Database Users

[unresolved] Mass link contacts to facebook

Is there some sort of application that allows me to link contacts to facebook pages from my computer, and then somehow mass updates the contacts on the phone? The link to facebook is just some XML in the contact notes, so in principle this should be possible.

The same question has been asked here yesterday - i can't post the link as there is a restriction from doing so *rubbish* but it's topic id is 636175 and isn't too far down the forum...
Anyways, it apparently works with myphone, but I don't seem the XML that everyone else does for some reason and so my facebook links don't save

wingm4n said:
Is there some sort of application that allows me to link contacts to facebook pages from my computer, and then somehow mass updates the contacts on the phone? The link to facebook is just some XML in the contact notes, so in principle this should be possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when you sync back your contacts after a flash/hard reset, the data to link them to their facebook equivalents should already be there. However, the links won't start to work until you have reassigned your 'me' contact card to your facebook account. When you do that, you should find the facebook links are restored. (not the facenbook app)

i'm afraid that's not what i'm looking for, myphone backs up my contact facebook associations just fine, i'm just looking for a simpler way to create those associations in the first place, preferably through the computer

Sorry if I misunderstand you, but doesn't the people/facebook app pop up and say 'click here to associate your contacts' and most of them are already pre-checked?
Note I'm NOT talking about the one on an individual person's page, but the one on the 'all people' list.
In the two seconds that process takes, 80% of my contacts were covered. The other 20% being people who I have as 'Jon XYZ' but they are 'Jonathan XYZ' on FB (or vice-versa.)
Or are you one of those people who doesn't do first name/last name and is looking for a way to get around that?

that's exactly what i need! it didn't do that with me, is there a way launch that synchronization manually?

I'm... not sure. I'm sure there is but I don't know how.
Just to make sure you're not missing anything obvious:
Go to the People tab
Click All People at the bottom
You're now at the "All" tab within a new screen -- you should see your fb contact as "Me" listed as the second contact -- do you see this 'link your facebook contacts' around here? (If it exists on this screen, it'll be one of the top three contacts.)
If not, use the slider on that same screen to scroll over to 'Updates and Events'. You'll see yourself at the very top here, and I'm almost positive that it was on this screen where it had 'link your contacts.' It wasn't in a menu or anything, it was very prominently displayed as one of the top items.
When/if you can find that screen, it's basically a dumb match that looks for Contacts(First Name,Last Name) = Facebook(First Name,Last Name). I'm not sure if it pairs on email address, but AFAIK it needs the full name to be exactly the same.
HTH.
**This all assumes you entered your facebook credentials when setting up your phone (or from the data sync menu under the settings tab afterwards) - completely separate from any fb app you may have on your phone. I'm pretty sure you have done this since you mentioned the XML in the contacts but just to be absolutely positive.

I've been looking at this problem since you first posted, and the main problem I see is that I can't see a way to un associate the me contact from face book (in order to re associate so that the contact association screen comes up)
dashed annoying!

i see what you mean, i'm going to look for a way to do that

Have you tried Fonebook!
http://www.developingtrends.co.uk/Software/Facebook/Fonebook/Default.aspx
I can do all the sync with facebook and Outlook. Give a look at this!

samsamuel said:
I've been looking at this problem since you first posted, and the main problem I see is that I can't see a way to un associate the me contact from face book (in order to re associate so that the contact association screen comes up)
dashed annoying!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you could momentarily switch off the Facebook connection altogether do accomplish that. It's under "Data services" (on the settings tab).

Robrecht said:
I think you could momentarily switch off the Facebook connection altogether do accomplish that. It's under "Data services" (on the settings tab).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, thanks, that got it, however when i logged back in (through 'me' contact card) it doesnt ask about associations as when you do it the first time. Oh well.

i just found an option do associate the contacts for you! if u scroll to the contacts tab in HTC sense then scroll to updates and events (its the picture of the person with a clock next to their head) i had a button at the tob which said 'Associate contacts: XX new associations found (xx being the number of new associations)' tap this and select the contacts you want to update (by default it selects all) then tap ok. it will create the associations for any contacts that arnt associated. it will also set the default contact picture to the facebook profile. it will make your contacts lag a bit while it downloads the info but after that it runs fine
if it helps im running 1.66 official hd2 rom from HTC, with radio 2.08

mazzarin said:
Or are you one of those people who doesn't do first name/last name and is looking for a way to get around that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to reopen this thread, but I'm one of those people! I would also be interested in finding a way to add/backup my fb associations on the PC as MyPhone does not seem to sync them for me I get the fb id's in the <sn> field but not in the <facebook> ones =/

Contact Issues...

