

-- 
Poison [BLX]
Joshua M. Murphy

Re: [gentoo-user] Web application for contact management...

[Steve]

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

Re: [gentoo-user] Web application for contact management...

[Mick]

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On Monday 15 June 2009, Steve wrote:

> 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.

Ah, may have missed it in the original post that you want multi-client access.

> 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...

Have you looked at egroupware/phpgroupware and even open-exchange products?  
As long as you are happy to run a server at home and store your 
social/professional networking contacts into either mysql or LDAP, one of 
these front ends should do what you want.
-- 
Regards,
Mick

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Re: [gentoo-user] Web application for contact management...

[Steve]

Mick wrote:
> Ah, may have missed it in the original post that you want multi-client access.
>   
Probably my fault... my post was mainly wild hand-waving hoping that 
someone would guess what I meant. :)
>>> 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...
>>     
> Have you looked at egroupware/phpgroupware and even open-exchange products?  
> As long as you are happy to run a server at home and store your 
> social/professional networking contacts into either mysql or LDAP, one of 
> these front ends should do what you want.
>   
No, I hadn't looked that these.  I've messed about with Outlook on a 
corporate exchange server - and it definitely wasn't what I want... it's 
got a working address book - and it integrates (sort-of) with email - 
but falls far short of what I require as an aide memoir about people 
I've met... many of whom will have been introduced in person - not 
online, by phone or email.

I think I'm going to dismiss open-exchange as pursuing the same 
objectives as MS exchange (that's my current perception of it...) 
leaving the other two systems - neither of which I'd discovered 
previously.  Both E-Groupware and PHPgroupware look like fantastic tools 
- and E-Groupware looks especially slick.  On the down-side, they both 
seem to have relatively steep learning curves relative to my primary 
objective... i.e. keeping notes about communications with infrequent 
contracts... so, for example, if I were about to meet someone from Acme 
Corp next week, and I remembered having met an Acme Corp director last 
year (but had forgotten the date; where we met; and his name...) then 
I'd want to be able to find this information from my contracts 
management system. SimpleCustomer is heading in the right direction - 
but I think its interface falls short of my requirements.

I suspect I need to play with those groupware systems... perhaps read a 
book about them - if one has been written.  I'm very happy to run my own 
server at home - in fact, I'd be worried about doing it any other way... 
I wouldn't want to risk contributing to a massive centralised database 
of personal information... :)

Thanks, and - of course - I'm still interested in anecdotal hints/tips 
from anyone who has attempted something similar.

Steve

Re: [gentoo-user] Web application for contact management...

[Steve]

Steve wrote:
> On the down-side, they both seem to have relatively steep learning 
> curves relative to my primary objective... i.e. keeping notes about 
> communications with infrequent contracts... so, for example, if I were 
> about to meet someone from Acme Corp next week, and I remembered 
> having met an Acme Corp director last year (but had forgotten the 
> date; where we met; and his name...) then I'd want to be able to find 
> this information from my contracts management system. SimpleCustomer 
> is heading in the right direction - but I think its interface falls 
> short of my requirements.
Erm - freaky, I meant contacts, I think, even though I typed contracts - 
and that still made sense.  Weird... I was definitely thinking 
"contacts" - but I guess this would be useful for establishing business 
"contracts"... :-\

So far I've not got far with either Groupware suite... they're both 
close - I wonder how hard it would be to tailor them... Hmmm.

Re: [gentoo-user] Web application for contact management...

[Mick]

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On Tuesday 16 June 2009, Steve wrote:

> So far I've not got far with either Groupware suite... they're both
> close - I wonder how hard it would be to tailor them... Hmmm.

Have a quick look at InfoLog of eGroupware.  I think that either on its own, 
or as it integrates with AddressBook/ProjectManager/Calendar will do more 
than what you want.  I'll be surprised if you need to customise it at all.

