Guest HelloDave Posted February 25, 2003 Report Posted February 25, 2003 Most of these questions are explained in the readme, but I admit the contacts.js script isn't exactly user friendly! Basically, follow the instructions to export your Outlook contacts to a file called "contacts.csv", run "contacts.js" by double clicking it, or failing that right click it and choose "Open with command prompt", and then copy the new contacts.htm file to your phone. A couple of points that are easy to miss - - Your exported contacts file must be called contacts.csv - contacts.csv and contacts.js must be in the same folder Hope that helps!
Guest sprouts42 Posted February 25, 2003 Report Posted February 25, 2003 Just so you all think I am a complete moron I have one last question. I don't have outlook express and don't particularly want it either, so how do I add contacts to the program? Cheers.
Guest ajb3000 Posted February 25, 2003 Report Posted February 25, 2003 Well for starters its Outlook 2000 you need. However, if you don't have it and don't want to install it, you will need to type all your contacts and phone numbers into the 'contacts.htm' manually, which would be a very labour intensive task. Open contacts.htm with notpad, and look for the following code: Choose A Contact Between: you will need add the following: name here So it will look like: John Smith Just add all you contacts in the same way then save back to the phone.
Guest HelloDave Posted February 26, 2003 Report Posted February 26, 2003 Alternatively, find another program that can export csv files. csv (comma seperated values) is a very generic format - supported by pretty much every spreadsheet on the planet, eg Excel, and even Windows Address book supports it! If you absolutely must type in contacts manually then use a program like Excel. In cell A1 type "First name", in B2 type "Last Name" and in C2 type "Mobile number" and then enter first names in row A, last names in row B and mobile numbers in row C, then save the file as "contacts.csv". If you've been successful your contacts.csv file should look like this - "First Name","Last Name","Mobile Phone" "John","Smith","+4477783123123" "Bob","Builder","+447822888999" etc etc... Note - my script expects mobile numbers to have a +44 in front of them. You can leave fields blank, but any entries with a blank mobile number will (obviously) not get copied to contacts.htm. This method works, but if you're going to do this you may as well enter your contacts into a proper address book while your at it - if not Outlook then use Windows Address Book - it makes updating a lot easier! It baffles me why people buy an SPV and then don't sync it with their PC - that's one of the main features of the phone! Just the sort of thing my mum would do... :)
Guest skuzzlebutt Posted February 26, 2003 Report Posted February 26, 2003 sorry guys im still a bit confuddled. where exactly do i get teh file with the readme text. also is there anyway to access your contacts without opening outlook or having to edit screeds of code cause the retro spv site is well smart and im new to this whole jazz. cheers :)
Guest ajb3000 Posted February 26, 2003 Report Posted February 26, 2003 If you look at the very first post in the thread, there is a download attached. Download that file (its a zip file), in there is the readme along with all installation files needed. If the download doesn't show, refresh the page, for some reason it doesn't always show up.
Guest sprouts42 Posted February 26, 2003 Report Posted February 26, 2003 Alternatively, find another program that can export csv files. csv (comma seperated values) is a very generic format - supported by pretty much every spreadsheet on the planet, eg Excel, and even Windows Address book supports it! If you absolutely must type in contacts manually then use a program like Excel. In cell A1 type "First name", in B2 type "Last Name" and in C2 type "Mobile number" and then enter first names in row A, last names in row B and mobile numbers in row C, then save the file as "contacts.csv". If you've been successful your contacts.csv file should look like this - "First Name","Last Name","Mobile Phone" "John","Smith","+4477783123123" "Bob","Builder","+447822888999" etc etc... Note - my script expects mobile numbers to have a +44 in front of them. You can leave fields blank, but any entries with a blank mobile number will (obviously) not get copied to contacts.htm. This method works, but if you're going to do this you may as well enter your contacts into a proper address book while your at it - if not Outlook then use Windows Address Book - it makes updating a lot easier! It baffles me why people buy an SPV and then don't sync it with their PC - that's one of the main features of the phone! Just the sort of thing my mum would do... :) Cheers both of you ;) I'm not a business user, I have contacts on my phone and thats it, I even have a yahoo account for email so the whole system is a little pointless, so I have no need to set it up. Again thanks for the help.
Guest HelloDave Posted February 26, 2003 Report Posted February 26, 2003 Cheers both of youNo problem :) I'm not a business user, I have contacts on my phone and thats it I'm not a business user, I just find it so much easier to have contacts on my PC; that way I can edit and organise them more easily (and export them to a .csv file :wink:), and if I need a phone number or e-mail address I can just copy it directly from Outlook instead of squinting at my phone! It's very easy to set up too - just install Outlook and ActiveSync does the rest for you!
Guest ajb3000 Posted February 26, 2003 Report Posted February 26, 2003 Nice to know our work is appreciated!! When I first got the phone, I typed all my numbers into Outlook 2000 and then synced it with my phone as it's far easier typing names in on a keyboard than a number pad!! I think it's one of those things were you're dubious before you try it, but love it once you have.
