The redhen_contact module provides the central RedHen Contact entity.
User Interface:redhen/contact
Configuration:admin/structure/redhen/contact_types
Record Types
Like a Drupal Content node, the entity's structure is largely defined by the site builder. You must create at least one Contact Record Type (or "Entity Bundle" in Drupal-speak) before you can create any Contact records ("Nodes" in Drupal). For most use cases, creating a single Contact Record Type is recommended -- you can always distinguish varieties of contacts using a custom field.
All Contact Types start with two basic data fields: the Contact Name and the multi-value RedHen Email field (see Fields). RedHen will enforce uniqueness on your system amongst RedHen Contact Email addresses. Contact Types have some more complex fields baked in as well, some of which only appear if you have particular modules enabled:
- user: If you are connecting RedHen Contacts to Drupal Users, this is the field that connects them.
- state: This can be either "Active" or "Archived". Archived is an alternative to deletion which keeps the contact's data around but is otherwise the same as deleting them -- any associated access is disabled and they stop appearing in reports, but the Contact's information can still be viewed in the RedHen user interface.
- engagement score: If you are using the engagement module, this is the field that aggregates the Contact's engagement score.
Any other data points that you would like to track can be added to your Contact Types as fields just as you would with any Drupal Entity Type or Bundle. This can include any custom or contributed field types, including references to other Entities.
Each Contact Record Type has its own display settings, which you can customize just as you would any Content Record Type's display.
Drupal User Connection
Contacts can be tied directly to Drupal Users on a one-to-one basis. When enabled, this gives you the option to let Drupal Users update their own contact data in RedHen based on their Drupal Role. This is quite useful if you want your constituents to be able to update their own data, or to attach site access permissions to RedHen-based data using the RedHen Membership module.
The link between Drupal Users and RedHen Contacts can be created (or removed) manually from the RedHen Contact Record's page under Edit -> Drupal User. RedHen can also match up your Contacts with Drupal Users automatically, based on their primary email address, and keep those addresses in sync once the records are linked. This automation is enabled on the RedHen settings page.
This matching is attempted whenever a RedHen Contact is created or edited, and tries to match the Contact with existing Drupal Users who are not already tied to a RedHen Contact. The reverse is not true, however: if you create a Drupal User with an email address that matches the email field of an existing RedHen Contact record, the records will not be connected automatically unless the RedHen Contact record is later edited or a connection is created manually.
For more on connecting RedHen Contacts to Drupal Users, see the RedHen Membership Module. Most of the functionality in RedHen is built around Contacts, so read the sections on the other Modules to get a complete picture of how you can use RedHen Contacts.
