Settings

The Project Notes Settings page allows you to configure application-wide settings that affect how Project Notes operates and communicates with team members and companies.

Accessing Preferences

To open the Settings page:

1. Click the Settings icon in the icon rail, or choose Preferences from the app menu (the menu icon at the top of the icon rail).
2. The Settings page opens with a tab list, in order: Preferences, Cloud Sync, Data, View Options, Project Folders, Office 365 Integration, Email, Contacts, and Calendar, File Finder, Email Templates, and Meeting Templates.

Related Settings Pages

This page covers Preferences (Appearance, Project Manager/Managing Company, and View Report After Save), the Email, Contacts, and Calendar tab, View Options, Data, and About. A few other Settings-page tabs are substantial enough to have their own documentation:

• Cloud Sync — Sync your database with Project Notes Pro
• Project Folders — Create, rename, and color the folders in the project sidebar
• File Finder — Native automatic project file discovery
• Office 365 Integration — Native Microsoft 365 sign-in used by File Finder

Appearance

Appearance, near the bottom of the Preferences tab, controls the app's theme. Three tiles, each with an icon and a name, offer System, Light, and Dark; the current choice is highlighted. System follows your operating system's current theme and switches automatically if it changes. Click a tile (or Tab to it and press Space) to switch immediately — there is nothing to save. The same choice, as a quick two-way toggle, is also available as Dark Mode in the Application Menu's View group.

Project Manager

The Project Manager setting, under the Preferences section of Settings, identifies you as the primary project manager for your organization. This setting is used to:

• Exclude you from communications — When sending emails, generating reports, or scheduling meetings, Project Notes excludes the project manager from recipient/attendee lists and names them as the organizer instead, so you're never sent information addressed to yourself
• Filter report recipients — Ensures that internal communications don't accidentally include the wrong people

To set the Project Manager:

1. Open Settings and find the Preferences section.
2. Click the Project Manager drop down.
3. Select your name from the list of contacts in your database — the setting saves immediately.

Note: The project manager list is populated from the Contacts data in your database. If you don't see your name in the list, add yourself as a contact first (see Contacts List Page).

Managing Company

The Managing Company setting, also under the Preferences section of Settings, specifies your organization or company. This setting is used to:

• Identify internal communications — Project Notes distinguishes between internal-only communications and communications that include companies
• Exclude your company from company communications — When generating company-facing documents, your company information may be filtered differently than company information
• Organize team members — Helps Project Notes understand the structure of your organization vs. company organizations

To set the Managing Company:

1. Open Settings and find the Preferences section.
2. Click the Managing Company drop down.
3. Select your company name from the list of companies in your database — the setting saves immediately.

Note: The managing company list is populated from the Companies data in your database. If you don't see your company in the list, add it as a company first (see Companies List Page).

View Report After Save

View report after save, at the top of the Preferences section, opens a saved report in its default application as soon as it is written. Leave it off if you only want the file on disk. It has no effect on emailed reports.

Contact Synchronization

Contact synchronization is part of the Email, Contacts, and Calendar tab and follows its Integration selection. Thunderbird uses Thunderbird contacts; Outlook (Classic) uses classic Outlook contacts; Outlook and Microsoft 365 drafts use the shared Office 365 account; iCloud uses iCloud contacts; MacOS Email and Calendar uses the Contacts app on this Mac directly. Default Application does not provide contact synchronization. There is no separate contact-source selector.

• Outlook is offered only on Windows and reads classic Outlook's active profile. New Outlook and other platforms use Office 365 for Microsoft cloud contacts.

• Office 365 uses the shared account configured under Office 365 Integration. Sign in from that tab to grant contact access for synchronization and full export. Preferences has no separate Microsoft sign-in.

• Thunderbird requires Thunderbird 128 or newer, the bundled Project Notes Contacts add-on, and the native host. Click Set up Thunderbird bridge, review the setup dialog, and choose Set up bridge. The resulting dialog gives the exact projectnotes-contacts.xpi path. In Thunderbird, open Add-ons and Themes, use the gear menu → Install Add-on From File, and select that file. Accept installation, quit Thunderbird completely, reopen it, and leave it running before using Test Connection in Project Notes. The setup button registers the helper; it does not install the add-on automatically. Only local writable books are export destinations.

