Category support for Contacts/Tasks/Events/Notes

[ppppppppppp]

1. Relative to N900's built-in PIM:
Is there support for categories for different PIM items?
Support for custom fields?
Sync for categories and custom fields?

2. Relative to existing Maemo PIM apps:
There are a few apps around but all of them seem to be half way there - ugly, unfinished, low functionality, convoluted sync(if any with outlook)
KDE Korganizer was ported but needs new UI - any news on that?
Evolution port never eventuated by the looks of it - any news?

PIM is the deal breaker for me - any proper solutions around??? or planned???

[quipper8]

i Have seen that the calendar app has multiple colors, and the colors can be labeled on a separate screen as to what they pertain, not sure about contacts, but I think you can set them to private so they are not synced(I know not exactly what you are talking about, but that is all I have seen so far)

The 'best' sync is going to be with the PC Suite, second best is going to be the Mail for Exchange app which can do contacts and calendars. Unfortunately their is no support for syncml over http....yet.

There is syncevelotution already on previous version of maemo, but you kind of said convoluted, disparagingly so...

[timsamoff]

Yes and no.

The Calendar supports many "calendars," all color-codable. It can be synced with Google Calendar via Microsoft Exchange Server, but only one calendar is syncable.

Contacts can have all number of custom fields. And, afaik, tey are syncable with other mobile devices. Contacts can also be retrieved from SIM.

I don't know if I answered every question.

Tim

[ppppppppppp]

Last time i checked Nokia NEVER supported categories in their own PIM app databases. Some people at Nokia need to do a few years of pig farm work for this.

Also, last time i checked PC Suite NEVER supported category sync.
Syncevolution has no straight forward way to sync with Outlook or Lotus Notes.

Most important links on the subject (S60 related but also apply to Maemo):
OVI Suite suggestion - http://betalabs.nokia.com/forum/topic/3391

Started in 2005 and still going - http://discussions.europe.nokia.com/discussions/board/message?board.id=pcsuite&thread.id=180&view=by_date_ascending&page=1

Started in 2007 and still going - http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56823&page=1

[ppppppppppp]

timsamoff,

Colour coding is good. Does nothing for category support.
Private/Public flags are good. Do nothing for category support.

Google Calendar is another convolution that is unusable for me because it has no category support.

When you say "have all number of custom fields" what do you imply?
Custom field support means you can create your own fields - e.g. a binary "i'm in a good mood today" field or a text "song of the day" field.
So, is there a field called "Category"???
And, if yes, does that field sync with Outlook/Lotus Notes via PC Suite/Ovi Suite/SyncEvolution/Funambol???

[timsamoff]

Categories can easily be accomplished with multiple calendars, though. Unless you have a need for categories that I'm not thinking of (please educate me!).

Tim

[ysss]

Aye, generally separate calendars are sufficient to group events.

Tags are more often used in tasks and notes.

[ppppppppppp]

timsamoff,
Check my updated post above. Take some time to absorb information within the links i provided. Read through popular time management/life management literature. Spend a couple of years touching and feeling what works for you...

I have 15-20 categories for tasks/contacts/events/notes in use on a constant basis.
How many calendars would i have? Don't forget i need all devices to be in non-complicated sync.

[timsamoff]

I stated what the limitations are. And, I wasn't saying that it would work for you. I just wondered what I was missing.

I'm a GTD sort of guy myself, but I've purposely limited my workflow in order to keep my personal hunt-and-pecking to a minimum. So, now I understand why you're asking -- which is what I asked for. ;)

As for custom fields... Let me clarify. They are available in Contacts, and not in Calendar. And, they aren't really "custom," but there are a LOT of them -- I haven't come across something I wanted to add that wasn't there. But, no, they aren't "custom" in the truest sense of the word.

Tim

[ppppppppppp]

1. So, is there a field called "Category"???
2. If yes, does that field sync with Outlook/Lotus Notes via PC Suite/Ovi Suite/SyncEvolution/Funambol???
3. Also, if yes, is it available only for contacts(no tasks)?

GTD is far not the only thing in time/life management.

I never owned a Nokia phone for this simple reason(no category support).
N900 has a new spin on the picture in a sense that i can install a functionally limited(compared to Pocket Informant) GPE Calendar or KDEPIMPI and have it sync with Outlook through a back-door command line SyncEvolution/Funambol hybrid procedure.
There has to be a better way.

If Korganizer could get a small screen optimized UI along with easy sync to Outlook - there'd be no end to my happiness.
For the moment, Nokia continues to keep me well away from their products...