I imported my used activesync with my google (gmail) account to sync up my contacts, calendar and email. The contacts all came through but were showing up as last name, first name. I wanted them to show up as first name, last name so I started looking around. I found the "app" contact changer mentioned on here and then grabbed it off XDA. It went through and said it changed my contacts. I found that they were all changed properly. After time though, not sure if it just when the phones dies or reboots, some of the contacts change back to last name, first again. It seems random which contacts are reverting, but all of the "facebook linked" contacts reverted plus some more random ones. I can go in and run contact changer again, or go in and manually change them but this seems to make the contact changer app useless if I have to run it all the time.
Any thoughts on what is causing this problem? From what I can tell the contacts in my Google contacts list are named properly, with the first name and last name in the proper field.
I am running T-mobile stock rom, and have not ever synced up with outlook on the PC (just using gmail via server on activesync).
Thanks for any help.
UPDATE: I just ran contact changer and then rebooted my phone (actually popped battery out) and the contacts did not revert. I then ran a sync via activesync and the contacts reverted. :-(

even though the way they are displayed is correct the system still manages them last-first, so if you create a new one after running the cab it will default to last first unless you specify differently in the drop down.this may be why they change when you sync fb.
it also helps (if you are using outlook on the pc) to have outlooks defaults changed to first-last.

Thanks for the tip. I am trying to avoid hooking up to the PC with outlook but I may end up having to. The contacts that are reverting are not new ones. Also it is not only the FB contacts that are reverting back, there are some other random ones that are doing it as well. Very strange. I am guessing it is just a normal WM quirk that I will have to find a workaround.

NickPDX said:
Thanks for the tip. I am trying to avoid hooking up to the PC with outlook but I may end up having to. The contacts that are reverting are not new ones. Also it is not only the FB contacts that are reverting back, there are some other random ones that are doing it as well. Very strange. I am guessing it is just a normal WM quirk that I will have to find a workaround.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you do have access to outlook on a pc, i can HIGHLY recommend it as your main method of contact/calendar backup/restore.
I've been using it as my phone backup for years, and it cuts both ways, , , pc goes down? all your outlook contacts gone? no worries! theyre on your phone! Phone goes down? no worris, theyre on the pc!. hehe.
plus with outlook it saves every single field, so your facebook links and favourite poeple is saved, (yes i know that also happens on myphone and whatever, but how often are those services down? )

Exchange/Outlook issues (email, tasks and calendar)

Ok, I've managed to get my 4 day old HD2 up and running pretty much how I'd like it to be (with a lot of thanks to the Cookie Monster for CHT), which means the Sense UI and everything "front of house" is looking good. However, behind the scenes, things like Exchange (IMO) are nowhere near as well integrated as could be. Here are my issues:
- Inbox is the only folder that shows any emails whatsoever - if I go into any subfolder and do a Menu > Send/Receive > I still don't get any mails appear - WTF?
- Even my Sent Items remains empty!
- Task and calendar reminder appears on-screen = great, but I can only snooze for something like 5 minutes - how can I change this?
- When a task reminder appears on the screen and I click it, all I get is a blank task, i.e. absolutely no info whatsoever. Which means I have to unlock the phone and go into tasks (currently something like 200+) and find the task that appeared, then go in a check out the notes, etc. How rubbish is this? Even on my Tytn II I could check reminders instantly.
- If someone calls/texts/emails and I want to add them to my contacts, they seem to go automatically into Exchange - this isn't good because if they're a friend then I want to keep their details separate - how is this possible?
- Folders appear to show emails from only the last 14 days or so - surely I can change this to 30 days or whatever? No ... ?
- Having come from Android, I'm used to having all my personal contacts in Googlemail - if I export this as a CSV and import into Outlook, will these contacts get lumped in with my Exchange contacts or will they remain "local" to Outlook? I'm hoping the latter because I DEFINITELY want to keep my personal contacts separate.
Bear with me - this is not a rant. I've dabbled with WinMo and Android in the last 2.5 years and the HD2 has the slickest front-end of any phone I've seen (now that I've got it running properly (excluding the faulty speaker which doesn't play any sound/ringing whatsoever - so it's going back for a return)). However, the backend of things like Exchange/Outlook integration seems particularly poor - especially for a Windows device. And this is holding me back from committing to the phone. IAW, I could spend all day playing with the Sense UI (CHT) but ultimately I need the device to serve me as a business tool, and it's just not happening.
Does anyone else have similar issues? How have you got round them?
TIA
SC
EDIT: Another issue with tasks = the options to sort them make it pretty impossible to manage them. I have about 50-75 reminders most of the time and in Outlook I won't use Start Date/Due Date for many of them beecause I'm be updating them all the time - which means I rely on reminders, and therefore sort them by reminder time. But the HD2 doesn't allow this, which means managing tasks - even just having a flip through to see what needs to be done over the next day or so - is unfeasible unless you spend ages updating your Start Dates or Due Dates. Even my Tytn II allowed me to manage them properly.

