Contacts and Smart Lists
Managing Company Contacts and Smart Lists in Base
Context:
In port operations and project-based businesses, maintaining accurate contact information for your clients, vendors, and partners is essential for smooth operations. Base helps you manage company contacts efficiently and provides smart lists (saved filters) to quickly find and organize contacts based on your specific criteria. Whether you're looking for all contacts at a specific company, contacts by email domain, or contacts with certain custom field values, smart lists make it easy to access the information you need.
Organizing Your Contact Information
The Challenge:
As your business grows, you accumulate contacts across multiple companies—primary contacts for invoicing, project managers, technical contacts, billing contacts, and more. Without a system to organize and filter these contacts, finding the right person when you need them becomes time-consuming. You might need to find all contacts at a specific company, all contacts with a certain role, or contacts who haven't been reached out to recently.
Base's Solution:
Base provides a comprehensive contact management system where each company can have multiple contacts, each with their own email, phone number, and custom field values. Smart lists (saved filters) allow you to create reusable filter configurations that instantly show you the contacts matching your criteria. These smart lists can be saved, shared with your team, and even set as quick filters for one-click access.
Understanding Company Contacts
What are Company Contacts?
Company contacts are individuals associated with companies in your Base system. Each contact belongs to a specific company and contains:
Name: First name and last name
Email: Contact email address
Phone: Phone number (with country code, area code, and number)
Company: The company they're associated with
Custom Fields: Any custom fields you've configured for contacts
Contact Use Cases:
Contacts are used throughout Base for:
Invoice Recipients: Select which contact receives invoices
Purchase Order Recipients: Choose contacts for PO notifications
Quote Recipients: Send quotes to specific contacts
Email Matching: Base automatically matches inbound emails to contacts
Communication: Track who you're communicating with at each company
Step-by-Step Guide: Managing Contacts
1. Accessing Company Contacts:
Navigate to the Companies section in Base.
Click on a company name to open the company details.
Find the Contacts tab or section within the company view.
You'll see a table listing all contacts for that company.
2. Adding a New Contact:
Click the "Add Contact" or "New Contact" button in the contacts table.
Fill in the contact form:
- First Name: Required
- Last Name: Required
- Email: Optional but recommended for email matching
- Phone: Optional (includes country code, area code, and number fields)
- Custom Fields: Any custom fields you've configured
Click "Save" or "Create Contact" to add the contact.
3. Editing a Contact:
Find the contact in the contacts table.
Click the Edit button (pencil icon) next to the contact.
Update any fields as needed.
Click "Save Changes" to update the contact.
4. Archiving a Contact:
Find the contact you want to archive.
Click the Archive or Delete button.
Confirm the action.
The contact will be archived (hidden from active views but preserved in your records).
Understanding Smart Lists (Saved Filters)
What are Smart Lists?
Smart lists are saved filter configurations that allow you to quickly view contacts (or any records) matching specific criteria. Instead of manually applying the same filters every time, you can save them as smart lists and access them with one click.
Smart List Features:
Reusable Filters: Save complex filter combinations for instant access
Quick Filters: Display smart lists as buttons in the table header for one-click filtering
Shared Lists: Share smart lists with your team (private, members, admins, or organization-wide)
Default Filters: Set a smart list to automatically apply when the table loads
Color Coding: Assign colors to quick filter buttons for visual organization
Common Smart List Use Cases:
By Company:
"All Acme Corp Contacts"
"Vendor Contacts"
"Client Contacts"
By Contact Information:
"Contacts with Email"
"Contacts Missing Phone Numbers"
"Contacts by Email Domain"
By Custom Fields:
"Primary Billing Contacts"
"Project Managers"
"Technical Contacts"
Step-by-Step Guide: Creating Smart Lists
1. Apply Your Filters:
Navigate to the Contacts table (or any table in Base).
Click the Filter button to open the filter modal.
Build your filter criteria:
- Select a field (e.g., "Company", "Email", "Custom Field")
- Choose an operator (equals, contains, is empty, etc.)
- Enter the value
- Add multiple filter conditions as needed
Click "Apply Filters" to see your filtered results.
2. Save as Smart List:
With your filters applied, click the "Save Filter" or "Save as Smart List" button.
In the save dialog, enter:
- Name: A descriptive name for your smart list (e.g., "Primary Billing Contacts")
- Description: Optional description of what this filter shows
- Visibility: Who can see this smart list:
- Private: Only you
- Members: All members and above
- Admins: Admins and owners only
- Organization: Everyone in your organization
Click "Save" to create the smart list.