[timsamoff]

Man, you're getting really steamed about something here and I'm just trying to have a discussion.

Anyway... I know GTD isn't the "only" thing. I was trying to let you know where I was coming from.

Contacts/Calendar should sync with Ovi, but I haven't tried it.

No, there is no "Category" field (afaict). But, there's a Notes field which mighy suffice. Remember, this is for Contacts, not for Calendar.

I hope I answered your questions.

Tim

[ppppppppppp]

timsamoff,

Forgive me if you feel under attack.
All negativity is directed to Nokia and not at anyone else.
I was expecting more of a: "Yeah, we know - Nokia(and google) are clueless idiots in terms of PIM. Here's a fully functional open source PIM for Maemo that you can sync with Outlook in such and such way...."

[ragnar]

The Calendar application supports multiple calendars. I have a local device calendar, the Activesync calendar (from my work Outlook), a birthdays calendar and a private calendar.

There's no categories inside one calendar, however. Do multiple calendars if you want to have that. I think for most people having multiple categories with multiple calendars would be rather overkill.

I don't think we're clueless idiots in terms of PIM, though.

[rpcutts]

Do multiple calendars if you want to have that.

He already stated that multiple calendars wont do the trick.

[PetriS]

He already stated that multiple calendars wont do the trick.

...but we do not know whether multiple calendars like this (http://my-symbian.com/other/grafika/scr101.jpg) would still do the trick, after all. (Multiple calendars aggregated in a single view, color-coded. source (http://my-symbian.com/other/preview_n900.php?page=3))

[ppppppppppp]

PetriS,
There is no way to sync "color codedness" with Outlook...
I use custom views extensively and view filtering is based on category names.

ragnar,
I would gladly take my words back if there weren't any angry unanswered/unresolved threads dating 2005 and further back on the subject(check first page for links).

Multiple calendars are great to separate work from home, hobbies, business and whatever else.
Colors are a visual aid and not a structural separator.
Every proper desktop PIM app has categories and then colors on top to assign to categories. Desktop PIM apps also have folders that can count as multiple calendars.
What is Nokia trying to reinvent???!!!

[ppppppppppp]

Do multiple calendars sync as categories?

Or how do i sync a particular item from Outlook into the correct calendar on N900?

[vvaz]

Truly, the only hope is Maemo6 with official, longterm, stable, Qt commitment with some kind of DRM and commercial apps.

Although I don't understand Nokia reluctance. As you can see from examples on Chande's blog (http://sureshchande.blogspot.com) Nokia has many tricks in PIM area in theirs sleeve - just don't want to give them to the users :/

[range]

Yes and no.

The Calendar supports many "calendars," all color-codable. It can be synced with Google Calendar via Microsoft Exchange Server, but only one calendar is syncable.


Ummm.

So if I have one private calendar, one office calendar, one birthday calendar and one "my open source projects calendar" I have to choose which one of those I want to be syncable so I can also see it on my Laptop?

[noventa98]

Nokia has a nice and flexible contact application on S60 phones, which I use to keep my data updated. As pointed out earlier, there is no "Category" support. This means that all the Categories I have attributed to my contacts in Lotus Organizer are lost on the phone. However they are still on the PC, which is where I would use them when I need them. This is my usecase, though, others may have different needs.

The same categories can be attributed in Lotus Organizer to To Do, Calendar, Notes and Call items.

I am still using Lotus 5.0 (1998 please) which was the best PIM application and could have kept that way if only IBM had made significant updates or made it Open Source.

It is still supported by the Nokia PC Suite and I hope it will continue to be, although I do not see it in OVI, which doesn't augur well for other devices and platforms...

Regards,
Antonio

[quipper8]

pppppppppp, I wonder what phone you are using now that supports all of this that would warrant your negativity towards nokia?

[ppppppppppp]

quipper8,
Pocket Informant is by far the best PIM for mobile devices. It is the closest thing to desktop Outlook. They started off from Windows Mobile but are now supporting BlackBerries and iPhones. iPhone version should be up to scratch by the end of the year.
At the moment I use a WM phone. I have to have a slide-out physical keyboard so iPhones and BBs don't qualify. Android is a little young on the app side.

Nokia is good at cameras and unique at SIP clients.
I would love to switch to Nokia but it doesn't let me because of its' thick wooded skull. I would also love to praise Nokia but it doesn't let me for the same reason.

