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Contacts

Your inventory doesn't exist in a vacuum. You buy items from suppliers, sell them to customers, or assign them to team members. The Contacts feature in Maxilist acts as your integrated address book, allowing you to create a directory of these important people and businesses and link them directly to your inventory.

This helps you answer critical questions at a glance, like "Who is the supplier for this item?" or "Which employee has this laptop?"

Step 1: Creating a Contact​

Before you can link a contact to an item, you first need to add them to your main Contacts list.

  1. Navigate to Contacts: From the Home menu in the app, find and tap on Contacts to open the list of contacts.
  2. Add a New Contact: Tap the + icon or the Add button.
  3. Fill in the Details: Enter the relevant information for your contact. You can typically add:
    • Contact Name (e.g., "ACME Supplies Inc." or "John Smith")
    • Address
    • Email
    • Phone Number
    • Notes
  4. Save the Contact: Once you've entered the details, tap Save. Your contact is now stored in your directory and ready to be linked.
tip

You can customize contact fields in the settings.

Step 2: Linking Contacts to Items (Using a Custom Field)​

The real power of this feature comes from linking these contacts to your items. This is done by creating a special type of custom field.

  1. Create a "Contact" Custom Field:

    • Navigate to Settings > Custom Fields.
    • Tap Add New Field.
    • Give your field a descriptive name. This name will become the label on your items, so be specific! Good examples include Supplier, Assigned To, or Customer.
    • From the Field Type dropdown menu, select the Contact type.
    • Tap Save.

  2. Link a Contact to an Item:

    • Now, open any item in your inventory. You will see your new custom field (e.g., Supplier).
    • Tap on the field. Instead of a keyboard, a list of all your saved Contacts will appear.
    • Select the correct contact from the list.
    • The contact's name will now appear on your item's detail screen, creating a direct link. You can usually tap on the contact's name to view their full address and contact details without leaving the item.

Practical Use Cases​

Here's how you can use this feature to streamline your workflow:

  • Tracking Suppliers: Create a Supplier custom field. When a new shipment arrives, link all items to the supplier you bought them from. Now, when you're running low, you know exactly who to call to reorder.

  • Assigning Assets to Employees: Create an Assigned To custom field. When you give a new laptop to an employee, add them as a contact and link them to the laptop's item record. This creates a clear record of who has what.

  • Logging Customer Sales or Rentals: Create a Customer custom field. When you sell a high-value item or rent out a piece of equipment, you can link the transaction to the customer's contact record.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)​

Can I import a list of contacts from my phone or a CSV file?​

At this time, contacts need to be created manually within the Maxilist app. We are exploring options for contact importing in a future update.

What happens to my items if I delete a contact?​

If you delete a contact from your main Contacts list, the link to that contact will be removed from any items. The items themselves will not be deleted, but the field (e.g., Supplier) will become empty.

Can I add more than one contact field to my items?​

Absolutely! You can create as many "Contact" type custom fields as you need. For example, a single item could have both a Supplier field and a Technician field, each linked to a different contact.

Can I search or filter my inventory by contact?​

Yes. Once you've linked a contact, you can use the main search and filter tools to find all items associated with that specific contact. For example, you can easily filter your list to see all tools currently Assigned To a specific employee.