View source for Kontact

{{Short description|Personal information manager software}}
{{confused|Contakt|Contact (disambiguation){{!}}Contact|Kontakt (disambiguation){{!}}Kontakt}}
{{Refimprove|date=February 2009}}
{{Infobox software
| name = KDE Applications
| title = Kontact
| logo = Breezeicons-apps-48-kontact.svg
| screenshot = Kontact-summary.png
| caption = Kontact screenshot
| developer = [[KDE]]
| latest release version = 6.5.0<ref>{{cite web|title=appdata|website=[[GitHub]] |url=https://github.com/KDE/kontact/blob/master/src/data/org.kde.kontact.appdata.xml}}</ref>
| latest release date = {{Start date and age|2025|08|14}}
| latest preview version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q13222324|P348|P548=Q51930650}}
| latest preview date = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q13222324|P348|P548=Q51930650|P577}}
| programming language = [[C++]]
| operating system = [[Unix-like]], [[Microsoft Windows]] (Experimental)
| genre = [[Personal Information Manager]]
| license = [[GPLv2|GNU GPLv2 or later]]<ref>{{cite web |access-date=November 22, 2017 |url=https://cgit.kde.org/kontact.git/tree/src/iconsidepane.cpp |title=license notice placed at the top in one of the source files of the project's repository, probably in each of its source files |quote=This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. |archive-date=December 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213143948/https://cgit.kde.org/kontact.git/tree/src/iconsidepane.cpp |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| website = {{URL|kontact.kde.org/}}
}}
'''Kontact''' is a [[personal information manager]] and [[groupware]] software suite developed by [[KDE]]. It supports calendars, contacts, notes, to-do lists, news, and email. It offers a number of inter-changeable graphical UIs (KMail, KAddressBook, Akregator, etc.) all built on top of a common core.

== Differences between "Kontact" and "KDE PIM" ==
Technically speaking, ''Kontact'' only refers to a small umbrella application that unifies different stand-alone applications under one user interface. ''KDE PIM'' refers to a work group within the larger KDE project that develops the individual applications in a coordinated way.

In popular terms, however, ''Kontact'' often refers to the whole set of ''KDE PIM'' applications. These days many popular [[Linux distribution]]s such as [[Kubuntu]] hide the individual applications and only place ''Kontact'' prominently.

== History ==
{| class="wikitable" align="right"
|- style="background:#efefef;"
! colspan="2" | KDE PIM New Year Meeting
|- style="background:#efefef;"
|- style="background:#efefef;"
!Year
!Date
|-
!2003
|1/3-1/5
|-
!2004
|1/2-1/5
|-
!2005
|1/6-1/9
|-
!2006
|1/6-1/8
|-
!2007<ref>
{{cite news
| title= KDE PIM Annual Meeting Pushes Advanced Design, Enterprise Stability
| url= http://dot.kde.org/2007/01/29/kde-pim-annual-meeting-pushes-advanced-design-enterprise-stability
| author = Will Stephenson
| agency = [[KDE Dot News]]
| publisher = kde.org
| date = 2007-01-29
}}</ref>
|1/12-1/15
|-
!2008<ref>{{cite news
| title = KDE PIM Team Meets to Talk Akonadi and KDE 4.1
| url = http://dot.kde.org/2008/02/21/kde-pim-team-meets-talk-akonadi-and-kde-41
| author = Cornelius Schumacher
| agency = KDE Dot News
| publisher = ked.org
| date = 2008-02-21
| access-date = 2011-04-05
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110527094600/http://dot.kde.org/2008/02/21/kde-pim-team-meets-talk-akonadi-and-kde-41
| archive-date = 2011-05-27
| url-status = dead
}}</ref>
|2/1-2/3
|-
!2009
|1/09-1/11
|-
!2010<ref>
{{cite news
| title= Annual Osnabrück PIM Meeting Brings Exciting Announcements and Ambitious Plans
| url= http://dot.kde.org/2010/01/14/annual-osnabr%C3%BCck-pim-meeting-brings-exciting-announcements-and-ambitious-plans
| author = Stephen Kelly
| agency = KDE Dot News
| publisher = kde.org
| date = 2010-01-14
}}</ref>
|1/8-1/10
|-
!2011<ref>
{{cite news
| title= 9th Annual PIM Meeting Renews Commitment to Innovation
| url= http://dot.kde.org/2011/03/15/9th-annual-pim-meeting-renews-commitment-innovation
| author = Stephen Kelly
| agency = KDE Dot News
| publisher = kde.org
| date = 2011-03-15
}}</ref>
|2/25-2/27
|-
|}
[[File:KDE mascot Konqi for KDE maillist.png|thumb|KDE mascot [[Konqi]] and KDE mail applications]]
The initial groupware container application was written in an afternoon by Matthias Hölzer-Klüpfel and later imported into the KDE source repository and maintained by Daniel Molkentin. This container application is essential for Kontact to operate, but without embedded components it is not useful by itself.