- Inbox is the only folder that shows any emails whatsoever - if I go into any subfolder and do a Menu > Send/Receive > I still don't get any mails appear - WTF? – Menu – Tools – Managed Folders – Click the ones you want to sync...
- Even my Sent Items remains empty! Tick it!
- Task and calendar reminder appears on-screen = great, but I can only snooze for something like 5 minutes - how can I change this? I don’t use exchange so I’m stuck on this one.
- When a task reminder appears on the screen and I click it, all I get is a blank task, i.e. absolutely no info whatsoever. Which means I have to unlock the phone and go into tasks (currently something like 200+) and find the task that appeared, then go in a check out the notes, etc. How rubbish is this? Even on my Tytn II I could check reminders instantly. Have you tried S2U2 – you can access the task from the lock screen and go directly to them – may not be the perfect solution.
- If someone calls/texts/emails and I want to add them to my contacts, they seem to go automatically into Exchange - this isn't good because if they're a friend then I want to keep their details separate - how is this possible?
- Folders appear to show emails from only the last 14 days or so - surely I can change this to 30 days or whatever? No ... ? The only way I can think of - at the moment – is through activesync – there is an option in the mail setting to the time for the sync’d mails.
- Having come from Android, I'm used to having all my personal contacts in Googlemail - if I export this as a CSV and import into Outlook, will these contacts get lumped in with my Exchange contacts or will they remain "local" to Outlook? I'm hoping the latter because I DEFINITELY want to keep my personal contacts separate. – From my dealings there is only one contact file – and you can only sync to the main contact file in outlook. I removed all of my business contact into a new folder in outlook – now they aren’t on the phone. If you want both I could only suggest using the categories. But even then you will get a very long list of all contacts. Not sure how else you could deal with this using the standard software.
Limited Help Sorry! But I hope some

Thanks for the tips Neville.
I didn't even see the Tools option for managing folders - everything is now sync'ing very nicely
Had a look at S2U2 but like you say, this isn't an ideal fix. I'm really looking for a better task manager - and at least one that lets me launch task info when the reminder alarm goes off. Is that too much to ask Mr WinMo/HTC?
Can't get Activesync to do anything other than sync 14 days or so. Ar5e, but not the end of the world.
I don't mind work and personal blended together in a single contact list - what I need to be sure of is that my personal contacts are not being dumped into my (Exchange?) works contacts. Like I say, Android managed this perfectly with Exchange and Googlemail, but WM doesn't seem quite so accommodating.
Cheers
SC

Neville.Holland said:
- Task and calendar reminder appears on-screen = great, but I can only snooze for something like 5 minutes - how can I change this? I don’t use exchange so I’m stuck on this one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you go into the options for the calendar there is an option for the default snooze time. Also you can set the reminder time on an individual basis when the entry is created.
Neville.Holland said:
- If someone calls/texts/emails and I want to add them to my contacts, they seem to go automatically into Exchange - this isn't good because if they're a friend then I want to keep their details separate - how is this possible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not. simple as that. In the first thread you started before you even got the phone i did tell you this. I really don't like it when people don't pay attention!
Neville.Holland said:
- Folders appear to show emails from only the last 14 days or so - surely I can change this to 30 days or whatever? No ... ? The only way I can think of - at the moment – is through activesync – there is an option in the mail setting to the time for the sync’d mails.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on your version of exchange. If it's 2003 it's hard coded to 7 days and can not be changed. IIRC, in exchange 2007 and exchange 2010 this can be changed. Ask you IT department to have a look at it.
Neville.Holland said:
- Having come from Android, I'm used to having all my personal contacts in Googlemail - if I export this as a CSV and import into Outlook, will these contacts get lumped in with my Exchange contacts or will they remain "local" to Outlook? I'm hoping the latter because I DEFINITELY want to keep my personal contacts separate. – From my dealings there is only one contact file – and you can only sync to the main contact file in outlook. I removed all of my business contact into a new folder in outlook – now they aren’t on the phone. If you want both I could only suggest using the categories. But even then you will get a very long list of all contacts. Not sure how else you could deal with this using the standard software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on how outlook is configured on the PC. If you have a profile for exchange and a profile for everything else or simply multiple mailboxes in the same profile you can create the divison there but you can only sync one mailbox over the air and this is always the defualt exchange mailbox.
EDIT: Another issue with tasks = the options to sort them make it pretty impossible to manage them. I have about 50-75 reminders most of the time and in Outlook I won't use Start Date/Due Date for many of them beecause I'm be updating them all the time - which means I rely on reminders, and therefore sort them by reminder time. But the HD2 doesn't allow this, which means managing tasks - even just having a flip through to see what needs to be done over the next day or so - is unfeasible unless you spend ages updating your Start Dates or Due Dates. Even my Tytn II allowed me to manage them properly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just set the start date for the day the job was created and really long due dates then set up a reminder for every 6 hours or something.
You do have a really large number of on going jobs and you really should be managing them better when they are created. I'm not defending WM6.5 here but it's not entirely a software issue, imo.

