Shopping List Manager for Windows | Online Help

Introduction to SLM

Shopping List Manager (SLM) for Windows will organize your supermarket trips to get you in and out of the store in the shortest time possible. SLM version 5 is a mature Windows application that offers many convenient features not found in earlier versions of the program, or anywhere else.

SLM allows you to maintain a list of all the items you buy in any number of stores. When you are ready to go shopping, simply click each item you want to buy (or use the keyboard). Easily add quantities, coupon notes and other comments to speed along your time in the store.

SLM will print out your shopping list in aisle order (or let you send it to yourself or someone else by email or WhatsApp, etc.)!

Shopping List Manager (SLM) is a flexible and time-saving tool for anyone who goes shopping in large stores. Because of the size of the modern supermarket, finding what you need can mean wasting a tremendous amount of time hunting down the particular items you seek. SLM was designed to save you this time.

If you would rather be in and out of the supermarket in half the time, you need SLM!

Click here to get started.

SLM Saves You Time!

No more hunting down items while in the store. No more walking down aisles in which you need nothing. No more forgetting an item after being in its aisle. No more forgetting which coupons you want to use. Many additional features also aim at saving you time and effort before and during shopping trips:

• Speed-entry of items, quantities, coupons, comments, etc. using mouse or keyboard (learn more)
• Save shopping lists for re-use (e.g., can contain items you buy every time)
• Save recipes and their ingredients for one-click add-to-shopping list
• Works with any number of different stores
• Print shopping lists, send them by email, WhatsApp, etc.
• Lots of customizable options and program features
• and much more!

Read on for some getting started tips.

Getting Started

Installing SLM

SLM is an app (program) that runs on a Windows computer. SLM requires Microsoft Windows 7, 8, 10 or later. To install SLM, follow these steps:

1. Download the SLM installer from the Shopping List Manager website.
2. Run the downloaded SLM-Setup.msi file to install SLM.
3. If you receive a SmartScreen message from Windows, click More Info and then Install Anyway. It's completely safe. :)
4. To run the app, find Shopping List Manager in the Start Menu or click its desktop icon.

Registering SLM

SLM initially runs as trial version, allowing you to try it out and explore all its features before paying for it. The only limitation during the trial is that the app will only print/send the first 10 items of a shopping list. This, of course, is not very useful, but the idea is that you have the chance to fully understand what SLM can do for you before deciding to purchase it. To register the app, and remove this limitation, follow these steps:

1. Click here to purchase Shopping List Manager on our website.
2. Copy your 15-character Installation Code to the Windows Clipboard – this code is displayed when you click Enter Registration Code when the app starts up, or by selecting Enter Registration Code from the main window's Help menu. Click the Copy button next to the code to copy it to the Clipboard.
3. Paste the Installation Code your copied into the first text box on the Purchase page, enter your full name and click Proceed to Payment.
4. Enter your billing and payment details and click Place Order.
5. On the next page, copy the 20-character Registration Code, paste it into the Enter Registration Code window in SLM (that you opened in step 2, above), and click Validate.

Your installation of SLM is now registered.

If you wish to move SLM to a different computer at a later time, install SLM on the new computer and then email us the new Installation Code shown in the app so that we can send you a new Registration Code for the new computer.

Setting Up a Store

SLM lets you conveniently store a "database" of all the items you ever buy in a particular store (actually, any number of stores) and the aisles in which those items are located. While it will take a bit of effort to compile and enter this information, it will save you hundreds of hours in the long run. Here's how we suggest getting started using SLM:

1. Edit the default store that comes with SLM. Spend a few minutes looking through the default list of items and add, remove and change items to suit your own needs. Make sure to change the name of the store and the city in which it's located. This shouldn't take more than about 15 minutes.
2. Before your next shopping trip, use SLM to prepare your shopping list. You do this by clicking each item in SLM, perhaps by going down the list you had hanging on your fridge. Feel free to add quantities, brands, etc. using comments. If you have coupons for some items, mark those items with a Coupon note to save time in the store. When you're done, click Done to print your list.
3. SLM will print or send your shopping list, showing every item in aisle ?Unknown. See next step!
4. Take your list to the store. Each time you pick up an item, don't put a check mark next to it! Instead, write down its aisle number.
5. When you get home, edit your store: in the Aisles tab, add any specially named aisles (e.g., bakery, dairy, freezer, produce) and then, in the Items tab, set the correct aisle for each item you noted on your shopping list today.
6. After 2-3 shopping trips, you will have 90% of all the items you ever buy saved with their correct aisle locations. So, SLM will be able to print/send your shopping lists in correct aisle order for the fastest shopping experience possible!
7. To create additional stores, duplicate your first one and then customize the aisle locations for the items in that store. Note that you can use saved shopping lists and recipes across any number of stores.

Next, read on for helpful SLM tips.

Helpful Tips for Using SLM

• Easily set up the locations of all items by noting down aisle numbers in the store on your shopping list (instead of just writing check marks next to each item). When you get home, edit the store to set the aisle/location for each item.
• Click the ? button at the top-right of any window for detailed help about using that window.
• Hover your mouse over any part of the Main window or Edit Store window to see a brief explanation of what that part is or what it does, shown at the bottom of the window.
• Both the Main window and Edit Store window are resizable – feel free to enlarge them (by dragging their borders/corners) to suit your preferences and monitor size. The windows' contents will readjust themselves accordingly.
• Speed up making your shopping lists by using the Quick Find text box, Jump to Letters, Category buttons and adding items with modified mouse-clicks
• Save shopping lists consisting of the items you buy every time you go shopping, so you don't have to add them every time you go shopping (and even attach them to be added automatically every time in a particular store's Store Options).
• Save recipes consisting of the items you need to make your favorite dishes, prepare for a barbecue, etc. so that you can add all the items to any shopping list with just a couple mouse-clicks.
• Customize the Quick amount quantity units to meet your needs. For example, outside the US, you'll probably want to remove pounds.
• Customize the category buttons shown on the right side of the main window to suit your needs.
• Send shopping lists to your smartphone (or someone else's phone) by email or WhatsApp.
• Set a reminder note to appear at the top of every shopping list (e.g., to bring along your reusable bags) in Store Options.
• Don't like all the warning questions that appear in SLM (e.g., if you try to close a window with unsaved changes)? You can turn off Warning Messages in Preferences (although do so at your own risk!).
• Don't like SLM asking you if you want to add extra items every time you're done with a shopping list? You can set Add extra items to No in Preferences.
• Change the font size of the lists on the Main window by holding down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and spinning your mouse wheel (just like in a Web browser).
• Quickly add lots of items to a store's All Store Items list by selecting items that exist in another store's All Store Items list or by importing them from a CSV file.