The first embedded components were created by Cornelius Schumacher. He modified the [[KAddressBook]] and [[KOrganizer]] applications to create the initial address book and organizer components. At this stage no mail client component existed, so KDE still lacked a functional integrated groupware application. However, Cornelius' groundbreaking work acted as a prototype for other developers to base their efforts on.

Don Sanders created the missing mail client component by modifying the [[KMail]] application. He then integrated the mail client component with the other components, and the groupware container application, assembled and released the initial Kontact packages, and created the initial Kontact website.

Daniel Molkentin, Cornelius Schumacher and Don Sanders then formed the core Kontact team. The KMail and container application changes were imported into the KDE source repository, and Kontact was released as part of KDE 3.2.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.kde.org/announcements/changelogs/changelog3_1_5to3_2.php |title=KDE 3.1.5 to KDE 3.2.0 Changelog |publisher=kde.org |access-date=20 October 2010}}</ref>

During the construction of the Kontact application suite, the [[Kolab]] groupware server was being worked on by Erfrakon,<ref>[http://erfrakon.de/ Erfrakon.de]</ref> Intevation.net<ref>[http://intevation.net/ Intevation.net]</ref> and Klarälvdalens Datakonsult<ref>[http://www.klaralvdalens-datakonsult.se/ Klaralvdalens-datakonsult.se]</ref>  simultaneously and was completed at approximately the same time. This work was done as part of the Kroupware<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://kroupware.kolab.org/ |title=Kroupware.kolab.org |access-date=2010-08-20 |archive-date=2018-06-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625080618/https://kroupware.kolab.org/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> project that also involved modifying the KMail and KOrganizer applications to enhance them with additional groupware features.

The core Kontact team, the Kolab consortium, and several independent KDE PIM developers then worked together to enhance Kontact by integrating the Kroupware functionality and making Kolab the primary Kontact server.

Additionally, a news component was created from 
the [[Kontact#Usenet news client|KNode]] application by KDE developer [[Zack Rusin]], and Kontact was modified to support an array of mainly web based suites of collaboration software.

== Components ==
Kontact embeds the following
* Summary Page: A summary which shows unread emails, upcoming appointments, and the latest news and weather from the user's subscribed RSS feeds

=== Email{{anchor|E-Mail}} ===
{{Infobox Software
| name = KDE Applications
| title = KMail
| logo = [[File:Breezeicons-apps-48-mail-client.svg|70px]]
| screenshot = [[File:Kontact-kmail.png|250px]]
| caption = KMail using the default layout: the folder list on the left side and the preview pane below the message list (top right)
| latest release version = 6.3.1<ref>{{cite web|title=appdata|website=[[KDE Applications]] |url=https://apps.kde.org/kmail2/}}</ref>
| latest release date = {{Start date|2025|01|09}}
| latest preview version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q260852|P348|P548=Q51930650}}
| latest preview date = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q260852|P348|P548=Q51930650|P577}}
| repo = https://invent.kde.org/pim/kmail
| website = {{URL|https://kontact.kde.org/components/kmail/}}
}}

