View/edit the categories of a contact

[AdamPS]

I have a feature request please.

1. When viewing a contact, I would like to see the categories.
2. When editing a contact, I would like to be able to edit the categories.

Together with #93, this would make categories actually usable in Thunderbird😃.

There is a feature request in Thunderbird, but it doesn't show much activity.

[jaybestnz]

What I have been looking at to help with this, are some options.

1. There is a CardDAV to Google Contacts editor (Google Contacts uses vCard / CardDAV protocol), which has the field for Categories. This is the API that can connect to Google Contacts and then update fields.
   There is no place that I can see for adding categories within Thunderbird, or Google Contacts.

https://developers.google.com/people/carddav

2. The second option, could be to use a separate contact program, which can use and set the CardDAV categories, then synch to Google Contacts, which then updates to Thunderbird.

Several apps and tools enable editing VCard categories and synchronizing them with Google Contacts using CardDAV or other protocols. Apps like DAVx5, ContactSync, and PeopleSync CardDAV Client support this functionality. Additionally, you can use Apple's CardDAV settings on macOS and iOS to sync contacts with Google, as Google supports CardDAV for syncing.
Here's a breakdown of options:
Apps and Tools:

DAVx5:
This app is a popular choice for synchronizing contacts and calendars using CalDAV and CardDAV on Android, allowing you to manage contacts and groups directly from your phone and sync them with Google.

ContactSync:
This app supports various protocols, including CardDAV, FTP, and WebDAV, allowing you to sync your contacts with Google Contacts and manage them with different methods.

PeopleSync CardDAV Client:
This app provides a client for syncing contacts using the CardDAV protocol, making it easy to manage your Google Contacts.

Apple's CardDAV Settings (macOS/iOS):
Google supports syncing contacts with iOS devices via CardDAV. You can set this up in your iOS device's settings to sync with your Google account.
CaldavSynchronizer (Outlook):

For users who use Outlook, CaldavSynchronizer can help sync Outlook contacts with Google Contacts via CalDAV.

Important Considerations:
Categories vs. Groups:
Android's built-in contact app might not fully support vCard's CATEGORIES feature. However, you can often create groups within your Google Contacts and assign contacts to those groups, which provides a similar functionality.

CardDAV Protocol:
CardDAV is a protocol that allows you to synchronize your contacts with a server, like Google's, and access them from various devices.

Google's CardDAV Support:
Google supports CardDAV for syncing contacts, allowing you to easily manage and sync your contacts between your device and

Google Contacts.
Third-party Apps:
Many apps offer a more feature-rich experience for managing and syncing your contacts, particularly for platforms like Android.
By using these apps and tools, you can effectively edit categories (or create equivalent groups) for your VCards and sync them with your Google Contacts via CardDAV or other supported protocols, ensuring your contacts are always up-to-date across your devices.

Other comments
It seems that vCard format is compatible with CardDAV, in which case I do wonder if vCard (much older protocol) has some settings for categories.

I am using Gmail searches, to then apply various email tags, then using "CollectAddresses" Thunderbird Extension to extract ALL emails from a folder (eg a Gmail Label) in Thunderbird, which then creates a separate address book for that specific Label. (eg I may select the Social or Updates tab in Gmail, select all, then select all on Gmail, move them to Archive, but add a "Updates" Label, so that I can see those emails, and then extract the email addresses and names for that category, or even a search term.

This is a link to a convo about how CardDAV works / protocols
https://github.com/mstilkerich/rcmcarddav/blob/master/doc/GROUPS.md

Link to Google API link on how to update Google Contact data via the Google Contacts API to update the CardDAV settings directly.
https://developers.google.com/people/carddav

This links to the Mozilla bug . feature request to be able to edit categories from within Thunderbird, it also links to a number of articles / protocol specs on how the CardDAV structure works

http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1764184

[AdamPS]

Many thanks for such as detailed answer. These are some good workarounds, but still it would be great to do it directly in Thunderbird.

Personally I use NextCloud to store my contacts, so I use this variation: I update the contact on my Android phone, sync to my NextCloud account using DAVx5 app, and then it syncs back to TB.

The CardBook add-on does work in Thunderbird, but it creates a totally separate address book, which is not desired for everyone.