If you're a brand-new user of ACT! 2012you'll notice the Relationships tab running along the middle of the Contacts Detail View like the one you see in the figure below:
However, if you have a database that was created in a version of ACT! prior to ACT! 2009 you might find that your Relationship tab is not displayed. Not to worry, the Relationship tab is actually there but hidden from view. Your job is to literally unhide it.
- Click the Tools menu, select Design Layouts, and then choose Contact.
- In the Layout Designer click the Edit menu, and choose Tabs. If you've been following along, the Edit Tabs dialog box should open like the one you see in the following figure:
- Select Relationships from the Hidden Tabs: area and then click the single-pointing right arrow. Relationships should now appear in the bottom position in the Show tabs in this order: area.
- Optionally, you can change the tab order by selecting a tab in the Show tabs in this order: area and then clicking the Move Up button until the tab is now exactly where you want it.
- Click Close to close the Edit Tabs dialog box.
- Click the File menu and choose Save or Save As to save your changes. Save As is the safer option if you are using one of the "out of the box" layouts such as Basic Contact Layout—1024x768, so that you'll be able to identify which layout you modified in the future.
- Click the File menu and choose Exit to close the Layout Designer.
- (Optional) Chose the name of the new layout from the Select Layout drop down box at the top of the Contact Detail view.
Once you've modified the layout to include the Relationships tab you'll be able to start creating relationships between your various contacts. Because the Related Contacts feature links two or more contact records together you won't find the Relationship tab on the Company, Group, or Opportunity layouts.
The Relationship tab is a system tab, which means that you can't delete it permanently. You can, however, hide it from view. If you don't feel that relating contacts is a feature that is beneficial for you, you can hide the Relationship tab by following the steps above and clicking the left-pointing arrow in Step 3.