'''KMail''' supports folders, filtering, viewing [[HTML]] mail, and international character sets. It can handle [[IMAP]],  [[IMAP IDLE]], [[dIMAP]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www-uxsup.csx.cam.ac.uk/pub/doc/suse/suse9.2/suselinux-userguide_en/ch12s03.html | title=SUSE Linux – User Guide Chapter 12. KMail — The KDE Mail Application / 12.3. Access Types | publisher=uxsup.csx.cam.ac.uk | access-date=20 October 2010}}</ref> [[POP3]], and local mailboxes for incoming mail. It can send mail via [[SMTP]] or [[sendmail]] protocols. It can forward HTML mail as an attachment but it cannot forward mail inline.<ref>[[Comparison of e-mail clients]]</ref>

==== Spam and filtering ====
KMail uses two special filters to provide a modular access to spam-filtering programs:
* ''Send this e-mail to a program'' allows any program to be specified, and when that KMail filter is activated, the program will be run and supplied with the contents of the e-mail as its [[standard input]].
* ''Pipe this e-mail through a program'' not only sends the e-mail to a specified program, but replaces the e-mail with the output of that program.  This allows the use of systems such as [[SpamAssassin]] which can add their own headers to a piece of e-mail.
These modular filters can be combined with text filters to detect (for example) e-mail which has been flagged by SpamAssassin by looking for the special headers it added.

KMail allows manual filtering of spam directly on the mail server, a very interesting feature for dial-up users. Emails that exceed some threshold size (standard is 50 kb, but it may be set to any value) are not automatically copied to the local computer. With "get, decide later, delete" options, KMail lists them but does not download the whole message, which allows the deletion of spam and oversized messages without wasting time.

==== Cryptographic support ====
[[Image:KMail Encryption.png|thumb|left|200px|KMail's built-in encryption and PGP signature support]]

KMail supports the [[OpenPGP]] standard and can automatically encrypt, decrypt, sign, and verify signatures of email messages and its attachments via either the inline or OpenPGP/MIME method of signing/encryption.  KMail depends on the [[GnuPG]] software for this functionality.  As a visual aid, KMail will colour verified email messages green for [[Pretty Good Privacy#Web of trust|trusted signatures]]; yellow for untrusted signatures; red for invalid signatures; and blue for encrypted messages.

KMail also supports [[S/MIME]] messages as well as [[Chiasmus (software)|Chiasmus]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bsi.bund.de/ContentBSI/EN/Topics/otherTopics/chiasmus/Chiasmus_en.html |title=Chiasmus™ for Windows/Linux |publisher=Federal Office for Information Security |access-date=20 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722072258/http://www.bsi.bund.de/ContentBSI/EN/Topics/otherTopics/chiasmus/Chiasmus_en.html |archive-date=22 July 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> a proprietary cryptographic system created by the German [[Federal Office for Information Security]] (BSI).
{{clear}}

=== Address book ===
{{Infobox Software
| name                   = KDE Applications
| title                  = KAddressBook
| logo                   = [[File:Breezeicons-apps-48-office-address-book.svg|70px]]
| screenshot             = [[File:Kontact-kaddressbook.png|250px]]
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q3268677|P348|P548=Q2804309}}
| latest release date    = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q3268677|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}
| latest preview version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q3268677|P348|P548=Q51930650}}
| latest preview date    = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q3268677|P348|P548=Q51930650|P577}}
| website                = {{URL|userbase.kde.org/KAddressBook}}
}}

'''KAddressBook''' is an [[address book]] application.