I have not installed this application, but from a little reading I did, it 
seems simply a matter of running apache/MySQL/PHP and unpacking the 
filesystem of egroupware under your /var/www/htdocs/egroupware or what have 
you.  The process is similar to drupal, or any other php based website/CMS 
that I have come across.  Gentoo helps you do this by emerging egroupware and 
I suspect you will then run webapp-config to configure it.
-- 
Regards,
Mick

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Re: [gentoo-user] Web application for contact management...

[Steve]

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Mick wrote:
> On Tuesday 16 June 2009, Steve wrote:
>   
>> So far I've not got far with either Groupware suite... they're both
>> close - I wonder how hard it would be to tailor them... Hmmm.
>>     
>
> Have a quick look at InfoLog of eGroupware.  I think that either on its own, 
> or as it integrates with AddressBook/ProjectManager/Calendar will do more 
> than what you want.  I'll be surprised if you need to customise it at all.
>
> I have not installed this application, but from a little reading I did, it 
> seems simply a matter of running apache/MySQL/PHP and unpacking the 
> filesystem of egroupware under your /var/www/htdocs/egroupware or what have 
> you.  The process is similar to drupal, or any other php based website/CMS 
> that I have come across.  Gentoo helps you do this by emerging egroupware and 
> I suspect you will then run webapp-config to configure it.
>   

I'm glad I persevered with eGroupware - it looks as if it should be 
superb.  While I'm still only beginning the learning curve, its features 
do seem to be just what I was looking for.

One (of many) problems I'm having, however, relate to configuration/email...

At the setup phase, I get this rather un-nerving warning:

> Warning Checking PEAR::Auth_SASL is installed: False
> PEAR::Auth_SASL is needed by: EMailAdmin, felamimail. You can install 
> it by running: pear install Auth_SASL
However, I've installed PEAR::Auth_SASL - and running the command gives me:

> $ pear install Auth_SASL
> Ignoring installed package pear/Auth_SASL
> Nothing to install
> $ pear -V
> PEAR Version: 1.6.2
> PHP Version: 5.2.9-pl2-gentoo
> Zend Engine Version: 2.2.0
> Running on: Linux svr 2.6.23-gentoo-r3 #5 SMP Tue Jan 8 22:41:42 GMT 
> 2008 i686
> $
I've included the pear version info because all the problems I've found 
via google have related to a Pear version of below 1.6.1.

Stumped by why the installation test for SASL failed, I ploughed on to 
see where it took me.  The answer to this, is as far as trying to access 
my (working) IMAP server...  eGroupware reports:
> *The connection to the IMAP Server failed!!*
>
> NO, Authentication failed.
I'm stumped as to quite what is wrong - it might be that SASL isn't 
working; it might be that eGroupware is having a strop that my SSL Cert 
for my IMAP server doesn't match the FQDN I'm using... or it might mean 
that I've been bamboozled about how to configure eGroupware and it needs 
me to configure usernames/passwords somewhere I've not found.  Any hints 
about this would be much appreciated.

On a more positive note, the address book (once I've got the hang of it) 
combined with Infolog (assuming it continues to behave as it appears to 
at the moment) are exactly what I was looking for.  What's more, I'm 
loving the integrated document management, issue tracker - and might 
even make use of the timesheet facility in future.  eGroupware is an 
excellent find... Thanks... (all I need to do now is overcome the 
configuration glitches...)

Steve






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Re: [gentoo-user] Web application for contact management...

[Steve]

Steve wrote:
> Stumped by why the installation test for SASL failed, I ploughed on to 
> see where it took me.  The answer to this, is as far as trying to 
> access my (working) IMAP server...  eGroupware reports:
>> *The connection to the IMAP Server failed!!*
>>
>> NO, Authentication failed.
Erm, update... having changed nothing - except using another email 
client to write the above email... it's started working.

I'm not sure what the glitch was - as far as I'm aware I changed nothing 
and it suddenly started working.

Next step: conquer the InfoLog... at the moment any log entry I enter 
seems to disappear from address-book entries.  I suspect this is due to 
how I've tried to use it, rather than being a bug, however.