How to Make a Vcard for a Website

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Unlike paper business cards, vCards don't have to be manually transcribed.
Image Credit: Dirima/iStock/Getty Images

When you post a link to your vCard online, visitors to your website can add your business or personal information to their email contact list instantly. Since vCards are plain text files that follow a standard format, you can create them yourself using a text editor like Notepad. In addition, Microsoft Outlook can export vCards with information gleaned from your contact list directly to your local disk or online storage. Once you have your vCard written, you can link to it on your website using the same tools you use to add photos or documents.

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Create VCard Manually With Notepad

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Step 1

Launch Notepad and type in your contact information using the standard vCard record format. Colons and semicolons are used by applications that read vCards to separate data into specific fields or categories. A vCard record begins with the line "BEGIN:VCARD" and ends with the line "END:VCARD." For example, a basic, work-related vCard may contain the text below:

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BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:2.1 N:Doe;John FN:John Doe ORG:Tirhakah Game Corporation TITLE:Programmer TEL;WORK;VOICE:(555)555-1121 TEL;HOME;VOICE:(555)555-4568 TEL;CELL;VOICE:(555)555-4868 TEL;WORK;FAX:(704)555-4864 ADR;WORK:;Tirhakah Corporation;3131 Sunstone Dr;Charleton;NC;28083;USA URL;WORK:http://www.contactswebsiteURL.com EMAIL;INTERNET:[email protected] END:VCARD

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Step 2

Press "Ctrl-S" to open the "Save As" dialog box.

Step 3

Type the vCard file name along with the .vcf file extension in the "File name" input box. For example, if your contact name is "John Doe," type the following name in the "File name" input box:

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John Doe.vcf

Step 4

Click the drop-down list labeled "Save as type," then select "All Files." Otherwise, Notepad will attach a .txt extension to the file.

Step 5

Click "Save" to write your vCard to your storage device.

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Step 6

Upload your vCard file to your Web server using your FTP program. You can add the file to your website's root directory or within a sub-directory.

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Step 7

Add the vCard's download link to your Web page. Include text to identify the link as a vCard. For example, if the vCard file John Doe.vcf is located in your Web server's root directory, your download link should resemble the following HTML code:

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Get John Doe's vCard

Make a VCard With Outlook

Step 1

Click "People" in Outlook's Favorites navigation panel.

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Step 2

Click "Business Card" or "Card" in the Current View group, then double-click the contact for whom you want to create the vCard.

Step 3

Click the "File" tab, "Save As" and then "Save" to write the vCard to your storage device. Outlook automatically adds the .vcf file extension to the contact's name.

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