Using the Main Window

Preparing a Shopping List Using SLM's Main Window

The Main window is where you prepare your shopping lists for printing, emailing, etc. The current shopping list you're working on is on the left side, while on the right side is the list of all the items that you ever buy – click on an item to add it to your current shopping list.

For a comprehensive reference guide detailing every section of the Main window, its toolbar buttons and menu options, refer to the Main Window Reference.

To learn about using the Main window to prepare your shopping list, read on.

Adding Items to Your Shopping List

Add an item – To add an item from the All Store Items list to your shopping list, simply click on it.

Add "coupon" note while adding an item – If you have a coupon for an item, you can note this in the shopping list by holding down the Shift key on your keyboard while clicking on the item. Why do this? It saves time in the store if you can see on your shopping list which items have coupons, so that you don't have to search through your pile of coupons again and again to check if a particular item has a coupon.

Add a "comment" for an item – To note item details – such as a brand, type or quantity – hold down the Ctrl button your keyboard while clicking on the item or double-click the item. This will open the Comment window, where you can type in a comment and/or note that you have a Coupon for an item.

You can also right-click on an item to select Add Item with Coupon or Add Item with Comment.

If you want to add an item to your shopping list that does not yet appear in the store's All Store Items list, click the Edit Store toolbar button (the shopping cart with the pencil icon) or select Edit Current Store from the Store menu, add the item (see Edit Store for details) and then when you return to this window, you will be able to add the new item.

Tips for Quickly Finding Items to Add to Your Shopping List

There are some time-saving short-cuts for finding the item you want to add, instead of simply looking through the All Store Items list:

• Category Buttons – Click on one of the category buttons on the right side of the window to "filter" the All Store Items list to show only those items in a particular category/department. Some people find it faster and easier to create their shopping lists by category, where there are fewer items to choose from at one time. To remove the category filter, click the All Categories button at the top.
• Jump to Letter – Click a letter in the Jump to section (below the All Store Items list on the right side) to jump to the first item starting with that letter in All Store Items. Letters for which no items are currently shown are disabled here.
• Quick Find – Type the first few letters of an item in the Quick Find box (below the All Store Items list on the right side) to jump directly to that item. Once the desired item is highlighted in the All Store Items list, simply press Enter to add it to the shopping list. You can immediately proceed to type in the name of another item. Some people find this approach must faster than clicking on items using the mouse.
  • If you have a coupon for an item, you can note this in the shopping list by holding down the Shift key on your keyboard while pressing Enter.
  • If you want to add a "comment" for an item, hold down the Ctrl button your keyboard while pressing Enter.

Adding & Editing Item Comments

You enter and edit comments for an item using the Comment window. There are a few different ways to bring up the Comment window:

• While adding an item to your shopping list:
  • Hold the Ctrl key on your keyboard while clicking an item in the All Items List.
  • Double-click an item in the All Items List.
  • Right-click an item in the All Items List and choose Add Item with Comment.
• For an item already in your shopping list:
  • Double-click the item in the Shopping List.
  • Right-click an item in the Shopping and choose Comment.
  • Select an item in the Shopping List and click the Comment button below the list.
• To add the same comment to multiple items already in your shopping list:
  • First, select all the items to which you want to add the same comment, in one of these ways:
    • Hold the Ctrl key on your keyboard while clicking each additional item.
    • Click the first item and then hold the Shift key as you click the last consecutive item you wish to select.
    • Select all the items in the current shopping list by right-clicking anywhere in the list and choosing Select All.
  • Then, either right-click any selected item in the Shopping and choose Comment or click the Comment button below the list.

Adding Comments

Inside the Comment window, enter the comment in the text box and then click OK.

If you wish to note that you have a coupon, click the +COUPON button (with or without a typed comment).

When adding a comment to multiple items at once, the comment you enter here will be added to all selected items. If one or more of the selected items already had a comment, that comment will be removed. To avoid this from happening, don't include items with existing comments while adding comments to multiple items at the same time.

Editing Comments

To edit an existing comment, open the Comment window for an item, edit its comment and click OK.

If multiple items with the same comment are selected, you can edit them all at the same time. If multiple items containing different comment are selected, the new comment will be used for all selected items, replacing any others that had been entered previously.

Removing Comments

To remove an existing comment, open the Comment window for an item and click Remove Comment.

To remove existing comments from multiple items, open the Comment window for those items and click Remove All Comments.

Using Quick Amount to Add Quantities to Items

When you want to add a quantity to a particular item, you can use the Comment window to type it in, or you can use the Quick Comment bar at the bottom of the screen to add a quantity using only your mouse: click the numeral (or numerals) representing the desired quantity, select a unit in the units drop-down list (if other than the one already shown) and then click the item you want to add.

For example, you can click the numeral 3, then select "pints" from the units list and then click the item in the All Store Items list. This will add that item to your shopping list along with the comment, "3 pints".