==== Description ====
KAddressBook is a [[graphical user interface|graphical interface]] to organizing the addresses and contact information of family, friends, business partners, etc. It integrates with [[KDE Plasma 5|KDE Plasma]], allowing interoperability with other KDE programs, including the e-mail client [[KMail]] – allowing one-click access to composing an e-mail – and the instant messenger [[Kopete]] – showing the online status of and easy access to instant messaging contacts. It can be synchronized with other software or device using Kitchensync and [[OpenSync]].

A contact may be classified into customizable categories, such as Family, Business, or Customer. Many of the fields can have multiple entries, for example, if the contact has several e-mail addresses. A contact's fields are separated into four tabs and one tab for custom fields.

==== Features ====
* Exports and imports cards to and from [[vCard]] format.
* Uses [[DBUS]] to interface with other applications.
* Interoperable with [[KMail]] and [[Kopete]], as well as Kontact.
* Customize fields and categories.
* Automatic formatting of names.
* Filter ability, to search for addresses.
* Capability to query an [[Lightweight Directory Access Protocol|LDAP]] database containing person information.

{{clear}}

=== Organizer ===
{{Infobox Software
| name                   = KDE Applications
| title                  = KOrganizer
| logo                   = [[File:Breezeicons-apps-48-plan.svg|70px]]
| screenshot             = [[File:Kontact-korganizer.png|250px]]
| caption                = KOrganizer’s Calendar view
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q2533995|P348|P548=Q2804309}}
| latest release date    = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q2533995|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}
| latest preview version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q2533995|P348|P548=Q51930650}}
| latest preview date    = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q2533995|P348|P548=Q51930650|P577}}
| website                = {{URL|https://kontact.kde.org/components/korganizer/}}
}}
'''KOrganizer''' is the [[personal organizer]]. It has the ability to manage calendars, journals, and a to do list.
{{clear}}

=== News feed aggregator ===
{{Infobox Software
 | name                   = KDE Applications
 | title                  = Akregator
 | logo                   = [[File:Breezeicons-apps-48-akregator.svg|70px]]
 | screenshot             = [[File:Kontact-akregator_01.png|250px]]
 | caption                = Akregator running under Plasma 5
 | latest release version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q1765672|P348|P548=Q2804309}}
 | latest release date    = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q1765672|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}
 | latest preview version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q1765672|P348|P548=Q51930650}}
 | latest preview date    = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q1765672|P348|P548=Q51930650|P577}}
 | website                = {{URL|https://apps.kde.org/akregator/}}
}}
'''Akregator''' is a [[feed aggregator]] that supports both the [[RSS]] and [[Atom (standard)|Atom]] specifications. It allows individual feeds to be combined by assignment into user-configured categories, and will aggregate all feeds in a category into a single list of new entries. It also provides an [[incremental search]] feature for the titles of all the entries in its database.

Akregator can be configured to fetch feeds within regular intervals. The user can also manually request to fetch all feeds, individual ones, or those in a selected category. It supports feed icons and embeds [[KHTML]] as an internal, [[tabbed document interface|tabbed]] [[web browser]]. Any external browser can also be called.

Akregator has been part of the [[KDE]] Applications suite since the 3.4 release, and it is distributed with the [[kdepim]] module.
{{Clear}}

=== Usenet news client ===
{{Infobox Software
| name                   = KNode
| logo                   = [[File:KNodeLogo.png|70px]]
| screenshot             = [[Image:KNode.png|200px]]
| caption                = KNode 0.10.4
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q3268229|P348|P548=Q2804309}}
| latest release date    = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q3268229|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}
| latest preview version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q3268229|P348|P548=Q51930650}}
| latest preview date    = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q3268229|P348|P548=Q51930650|P577}}
| website                = {{URL|http://userbase.kde.org/KNode}}
| discontinued           = yes
}}
'''KNode''' is the [[news client]] program for the [[KDE]] [[desktop environment]].