Nokia's sickly PIM saga is at a stage that is beyond ridiculous.
Adjusted Korganizer or Evolution ports might get there before Nokia does. Until then there's a 2 meter lead wall between Nokia's bank account and my wallet.

[pelago]

I certainly would appreciate categories for Contacts, which doesn't appear to be there, so that I could separate business and personal contacts, for example. Or maybe a tags system, like the interesting one I've seen in the photo browser.

[quipper8]

I think you are going to be tied to Pocket INformant for quite a while as I do not foresee any other PIM app coming close in features. It seems PIM is going in the opposite direction; there is a search for the lowest common denominator of necessary pim fields on now as more and more phone users seek cross platform 'cloud' type syncing.

I think your only hope of getting to use nokia's great hardware is if Pocket Informant comes to Symbian or Maemo.

[sjgadsby]

Post removed.

Please feel free to criticize devices, features, standards, technologies, and whatnot, but at the same time, please refrain from insulting people. Thank you.

[nymajoak]

I would also appreciate syncable categories.

Do the multiple calendars sync or can only one calendar be set up for syncing?

If the latter, maybe one could imagine a solution where different categories where represented as different calendars? I.e. sync like there was only one calendar but put different categories in different calendars.. Would that be possible?

If the former, then one could at least have the option between syncing several calendars without category support OR syncing just one and do the above.

Hope I'm not missing the point...

[ppppppppppp]

quipper8,

Adding custom field support is not difficult and solves all possible problems. Don't want to use them - don't use them. Need them - have as many standard and personalized ones as you want.
Even Windows Mobile doesn't support them and i will never understand why not...
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nymajoak,

Anything to do with categories is impossible in relation to brand name "Nokia"
N900's Calendars can be of three types.
local - syncs (should be called external)
private - stays on device only (should be called internal)
smart - birthdays and other special cases...
There is no way to set things up to sync one set of calendars at work and a different set at home(or one set on one device and a different set on a different device)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ragnar, sjgadsby and anyone else employed by Nokia,

It has been more than a 8 years since Nokia first released their Symbian Communicator. Pre-Symbian Communicators have been around since 1996 - MORE THAN A DECADE of "No Category Support":
http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=pdacomparer&id1=886&id2=879
There are no more excuses. Nokia should be sued to its' bone marrow for such genocide.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Fellow Nokia Employee,

Please, paint a picture (as detailed as you can) of what the hell is going on. Conclude your novel by explaining what it is that you personally are going to do about this.
Adding a field is simply not a big ask. Especially if this ask has been around for more than a decade.

[Soulfarmer]

There are no more excuses. Nokia should be sued to its' bone marrow for such genocide.

Yeah, the way to get things done, sue people. It is not against the law to make less than 100% of people happy. US way of suing people seemingly out of habit is one of the saddest thing I know in North American culture.

[zerojay]

There are no more excuses. Nokia should be sued to its' bone marrow for such genocide.

Wow... I don't think a category field is what you need, friend.

[nymajoak]

I have limited experience with Google Calendar but doesn't it support multiple calendars? Would it be possible to sync those 1-1 with N900's multiple calendars?

That could simulate categories, at least to the extent that I would need (I basically like colour-coding different entries based on their category).

[ppppppppppp]

nymojoak,

- Solution under development for S60: SBSH Calendar <-> Funambol
- Solution under development for Maemo: Use existing Maemo PIM apps that support categories but are limited in functionality and UI optimization. Syncing with Outlook would involve a funny mix of Funambol and SyncEvolution.

As far as 1-1 multiple calendar syncing - I asked a question about how to sync a task/event from Outlook into a particular calendar on N900 which noone answered yet...

To Nokia: Bad things happen when you hire a plumber to fix your ferrari.

[jz2888]

I must add that share the sentiment of ppp.. here. I have a task list which contains well over 100 items they are sorted in categories in my outlook and when I synchronise them with my N95 I end up with big list of 100+ items with no way of sorting them and no way of finding what I want to find withough going through the whole list (extremelly frustrating). I will be upgrading my phone soonn and there is NO WAY I will get Nokia unless this is changed by then. I personally would like to get Nokia, because of the other features but this is a deal breaker for me. I also know several people who share the same concerns. It's such a basic function and yet Nokia makes it such a complicated issue. They are loosing customers over it.

[ppppppppppp]

So where is Nokia at on the subject???

Link to refresh the minds of all Nokia devs from the PIM Team:
http://discussions.europe.nokia.com/discussions/board/message?board.id=pcsuite&thread.id=180&view=by_date_ascending&page=4