You can also use the Quick Comment bar to add a quantity to an item already in your shopping list. To do so, create the comment by clicking a number and a unit and then click the item in the shopping list. If the shopping list item already contains a comment, the Quick Comment be added to the existing comment.

You can edit and remove Quick Comments just like regular comments – refer to Editing Comments or Removing Comments, above.

To clear (reset) a Quick amount you entered, click the little X that appears following the units list.

You can customize the units that appear here using the Quick Comment Units area in Preferences.

Working with Your Shopping List

The items in your shopping list, on the left side of the Main window, are always shown in alphabetical order. This topic contains the following sections:

• Modify List Items
• Save a Shopping List to Use it Again Later
• Save a Recipe for Later Use
• Add a Saved List or Recipe to Your Current Shopping List
• When Your Shopping List is Complete
• Add Extra Items
• Print/Send/Copy/Save Your Completed Shopping List

Modify List Items

• To add, change or remove a comment for a particular item, select the item and then click the Comment button below the list. See Adding & Editing Item Comments for more information about this.
• To remove an item from the list, select the item and then click the Remove Item button below the list. You may also right-click the item and choose Remove Item.
• To remove multiple items, select the items and then click the Remove Items button below the list (you may also right-click any selected item and choose Remove Items).
  • You can select multiple consecutive items by clicking the first item and then holding the Shift button on your keyboard while clicking the last item you want to select.
  • You can also select multiple items by holding the Ctrl button on your keyboard while clicking each one.
  • To clear the entire list, click the Clear Current List toolbar button (the yellow note with the red X icon) or select Clear Current List from the List menu.

Save a Shopping List to Use it Again Later

To save your current shopping list for use at a later time, click the Save Shopping List button on the toolbar (the yellow note with the thumbtack icon) or select Save Current List from the List menu.

Save a Recipe for Later Use

To save the items in your current shopping list as the ingredients for a recipe (that can easily be added to any shopping list at a later time), click the Save Recipe button on the toolbar (the white recipe card with the thumbtack icon) to save the entire list as the recipe's ingredients or select Save Recipe from the Recipe menu and then select Entire Current Shopping List.

If you wish to save a recipe consisting only of the items currently selected in the shopping list (as opposed to all the items in the current list), select Save Recipe from the Recipe menu and then select Selected Items Only.

Add a Saved List or Recipe to Your Current Shopping List

To add all the items in a saved shopping list to your current shopping list, click the Select Saved Shopping List button on the toolbar (the yellow note with the checkmark icon) or select Insert a Saved List from the List menu.

To add all the items in a saved recipe to your current shopping list, click the Select Saved Recipe Shopping List button on the toolbar (the white recipe card with the checkmark icon) or select Insert a Saved Recipe from the Recipe menu.

When Your Shopping List is Complete

When you have completed preparing your shopping list, click the DONE button below the shopping list or the Printer button on the toolbar. For more information, refer to Print/Send/Copy/Save Your Completed Shopping List.

Add Extra Items

After completing your list, and just before the window opens in which you will print/send/copy/save your completed shopping list, you may add any extra items to your current shopping list.

Sometimes you may want to add items to your shopping list that are not included in your store's All Store Items list. This could be because they are one-time items that you don't want included in your store's All Store Items list or items that you want to add to the All Store Items list, but simply haven't done so yet.

By default, SLM asks you if you want to add any extra items every time you are about to print/send/copy/save a shopping list. If you click Yes, the Add Extra Items window opens. If you click No, the Print/Send/Copy/Save window opens immediately. Note: You may configure whether or not the Add Extra Items window appears – see Add Extra Items in Preferences.

In the Add Extra Items window, type in any additional items you want included on your shopping list, one per line (press Enter after typing each item to move to the next line).

If you would like these extra items to be added to the current store's All Store Items list, select the checkbox below the list.

Click OK to proceed.

Print/Send/Copy/Save Your Completed Shopping List

You are now at the window where you print, email, copy (to Clipboard) or save (to file) your shopping list. Refer to Print/Send/Copy/Save Your Completed Shopping List for details.

Main Window Reference

This page details every part of the Main window and how to use it. For an introduction to the basics of using Shopping List Manager to prepare a shopping list, refer to Getting Started with Shopping List Manager and Using the Main Window.

Main Window Toolbar

The main window toolbar consists of 11 buttons that appear at the top of the main window:

• Select Store – Select a different store to work with. Opens the Select a Store window.
• Edit Store – Edit the current store's items, aisles, categories, etc. Opens the Edit Store window.
• Create a New Store – Create a new store to use in the app. Opens the Create a New Store window.
• Insert Shopping List – Add a saved shopping list's items to your current shopping list. Opens the Select Saved Shopping List window.
• Save Shopping List – Save the current shopping list's items for later use. Opens the Save Shopping List window.
• Clear Current List – Clear your current shopping list so you can start again. In Preferences, you can select whether or not SLM will warn you of unsaved changes when clearing the current shopping list.
• Select Recipe – Add a saved recipe's items to your current shopping list. Opens the Select Saved Recipe window.
• Save Recipe – Save the current shopping list's items as a recipe for later use. Opens the Save Recipe window.
• Print/Done – Deliver your completed shopping list by printing, emailing, etc. Depending on your selection in Preferences, this will either open the Add Extra Items window or the Print/Send/Copy/Save Shopping List window.
• Preferences – Set app options and preferences in the Preferences window
• Help – Open the app's online help (where you are most likely reading this now!).

Main Window Menu Options

Main

• Preferences – Open the Preferences window to set your preferences for using this app.
• Exit – Close the app. In Preferences, you can select whether or not SLM will warn you of unsaved changes when exiting the app.