It supports multiple [[Network News Transfer Protocol|NNTP]] servers, message threads, scoring, [[X-Face]] headers (reading and posting), and international character sets.
{{clear}}

=== Personal wiki ===
{{Infobox software
| name                   = KJots
| logo                   = [[Image:Kjots.svg|70px]]
| screenshot             = [[Image:KJots.png|225px]]
| caption                =
| released               = {{Start date|1997}}
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q769065|P348|P548=Q2804309}}
| latest release date    = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q769065|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}
| latest preview version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q769065|P348|P548=Q51930650}}
| latest preview date    = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q769065|P348|P548=Q51930650|P577}}
| website                = {{URL|userbase.kde.org/KJots}}
| discontinued           = yes
}}

'''KJots''' is a simple [[outliner]] [[text editor]] which can be used to create a [[personal wiki]]. It uses a basic [[tree (data structure)|tree structure]] to organize information: it refers to nodes as ‘books’ and leaves as ‘pages’. It includes a book view, which shows a [[table of contents]], and a view mode for all entries.

Similar wiki-style programs are [[Zim (software)|Zim]] (based on [[GTK]] and Python), Wixi (based on [[Python (programming language)|Python]] and GTK), [http://keepnote.org/ KeepNote] (based on Python and GTK), Notecase (based on GTK), BasKet (based on [[Qt (framework)|Qt]]), Gnudiary (also based on Qt), [[Tomboy (software)|Tomboy]] (GTK, based on [[Mono (software)|Mono]]), [[Gnote]] (Tomboy port to [[C++]]) and [[Tiddlywiki]] (self-modifying, single-HTML contained personal wiki, written in [[JavaScript]] and expandable with plugins).  Also [[Treeline outliner|Treeline]], an advanced outliner written in Python and personal database available for [[Linux]] and [[Microsoft Windows]], has similar functions.

{{clear}}

=== Other components ===

{{Infobox software
| name                   = KDE Applications
| title                  = KNotes
| logo                   = [[File:Breezeicons-apps-48-knotes.svg|70px]]
| caption                =
| released               = {{Start date|1997}}
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q3191463|P348|P548=Q2804309}}
| latest release date    = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q3191463|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}
| latest preview version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q3191463|P348|P548=Q51930650}}
| latest preview date    = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q3191463|P348|P548=Q51930650|P577}}
| website                = [https://apps.kde.org/ro/knotes/]

}}

* Notes: [[KNotes]] – KDE Notes Management
* Weather: [[KWeather]]

=== Storage back-end ===
{{Main article|Akonadi}}
Along with the [[KDE Software Compilation 4]] life cycle, Kontact moved to [[Akonadi]] for storing its data, when in the past every Kontact component implemented the storage technologies itself. Akonadi is currently mostly developed by the ''KDE PIM'' team, but its design is done in an agnostic way and thus not depending on KDE technologies.

The first SC 4 release of Kontact was officially shipped with [[KDE 4#KDE 4.1|KDE 4.1]]. That release did not use Akonadi. Since then the Kontact components have been gradually migrating towards Akonadi. The first stable version of KDE PIM using Akonadi was released together with [[KDE 4#KDE SC 4.6|KDE 4.6.4]] in June 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kde.org/announcements/announce-4.6.4.php |title=Kde 4.6.4 publishing announcement |date=10 June 2011 |publisher=kde.org |access-date=16 June 2011}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of personal information managers]]
* [[David Vignoni]], the designer of older icons

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{Commonscat}}
*{{Official website|https://kontact.kde.org/}}

{{KDE}}
{{FreeCollabManageSoftware}}
{{E-mail clients}}
{{Aggregators}}

[[Category:Email clients that use Qt]]
[[Category:Free email software]]
[[Category:Free note-taking software]]
[[Category:Free personal information managers]]
[[Category:Instant messaging clients that use Qt]]
[[Category:KDE Applications]]
[[Category:Enterprise application integration]]
[[Category:Kdepim]]