Help: Contacts
In the Contacts page you can find contacts by filtering out from the list those who don't match the name, company, location, sector, or expertise that you choose in the sidebar, by entering text in either of the boxes and clicking on the 'Search' button, or by selecting the appropriate level in the tree and clicking on it. These filters will be applied to the list, and 'breadcrumbs' for them will appear in the main view above the list of names. You can remove individual filters to widen the results or remove all of the filters to start again.
By default, just 'your contacts' are searchable (as most users will want to do things with people they already know.) You can quickly message, export, or remove 'your contacts' by clicking on a contact's checkbox and selecting the appropriate item on the drop down menu in the bottom right. There are two options for export, Outlook and Other. Outlook downloads a Zip file full of individual vCards for the contacts you've selected (this is the only option that Microsoft Outlook supports, but may be useful for some mobile devices too), and Other downloads a single vCard for the contacts you've selected. You can quickly add people to 'your contacts' from 'all members' or 'new members' by clicking on a member's checkbox and clicking on 'Add selected members' in the bottom right.
There are two additional ways to add users to your contacts list. If you click on 'Add contacts', you will get to choose between adding users manually by typing in their names and e-mail addresses, or uploading them automatically from a vCard file. The first option allows you to add a person's name, and e-mail address, and click 'Continue' to be presented with an invitation message to send to the potential contacts. If they are already members of the website, then they will receive an internal message and if they are new users, then they will receive an e-mail inviting them to sign up. You can add to the text of the message to give it a personal touch. When you click on 'Send invitation', they will be sent a message, which they will need to reply to in order for them to appear on your Contacts list. You will be automatically added to theirs if they accept. If you select the second option, then the website will examine the vCard file you uploaded and present you with the invitation message screen as above. vCard files are a global standard for storing contact information and are available in e-mail software like Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes, and also on mobile devices like Blackberry and Nokia Communicator.
If you click on one of your contacts, you will be able to see their profile, where you can click on links to send them a message, view mutual messages, view their contacts, view mutual contacts, introduce them to another contact, and view their projects and groups (to which you have access). You can also download their information in vCard format and add notes about them which only you can see.
When you introduce someone, you will be presented with a screen, which is essentially a message, where you can add as many of your contacts as recipients as you like, and type a brief introductory message. They will receive the message and also be able to see the profile of the person you are introducing and so be able to choose whether or not to add them.
Clicking on 'Export contacts' will enable you to download all of your contacts to use them in other software or on a mobile device. You can choose to download them as individual vCards inside a Zip file (this is the only option that works with Microsoft Outlook) or download them all in one vCard file.