If we are honest address handling today sucks. There are many different address formats, there is LDAP, there is LDIF, Vcard, etc.. This page is collecting ideas on how to make things easier.
Have the ability to drag & drop address documents on a folder or some other element. Maybe this could be some element that is in some kind of panel and opens up. It should display each address entry as a photo or if no photo is available as a name with some core data (country,...). If there is an entry with the same name as the one the user wants to drop in it should display the exact position (so dont start list at A but on name of new object). If the user drops the new address object on an entry that already exist the system should try to do an intelligent merge or ask the user.
- The user should be able to export to all kind of standards (be it an LDAP server or a vcard).
- The user should noit have to worry about what standard a new address object is.
- Maybe this thing should be a stripped down local LDAP server.
- The user should be able to right click on an object and get actions that make sense (write mail, call via internet/phone, chat with that person, print an envelope, write a letter,...)
- It should be easy to filter entries (list only users, users from a specific country, people who have email, people who have jabber). maybe itmakes sense to allow the user to define different views and to save them and then be able to switch to some specific view with only a dew clicks.
In many senses this would really be something that unified messaging promised but not in the sense of actual sending technology but only in being perfect adressbook for every possible address. I am missing such a beast for years. I hate this Mozilla and Evolution incompatibility and having to use kadressbook to convert addresses. -- ThiloPfennig 2007-09-12 09:59:56