  On Linux, setup detects Thunderbird Flatpak data folders, maps its .mozilla registration folder into the sandbox, installs a native-messaging launcher in each, and copies the add-on into Thunderbird's own data folder. Before applying the change, the dialog explains that it grants Thunderbird permission to launch host programs (org.freedesktop.Flatpak); that permission applies to the entire Thunderbird app. The folder mapping and permissions take effect after Thunderbird is fully restarted. The helper and Project Notes use a shared runtime socket location despite their different temporary directories. If permission setup fails (including when Project Notes itself is sandboxed), the result dialog supplies the terminal commands to run before following the add-on installation steps. A packaged Project Notes helper is launched through its own Flatpak runtime.

• iCloud uses your Apple Account and an app-specific password saved in your operating system credential store. A blank password leaves the stored password unchanged.

• MacOS Email and Calendar reads and writes the Contacts app on this Mac directly through Apple's Contacts framework — there is no separate account or password to enter. The first sync asks for access under System Settings > Privacy & Security > Contacts.

Use Test Connection to discover books without importing or exporting. Select import books, or leave all unchecked to import all books. Full Contact Export checks every active Project Notes contact against contacts in the selected system, whether or not synchronization is enabled. Unmatched contacts are created in the default writable address book. Possible matches pause for a side-by-side review. Choose Use This One under Project Notes to update the existing contact, choose Use This One under the external contact to keep it unchanged and skip the export, or choose Use Both to create a separate contact. Previously exported identities, exact email addresses, normalized phone numbers, complete profiles, and strong name/company similarity are used to find candidates. Matches in read-only address books can be skipped or duplicated but cannot be updated. Outlook and Office 365 use their default Contacts folder for new contacts. Thunderbird, iCloud, and MacOS Email and Calendar use a provider-designated default writable address book when available, otherwise the first writable book ordered by stable ID (not display name). Thunderbird creates contacts only in local writable books. If no writable book is available, the export stops with an explanatory status. Synchronization imports contacts but never exports them. The interval can be changed from 1 to 1,440 minutes; startup sync is optional. Reset Duplicate Items clears saved import matches and skipped items so the next sync compares them again.

Contact synchronization runs on a dedicated background thread, including matching and database writes. Settings and review actions remain in the main interface; progress and refreshed records are delivered back to it safely.

The source's supplied values replace corresponding Project Notes fields, including explicit empty values. Omitted fields are retained. Remote deletions never delete local records, and deleted linked local contacts are never restored. Full Contact Export saves a separate link from each Project Notes contact to the external contact after a successful create or update. Updates replace only the name, company, job title, primary work email, work phone, and mobile phone managed by Project Notes; unrelated external fields are retained.

Office 365 and iCloud synchronize incrementally after the first run, fetching only what changed since the last sync. If the service invalidates that incremental position (for example, after it has been unused for a long time), Project Notes resets it automatically and re-fetches the full address book on the next sync — you don't need to do anything.

Names are compared using normalization, token reordering, edit distance, company legal suffix variants, and a branch/location suffix after a dash (for example, "Acme — Chicago" is recognized as a possible branch of "Acme"). Saved source identities take precedence. Strong matches reuse existing IDs. A contact with the same full name as an existing contact links to it without review unless something contradicts the match: a different email address, a different company, or a different phone number when no shared company confirms the person. Review Contact Conflicts enables when uncertain companies or contacts need attention and opens a separate review dialog. First resolve duplicate companies: click Use This Company under either side to associate the source company with that existing company, Skip to leave that source company and its contacts out of the import, or Use Both to keep them as distinct companies. Each company choice applies to all its source contacts and is saved for later synchronization. Once all company choices are resolved, contact matching resumes using those companies. Uncertain contacts then wait before contacts are created: choose Use This One under either contact, Skip to leave the source contact out, or Use Both to retain the existing contact and import a separate contact. Both sides show name, company, email, and phone details. The company association follows the saved company choice, and the display name comes from the chosen contact; when keeping both identical names, a unique display name is derived automatically from the source company. Existing duplicate records are not merged. Review includes the external fields that will be applied.

