10 Minute Guide to Schedule+ for Windows 95 - Lesson 12 - Building a Contacts List  In this lesson, you will learn how to use Schedule+ to build a list of the people you contact the most. Using the Contacts List You use the contacts tab to compile information about the people, such as business associates, sales leads, friends, and neighbors, you contact the most. Once you complete your Contacts list, you can keep updating it and even use it to make appointments. You can also list birthdays or other special events associated with the contact so that the events appear on your schedule. If you use Schedule+ on a network, you can share your Contacts list with other users. Regardless of how you use it, you quickly find that the Contacts feature is an important part of your Schedule+ program. The Contacts list that you build in Schedule+ is actually a database. A database is a collection of information that you can store, organize, and retrieve quickly. The information you store for each person is a record. The individual parts of the record, such as the name or address, are fields. Database A database is a computer program or feature designed to store, organize, and retrieve large collections of data. You can use the names, addresses, and phone numbers from your Contacts list to create mailing lists, call up other computers (with a modem), and more. Itís like having an electronic Rolodex at your fingertips. To display the Contacts list, click on the Contacts tab on your Schedule+ window. This opens your program up to a screen similar to the one shown in Figure 12.1. Figure 12.1 The Contacts tab. As you look around the Contacts tab, you see a grid with a list of contacts on the left and a business card type area for entering data on the right. After you start a list of contacts, you can sort and group the contacts. Hereís what each of the Contacts tab features can do: Use the Go to text box to quickly locate contacts in your database. Type in the name of the person youíre looking for, and Schedule+ highlights this person in your list. The Contacts area of the tab displays a grid list of your database names and fields. The Name area (in the business card area) displays a form in which you can enter information about your contact, such as the contactís name, business, phone number, and address. Youíll learn more about using each of these features later in this lesson. Entering Contacts You might as well jump right in and start compiling your own list of contacts. Remember, a contact can be anybody you know or with whom you do business. Contacts can include friends, relatives, coworkers, business associates, vendors, and more. You can enter information about your contacts directly into the grid list, or you can use the business card area of tabs and fields. Hereís one way you can enter a contact into the list: 1. Click on a Row Selection button in front of the row you want to enter your contact into, preferably an empty row. This displays a blank Name form on the right side of your screen. 2. In the Name area, start typing information into each field as necessary. For example, to enter a name, click inside the First text box and type a first name. 3. If necessary, click on the Business tab to bring it to the front. Start filling in the Business tab fields. Click inside each text box, or field, to fill in related information. Keep in mind that you do not need to fill in every field, only the ones you use the most. 4. Click on the other business card tabs to enter more details, such as other phone numbers and addresses. 5. To enter birthday or anniversary information about the contact, click on the Personal tab, shown in Figure 12.2, and set the date. When you enter personal information about a contact (such as a birthday), a birthday cake symbol appears in your contact grid. Figure 12.2 The Personal tab. 6. When you finish with the contact information, click inside the grid area. Your entry now appears as a contact on the list, as shown in Figure 12.3. Figure 12.3 A finished entry appears in the Contacts grid. You can repeat these steps to continue adding new contacts to your database. Entering Contacts with the Contact Dialog Box If you donít like the direct approach to building a Contacts list, you can use the Contact dialog box. This dialog box neatly displays similar fields from the form on the Contacts tab, but it places the information in a larger area. To open the Contact dialog box, choose one of these methods: Open the Insert menu and select Contact. Right-click to display the shortcut menu and select New Contact. Double-click on an empty rowís Row Selection button. Click on the Insert New Contact button on your toolbar. All of these methods open the Contact dialog box, shown in Figure 12.4. Figure 12.4 The Contact dialog box. The dialog box looks like the business card area on your Contacts tab, only the information is spread out and arranged differently. However, you canít enter personal information about the contact in the Contact dialog box. You can only do this in the Personal tab on the Contacts tab of the program. The Contact dialog box does not include fields for birthdays or anniversaries. To use the Contact dialog box, fill in each field in the tabs for which you have information. If you want to keep certain listings in your Contacts tab private, click on the Private check box in the Contact dialog box. This keeps the information hidden from other users on your Schedule+ network. Click OK when you finish to return to the Contacts tab. Editing Contacts You can edit the records in your Contacts list at any time. You can make your changes directly into the grid list, in the business card area on the right, or with the Contact dialog box. You can also use the toolbar buttons and menus. Try any of these techniques to make changes to your own Contacts list: To edit records directly on your grid list, click inside the cell where you want to make changes. You use the scroll bars to move back and forth between the fields and records. To edit contact information directly in the business card area on the right side of the Contacts tab, select the record you want to change. This action displays the recordís fields. Click inside any field on the right and make your changes to the information. Double-click on a rowís Row Selection button to open the Contact dialog box and make changes. You can also display the Contact dialog box by right-clicking on the entry and choosing Edit Item from the shortcut menu, or by clicking on the Edit button on your toolbar. As you work with your Contacts list over time, you may need to remove old contacts that you no longer need. To delete a contact, use any of these methods: Select the record by clicking on the recordís Row Selection button (this highlights the entire record) and click on the Delete button on the toolbar. Double-click on the recordís Row Selection button to open the Contact dialog box and click on the Delete button. Select the record using the Row Selection button, and press the Delete key on your keyboard. Select the record using the Row Selection button, open the Edit menu, and choose Delete Item. Right-click on the record to display a shortcut menu and select Delete Item. In this lesson, you learned how to build and edit a Contacts list. In the next lesson, youíll learn how to sort and group your contacts.

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