Store

• Edit Current Store – Edit the current store's items, aisles, categories, etc. Opens the Edit Store window.
• Select a Store – Select a different store to work with. Opens the Select a Store window.
• Create a New Store – Create a new store to use in the app. Opens the Create a New Store window.
• Delete a Store – Permanently delete an entire store. Opens the Delete a Store window.
• Import Store Data – Add items to the current store from an external file. Opens the Import Store Data window.
• Export Store Data – Save all of the current store's items to a text file. Learn more at Export Store Data.

List

• Deliver Current List – Deliver your completed shopping list by printing, emailing, etc. Depending on your selection in Preferences, this will either open the Add Extra Items Window or go directly to the Print/Send/Copy/Save Shopping List window.
• Clear Current List – Clear your current shopping list. In Preferences, you can select whether or not SLM will warn you of unsaved changes when clearing the current shopping list.
• Save Current List – Save the current shopping list's items for later use. Opens the Save Shopping List window.
• Insert a Saved List – Add a saved shopping list's items to your current shopping list. Opens the Select Saved Shopping List window.
• Delete a Saved List – Delete a previously saved shopping list. Opens the Delete Saved List window.

Recipe

• Insert a Saved Recipe – Insert a saved recipe's ingredients into the current shopping list. Opens the Select Saved Recipe window.
• Save Recipe – Save the entire current shopping list or only the currently selected items as the ingredients of a recipe that can be used again later. Opens the Save Recipe window.
• Delete a Saved Recipe – Delete a previously saved recipe. Opens the Delete a Saved Recipe window.

Help

• The Help menu options link to various portions of the help you are currently reading.
• About SLM – Display the app's version number, contact email address, website address and data file location.

Shopping List

On the left side of the Main Window is the current shopping list you are currently working on. This list is always shown in alphabetical order. For details of how you can interact with the list, see Adding Items to Your Shopping List.

All Store Items

The main, central portion of the Main Window contains the list of all the items that you ever buy in the current store – click on an item to add it to your current shopping list. This list is always shown in alphabetical order, and can be scrolled horizontally if all the store's items don't fit in one screen. For details of how you can interact with the All Store Items List, see Adding Items to Your Shopping List.

Category Buttons

Click one of the category buttons on the right side of the window to "filter" the All Store Items list to show only those items in the selected category/department. Some people find it faster and easier to create their shopping lists by category, where there are fewer items to choose from at one time.

To remove the category filter, click the All Categories button at the top.

For this feature to work, you need to make sure that each item is properly assigned to a relevant category. See Edit Store Items and Edit Store Categories.

Note that the number of category buttons that can appear depends on the size of the SLM window. To see more category buttons, maximize the size of the window. A maximum of 16 category buttons may appear. Also note that a particular category button will appear when using a particular store only if that category is selected for the current store and there is at least one item in the store in the category.

Quick Find

To quickly jump to a particular item in the All Store Items list, type the first few letters of the item's name in the Quick Find box. Once the desired item is highlighted in the All Store Items list, simply press Enter to add it to the shopping list. You can immediately proceed to type in the name of another item. Some people find this approach must faster than clicking on items using the mouse.

• If you have a coupon for an item, you can note this in the shopping list by holding down the Shift key on your keyboard while pressing Enter.
• If you want to add a "comment" for an item, hold down the Ctrl button your keyboard while pressing Enter.

Jump to Letter

Click a letter in the Jump to section to jump to the first item starting with that letter in All Store Items. Letters for which no items are currently shown are disabled here.

Quick Amount

This area is used to add amounts/quantities to shopping list items. See Using Quick Amount to Add Quantities to Items for details.

Print/Send/Copy/Save Your Completed Shopping List

When you have completed your shopping list, click the DONE button (below the shopping list) or the printer button (in the top toolbar) in the Main Window. After optionally adding any extra items, SLM opens a window in which you can print, send or save your finished shopping in a variety of ways – select one of these tabs at the top of the window:

• Print – send the list to a connected printer
• Email – send the list to a recipient by email
• Clipboard – for pasting the list into WhatsApp Web, your email app or any other Windows app
• File – for saving the list as a text file that you can send as an attachment or use in any other way

Note that you can tell SLM which tab on this window to show each time you complete a shopping list, or to show the same tab you used last time. You can do this by changing the Default delivery method option in the Completed Shopping Lists section of Preferences.

Print a Shopping List

We recommend printing out your shopping list whenever possible. The reason is simple: having a paper list with you is the safest and easiest way to go shopping! You can leave it in your cart while getting items off the shelf without any fear of someone stealing it.

On the other hand, when using a smartphone, you need to either be holding the phone the entire time you are shopping (leaving you only one hand to do the actual work of shopping) – or risk putting it down and losing it, dropping it or having it stolen! There is nothing more convenient to have with you in the store than a paper shopping list, printed in a large, clear font, without any worries and leaving both hands free.

To print the list, make sure the first tab of the dialog box, Print, is selected.

Print Button

When you are ready to print, click the Print button to send your list to the named printer. To select a different printer or change any other print settings, click Print Setup before clicking Print.

Print Preview

If you want to make sure that you've set up printing exactly as you want it to be, click Print Preview to see an on-screen version of your list before actually printing it. From the SLM Print Preview window, you can click the printer icon at the top left to actually print the list or click Close to return to change settings before printing.

Print Setup

Click the Print Setup button to change the following print settings. Note that after printing a list, all these settings are saved for next time.

Page Setup

• Printer – Select the printer you want to use with SLM. All available system printers are listed. If you have a connected printer that is not in the list, you might need to first install printer driver software in Windows so that Windows (and SLM) will recognize the printer.
• Page orientation – Portrait means that the page stands vertically, while Landscape means that the page will be printed in a horizontal orientation (which allows more/wider columns).
• Page margins – Select Narrow, Medium or Wide, according to your personal preference. Of course, the narrower the page margins, the more space on the page there is for printing long lists.