Guest Monolithix [MVP] Posted February 26, 2003 Report Posted February 26, 2003 Well done ajb3000, been busy this past day or two (mostly from telling orange how to fix their phones ;p), so i've only just seen this final release heheh. Nicve work, good to see oyuy fixed the problems you were having earlier. I dropped you a PM btw, get back to me asap :)
Guest The_Brickster Posted February 26, 2003 Report Posted February 26, 2003 Wow, this is a nice piece of software, keep up the good work!
Guest Sp3ctre Posted February 26, 2003 Report Posted February 26, 2003 Not to seem a wet blanket or anything, and I appreciate as much as anybody the hard work you guys have put in to get this working as it is at the moment, however... Why is it free?... This is a question that doesn't seem to have been asked, or rather replied to. The guy who runs Retrophone (sorry, can't remember name) said he is paying for the texts... great.... but surely it can't go on forever, there must be a catch somewhere, or things have to change... or am I just being synical???
Guest ajb3000 Posted February 26, 2003 Report Posted February 26, 2003 if you look in the global announcements section of the board, you'll see RetroFone are advertising to MoDaCo users their hosting packages, and in the post it mentions RetroFone as being the provider of free SMS for the SPV. Therefore I'd say it's a very good and very clever advertising campaign, as they are providing you with free SMS you're more likely to use them to host your site. It's the extra revenue the get that will pay for the SMS. If this is the case they should keep it running for a long time. Note: This is just pure speculation, nothing official just my thoughts.
Guest Moodoo Posted February 26, 2003 Report Posted February 26, 2003 Hope all the numbers that are passed to their server aren't being compiled into some giant spamming database!! :wink:
Guest ajb3000 Posted February 26, 2003 Report Posted February 26, 2003 a quote from Paul in the original thread about RetroFone: "I have seen the source code for their scripts, and it DOES NOT record numbers or anything like that. " I think (hope) we can trust Paul
Guest asif @ planus Posted February 26, 2003 Report Posted February 26, 2003 Hi, We dont collect numbers and there is no conspiracy :) The SMS campaign is purely for branding - It has spread our name far over the internet. We were not expecting such a large response (mainly why we had to suspend service at one point). Around 4000 Messages are being sent at the moment - It's a very hefty amount! The people who have been working on the new app, it is very nice - Thank you for your work. Kind Regards, Asif
Guest JampoTT Posted February 26, 2003 Report Posted February 26, 2003 Have you removed the download link or is it me being thick?
Guest ajb3000 Posted February 26, 2003 Report Posted February 26, 2003 The download link is still there, but for some reason it doesn't always show up and you need to refresh the page. Maybe Paul could look into that? Is it a forum bug?? RetroFone - Do you still plan on keeping this SMS gateway up for a long time?
Guest paulend Posted February 26, 2003 Report Posted February 26, 2003 i havent done the decert yet and have tried to install but get a message saying that the software is not certified. has anyone else installed on a fone with the cert still on?
Guest HelloDave Posted February 26, 2003 Report Posted February 26, 2003 Well done ajb3000 Thanks for the mention Monolithix :wink: Sorry, couldn't resist that! Seriously though, it was ajb's idea, and i'm very grateful to him for having a go at it and writing most of the HTML, readme, putting it all together etc. I only wrote the javascript! (Hate writing documentation... :)). I'm glad everyone likes it - just hope the nice people at RetroFone see it as good advertising for the forseeable future ;)
Guest ajb3000 Posted February 26, 2003 Report Posted February 26, 2003 i havent done the decert yet and have tried to install but get a message saying that the software is not certified. has anyone else installed on a fone with the cert still on? If you look at the FAQ in the ReadMe file it tells you how to manually install the program. If you have any problems with it just let us know and we'll help you out.
Guest HelloDave Posted February 26, 2003 Report Posted February 26, 2003 i havent done the decert yet and have tried to install but get a message saying that the software is not certified. has anyone else installed on a fone with the cert still on? It should install on a certified phone, but you'll need to copy the files accross and create the start menu shortcut manually instead of using the cab installer. I think the instructions are in the readme. [EDIT]Beat me to it ajb! We should do this thread in shifts :wink:
Guest paulend Posted February 26, 2003 Report Posted February 26, 2003 cheers guys, i forgot that it was in the read me! ill try it again now :)
Guest paulend Posted February 26, 2003 Report Posted February 26, 2003 runs sweet! should have realised that it would easily run on certed phone as they are just web pagesu are viewing. really good tho, im hoping that my bill is gonna come down next month! keep up the good work lads!
Guest stillwaiting Posted February 26, 2003 Report Posted February 26, 2003 The download for the zip file isn't showing up for me. Is there anywhere else i could download it from.
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