3. Using Quick Filters:
To display a smart list as a quick filter button:
- Edit the smart list
- Toggle "Show as Quick Filter" on
- Optionally assign a Color to the button
- Set the Sort Order to control button placement
The smart list will appear as a button in the table header for one-click access.
4. Setting Default Filters:
To automatically apply a smart list when the table loads:
- Edit the smart list
- Toggle "Set as Default" on
The filter will automatically apply whenever you open the Contacts table.
Advanced Smart List Features
Nested Filter Groups:
Smart lists support complex filtering with nested groups:
AND Groups: All conditions in the group must be true
OR Groups: Any condition in the group can be true
Nested Groups: Combine AND and OR groups for sophisticated filtering
Example:
(Company = "Acme Corp" OR Company = "Beta Inc")AND(Email contains "@acme.com" OR Role = "Billing Contact")
Filtering by Custom Fields:
You can create smart lists based on custom field values:
Single Select Fields: Filter by specific option values
Multi-Select Fields: Filter by any of the selected values
Text Fields: Filter by text content
Number Fields: Filter by numeric ranges
Date Fields: Filter by date ranges
Sharing Smart Lists:
Private Smart Lists: Only you can see and use them
Team Smart Lists: Share with members, admins, or the entire organization
Quick Access: Team members can use shared smart lists just like their own
Best Practices
Contact Management:
Keep Contacts Current: Regularly update contact information as it changes
Use Email Addresses: Always include email addresses for automatic email matching
Standardize Phone Numbers: Use consistent phone number formatting
Leverage Custom Fields: Add custom fields for roles, departments, or other relevant information
Smart List Organization:
Descriptive Names: Use clear, descriptive names that indicate what the filter shows
Logical Grouping: Organize smart lists by purpose (billing, project management, etc.)
Regular Review: Periodically review and update smart lists to ensure they're still relevant
Team Collaboration: Share commonly used smart lists with your team
Workflow Integration:
Default Filters: Set your most-used smart list as the default for instant access
Quick Filters: Use quick filter buttons for frequently accessed filtered views
Export Filtered Data: Export contacts from smart lists for reporting or external use
Integration with Other Base Features
Email Matching:
Base automatically matches inbound emails to contacts:
When an email arrives, Base checks if the sender's email matches a contact
If matched, the email is associated with that contact and their company
This enables automatic email threading and contact recognition
Invoice and Document Recipients:
When creating invoices, quotes, or purchase orders:
Select contacts from the company's contact list
Base uses contact email addresses for document delivery
Contact information appears on generated documents
Custom Fields:
Add custom fields to contacts for additional information
Use custom field values in smart list filters
Track contact-specific data like roles, departments, or preferences
Troubleshooting
Contact Not Appearing:
If a contact isn't showing up:
Check Archive Status: Ensure the contact isn't archived
Verify Company Association: Confirm the contact is associated with the correct company
Check Filters: Make sure no active filters are excluding the contact
Smart List Not Working:
If a smart list isn't showing expected results:
Review Filter Criteria: Check that filter conditions are correct
Verify Field Values: Ensure the data matches your filter criteria
Check Visibility Settings: Confirm the smart list visibility allows you to see it
Test Filters Manually: Recreate the filters manually to verify they work
Email Matching Issues:
If emails aren't matching to contacts:
Verify Email Format: Ensure contact email addresses are correctly formatted
Check Case Sensitivity: Base matches emails case-insensitively, but verify the address is correct
Review Contact Status: Archived contacts may not match emails
Related Features
Managing contacts and smart lists works with several other Base features:
Create Companies You Do Business With: Learn how to create companies that contacts belong to
How to Create and Manage Custom Fields: Understand how to add custom fields to contacts
How to Create an Invoice: See how to select contacts as invoice recipients
How to Filter, Search, and Export a Table: Learn more about filtering and exporting data
Summary
Company contacts and smart lists in Base provide powerful tools for organizing and accessing your contact information. By maintaining accurate contact records, creating smart lists for common filtering needs, and leveraging quick filters for instant access, you can streamline your workflow and ensure you always have the right contact information at your fingertips. Smart lists save time by eliminating the need to recreate complex filters repeatedly, and sharing them with your team ensures everyone has access to the same organized views.
If you have questions about managing contacts or creating smart lists, our support team is ready to help.