[Q] New HD2 Owner with questions

I just picked up my new (T-mobile) HTC HD2, replacing my iPhone.
As nice as it is the HD2 seems far more complicated to use than the old iPhone.
I have 3 major issues I'm trying to fix and hope someone with more experience can advice me.
1-When making or recieving calls, I find it really hard to hear clearly. I'm not hard of hearing but the speaker seems way under powered. In a slightly noisey environment I have to switch to speaker to hear the caller !!
2-For some crazy reason I can only set 3 alarms, which is driving me mad. I have to keep my old iphone next to my bed to use it's alarms ( I work varied shift times )
3-After finally rearranging all my contacts to HDC happy ( no way of multiple, first name first changes ) I want to import all the birthdays into the calander. Is this possible ? In addition, I have linked many of my contacts to facebook, but the pictures randomly dissappear and I have to add them again. Can I save the complete address book so I can simply reload instead of having to update every picture when they dissappear next time ?
Any suggestions are warmly recieved.

there's an app out there that will add all the birthdays to the calendar. alternatively, if you sync your phone with Outlook on your PC it will add them to the calendar as well.

To answer your first problem, have you increased the call volumne to the maximum whilst on a call with someone? Just hit the volume rocker UP to do so.
And the second, WinMo only natively supports 3 alarms, but there are many programs out there that allow an unlimited ammount. Search the web for "Windows Mobile Alarm Programs" and you should find what you need. I would recommend bookmarking Http://www.pocketpcfreeware.com as well as http://www.freewarepocketpc.com. They have LOADS of useful programs for WinMo, and, as their names suggest, its all freeware stuff.
And three, like xnifex said, there are programs available on the net to sync birthdays and such, or you can use Outlook. Both will require you to manually enter the birthdays in the first time on your device, so you may just have to bite the bullet on this one and spend a half hour entering data. Good thing the keyboard is bigger than the iPhone eh?

Thanks for the advice.
1- Call volume. When I set the phone volume to max in the settings I assumed this ment call volume, however now I realize I have to use the volume control actually during a call to change the volume. Problem fixed
2- Only 3 alarms. Kinda solved. I have installed a great app G-Alarm. Nice simple and well programmed. However It's still sad that I have the alarm logo under the time (desktop) that is useless. Can this icon be linked to my new alarm clock app instead of the standard one ?
3- Calander linking to address book. Yet to download an app for this, but I'm sure it'll be easy to find.
Slowly getting the hang of WM 6.5, still many other teathing problems though.
Thanks again for your help
3-

Can this icon be linked to my new alarm clock app instead of the standard one ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cookies home tab mod will alter your life, and allow you to remap the various home screen sections to whatever program you want. Dont forget to get the CHTEditor too.

As samsamuel says if you want to keep the phone stock you should go with CHT...otherwise find a custom rom that fill your needs...or an android build....

Great tip, thanks for that Sam. Starting to get my HD2 the way I want it.

ARRRRRRRRRRRR
After spending several hours manually changing the first name first (No automatic ordering option).
I finally got it to sync and backup all my contacts to gmail. I added a few new pics, using my PC, then after updating I synced again. Only to find the whole name ordering has gone back to what it was before.
Now, randomly I get first name first and randomly last name first. Do I seriously have to spend another few hours editing each contact only to find next time I sync it will **** it all up again for me ?