Print Options

• Font & size – Select the font and font size you want to use for your printed shopping lists. All fonts available in Windows appear here. Smaller font sizes allow more of your shopping list to fit on each page, while larger font sizes make it easier to use the list in the store – experiment until you find the best balance for your personal preference.
• Columns to print – We recommend leaving this set to "Fit to page", which allows SLM to fit as many columns as possible into a page, given all your other settings. Of course, if you prefer limiting the printing of your shopping list to just one or two columns, you can select those options too.

Advanced Printer Options

Any special options that your printer makes available not shown here – for example, printing double sided or selecting a particular paper tray – can be used by changing those settings in Windows > Control Panel > Devices and Printers and making them the printer's defaults.

Email Your Shopping List

Before being able to send your shopping lists by email directly, you will need to perform the following steps. Note that you can avoid this setup and still be able to send lists by email by selecting the third tab in this dialog, Clipboard, and then manually pasting the list into any email client (Gmail, Outlook, Thunderbird, etc.) on your PC.

Setting Up SLM to Send Shopping Lists by Email

To enable SLM to send your shopping lists by email directly, you will need to perform the following steps once:

1. Click the Email Setup button in the Send Shopping List by Email dialog (if the Email Setup section is not already visible).
2. In the Recipient email address box, enter the email address of the person who will receive your shopping list by email. Only one address may be entered, although you can, of course, change this address at any time.
3. Select the message format you prefer: When HTML is selected, the shopping list will be sent in a two-column format. When Plain text is selected, the shopping list will be sent in a simpler, text-only format.
4. In the Your Gmail address box, enter the email address of the Gmail account that you will be using to send lists by email. If you do not already have a Gmail account, you can create one for free here.
5. In the Your Gmail password box, enter the password for your Gmail account. (This password is stored by SLM in an encrypted manner so that it will not be discoverable by someone with access to your PC.)
6. In the Your name box, enter your name as it will appear in the From field when your lists are sent.
7. Configure your Gmail account to allow SLM to use the account to send emails by setting the Allow less secure apps to ON at the bottom of your Gmail account's Sign-in & security page (you can read more about this setting on this Gmail help page). If you do not want to turn on this option for your Gmail account, you have two alternatives:
   1. Create a new Gmail account which you will use only for the purpose of letting SLM send emails, and then turn on the Allow less secure apps setting on the Sign-in & security page for that account.
   2. Select the third tab in this window, Clipboard, click Copy and then paste your shopping list into any email client (Gmail, Outlook, Thunderbird, etc.) on your PC.

Send Your Shopping List by Email

After you have done the setup above once, simply click the Send button to send a shopping list by email. SLM will inform you once the list has been successfully sent.

If you receive an error when trying to send an email from SLM along the lines of "authenticaion required", follow the instructions in #7 above.

Copy to Clipboard

To copy your shopping list to the Windows Clipboard, select the third tab of the dialog box, Clipboard, and click the Copy button. You can now paste your shopping list it into any other program on your PC.

Example: Send Your Shopping List via WhatsApp

Many people use WhatsApp Web to allow them to read and send WhatsApp messages on their PC. If you use it, you can send your shopping list to any WhatsApp user by copying the list to the clipboard and then pasting it into a WhatsApp message.

You can also, of course, paste your shopping list into an email client (Gmail, Outlook, Thunderbird, etc.) or any other messaging program you have on your PC in order to send your shopping list to your own mobile phone or anyone else's.

Note that shopping lists are copied to Clipboard in both rich text and plain text formats. If you paste a list into a program that supports rich text, the shopping list will appear in a two-column format. If not, it will appear in a simple, plain text format.

Save to File

By saving your shopping list as a file, you can attach it to an email, open it in a word processor or use it in any other way you like. To do so, select the fourth tab of the window, File, and click the Save button. After saving the file, SLM will offer you to open Windows Explorer to the file so that you can easily use it.

If the Save button is disabled, it means that a valid folder location has not been selected.

To change the folder where the list will be saved or to change the file format used, click the File Setup button, if necessary. Then:

• Type in a valid folder path or use the Browse button to select one.
• Select the message format you prefer: When HTML is selected, the shopping list will be saved as an HTML file, in a two-column format. When Plain text is selected, the shopping list will be saved as a plain-text-only TXT file.

Working with Stores

Edit a Store

The Edit Store Window is where you manage the items, aisles and categories that each store contains, basic information about the store itself and options related to using the store. For detailed information about working with each of these aspects of a store, see:

• Edit Items
• Edit Aisles
• Edit Categories
• Edit Store Info

To open the Edit Store window for the currently selected store, click the Edit Store toolbar button in the Main Window (the shopping cart with the pencil icon) or select Edit Current Store from the Store main menu.

When you've finished making all desired changes, click OK to save your changes and close this window. You may also save your work at any time, without closing the window, by clicking Save. Note that the OK and Save buttons will only be enabled (clickable) when there are any changes to save.

Clicking Cancel will close the window and discard all changes made since opening the window.

Tips:

• Changes made in any tab are immediately reflected in other tabs. For example, adding an aisle in the Aisle tab will make it immediately available for selection in the Items tab.
• Changes made in all four tabs are saved or discarded together.
• Hover your mouse over any part of this window to see a brief explanation of what that part is or what it does, shown at the bottom of the window.
• The entire Edit window is resizable – feel free to enlarge it (by dragging its borders/corners) for the most convenient use.

Items Tab

To add, change and remove items contained within the current store, select the Items tab of the Edit Store window.

All Store Items List

In this area, you can see all the items contained within the current store, the aisle in which each is located and the category with which each is associated. You can sort the list by each of these columns by clicking on the column header. Clicking the column header a second time reverses the sort order.

To edit an item, select it and then make changes in the Item Details area (see next section).

