I'm using Joomla 2.5 and trying to create a contact list which includes street addresses and for some contacts, more than one category for that contact. My goal is to create directories for all contacts, contacts within a category. Some contacts must be listed within several categories, think of members of several committees.

Street Address
Although street addresses are an input field for contacts ("address"), its seems to be omitted in the contact list function. I can't believe this omission was intentional, what am I missing?

Multiple Categories per Contact
I need to include some contacts in several categories, just like we can do with articles. How can this be done?

I've searched for answers and found none. Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi
You might find this useful. www.ostraining.com/blog/joomla/contact-creator/
Note at the top of the article is a link to creating a contact list.
Under the contact list on 2.5 is an option to "Batch Process" - you can use this to copy contacts into another category.
Regards

Hi Mark,

Thanks but I've seen that tutorial and I don't believe it addresses my issues.

Thanks again,
Smarkin

Hi
Sorry for that. You are right, in the category view you can add state etc but not the address. When you click on the contact you can of course have more detail including the address. I tend to have the minimum info on display in the category option. I am sure that there will be an extension for your needs on JED.
Regards

Thanks Mark,
I need the additional info to make up directories for all registered users. As you, I would have thought that there would be an extension to add additional fields to the contact list. If there is one, I can't find it!

I just can't understand why the address is a field in contacts and contact management for all purposes but listing!

Regards,
Steven

Hi Steven

I'm afraid it's only one category per user. The category structure can be as complex as you wish, but one person can only be listed in one category.

Is the image below where the Address is missing from? I went to make a new menu item and choose "List Contacts in a Category".

Thanks OSTopDog!

It's unfortunate that there is only one category for each user. Just as articles, users often need to be classified in different categories - think subscribers to Joomla and Drupal videos. I guess I'll have to create several aliases for additional user categories; a real hatchet job.

I didn't find an extension addressing this issue, do you know of any?

You got it - the "address" field is omitted from the "List Contacts in a Category" screen as depicted in the image you attached. I noticed that while hovering over the headings of a contacts in a category listing, it says click the heading to sort by Name, it doesn't. I thought I saw OST addressed that in the support forum.

Thanks again

Get Sobi2 or Sobi Pro. You can specify how many categories each entry can go into. The contact plugin native to joomla really isn't a directory. It allows you to make lists and group things, but lacks the full functionality of what's required for a complex directory.

There are other directory plugins as well that you can find in the JED. These also let you create custom fields for the entries.

Cheers,
Ed

Thanks Ed,

I've used Sobi in the past, I see they now have a Joomla 2.5 version (SobiPro) available - I'll give it a try. Have u used the calendar function? Can it be displayed with events appearing in a date box on a monthly calendar (like google calendar)?

Steve, the OSTopDog replying to my inquiry in the box above you, asked if the contact listing options, I referred to was the one in his image. I answered it is - any idea on how or if the street address contained in the contact and contact list info but omitted in the listing options(generated lists) could be included?

Thanks again,
Steven

The street address should be there. I just checked my test copy of 2.5 and 1.5 and it appears in both.

If it's missing from the list it may be a corrupted install. Try a clean install in a new directory and see if it's different than the one in your working production version. I don't know if this will work, but you might be able to fix it by going to Extensions>Extension Manager > Discover.

Y0u may be able to fix it by copying the content plugin files from the admin directory of a working copy to the non working copy. But don't try it on your live site.

Make a backup copy to try it on first. In other words, you'll have three sites. A production (live) version, a backup copy, and a clean demo copy. Experiment on the backup copy.

Ed

Thanks Ed,
I have the same problem in a different install on another computer.

Your colleague, Steve shows the image found under menu manager:edit menu item, List Contacts in a category (menu type), List Layouts. Please take a look it's about the 4th message up, 6th posting in this thread.

Any ideas?

Thanks again,
Steven

Oh, I see what you mean. It's not included at all. I suppose it could be added, but it looks like it would require hacking the Joomla core.

Probably the simple answer is to find an extension that does what you want. There are over 500 of them in the JED, not a simple task to sort them out either.

I'll look for something and see if it applies.

Ed

Much Appreciated!!

You're welcome, Smarkin! We're glad we could help! :)

Kind regards,
Nick

Hi Steven,

I started checking these out. THere are 545 extensions that deal with contacts. I'm sorry but that's just too many to hunt through. If you want to look for a solution check this link to the JED extensions.joomla.org/search?q=contacts

I'll keep my eye out for one and if I come across one I will notify you. It's just going to take a long time.

Ed