Custom Field Types and Labels
BusyContacts supports many predefined field types and an unlimited number of field labels.
Field Types
BusyContacts supports many predefined field types, such as phone, email, URL, and address. Each contact can contain an unlimited number of each field type (multiple phones, multiple emails, multiple addresses, etc.).
In addition, each field type can have an unlimited number of labels. For example, the phone field type can have labels for home phone, work phone, mobile phone, and satellite phone.
You can choose which field types to show on all cards in Info Panel Settings or you can add fields to a single card using the add field menu.
Field Labels
Each field type has a predefined list of labels. For example, the phone field type has built-in labels for home, work, mobile, main, etc.
You can add custom labels by clicking on a field label and choosing Custom Label.
Custom labels are saved as menu choices for that field type, so you can reuse them when creating or editing other contacts. If you want to make a custom label the default choice, you can do so in Info Panel Settings.
To remove a saved menu choice, see Clearing Custom Labels.
The label menu also offers options that are specific to the field type. For address fields, it includes Set Address Format, which lets you choose a country format for that individual address instead of your default. See Address Format for the full steps.
Custom Fields
Custom Field Types and Labels are only supported on CardDAV servers, such as iCloud and Google. They are not supported on Exchange/Office 365.
BusyContacts adds an additional predefined field type called Custom. The purpose of the Custom type is to let you extend the data model if you have a piece of data doesn't fit neatly into one of the standard predefined types.
For example, a realtor may want to use the custom fields to record information for each client's requirements like maximum price, number of rooms, and school district.
To illustrate this example, the process would involve adding the Custom field to the Info Panel in Info Panel Settings or with the Add Field menu. Then creating field labels for Max Price, School, and District.
In addition to showing Custom fields in the Info Panel, you can display up to 10 custom fields in the List View by entering the Custom field labels in Info Panel Settings and checking them.
You can do interesting things with Custom Fields in the List View and Smart Filters. The List View is smart about sorting Custom Columns. It will automatically sort strings, numbers, and money correctly. You can even perform arithmetic comparisons on the data. For example, you could make a Smart Filter that finds all contacts that have a Max Price ≤ $500,000 and Rooms ≥ 3.
Clearing Custom Labels
Clear Custom Labels opens a window where you choose which saved labels to remove. Opening it does not clear the list or change any contacts.
The window lists saved labels for the type of field you clicked, such as dates or phone numbers. To remove one mistyped label:
- Select a contact with that type of field and click Edit.
- Click the blue field label beside its value, such as Wedding beside a date.
- Choose Clear Custom Labels from the label menu.
- Select only the mistyped label in the window, then click Delete. You can also select several labels to remove together.
- Click Close when finished. Closing the window without clicking Delete makes no changes.
The command appears when that field type has saved custom labels. The window does not rename labels, show how many contacts use them, or list the matching contacts.
Delete removes only the selected saved menu choices. It does not delete contact fields or change their labels or values, even when the selected label is still in use. You do not need to find every contact using a label before removing its saved menu choice.
A removed label can still appear in the menu for a field that currently uses it. To change that contact's label, edit the field on the contact itself.