A Full Contact Export item that is stuck in an uncertain or error state offers Ignore to drop it from review, or I checked the destination; allow retry once you have confirmed the destination record yourself. If the Office 365 account changes while a sync or export is running, Project Notes cancels the operation and reports how many contacts it completed first. If the saved contact-sync state becomes damaged or was written by an incompatible version, synchronization pauses with a message asking you to restore the state file before trying again.

If a full export stops with an uncertain result, start the export again to refresh and review the destination before retrying the affected contact. Local state and credentials are scoped to this computer and developer profile; moving a database may require matching its contacts again.

Legacy contact actions have moved out of Python plugins. Existing iCloud account settings and valid links are carried forward where available, but synchronization stays paused until enabled here. Other plugin functions remain available.

Email, Contacts, and Calendar

The Email, Contacts, and Calendar tab decides how Project Notes hands finished emails and meeting invitations to you. One choice covers email, contacts, and calendars.

The Integration list only offers what your operating system supports:

Platform	Choices in the list
Windows	Default Application, Outlook, Outlook (Classic), iCloud, Thunderbird, Microsoft 365 drafts
macOS	Default Application, MacOS Email and Calendar, iCloud, Thunderbird, Microsoft 365 drafts
Linux	Default Application, iCloud, Thunderbird, Microsoft 365 drafts

Integration	What happens
Default Application	The email is written as a draft message file (.eml) and opened by whatever application handles that type. Meetings open as a calendar file (.ics) in your default calendar application.
Outlook (Windows)	The email and the meeting open in the new Outlook, whichever app holds the .eml and .ics associations. The new Outlook drops a meeting's attendees, so use Copy Attendees in the Schedule meeting window and paste them into the event.
Outlook (Classic) (Windows)	The email opens in Outlook (classic) as an unsent message. The meeting opens as an unsent meeting window with the attendees and agenda already filled in.
MacOS Email and Calendar (macOS)	The email opens in a Mail compose window with attachments, without Bcc recipients. The meeting becomes an event in Calendar without attendees; use Copy Attendees in the Schedule meeting window and paste them into the event.
iCloud	The email becomes an unsent iCloud Mail draft. The meeting becomes an iCloud Calendar event without attendees; copy and paste them before sending invitations. iCloud does not return a link to either new item, so open Mail or Calendar yourself.
Thunderbird	The email opens in a Thunderbird compose window with its attachments. The meeting is passed to Thunderbird, which offers to import it into one of its calendars.
Microsoft 365 drafts	The email becomes a draft in your Microsoft 365 mailbox and the meeting a draft event in your calendar, both opened in Outlook on the web. Sign in under Settings > Office 365 Integration first.

Until you choose, Project Notes uses MacOS Email and Calendar on macOS and Default Application everywhere else. A settings file copied from another computer can name a choice this platform lacks, such as Outlook (Classic) on a Mac. Project Notes ignores it and uses the default until you pick again.

Choosing Thunderbird reveals a Thunderbird executable field. Enter a path or a command, such as flatpak run org.mozilla.Thunderbird.

Project Notes never sends an email or an invitation. It prepares one and hands it over; you send it.

Temporary messages, attachments and calendar files live in the application cache and are removed when Project Notes closes.

For the full walk-through, including what to set up on Windows, macOS and Linux, see Email and Meeting Setup.

View Options

The View Options section holds three checkboxes that control what the Projects, Items, and Search lists show. Each takes effect immediately:

• Show closed projects — Shows or hides projects whose Project Status is Closed on the Project List Page.
• Show internal items — Shows or hides notes and tracker items marked Internal, and the earned value/budget figures on the Project List and Project Page. See Presenting to Companies.
• Show resolved items — When cleared, hides tracker items whose Status is Resolved, Deferred, or Canceled, on the Item Tracker Page, leaving only New and Assigned items.

