Contacts & Return Visits

Not at this time. Contacts are entered manually in WitnessWork. This keeps your ministry contacts private and avoids accidentally pulling in personal contacts.

Tap + and choose Log Visit, then pick the person. On iPad, Log Visit… is also in the menu bar's File menu. Without searching, the list starts with Nearby (contacts within about 250 m of you, closest first), then Follow-ups Due (today's and missed ones from the last 30 days), then Recent (visited in the last 2 weeks), then All Contacts A–Z. Type to search; if the person isn't there, tap Add as a new contact to create them and log the visit next. After you pick someone, tap Had a Conversation to add notes and a follow-up in the visit form, or Not at Home to log it right away, with Undo at the bottom of the screen for a few seconds. On a contact's page, + Add → Not at Home logs it the same way. In data protection mode, Not at Home isn't offered and the visit form opens directly. Nearby is optional: it appears only if you allow location, and you're never asked unless you tap Turn On. Your location is used on this device only to sort the list; it isn't saved or sent anywhere. If Nearby is missing, check that location is allowed for WitnessWork in your device settings and that the contact has a location on the map. Touch and hold a person to open their contact instead.

Tap a conversation in a contact's Conversation History, the Up Next card on a contact, or a person on Home's conversations card, and it opens in a sheet without leaving where you are. Tapping a follow-up reminder opens it there too. Across the top is who it was with: tap them to open the contact, or use Call, Text, and Navigate. Below, a line runs from what happened ("You talked with…", when, your note, and its fields) to the follow-up, with a Today marker in between, so you can see at a glance whether the return visit is ahead or behind. The follow-up says when you're going back and how far off it is, the topic, who's going, and the reminder. Log Visit appears once its day comes, and Reschedule while it's still open. A missed follow-up turns amber, one you kept links to the visit that kept it, and a dismissed one can be planned again. With no follow-up, the sheet links to your next visit with that person, or offers Plan the next visit after the latest one. Tap the pencil to edit, or ••• to reschedule, copy the note or topic, dismiss the follow-up, or delete the conversation; deleting can't be undone. If you use Buddies, invited buddies and their answers show inside the follow-up. While it's still ahead, the dashed + invites someone right away and shares only its date and time, the householder's first name, the address, and the topic. To take someone off, edit the conversation. Follow-up invitations are unavailable in Data Protection Mode. Opening a conversation changes nothing, and only inviting a buddy shares anything. If something looks wrong, contact support from the Help Center and leave out names, addresses, and notes.

The card shows the follow-ups you scheduled for today. From 5 PM it shows Upcoming Conversations, which adds tomorrow's; those can be rescheduled but not logged until their day. Swipe sideways to move between people. When you've been, tap Talked to log the conversation in the visit form, or tap Not at Home to log the attempt right away. Undo appears below the card for a few seconds after Not at Home. The calendar button reschedules the follow-up. Tap a person to see that conversation and its follow-up in a sheet. Use the ••• button or touch and hold a person for call, message, directions, Open Contact, and Dismiss Follow-Up. A follow-up counts as done once you log any visit with that person on or after its day. The bar at the top fills as you go, and the card shows All caught up when every one is done. Tap Done, or touch and hold the title and choose Close for Now, to hide the card until you add or reschedule a follow-up. A follow-up still open 4 hours after its time moves to missed follow-ups in the notifications tray. Not at Home is unavailable while data protection mode is on. Visits are saved like any other visit on this device. To remove the card for good, touch and hold its title, choose Edit Home Screen, and tap the minus on the card. Add Sections brings it back while you edit Home. If something looks wrong, contact support from the Help Center and leave out names, addresses, and notes.

Yes. When adding or editing a visit, turn off Follow Up and save. The visit and its notes remain, but that visit has no scheduled follow-up or reminder and will not appear as overdue. You can turn Follow Up on later and choose a date and time. To stop an older follow-up reminder, edit that visit and turn Follow Up off.