If your contacts are messed up I find easier to export as a CSV and then edit everthing in Excel. You can use this for adding mass changes and also to put in multiple calendar reminders. Then when done import it back into Outlook.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

perrygraf said:
ARRRRRRRRRRRR
After spending several hours manually changing the first name first (No automatic ordering option).
I finally got it to sync and backup all my contacts to gmail. I added a few new pics, using my PC, then after updating I synced again. Only to find the whole name ordering has gone back to what it was before.
Now, randomly I get first name first and randomly last name first. Do I seriously have to spend another few hours editing each contact only to find next time I sync it will **** it all up again for me ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I spent 3 months learning how to tweak and setup my leo, very frustrating yet necessary process.
Now my system is fully customized to my liking.
Hang in there, it's worth the hassle!

perrygraf said:
ARRRRRRRRRRRR
After spending several hours manually changing the first name first (No automatic ordering option).
I finally got it to sync and backup all my contacts to gmail. I added a few new pics, using my PC, then after updating I synced again. Only to find the whole name ordering has gone back to what it was before.
Now, randomly I get first name first and randomly last name first. Do I seriously have to spend another few hours editing each contact only to find next time I sync it will **** it all up again for me ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
look for contact changer (its in the marketplace i think,) and make sure that your sync options are set to update in both directions.

I'm sure you're right Sam, but right now it's hours after painful hours of trying to get an out of the box product to work. I loved the apps you suggested, they certainly made it more flexible. Thanks for helping me sort alot of problems.
What I don't understand is why only some of the contacts have changed back to last name first. When I view the contacts they all show the correct first name and surname.
And 1 more thing. I managed to link my contacts birthdays into gmail calendar but it does not update my phones calendar when I sync.

perrygraf said:
What I don't understand is why only some of the contacts have changed back to last name first. When I view the contacts they all show the correct first name and surname.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its probably something like both the first and last both being in the same field, both in the first name, perhaps.
And 1 more thing. I managed to link my contacts birthdays into gmail calendar but it does not update my phones calendar when I sync.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could try Manila Birthdays which will read your contacts birthdays, and allow you to enter them into your calendar. I have read of birthdays being an issue, but mine are already there through outlook, so i never had to solve it.

Thanks again Sam. Manila Birthdays, wicked app, love it.
I've also been playing with an app called mobiwee (http://www.mobiwee.com/), a great phone tracking and wireless file manager app
Worth a look if you're interested.
Cheers again Sam

Android Screws Up Outlook Contacts

Hope someone can help here.
Why does Android constantly resort my Outlook contact list? I spent hours fixing the data to sort by last name / first name, and now I see that the sort order has changed again, and what's worse, it's not even consistent. Some contacts are still Lname/Fname, others are Fname/Lname.
Also, I have found duplicate birthday and anniversary entries in my Outlook calendar (two, three, up to five entries), but the problem is that they're wrong. For example, I have my parents anniversary on two different dates with two entries for each date.
What the F is going on here? It's making me nuts, and is almost enough for me to want to go back to Windows Mobile.

Nobody else is experiencing this?
In fact, I just tried another experiment that failed. I added a phone number on my handset that synchronized to my desktop, then later added an address to the contact, but that address data did not synchronize back to the phone.
My experience thus far with Android and/or HTC synch is that it sucks for this sort of thing, and WM was much better. However I won't rule out that I'm doing something wrong. What's up?

Don't know if it is the same problem, but some German users had problems when syncing with Outlook. After a sync the display name was not correct (always firstname, lastname). So I wrote a small app that converts all contacts to "lastname, firstname".
You can have a look here (use at your own risk!):
http://fun2code.de/download.html#displaynames

BillTheCat said:
Hope someone can help here.
Why does Android constantly resort my Outlook contact list? I spent hours fixing the data to sort by last name / first name, and now I see that the sort order has changed again, and what's worse, it's not even consistent. Some contacts are still Lname/Fname, others are Fname/Lname.
Also, I have found duplicate birthday and anniversary entries in my Outlook calendar (two, three, up to five entries), but the problem is that they're wrong. For example, I have my parents anniversary on two different dates with two entries for each date.
What the F is going on here? It's making me nuts, and is almost enough for me to want to go back to Windows Mobile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I experienced the same issue too when i had my HD2 running Nandroid and i have to manually delete those wrong entries created by Android. However, I am not sure what caused the wrong entries, especially the birthday field. I also experienced multiple duplications of the same contact with slightly different contact names and i assumed that it could be due to my syncing with outlook exchange and desktop syncing using HTC sync. Have now gone back to Winmo.