Contacts Import

[korey_sed]

The j vs. J issue is an easy fix and will be part of the next build. The other item is strange though.
it would appear that some of your contacts do not have a first name and last name as separate items in Google, but rather only a full name that includes their prefix/title/suffix. This will be harder to fix since we cannot be sure where the last name starts if it comes back as one piece.

we'll update here with further progress.

[korey_sed]

I'm having a different issue with the contacts import - upon import, any contact that shows up in my Google contacts with a middle name, or with a prefix (i.e. "Dr"), shows up in BlackSwan with a doubled first name or prefix. For example, in Google contacts, I have a contact that lists as "John Smith Doe". In BS, this contact shows up as "Doe, John John" (obviously, I have both contact settings in BS at Last, First). Likewise, "Dr John Doe, DDS" shows up as "Doe, DDS, Dr Dr". Further complicating this issue is the fact that it does not alway happen - but does most of the time.

Would it be possible for you to export some of the contacts that are showing this behavior (double first name, Dr., PhD.) and send them to us? (change any personally identifiable information of course, and remove other contacts from the list), but I am having difficulty duplicating this, so I want to see how the contacts look at a field level in google.
I know this is a lot of work for you, and we sure appreciate your help. A couple of examples will do.

[HFTobeason]

I'd be happy to - but I need precise instructions. My Google Voice contacts are synced with my Address Book - do you want me to export from GV Contacts or from AB contacts? Obviously, I'd prefer to email them directly to you - can you PM me with an email address? Thanks.

[korey_sed]

HFTobeason thanks for the export.

I was able to fix some of the issues, and here is how things work now:

• For Dr John Smith, where the Dr is not put in the title field, the name will display as Dr John Smith or Smith, Dr John and will be put in the 'D' section if sorted by first name, not 'J'.
• For a contact that only has a full name, the last word is the last name and the rest is considered as the first name. So John and Jane Smith will be imported as Smith, John and Jane or John and Jane Smith
• For a contact where the Title or the Suffix is not put into the right field (i.e. is part of the name) then the import may not behave as expected but this should get fixed if the contact is Fixed in Google. So for example, John Smith PhD. may get imported as PhD., John Smith since PhD. is the last word.
• We are not importing Title or Suffix at this point.

Hopefully this should address most if not all the issues at this point and the fix should be in the next release

[HFTobeason]

Korey -

Thank you. So, as I understand your reply, the root of the issue lies with my GV contacts not being correctly formatted? As in I don't have things like "Dr" properly assigned to a "Title" field? And likewise, for contacts with a middle name? Can I assume that if I correctly format my contacts within AB, then GV will, once synced, allow BS to work properly?

Hans

[korey_sed]

In theory that is correct. I have not seen any issues with middle names except of the defect that just got fixed (re: double first names). But if you correct things in AB and you still have issues, then that is something we can tackle and resolve hopefully.

Now, given that I have not a Suffix field in Google Contacts, I have to wonder how it handles those behind the scenes, but properly formatted contacts seem to import fine for me right now.

Let see what issues remain after the next build.

[stuart]

What is the email address that you are using with google voice? Did you enter that correctly in the inital settings prompt (or under Settings > Account Info)?

Stuart

[HFTobeason]

New contacts handling is working great for me, thank you.