Note: Item names are case sensitive. This means that you can have, for example, both Kleenex and kleenex in you All Store Items List (and they are treated as separate, unrelated items).

To remove an item, select it and click Remove Item (below the list).

Item Details

To edit the details of an existing item, click it in the All Store Items list and then make changes here. When you're ready, click Update to apply the changes to the existing item. Tip: you must click Update to apply the changes you've made to an existing item; otherwise, those changes will not be saved.

To add a new item to the store, enter its details here and click Add. Tip: To add multiple items quickly using the keyboard, enter the item name, press Tab on the keyboard to move to the Aisle and Category lists and then press Enter on the keyboard to add the item and immediately be able to type in the name of the next item. When working with the Aisle and Category lists, use the up and down arrow buttons on the keyboard or press F4 to open the drop-down list.

Note that the Add button will only be enabled if the exact item name entered in the Item textbox does not already exist in this store.

Click Clear to reset the item details so that you can enter a new item.

Add Existing Items from Other Stores

Use this button at the bottom of the Items tab to add one or more items that already exist in another store to the current store. This can be a big time saver, instead of retyping items you already have in another store:

Select Items to Add Window

Use this window, accessible from the Add Existing Items from Other Stores button in the Items tab of the Edit Store window, to add (or "import") items that exist in other stores to the current store.

When you open this window, all items that exist in other stores, but not the current store, will be listed. To select items to add to the current store, select the checkbox of each desired item and then click OK.

Note that all items added to the current store in this way will be added with aisle set to ?Unknown – after clicking OK, use the Items tab in the Edit Store window to assign aisles to each newly added item.

Aisles Tab

To add, change and remove the aisles contained within the current store, select the Aisles tab of the Edit Store window.

Store Aisles List

In this area, you can see all the aisles contained within the current store, shown in their order within the store.

To edit an aisle, select it and then make changes in the Aisle Details area (see next section).

To remove an aisle, select it and click Remove Aisle (below the list).

To change the location of an aisle within the store, select it and then use the Move Up and Move Down buttons (below the list) to move it to its new location. (You can also relocate an aisle in the Aisle Details area – see next section.) Finished shopping lists will be printed in the order of the aisles as shown in this list.

Note: Aisles names are not case sensitive. This means that once you have, for example, an aisle named 'Produce' (with an upper-case 'P'), you will not be able to add a separate aisle named 'produce' (with a lower-case 'p').

Aisle Details

To change the name or location of an existing aisle, click it in the Store Aisles list and then make changes here. When you're ready, click Update to apply the changes to the existing aisle. Tip: You must click Update to apply the changes you've made to an existing item; otherwise, those changes will not be saved.

To add a new aisle to the store, enter its details here and click Add. Tip: To add multiple aisles quickly using the keyboard, enter the aisle name, press Tab on the keyboard to move to the Location lists and then press Enter on the keyboard to add the item and immediately be able to type in the name of the next item. When working with the Location lists, use the up and down arrow buttons on the keyboard or press F4 to open the drop-down list.

Note that the Add button will only be enabled if the aisle name entered in the Name textbox does not already exist in this store.

Click Clear to remove the aisle name so that you can enter a new aisle.

Last Numbered Aisle

To easily add or remove multiple numbered aisles for the current store, simply change the number shown here and click Set. Numbered aisles will be instantly added or removed from your store's list of defined aisles, accordingly.

Categories Tab

To add, change and remove the categories with which items can be associated in SLM, select the Categories tab of the Edit Store window.

Categories (All Stores) List

In this area, you can see all the item categories defined across all stores.

To edit a category, select it and then make changes in the Category Details area (see next section).

To remove a category, select it and click Remove Category (below the list).

To change the location of a category as it appears on the right side of the Main Window, select it and then use the Move Up and Move Down buttons (below the list) to move it to its new location.

Note: Category names are not case sensitive. This means that once you have, for example, a category named 'Dairy' (with an upper-case 'd'), you will not be able to add a separate aisle named 'dairy' (with a lower-case 'd').

Category Details

To change the name or button appearance of an existing category, click it in the Categories (All Stores) list and then make changes here. When you're ready, click Update to apply the changes to the existing category. Tip: You must click Update to apply the changes you've made to an existing category; otherwise, those changes will not be saved.

To add a new category, enter its name here and click Add.

You may also add an icon, that will appear on the category's button in the Main Window. To do, click Select Icon and then select an existing image file from your computer's file system. The image file must be in PNG format and have a maximum size of 50x50 pixels. SLM ships with more than 25 ready-to-use category icons which you can use.

Note that the Add button will only be enabled if the category name entered in the Name textbox does not already exist in this store.

Click Clear to remove the category name so that you can enter a new one.

Categories in Use with this Store

Use this area to select which categories are available for use within the current store. All the categories with selected checkboxes here will be available for selection when adding/editing items in this store. All the categories shown here without selected checkboxes will not be available for items in this store and they will not appear on the right side of the Main Window. If you uncheck a category here that is already selected for one or more items in the current store, those category assignments will be lost.

Store Info Tab

Select the Store Info tab of the Edit Store window to edit details, to edit options and to see stats for the current store.

Store Details

The Name, City and State details are displayed within various SLM windows to help you identify your stores, and they are also included at the top of your completed shopping lists. The Zip may be used in the future to help match stores across databases. At a minimum, every store has to have a Name and City.

Store Options

Some users find it convenient to have a "default" list of items added to their shopping list every time they use SLM with a particular store (a list of basic staples for the weekly supermarket trip, for example). To make use of this optional feature, create a shopping list of these items in the MainWindow, save it and then select a saved shopping list from the drop-down list here.

Some users find it convenient to have a note or reminder included at the top of every shopping list. For example, "Bring shopping tote bags!" To include such a note at the top of every shopping list created with the current store, enter the note here.