These same three toggles are also reachable from the Application Menu's View group as Show Closed Projects, Show Internal / Budget Items, and Show Resolved Items — the two locations stay in sync.

Data

The Data section imports records from a Project Notes XML file.

To import from XML:

1. Open Settings and go to the Data section.
2. Click Import from XML….
3. Choose the .xml file and click Open.

Export is handled separately, per record — open any project, note, item, contact, or company and use its Export button (or Export XML… in the Application Menu) to export just that record.

About

Choosing About from the Application Menu's Help group shows the installed version and links to the online documentation, release notes, and source code.

Checking for Updates

Project Notes can keep itself up to date by checking GitLab for newer releases. A quiet, background check runs automatically each time Project Notes starts. If a newer release is found, it offers to download and install it for you; the installer runs automatically and Project Notes relaunches itself when it finishes. When no update is available, the background check stays silent so it never interrupts your work.

You can also check at any time from the app menu by choosing Check for Updates…. A manual check always reports its result — including telling you when you are already running the latest version.

Older versions that check the former GitHub repository must be updated manually: download and install a Windows or macOS build containing the GitLab updater from GitLab releases when one is available. The former GitHub account is unavailable, so those versions cannot receive a transition update through their old update check.

How Preferences Are Used

In Communications

When you send a report or schedule a meeting, Project Notes uses your preferences to:

• Determine recipients — The project manager is kept off recipient lists to avoid sending information to yourself
• Name the organizer — Meeting invitations list the project manager as the organizer, never as an attendee
• Filter content — Items and notes marked Internal are excluded from company-facing reports
• Fill in templates — preferences.managerName and preferences.managingCompanyName resolve from these two settings

In Reports

When generating reports (such as meeting minutes or tracker item reports), Project Notes:

• Filters recipients — Excludes the project manager from the "Send to" list by default
• Marks internal items — Uses the managing company setting to identify which notes and items are internal vs. company-facing

In Filtering

When you use the Filter Tool or the Show Internal / Budget Items toggle:

• Company filtering — You can filter data by the managing company to see only your organization's data
• Internal item visibility — The "Show Internal / Budget Items" option works in conjunction with your project manager setting to determine what should be hidden when presenting to companies

Where Preferences Are Saved

The Project Manager and Managing Company settings are saved in the application_settings table inside the Project Notes database (ProjectNotes.db). This means they travel with the database — if you share a database or copy it to another machine, your preferences move with it. They are also included in cloud sync when synchronization is enabled.

The Email, Contacts, and Calendar choice and the Thunderbird path are stored in your local OS profile instead, so each machine can use a different mail application. See Plugin Settings — Where Settings Are Stored for the full breakdown.

Backing Up Settings

Settings kept in your OS profile stay on one computer. To copy them, choose File > Export Settings… and save the JSON file. On the new computer, or after a reinstall, choose File > Import Settings… and pick that file. Values in the file replace the same settings, and anything the file doesn't mention is left alone. Restart Project Notes after an import so every application setting takes effect. Plugin settings apply right away.

The file covers application settings (email backend, File Finder rules, report folders, sync server and email, view options) and the settings of every plugin. Some things stay out on purpose:

• Passwords and the sync encryption phrase. Enter them again on the new computer, then turn sync back on.
• Window size and position, sidebar width, and which project folders are collapsed.
• Office 365 sign-in state. Sign in again where needed.

To back up only plugin settings, use the Back Up Plugin Settings section at the bottom of Settings > Plugins. Its Import Settings… button also reads a full settings file and takes just the plugin part.

Related Documentation

• Contacts List Page — Manage contacts in your database
• Companies List Page — Manage companies in your database
• Presenting to Companies — How to use preferences when presenting to companies
• Email and Meeting Setup — Setting up mail and calendar handoff
• Reports and Email — Generating and sending project reports