This document contains information on the new and improved features in Now Contact version 3.0. For detailed discussions of all Now Contact features, refer to your User’s Guide.
Public Categories
Now Contact version 3.0 lets you share Contacts with other networked Now Contact users. This gives you access to valuable Contact data without having to enter it yourself, and allows you to share the Contacts in your Contact Files with other users. Shared Contacts are stored in Public Categories located on a Public Contact Server, rather than in your private Contact File. A Public Contact Server must exist on your network for you to be able to share Contacts; consult your network administrator or the Network Administrator’s Guide for more information.
AutoType™
AutoType, Now Contact version 3.0’s automatic data entry feature, makes creating a new Contact faster and simpler. Now Contact scans the other Contacts in your Contact File as you type, determines if they contain information that could apply to your new Contact, and makes suggestions based on that information. This makes typing the same information over and over again unnecessary.
QuickFind
QuickFind lets you view specific Contacts in your Contact Files, and hide any Contacts you don’t want to view. QuickFind is similar to Now Contact version 1.0’s Sets feature, but takes the concept a step further by letting you dynamically “filter” your Contacts based on their assigned Keywords as well as their Categories.
Duplicate Contact Handling
Now Contact version 3.0 lets you search for duplicate Contacts in a Contact File. This is useful when more than one copy of the same Contact may exist in a file. You have the option of merging duplicate Contacts into one Contact, or displaying a list of the duplicates.
Contact File Synchronization
Now Contact version 3.0 lets you synchronize two copies of the same Contact File. Synchronization lets you ensure that both versions of the file contain identical data, without having to manually update one version to match the other. Once the files have been Synchronized, a Note describing any changes that were made is attached to the updated version of the Contact file.
Replacing Contact Data
Now Contact version 3.0 lets you quickly replace data in any number of Contacts without having to open the Detail View for each Contact. This is useful when several Contacts work for the same company, say, and the company name changes or its address changes.
Drag and Drop
Now Contact version 3.0 supports drag and drop for many routine functions. You can copy Contacts by dragging them between Contact Files; paste Contact information in a text file by dragging a Contact to an open text window; create a new Note for a Contact by dragging text from a text file to the Contact; attach a document to a Contact by dragging it from the Finder to the Contact; and create tab-delimited mail merge files containing vital Contact information by dragging Contacts to the desktop
Online Help
Context-sensitive online Help is available throughout Now Contact version 3.0. You can click the “Help” button in major dialog boxes, or choose the “Help…” command from the Window menu. Help topics are arranged so that you can reveal or hide any subtopics they contain, and you can print and search for topics.
Toolbars
Now Contact version 3.0 includes Toolbars in both the List View and Detail View. The Toolbar buttons let you perform the most common Now Contact activities, including assigning keywords, attaching documents, creating Calendar Events, and creating, finding and dialing Contacts. To determine the function of each button, simply place your pointer over it—a “Tool Tips” description appears beneath the button.
QuickContact™
Now Contact version 3.0’s QuickContact control panel lets you assign various actions to the Contacts in your QuickContact menu. By choosing a Contact in the menu, you can either open a window that displays essential Contact information, open the Contact’s Detail View in the Now Contact application, dial the Contact’s primary telephone number, or copy the Contact’s essential information to the Clipboard. In addition, the QuickContact menu now features a “New Contact…” command that opens a blank Detail View in the Now Contact application, where you can instantly define a new Contact.
Calendar Events and Attachments
All Calendar Events and attachments for a Contact appear in a scrolling list (the Contact log) at the bottom of the Detail View. Attached Notes and documents, and linked Calls, Appointments and To-Dos appear in the list. Each entry in the Contact log lists the entry type, title, date and time; the status of your To-Dos (Done, Not Done or In Progress) also appears. You can sort Contact log entries by clicking any of the column heading buttons.
Keywords
A scrolling list of all Keywords assigned to a Contact now appears in the bottom portion of the Detail View. You can assign Keywords to Contacts by clicking the column heading button above the Keywords list and choosing a Keyword from the pop-up menu that appears. You can also define new Keywords from the same pop-up menu.
Notes
Notes are similar to Calendar Events in Now Contact version 3.0, except that they can’t be linked to Now Up-to-Date. Each Note appears in a separate window and is listed in the Contact Log, where you can open it by double-clicking the appropriate entry. In addition, you now create new Notes using a menu command or Toolbar button.
Custom Fields
You can now assign field types to your custom fields. There are five field types available: Text, Phone, Date, Money and Number. Each Custom Field type makes use of Now Contact version 3.0’s automatic data entry features.
