Adding and editing people
Names, contact details, address and the fields that quietly do the most work.
Quick answers
12 questions · click to openCan someone have more than one email address?
Yes. A person has a primary address and can carry others alongside it, and an import will match on any of them — which is what stops a work address creating a second record.
Why does the address matter so much?
Because Cobber works out each person’s electorates from it, and electorates are what put them in the right local group. Filling in an address is what makes local organising work later.
Does filling in a public form overwrite someone's address?
Only if they type a new one. If they leave the address blank on a volunteer form, event RSVP or embed, their existing profile address is kept. Contact and petition forms only fill an address when the profile doesn't already have one.
Do I have to fill everything in?
No. A name and one way to contact them is enough to start. The rest can arrive from an import, a form they fill in, or a conversation.
Can I tag someone when I add them?
Yes. The Tags section lists every tag already in use. Scroll it, or type to narrow it, and pick as many as you need. Type a name that isn't listed to create it for this person.
How do I add a tag to someone who's already in Cobber?
Open their profile and click the box in the Tags card. It lists every tag already in use. Type to narrow it, pick one and choose Add. Type a name that isn't listed to create it.
What if we track something Cobber has no field for?
Add a person custom field under Custom Fields in your avatar menu. Defined fields appear in their own section on Add/Edit and on the profile; an import can fill them too. See Person custom fields in the help centre.
What are email preferences?
Which kinds of email a person is willing to receive. They’re per category, so someone can opt out of your newsletter and still get urgent alerts.
What happens when I delete someone?
The record is soft-deleted, so their donation and membership history stays intact rather than leaving holes in your finances.
Why don't I see every email open on someone's profile?
The Activity Timeline defaults to Highlights, which hides email opens, sends, clicks and page views so donations, RSVPs and when they joined stay visible. Switch to All, or Email, to see the quieter events. You can show 25, 50 or 100 at a time.
How do I log a call or email on a person?
Open their profile and press Log Contact. Choose the type, whether it was outbound (you contacted them) or inbound (they contacted you), when it happened, and any notes. You can attach an open task to mark it done.
Can I fix or remove a logged contact?
Yes. On the Activity Timeline, use Edit to change the type, direction, time or notes, or Delete to remove it. Delete removes it for good, so it no longer counts as last contacted. The timeline keeps a 'contact deleted' line saying who deleted it and why.
Most people arrive by import or by filling in a form, so adding one by hand is usually a phone call you’re writing up. Add New Person takes a minute.
What the form asks for
| Section | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Personal Details | Name, email, phone numbers and date of birth. |
| Email Preferences | Which categories of email they’re happy to receive. |
| Residential Address | Street, suburb, state and postcode. |
| Tags | Tags already in use, or a new name you type. Scroll the full list, or type to narrow it, and pick as many as apply. |
| Custom field groups | Your organisation’s defined person custom fields (one card per group). |
| Additional Fields | One-off key/value pairs on this person only (Add New Person). |
The address does more than you’d think
It’s tempting to skip. Don’t — Cobber uses the address to work out a person’s federal electorate, state electorate and LGA, and those are what put them into the right local group automatically. A supporter with no address is a supporter your local organisers can’t find.
A postcode alone is enough to get started. The more complete the address, the more precise the result.
A supporter who already has an address on their profile keeps it if they submit a volunteer form, event RSVP or embed without entering one. If they do type an address on those forms, that becomes their profile address. Contact and petition forms only fill an address when the profile doesn’t already have one.
Tags
The Tags card lists every tag already in use. Open the list and scroll through all of them, or start typing to narrow it. Pick as many as apply.
To create a tag nobody has yet, type the new name. Choose Add under the field, or just leave it and create the person — the name is saved on them either way. It then shows on their profile and in the People tag filter.
To tag someone who is already in Cobber, open their profile and click the box in the Tags card. It shows the same list. Start typing to narrow it, pick a tag, and choose Add. Type a name that isn’t listed to create it. This adds one tag at a time.
Phone numbers
There are separate fields for mobile, home and work. The mobile one matters most: it’s what SMS uses, and it’s the fallback an import matches on when there’s no email address.
Custom fields
If you track something Cobber has no home for — a membership number from an old system, a local group nickname, a skill — define a person custom field rather than putting it in a notes field where nothing can filter on it. Set them up under Custom Fields in your avatar menu; they then appear on every contact. See Person custom fields for the full walkthrough.
Deleting someone
Deleting soft-deletes the record. They disappear from your lists and your campaigns, but their donation and membership history stays attached rather than leaving a hole in your finances. If someone asks to be removed entirely, email support rather than doing it yourself, so it’s handled properly.
Logging a contact
Log Contact on a person’s profile writes a one-to-one conversation against them — a phone call, email, text, video call, or meeting.
Choose the type, then Direction: Outbound means you contacted them, Inbound means they contacted you. Set when it happened (it defaults to now) and add notes if you want. You can attach an open task so logging the contact marks that task done.
To correct a log, open Edit on that timeline card. You can change the type, direction, time and notes. The person who originally logged it stays on the card.
Delete removes the contact permanently, so it no longer counts towards last contacted, the people-list contact filters or Team Health, and it can’t be restored. You can give an optional reason. The timeline keeps a line saying who deleted the contact and why. It does not reopen a task that was marked done when the contact was logged.
Phone-bank and prospect calls are a different kind of log and are not edited from here.
Activity timeline
On a person’s profile, the right-hand Activity Timeline is every recorded engagement — joining, donating, RSVPing, a logged call, a campaign email.
It defaults to Highlights, which hides the noisy stuff (email opens, sends, clicks, page views, receipt emails) so you can still find a join date or a gift when they’ve had a lot of campaign mail. Events shows RSVPs and check-ins; Donations shows gifts and recurring donations; Email is the full send / open / click trail. Use All if you want every event.
There are more than 25 events? Page through them, or choose 50 or 100 — the same Show control as Recent Activity on the dashboard.