Yes. Open Preferences → Conversation Fields, or tap Add Custom Fields on the conversation form, and add a field such as Publication. Field names can be up to 14 characters. Every field appears on the form for conversations and Not at Home visits; leave it empty when it doesn't apply. Saved values show on that visit in the contact's history. When you tap a field, values you've entered in it before appear as suggestions, most used first, and narrow as you type; tap one to fill it in. Below each field, Earlier visits lists what you entered there on that contact's previous visits, such as publications or videos you already shared, so you can choose something new. You can rename and reorder fields any time without losing what you entered. Archiving a field hides it but keeps its values. Delete it from the Archived list to remove the field and its values from every conversation for good. Fields and values stay on your device, are included in backups, and sync between your devices when sync is on; update WitnessWork on each device to see them there. They aren't included when you share a contact. Contact fields are managed separately in Preferences → Contact Fields. With data protection mode on, don't record religion, health, family situation, language, or ethnicity. If a field is missing from the form, check whether it was archived. For anything else, contact support from the Help Center and leave out names, addresses, and notes.

Yes, with saved views, free on iOS and Android. In Contacts, tap the Sort & Filter button (the sliders) at the top, choose filters and a sort, then tap Save as view at the top and name it (up to 30 characters), such as Bible studies or Spanish territory. Your views appear as buttons under the search field, above the last-visit chips, and at the top of the map: tap one to show it, and tap it again to return to your own filters. A view applies to the list and the map alike. Search text isn't saved in a view. While a view is showing, changes you make in Sort & Filter or with the last-visit chips are marked Edited; tap Update view to keep them, Save as new view to keep both, or Reset to discard them. To reorder your views, touch one, pause briefly, then drag it along the row. Touch and hold a view without moving to rename or delete it, or choose ••• → Edit Saved Views to rename, reorder, and delete views. Deleting a view never changes your contacts. Renaming or archiving a contact field keeps views working; if you permanently delete a field, filters on it are ignored. Views are stored on your device, included in backups, and sync between your devices when sync is on; update WitnessWork on each device to see them there. Which view is showing stays on each device. If a view shows unexpected contacts, open Sort & Filter to check its filters, or tap Reset to undo unsaved changes. For anything else, contact support from the Help Center and leave out names, addresses, and notes.

Suggested is the Contacts list's default sort on iOS and Android. When you aren't searching, the list starts with up to four short sections: Nearby (contacts within about 250 m of you, closest first, with their street), Follow-ups Due (follow-ups due today or missed in the last 30 days, most overdue first), Recent (contacts visited in the last 2 weeks), and Been a While (people you last talked with 3 weeks to 4 months ago who have no follow-up planned, Bible studies first, then favorites, with when you last talked). A Not at Home doesn't count as talking, a follow-up missed more than 30 days ago no longer counts as planned, and a visit in the last 3 weeks, even a Not at Home, keeps someone out of Been a While. In data protection mode, Been a While stops at 90 days, when WitnessWork offers to delete old details. To take someone out of Been a While, long-press them and choose Not Now: they're dismissed for 30 days, and you can bring them back from Dismissed Contacts anytime. Each shows up to 5 contacts, and each contact appears only once. Everyone else follows under Other Contacts: favorites first, then current Bible studies, then past Bible studies, then by most recent visit. Your filters and Saved Views apply first, so the sections only include contacts the list would show. Empty sections are hidden, and if all four are empty the list is one plain list. Searching or choosing another sort also shows one plain list. Nearby is optional. It appears only if you've already allowed location for WitnessWork; the Contacts list never asks for it. It uses each contact's map pin, from their address or a pin you placed, so a contact without a location can't be Nearby. Your location is read on this device when you open Contacts, only to sort the list, and it isn't saved or sent anywhere. So rows don't move while you read, a new location shows the next time you open Contacts. To use another order, tap the Sort & Filter button (the sliders) at the top of Contacts and pick a sort; Reset returns to Suggested. If Nearby is missing, check that location is allowed for WitnessWork in your device settings and that the contact has a pin on the map. For anything else, contact support from the Help Center and leave out names and addresses.