Store Stats

• Items – The numbers of items defined in the current store
• Aisles – The numbers of aisles defined in the current store
• Categories – The numbers of aisles associated with the current store
• Last modified – The date on which this store was last modified using this window

Select a Store

Use the Select a Store window to choose a store for use in SLM. Only once a store is selected can you use it to prepare shopping list, or to edit its contents.

To open the Select a Store window, click the Select a Store toolbar button (the shopping cart with the checkmark icon) in the Main Window or select Select a Store from the Store main menu.

Select the store you want to use and click OK.

Create a New Store

To create a new store for use in SLM, click the Create New a Store toolbar button (the shopping cart with the plus icon) in the Main Window or select Create New a Store from the Store main menu.

Enter a name and city for the store. State and Zip are optional.

Then, select how you want the new store to be created. Your choices are:

• Create a new store by duplicating the current store – When creating a new store for a purposes similar to the current store, such as creating a new store to go shopping at an additional supermarket in addition to the currently selected supermarket – use this option. It will create the new store already containing all the items defined in the current store. You can opt to do this by also duplicating the aisles from the current store, or by simply duplicating the items alone (in which case, all items will be assigned an aisle of ?Unknown).
• Create a new store using default items – This option creates the new store using the set of items included with SLM's default store, i.e., the one that appears when you first ran the app. They will have assigned categories, but you will have to assign aisles to each one.
• Create a new empty store, containing no items – This option creates the new store containing no items at all, i.e., you'll be starting from scratch.

Click OK to create the new store.

Tip: An easy way to assign aisles to the items in your new store is that, each time you go shopping, jot down the aisle numbers in the store on your shopping list (instead of just writing check marks next to each item). When you get home, edit the store to set the aisle/location for each item.

Delete a Store

To permanently remove a store from SLM, select Delete a Store from the Main Window's Store main menu. Then, select the store to delete and click OK.

This will irrevocably delete all of the selected store's item and aisle data, as well as any saved lists and recipes created while using this store. Tip: If you want to keep any saved lists or recipes created while using this store, first select them and save them again from within a different store.

Import Store Data

You can add items to the current store by selecting a comma-delimited CSV files that contain item information. This is useful if you have this information in another file format and don't want to retype it all into this app, or if it's just easier for you to prepare your items list using a program that saves CSV files (such as Microsoft Excel).

To import items, you'll need to prepare a comma-separated-values (CSV) in which each line contains between one and three comma-separated values:

• first value = item name
• second value = aisle in which it's located (optional)
• third value = category in which it's located (optional)

Notes:

• Do not include a row containing field names (if you do, this row will be imported as an item).
• Values containing a comma must be enclosed in double quotation marks (see examples below).
• Each line in the file must end with a carriage-return (CR) or linefeed (LF) character or both (this is standard for all text and CSV files).
• Any items that already exist in the store will be ignored during import.
• Make sure that the store already contains all the aisles and categories referenced by the CSV file before performing the import. If any aisle or category specified for an imported item is not found in the store, the item will be added to the store with aisle of ?Unknown or category of (none), respectively.

Sample items CSV file:

tissues,3,Health & Beauty
toothpicks,3,General Merchandise
deoderant,3,Health & Beauty
"cleaner, all-purpose",5,Cleansers
"cleaner, window",5,Cleansers
garbage bags,5,Disposables
sandwich baggies,5,Disposables
apples,Produce,Fresh Produce
tomatoes,Produce,Fresh Produce
butter,Dairy Refrigerated,Dairy
cream cheese,Refrigerated,Dairy


Export Store Data

You can save all of a store's items into a comma-delimited CSV file by selecting Export Store Data from the Main Window's Store main menu. This is useful if you would like to use this information in another program, such as Excel. The file will be saved in your Windows user's Documents folder in the format of:

ItemName,AisleName,CategoryName

Sample exported items CSV file:

cheese,Dairy Fridges,Dairy
chocolate chips,15,Bakery & Baking
"cleaner, all-purpose",2,Home & Garden
coffee,15,Beverages
conditioner,3,Health & Beauty
"corn, canned",14,Canned Foods


Working with Saved Lists and Recipes

Save a Shopping List

You can save a shopping list for use at a later time, making it quick and easy to add the same group of items to a future shopping list. To do so, create the shopping list to save in the Main Window and then click the Save Shopping List button on the toolbar (the yellow note with the thumbtack icon) or select Save Current List from the List menu.

Enter a name for the shopping list (you will use this name to select this list in the future) and click OK.

If the current shopping list contains any comments, you can choose to save them with the shopping list by selecting the Save comments along with item names checkbox before clicking OK. Otherwise, only the items themselves will be saved.

Tip: If there is a set of items that you almost always buy when heading to a particular store, you can save time by telling SLM to automatically include those items in your shopping list every time you work with that store. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Create the list of items in the Main window as you normally would.
2. Save the list as described above, giving it a name like "Weekly staples".
3. In the Store Options area of the Store Info tab of the Edit Store window, select the saved list and click OK.
4. From now on, every time you begin working with this store in SLM, the items in this saved list will already appear in your shopping list.

Select a Saved List

Use the Select a Saved List window to insert all of the items saved in a particular saved list to your current shopping list.

To open the Select a Saved List window, click the Insert Shopping List toolbar button (the yellow note with the checkmark icon) in the Main Window or select Insert a Saved List from the List main menu.

Select the saved list whose items you want to add to your current shopping list and click OK.

