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Phonebook

Open in Nocthink

Module: Settings › Apps · URL: /settings/phonebook · Responsible role: Owner (organization admin) · Also used by: Directors; nobody else can open or save it

Phonebook — Phonebook settings: Default visibility set to "Public: everyone in the organisation", an empty Default tags field and a Save changes button

Screenshot: Rachel Whitman (Executive Director, org owner), Nocthink Demo Institute demo data.

Why I use this page

As Owner I use this page to decide whether contacts people add are shared with the whole organization or kept private by default, and which tags every new contact gets. I set it when we set up the workspace and revisit it when our data policy changes — for example, making contacts private by default after a privacy review, or pre-tagging contacts during a campaign.

What's on the screen

  • Header — Phonebook settings: "What a new contact starts with. People adding a contact can still change each field."
  • Visibility row — Default visibility drop-down: Public: everyone in the organisation or Private: only the person who adds it.
  • Tags row — Default tags text field (placeholder "e.g. partner, newsletter") with the hint "Separate tags with commas. Leave empty for none."
  • Save changes button, with a Saved tick on success or the server error on failure.

How I …

Make new contacts private by default

  1. Open Settings › Apps › Phonebook.
  2. Set Default visibility to Private: only the person who adds it.
  3. Click Save changes.
  4. Open Phonebook › Contacts › New contact to check the visibility field now starts as private.

Pre-fill tags on new contacts

  1. In Default tags, type tags separated by commas, e.g. partner, newsletter.
  2. Click Save changes.
  3. To stop pre-filling, clear the field and save again.

Access & permissions

  • The route requires phonebook.delete, which only the Owner and Directors hold, matching docs/role.md §4.5 (Settings › Apps › Phonebook is Owner-only). Roles with ordinary Phonebook write access (Project Manager, Event Officer, General Affairs, Procurement) cannot open it.
  • Every member can read these values (they are form defaults); saving is checked on the server against the same phonebook.delete permission.

Caveats

  • Defaults apply only when a new contact form opens; existing contacts keep their visibility and tags.
  • The person adding a contact can override both fields, so this is a starting point, not an enforced policy.
  • Default tags is limited to 200 characters.
  • Leaving the page without saving discards changes.

Limitations

  • No setting for organizations, donors or other phonebook records — only new contacts.
  • Cannot bulk-apply a visibility or tag change to existing contacts from here.
  • No list of allowed tags; any text is accepted.