Turn on Notify Me when adding or editing a Follow-up or a Plan, then choose how long before it starts the reminder should arrive. A recurring Plan reminds you the same amount of time before each of its dates, counting from that date's own start time if you changed it for that date only. Dates you deleted, and dates after its end date, don't remind you. Each device schedules a recurring Plan's reminders up to two weeks ahead, so open WitnessWork at least every two weeks to keep them coming. Dismissing a contact also reminds you when they're available again. If Notify Me is off because notifications aren't allowed, turning it on asks for permission; if you've declined before, it opens your device settings. If a one-time Plan's or Follow-up's reminder time has already passed, the form says so and no reminder is sent. Rescheduling keeps the reminder time you chose. When a reminder arrives, it is also listed in the Home bell, even if system notifications are off, and tapping either one opens the follow-up, plan, or contact. Each device schedules its own reminders from your saved records, so after a sync or a backup restore, open WitnessWork once on that device to set them up. Deleting a visit, plan, or contact removes its reminders, including any already shown. With data protection mode on, reminders leave out names and topics. On Android, the system may deliver a reminder a few minutes late to save battery. If reminders don't arrive, check that notifications are allowed for WitnessWork in Preferences and in your device settings, and that Focus or Do Not Disturb isn't silencing them. On Android, reminders have their own Reminders category in WitnessWork's notification settings, separate from Buddies, so check that it's on. If they still don't arrive, report the problem from the Help Center without including names or other private details.

Yes. Open a contact, tap the avatar, and pick a photo from your library or take a new one. This is especially handy when contacts share names or when a photo helps you spot the right door.

Open the contact and tap "Dismiss." You'll pick how long to dismiss them for (1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, or 1 year). The contact disappears from your active lists for that period and then comes back automatically when the time is up. If notifications are enabled, you'll also get a reminder when they reappear, so dismissed contacts won't quietly slip through the cracks. You can find or restore dismissed contacts at any time from the link at the bottom of your Contacts list, the ••• menu in Contacts, or Settings → Dismissed Contacts.

Touch and hold a contact in Contacts or on the map, or open it and tap More (•••), then choose Archive or Delete Permanently…. In Select mode, use Archive or Delete at the bottom. Swiping a contact from the right archives it. Archiving hides the contact and keeps it and every conversation logged with them. Restore it within 90 days from Settings → More → Recover Contacts; after that its details are removed. Deleting permanently erases the contact, every conversation logged with them, and their photos, on this device and on devices that sync with it through Cloud Sync, iCloud Sync, or Google Drive Sync. It can't be undone, so WitnessWork asks first and offers Archive Instead. To delete a contact you already archived, touch and hold it in Recover Contacts and choose Delete Permanently…. With data protection mode on there's no Archive: removing a contact always deletes it. To hide a contact only for a while, use Dismiss For instead. Backup files you saved earlier still contain deleted contacts. If you deleted one by mistake, it can only come back by restoring a backup made before the delete, which replaces your current data, so create a fresh backup first. For anything else, contact support from the Help Center and leave out names, addresses, and notes.

Below the search field in Contacts, tap a chip to show only contacts in that group: Stale, This month, This week, or Never contacted. Each chip shows how many active contacts it holds, and its color matches the contact's pin on the map. Swipe the chips sideways to see them all. Tap the chip again, or tap All, to show everyone. The same chips sit at the top of the map, where they count only contacts with a location and filter the pins; they tuck away while you move the map, so tap the Contacts title to bring them back. To change their order, touch a chip, pause briefly, then drag it along the row; All stays first. The order is a preference, so it's included in backups and syncs with your other devices when sync is on. Groups are based on your most recent visit, and "Not at homes" count as visits. To change when a contact moves between groups, or the colors, tap the info button at the end of the chips (on the map, the legend button) and then the pencil. A chip adds a filter you can also see and remove in Sort & Filter, and it applies to the list and the map alike. Dismissed contacts aren't counted. Nothing is shared; the groups are worked out on your device.

In Contacts, tap the Sort & Filter button (the sliders) at the top, tap Add filter, choose Follow-up, then pick a value and tap Apply. Upcoming shows contacts with a follow-up that's still ahead and that you haven't visited since. None upcoming shows everyone else, so you can find people you haven't planned a return visit for. Missed shows contacts whose follow-up passed more than 4 hours ago, within the last 30 days, with no visit since: the same people as your missed follow-up reminders. Dismissed follow-ups don't count. To see who's next, choose Next follow-up under Sort: each contact then shows when their follow-up is due in place of their last visit. The soonest follow-up comes first with Descending, the latest with Ascending, then missed follow-ups, and contacts with none go last. Other sorts, like Bible Study, Date added, or City, show the value they sort by in the same place. Follow-up filters work on iOS and Android, apply to the list and the map alike, and can be part of a saved view. They're worked out on your device, and nothing is shared. If a contact appears where you don't expect, open their most recent visit and check its follow-up date, or whether a later visit already answered it. For anything else, contact support from the Help Center and leave out names, addresses, and notes.