To add main contact details follow the instructions on creating a new contact to open a new window with blank fields for all the main details of a contact.
Choose the persons title (eg Mr, Mrs, Ms) from the first drop down menu. You can edit the selection contained in this drop down in the Profile section of Shindig (see Getting Started).
You can then add the person's first name and surname. You must enter the minimum of a surname to store any contact on your Shindig database.
Shindig allows for you to store three contact phone numbers and three email addresses for each contact.
List the phone numbers and email address in the order in which the contact would prefer to be contacted. For example, when calling, should you call the work or home number?
This is important particularly with email addresses. Although you will be able to choose which address to use when sending an individual email, the first email address will be the only address used when a campaign email is sent to multiple recipients.
Please note that you cannot have more than one phone number or email address of the same type. For example, you cannot select "work" more than once in the email column. This will return an error when you try to save your changes.
If you want the contact to receive campaign email please ensure you tick the "Send promotional email" box. Unticking it will mean this contact does not receive campaign emails, even if you have manually added that contact to a list. Please be aware of your local privacy legislation - in some countries it is against the law to send email to people you do not have an existing relationship with - for example, your current customers or suppliers. In all countries unsolicited email is considered spam and it can damage the reputation of your business.
The source of contact drop down menu will help you keep track of where your contacts originate from. When you first use Shindig there are is some "seed" data contained in this menu, but you can remove, edit or add your own selection to this list in the Profile section of Shindig.
It is intended that the "source of contact" field is used for the general way in which a user found out about your company - for example, word of mouth, newspaper advertising etc.
The "advertising/source code" is intended for tracking specific advertisements or promotional campaigns. For example, it might contain the name of a particular newspaper, or even the paper and appearance date. This drop down selection can be edited in the Profile section of Shindig, but not while you are still adding or editing a contact record.
You can also select the "type of contact". By default the selection provides the choice of customer, supplier or partner (for example, a contact you work with but don't buy from or sell to). This is another list that you can to meet your own requirements in the Profile section.
Next, if you know it, add the contact's "date of birth". The format for date of birth is yyyy - mm - dd. If you find it easier click on the calendar icon to the right of the date of birth field, then navigate to the chosen year, month and date.
This information is used when compiling queries for lists - for example, you might choose to send an email to everyone over 40. This can be done by adding a new list with age as one of the defining criteria.
Next choose the "sex" or gender of the contact - M for male of F for female. Or leave it blank (the default) if you do not know. This drop down menu cannot be edited in the Profile section, just in case you couldn't resist changing it to "daily", "once a week" etc!
Finally, on this screen you can use the Notes field to add comments about this contact. You have 128 characters in this field to enter details about this individual.
You've now added details in the contact's main details screen. It's important to remember that these changes are not saved to your Shindig database until you press the "save" button.
Next you can close the window or move to another screen to store more details. Choose from the drop down menu at the top of the window to move to work details...
..or click the advance arrow ( > ) in the top right corner.