Tips:

• The Show lists saved from radio buttons let you choose whether to see only the lists saved with the current store, or to see all the lists you've saved while using all the stores defined in the app.
  • Of course, if you select a list saved from another store, not all of the list's items will necessarily exist in the current store (in this case, the items will be added to your list with aisle of ?Unknown).
  • The selected radio button will be remembered for the next time you open this window.
• The List Details area at the bottom of this window shows you information about the selected list that might make it easier to select the list you want (although it's always easier to simply use unambiguous names for each list).
• Once you've added the items to your current shopping list, the list's items will all be selected. This makes it easy to undo the action, if you picked the wrong list, by immediately clicking Remove Items below the shopping list.

Delete a Saved List

To permanently remove a saved shopping list from SLM, select Delete a Saved List from the Main Window's List main menu. Then, select the list to delete and click OK.

The Show lists saved from radio buttons let you choose whether to see only the lists saved with the current store, or to see all the lists you've saved while using all the stores defined in the app.

The List Details area at the bottom of this window shows you information about the selected list that might make it easier to select the list you want.

Save a Recipe

You can save a recipe for use at a later time, making it quick and easy to add all of the recipe's items (and associated item comments) to a future shopping list. To do so, create a shopping list in the Main Window consisting of all the recipe's items (and associated comments, such as amounts) and then click the Save Recipe button on the toolbar (the white recipe card with the thumbtack icon) or select Save Recipe from the Recipe menu and then select Entire Current Shopping List.

If you wish to save a recipe consisting only of the items currently selected in the shopping list (as opposed to all the items in the current list), select Save Recipe from the Recipe menu and then select Selected Items Only.

Enter a name for the recipe (you will use this name to select this recipe in the future) and click OK.

Note: All item comments are saved with the recipe and will appear when the recipe is used in the future.

Select a Recipe

Use the Select a Recipe window to insert all of the items saved in a particular saved recipe to your current shopping list.

To open the Select a Recipe window, click the Insert a Saved Recipe toolbar button (the white recipe card with the checkmark icon) in the Main Window or select Insert a Saved Recipe from the Recipe main menu.

Select the recipe whose items you want to add to your current shopping list and click OK.

Tips:

• The Show recipes saved from radio buttons let you choose whether to see only the recipes saved with the current store, or to see all the recipes you've saved while using all the stores defined in the app.
  • Of course, if you select a recipe saved from another store, not all of the recipe's items will necessarily exist in the current store (in this case, the items will be added to your current shopping list with aisle of ?Unknown).
  • The selected radio button will be remembered for the next time you open this window.
• The Recipe Details area at the bottom of this window shows you information about the selected recipe.
• Once you've added the recipe's items to your current shopping list, the recipe's items will all be selected. This makes it easy to undo the action, if you picked the wrong recipe, by immediately clicking Remove Items below the shopping list.

Delete a Saved Recipe

To permanently remove a saved recipe from SLM, select Delete a Saved Recipe from the Main Window's Recipe main menu. Then, select the recipe to delete and click OK.

The Show recipes saved from radio buttons let you choose whether to see only the recipes saved with the current store, or to see all the recipes you've saved while using all the stores defined in the app.

The Recipe Details area at the bottom of this window shows you information about the selected recipe that might make it easier to select the recipe you want.

Preferences

You can use the Preferences window, which is accessible either by selecting Preferences from the main menu or by clicking the Preferences button on the main window toolbar (the tri-colored slide controls icon), to set a number of app options. Read on for an explanation of each option.

Main Window Display

• Text size in lists – Set the size of the font used in the Main Window's Shopping List and All Store Items list. Note that you can also change this setting from the Main Window by holding down the Ctrl key while scrolling with the mouse wheel (this is also used by most web browsers to change the font size).
• Main list column width – Set the width of each column of items that appears in the Main Window's All Store Items list. If you set this to Automatic, the column width will be set wide enough to accomodate the longest item name that appears in the All Store Items list. If you have very long item names, this might not be ideal, as the column width will be extremely wide. If you choose a setting other than Automatic, the column width will be set based on the current font size: larger font sizes and/or longer item names will require a wider column width to be sufficiently visible in the All Store Items list.
• Show categories – By default, the right side of the Main Window shows a column of category buttons which filter the items shown in the All Store Items list. (This can speed up making shopping lists by working department by department.) If you prefer not to have these category buttons show, uncheck this checkbox. Note that the number of category buttons that will appear depends on the size of the SLM window (to see more category buttons, maximize the size of the window). In any case, a maximum of 16 category buttons may appear.

• Show hover help tips – When this checkbox is checked, a help tip will appear at the bottom of the Main Window and Edit Store window when you move the mouse over any element in these windows.

Completed Shopping Lists

• Add extra items – When you've completed a shopping list and you're ready to print or send it, you have the opportunity to enter additional items that are not in your store's All Items List. You can turn this feature on or off here (by selecting Yes or No), or give yourself the choice every time you complete a shopping list (by selecting Always Ask). Click to learn about using the Add Extra Items window.
• Default delivery method – Every time you complete a shopping list, a dialog box is shown so that you can print, send, copy/paste or save your list. Here, you can select the delivery method that you always want to be shown first. Select Last Used if you want the app to always default to whichever delivery method you used the previous time.
• Include aisle separator lines – Check this checkbox so that your printed/sent shopping lists will include separator lines between the items in each aisle, or uncheck it if you prefer not to have separator lines between the items in each aisle.
• Reverse aisle order – Shopping lists are always printed in the order of the aisles as defined in the Aisles tab of the Edit Store Window. If you wish to print all your lists in the reverse order, check this box.

Warning Messages

• On – When this option is selected, you will receive warning messages in various situations throughout using the app, to help you avoid making mistakes that can lead to lost work.
• Off – If you find these warning messages intrusive and trust that you know what you're doing, feel free to turn off the warning messages.

Quick Comment Units

You can define up to 10 custom "quick comment" units for use in the Main Window. Enter one per line. Typical examples are pounds (or lbs) or kilograms (or kg). Learn about using Quick Comments here.

Questions?

Contact us at slm@tali.com.