Contact Information in the Digital Age: Everything You Need to Know About vCards and Setting Them Up in WordPress

In our digitised world, exchanging contact details has become simpler and more efficient. The vCard represents a contemporary interpretation of the classic business card in electronic format. In this article, we will therefore explain what a vCard is, what its advantages are, and how you can set up a vCard in WordPress.

A vCard is a digital file format for electronic business cards.

A vCard is an electronic file that stores contact details in a standardised format. It is used to save and exchange information such as the name, address, phone number, email address, website, and other details of a person or company. Similar to a digital business card, the vCard allows for easy exchange of contact data between different electronic devices, applications, and platforms to facilitate communication and networking. The vCard file uses the file extension „.vcf“ (vCard Format) and can be imported and exported in various applications such as email clients, address books, calendars, and mobile devices.

The advantages of vCards

Now that we've become familiar with the concept of vCards, let's take a look at the six benefits that using vCards offers:

vCards offer easy exchange of contact details: vCards allow you to easily exchange contact details, as their use enables information to be shared quickly and smoothly between different devices, applications, and platforms. This makes it easier for you to share information at business meetings, conferences, or other social interactions.

2. vCards have a standardised format: vCards use a standardised format that is supported by most modern email clients, address books, and contact management applications. This ensures that data is displayed and stored consistently and without error.

3. vCards contain extensive information: As well as basic contact details such as name and email address, vCards can also contain further information, such as job title, company location and more. This allows for a more comprehensive representation of yourself or your company.

4. Save time with vCards: Using vCards saves you and your customers time. A link and QR code are automatically generated for every newly created contact. This allows your customers to conveniently save the information on their devices or share it with others. This way, contact details no longer need to be entered or transferred manually.

5. vCards offer you cross-platform compatibility: vCards are largely cross-platform compatible, meaning they can be used on both computers and mobile devices, regardless of operating system or application software.

vCards are environmentally friendly: The use of vCards reduces the need for printed business cards or physical contact details, which contributes to the reduction of paper consumption and is more environmentally friendly.

The Contacts app opens after scanning the QR code

Setting up vCards in WordPress with Easy vCard

Below we will explain how to set up vCards using our Easy vCard plugin for WordPress. The setup takes place in four steps, which we will explain to you step by step. This way, you can easily and quickly integrate Easy vCard into your WordPress website.

Step 1: Buy and install Easy vCard

In the first step, you should purchase our „Easy vCard“ plugin so that you can use it on your WordPress website. You can do this directly through our website. To do this, send us an email and request Easy vCard. After completing your purchase, you will receive a licence key from us via email, which you can activate for your website.

After completing your purchase, you can install and activate Easy vCard. To do this, log in to the backend of your website and navigate to your WordPress dashboard. Here, click on „Plugins“ in the left-hand menu. Then, select the „Upload Plugin“ option and upload Easy vCard. After the plugin has been successfully uploaded, you can install and activate it. For the final activation of Easy vCard, you will need your license key. Enter the license key and begin configuring the basic settings.

Step 2: Configure basic settings

After installing Easy vCard, you can make adjustments to the plugin's default settings. To do this, go to “Easy vCard” in your WordPress dashboard and click on “Settings”. Here, as the first setting under „domain“, you can enter your website domain. The tick in the „domainLinkEnabled“ field decides whether the link should be activated or not. Once you have made your changes, you can save them with the „Save“ button.

Step 3: Add locations

So that you can add a location (office or company site) to your vCards later, they need to be created in the next step. If you do not want to add a location to your vCards, you can skip this step and proceed directly to step 4.

You can access the location settings via the WordPress dashboard under „Easy vCards“ and then „Locations“. You can then enter a location using the „Add new Location“ button. The fields that can be filled with data here are:

Once you have clicked on the „Add new Location“ button, a new line will be created. You can then enter your data here. To do this, click on the „plus“ in each field and enter your information into the field. You can confirm your entries by clicking the checkmark or cancel your input by clicking the „X“.

Step 4: Create your first vCard

After configuring the basic settings and creating Locations, you can create your first vCard. To do this, navigate to the WordPress dashboard and click on „Easy vCard“. Using the „Add New V-Card“ button will create a new row, which you can now fill with your data. The fields you can fill in are:

With Easy vCard, you have the option to add a picture to your contact details. To do this, click on the pencil icon and you can then add a picture from your media library or upload a new file. Filling in the fields from „First Name“ to „Website“ works in the same way. Simply click on the „plus“ sign in the respective field. A small window will open where you can enter your information. You can then confirm your data by clicking on the tick or revise your settings using the „X“.

You can select the „Location Name“ from your predefined locations as a dropdown. Finally, you can optimise the slug. When creating a new vCard, a slug is automatically generated for each person. You can adapt this to make it more meaningful; for example, you could use the person's initials. When doing this, you should note that slugs should not be duplicated for your created vCards so that the generated links and QR codes function correctly.

Conclusion

In summary, vCards offer a contemporary solution for exchanging contact details in our digital world. Their versatility, standardised format and ease of setup make them an efficient tool for making connections and facilitating communication. The Easy vCard plugin allows you to seamlessly integrate vCards into your WordPress website. By forgoing printed business cards and opting for vCards instead, you not only contribute to environmental friendliness but also to smooth interaction in the digital world. Use vCards to maintain contacts and expand your network.

Discover our Easy vCard Plugin