hcard-user-interface

2009-01-08T06:15:15Z

AcelcOzell: letoelli

basgetr
<h1> hCard User Interface </h1>
{{TOC-right}}
This page is for techniques and issues surrounding [[user-interface|user-interfaces]] to author, publish, and display [[hcard|hCards]].

== Authors ==
* [http://allinthehead.com/ Drew McLellan]
* [http://tantek.com/ Tantek Ãelik], [http://technorati.com Technorati, Inc]

== Single Input Field for Names ==
When capturing name data that is later to be presented as a hCard, it's important that the data is collected at the highest fidelity possible. As not all names are suitable for hCard's implied-n optimisation (and therefore can't be output as <code>fn</code>, with <code>n</code> omitted), capturing component parts of the name individually enables the proper construction on <code>n</code> when generating the hCard.

Sometimes, however, constraints require a name be collected with a single field. Once such example is common blog CMSs (WordPress, TextPattern) that use a single database field to store the name against each post comment. In such cases it is <em>always</em> desirable to find a way to collect the name with higher fidelity. However, if this simply cannot be done, the implementer could chose to attempt to best-guess the component parts of the name to form a valid <code>n</code>.

One suggested 'best-guess' algorithm might be:

# If the name is one word, attempt [[hcard#Implied_.22nickname.22_Optimization|implied nickname optimization]]
# If the name is two words, attempt [[hcard#Implied_.22n.22_Optimization|implied n optimization]]
# For three or more words
## Perform a lookup against known sub-name combinations (e.g. 'Sarah Jane', 'Vander Wal')
## Apply the grammar "(honorific-prefix) given-name additional-name(s) family-name (honorific-suffix)"

The principal behind this suggestion is that it's better to make a good guess and potentially miscategorise an ambiguous name component than to generate an invalid hCard.

== Additional user interface ==
Some examples of additional user interface for hCard. Note that most of these actions should be applicable to all instances of the microformat on the page at once (e.g. export all contacts), of for a selection of instances (e.g. export selected contacts), or one just one specific instance (e.g. export contact XYZ).

=== address book integration ===
* "Add to Address Book" (convert the hCard to a vCard (.vcf) and pass it onto the OS to automatically open/incorporate into the user's preferred local address book application)
* add to Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail address book (etc.)
=== desktop to phone transfer ===
* send to Bluetooth, for quick transfer of contact info from the web to a cell phone.
* display contact details in an on-screen or downloadable [[semacode]], [[qr_code]] or other [[2d_barcodes]] (to allow them to be read by mobile devices)

=== telephony integration ===
* If a <code>tel</code> (phone number) having type <code>home</code>, <code>work</code> or <code>cell</code> is present, provide options to dial it (NB applies to one number at a time only; except for possible conference-call uses) directly, or via
** built-in modem
** bluetooth command to a paired device (e.g. cell phone)
** default telephony app (e.g. skype-out)
* If a <code>tel</code> (phone number) having type <code>home</code>, <code>work</code> or <code>cell</code> is present, provide options to send MMS:
**directly
**using on-line service
** bluetooth command to a paired device (e.g. cell phone)
=== fax integration ===
* If a <code>tel</code> of type <code>fax</code> is present, provide options to send a fax to it via:
** efax online service
** built-in fax modem
=== birthday planning ===
* If a birth-date is present, treat it as a recurring hCalendar event.
=== address canonicalization ===
* Given a postal code (or other partial address) fetch the full, canonical postal address for the relevant authority's website (e.g. [http://postcode.royalmail.com/portal/rm/postcodefinder]). If no country is defined, used the user's locality as the default.

=== data export ===
* export as text/ [[csv|comma-separated-variables]] (CSV) to allow editing, sorting and/ or import into spreadsheets/ databases, etc. (or concatenate to existing file)

==see also==
{{hcard-related-pages}}

Microformats Wiki - User contributions [en]

hcard-user-interface