Record of contacts

[rwl 16]

I'm new to Evernote.  I would like to use Evernote to record and retrieve various (offline) contacts I have with people on phone calls, meetings, and discussions.  Do I create a tag for each person? A folder?  Or do I just do a search using a person's name?

 

The problem I have with a search is that it requires me to correctly and consistently spell that person's name on each note.  Otherwise the search gets ugly and complicated.  If I'm on the phone, I need to be able to quickly pull up notes from previous discussions.

 

The problem I have with a tag is that I'm afraid that would get out of hand.  Would there be too many tags?

 

The problem I have with a folder is that I can only file the note in one folder, and I'd rather not lock myself into just using folders for contact management.

 

It would be really nice to have a of contact record within Evernote that I can link to the notes related to that contact.  It would be really great if somehow it could use my gmail contacts.

[jbenson2 2,147]

You've got a good handle on the different pros and cons.

 

Search - do you spell everyone's name exactly the same every time (Dave vs David)

Tags - too many? Evernote can handle 100,000*. I don't think you will get close to the limit.

Notebook (Evernote does not have folders) - Evernote only allows 250 - this would not be a good use for finding names.

 

In my opinion, Tags are the way to go. I have a Parent tag named People and all my contact names are placed underneath. This keeps your tag list clean.

 

It also depends on what your job involves. A phone call software program might be more efficient. Or a CRM software program.

 

*One caveat - there are some reported discrepancies in the knowlegebase.

https://evernote.com/contact/support/kb/#!/article/23283158

[CalS 5,280]

I'm new to Evernote.  I would like to use Evernote to record and retrieve various (offline) contacts I have with people on phone calls, meetings, and discussions.  Do I create a tag for each person? A folder?  Or do I just do a search using a person's name?

 

The problem I have with a search is that it requires me to correctly and consistently spell that person's name on each note.  Otherwise the search gets ugly and complicated.  If I'm on the phone, I need to be able to quickly pull up notes from previous discussions.

 

The problem I have with a tag is that I'm afraid that would get out of hand.  Would there be too many tags?

 

The problem I have with a folder is that I can only file the note in one folder, and I'd rather not lock myself into just using folders for contact management.

 

It would be really nice to have a of contact record within Evernote that I can link to the notes related to that contact.  It would be really great if somehow it could use my gmail contacts.

I agree with JBenson, tags are the way to go.  To be specific, I would recommend preceding the name with an "=" or something and using the last name if possible, for example =Smith.  That way when you apply a tag to the note or when you search for a given person, the "=" will create a tag drop down of names and as you type letters the list will refine to the contact in question.  FWIW.

[rwl 16]

thanks jbenden2 and cshilling.  I'll clean up my language folders/notebooks

[CalS 5,280]

You are welcome.

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

I'm new to Evernote.  I would like to use Evernote to record and retrieve various (offline) contacts I have with people on phone calls, meetings, and discussions.  Do I create a tag for each person? A folder?  Or do I just do a search using a person's name?

. . .

It would be really nice to have a of contact record within Evernote that I can link to the notes related to that contact.  It would be really great if somehow it could use my gmail contacts.

 

It is not clear to me the scope of how you want to use Evernote for recording contact info.  

IMO, while Evernote can be used to support Contact Management, it is NOT the best Contact Manager in most cases.

I use Outlook on my Mac and PC, which syncs with Contacts on my iPhone/iPad.  

I then record details and contact events in Evernote, and often save an Evernote Note link in the Outlook record (Contact, Calendar).  

 

In your case, you could create an Evernote Note that corresponds to your GMail Contact, and put a link to that Note in your GMail contact record.  You could also put the Evernote Tag Name in your GMail Contact record to serve as quick reference.  In fact, if you enter it as a search term, like tag:Peo.JonS, then you could quickly do an Evernote Search for all Notes with with contact by:

1. Select/copy the search term "tag:Peo.JonS"
2. Go directly to the Evernote Search box using the global shortcut key (set in EN Options/Prefs)
3. Paste in the Search box

In Evernote, I use a tag system similar to JBenson2 and cshilling:

• I have a "PEOPLE" parent tag with subtags for each person
• I use a prefix of "Peo." for each of these subtags, with the nickname (name I use to call that person) and initial of last name:

  So for Jonathan Smyth:   Peo.JonS

​The "Peo." prefix serves the same purpose as the "=" that cshilling suggested, but I like to avoid using special symbols at the beginning of a tag name because it can cause problems with doing a tag search.

 

I like to use the person's nickname, or the name that I immediately think of when I think of that person because that will be the most intuitive name for me to use later when assigning tags or searching/filtering by tag.  I like a simple first name with last name initial to avoid spelling errors with complex/unusual last names.  Also, the nickname of a person is often shorter than their last name.

 

Well, hopefully this will give you some ideas to develop a system that works best for you.

Good luck, and let us know what you decide.

[Moish 0]

This is my first question/ post. Is there contact management app within Evernote or do you use whatever contact sytem youhave? I use an iphone can I use that address book?

[CalS 5,280]

No contact management app in EN.  You can take pictures of business cards, but nothing resembling true contact management.  Use what you have would be my thought.

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

This is my first question/ post. Is there contact management app within Evernote or do you use whatever contact sytem youhave? I use an iphone can I use that address book?

 

While Evernote does not provide a contact mgt app, there are some 3rd party systems that do.  See the Evernote APP CENTER. 

As I stated in my post above (#3), I use Outlook for my primary contact manager.

AFAIK, there is no way to link an iPhone Contact with an EN Note.