Grocery lists in OmniFocus?
 

Every line-item entry in OF is either a project or a task. But what if it could also be just an "item"?

For example, my "Make Dinner" project involves the task "Buy groceries." I would like to be able to input "bread," "greens," and "dressing" as child items under the "Buy groceries" task. Once I've checked off all the items, the task will be complete.

I can do this today, but OF will treat these items as tasks of their own. Perhaps a future version of OF could support "dumb" items that would behave more like regular OmniOutliner entries. So we could have projects, tasks AND plain old lists of items, all within OF. (Currently, I use a combination of OF, OO and paper.)

This feature would be even more useful to me once OF for iPhone comes out, so I can check off non-task items as I acquire them.

In my system, I would want to consider buy bread, greens, and dressings as tasks. What would be the advantage of treating them as non-task items?

What's the problem with them showing up as regular actions/tasks? I have an ongoing grocery shopping single action list, with both one-off and repeating items. The contexts reflect the most advantageous place to purchase the items in question. I do my week's menu planning in my cooking project, and populate the grocery list according to what is on the menus.

I don't see any advantage to your proposal for my purposes, and I'm not sure what it would get you, either. What does a plain old list of items enable you to do that a list of actions with a dummy context does not? I'm not convinced that there's a good case to be made for putting features in OmniFocus to tide people with iPhones over until there is an OmniOutliner for the iPhone. Better that they spend the effort on the ultimate desired product, no? Just one guy's opinion...

I guess I just wanted a cleaner solution than using a dummy context. If I list bread and greens with the "Errands" context, then they show up alongside my other tasks, like "Pick up dry cleaning".

Thanks for the idea about dummy contexts. I will be content assigning my items to site-specific contexts like "Grocery Store" or "Pharmacy."

I'll often just have "Go to Grocery Store" as the task and put the shopping list in the task's notes, updating it as needed.

Not so good for one-offs, but it works great when I know I'm going to that store regularly.

IntlOrange,
I think I have a setup which may interest you. However, this would (currently) require you to have your iPhone connecting to your Mac, with the OmniFocus webserver running. HOWEVER, don't fret as this will work even better with the iPhone app when it comes out.

1. Create a PROJECT called Shopping List (or whatever you like).
2. Make the project parallel.
3. Create a child item entitled CLICK HERE TO CHECK ALL.
4. Now start adding your items as child items under CLICK HERE TO CHECK ALL. I actually have mine added in the order of where they are in the store, so I don't have to backtrack to get an item.
5. What I've done at this point, is added each item I need under this project. This becomes a PERPETUAL list for me, and I add items to it as I need them if they havne't been documented before. So, although i don't need mustard every week, it's added anyway.

...stay with me...

Now I have this MASTER list of grocery items. I click the box for CLICK HERE TO CHECK ALL so all items are checked. Then, i UNCHECK the items I need.

With the iPhone webserver, I now get a list of needed items (by not having a check mark). As I walk through the grocery store, I check 'em off, and when I get home all the items are checked off on my Mac as well (due to the webserver).

Then I start the whole process over again by checking all items and UNCHECKING the ones I need. I may realize on Wednesday that we need bread, so I'll uncheck it. Then, before my wife and i go shopping we sit down and I go through all the items ("...do we need bread?" "Yes", "...do we need soup?" Yes. The each item gets unchecked and shows up in my view as uncomplete tasks.

Now, when the iPhone app comes out, you won't have to worry about using the webserver, as all this should happen over the air, but hopefully you get the drift.

if you do not have your iPhone set up with the webserver, just google Omnifocus webserver and you should get a few forums regarding how to set it up. the only issue is you have to have your Mac on and awake for you to interact this way.

I'm sorry for the long post, but I wanted to make sure I explained this correctly. Thanks for your patience. :) I've attached a screenie.

P.S. Forgot that this can work as a standard printable list as well. Just change your view to "Remaining" and those items you have checked off won't appear. Then print.

-Marc

Marc,

That's brilliant. Thanks for sharing the details. I do a similar thing using OmniOutliner and printed lists, but will use your system in OF once I get my iPhone.

One tweak on the system: You could flag the items that represent staples. This would make the pre-shopping-trip review more efficient. For example, on my list Milk is a staple but Turkey Pepperoni is not. Before I go to the store I just check whether we need any of the staples. I only worry about the non-staple items if they were unchecked during the week or while planning menus. So I never forget to get milk, but I only buy pepperoni if we're going to make pizza.

[QUOTE=curt.clifton;39242]Marc,

That's brilliant. Thanks for sharing the details. I do a similar thing using OmniOutliner and printed lists, but will use your system in OF once I get my iPhone.

One tweak on the system: You could flag the items that represent staples. This would make the pre-shopping-trip review more efficient. For example, on my list Milk is a staple but Turkey Pepperoni is not. Before I go to the store I just check whether we need any of the staples. I only worry about the non-staple items if they were unchecked during the week or while planning menus. So I never forget to get milk, but I only buy pepperoni if we're going to make pizza.[/QUOTE]

Nice add, Curt. I find that reviewing the list, however, only takes a coupla minutes. Glad you like the system! It works REALLY well, especially if you can put the goods in order of the aisles. I really hated having to go back because I forgot something on another aisle!

Glad I was able to explain it well enough to understand, too.

Lightstorm, thanks for sharing that great system! It is a bit of a hack, but your explanation makes a lot of sense. I'm going to set that up in OF right now, and look forward to downloading the iPhone app in a week or so (fingers crossed).

By the way, thanks for taking the time to craft such a detailed and useful response.

It occurs to me that I could use this with a different context for each store I frequent. For example, I like to get most dry goods items from Trader Joe's (where they're super-cheap) and produce at Whole Foods (where the quality is much better). I could use your system of organizing the list by area of the store [I]and[/I] set contexts for each store -- e.g. "Trader Joe's" and "Whole Foods". I process the list before leaving the house (as you suggested), and when I'm in the actual store, OF shows me only the items I want to buy at each one.

This will be even more impressive once OF for iPhone comes out and it will already "know" which store I'm in. Eerie.

[QUOTE=IntlOrange;39247]It occurs to me that I could use this with a different context for each store I frequent. For example, I like to get most dry goods items from Trader Joe's (where they're super-cheap) and produce at Whole Foods (where the quality is much better). I could use your system of organizing the list by area of the store [I]and[/I] set contexts for each store -- e.g. "Trader Joe's" and "Whole Foods". I process the list before leaving the house (as you suggested), and when I'm in the actual store, OF shows me only the items I want to buy at each one.

This will be even more impressive once OF for iPhone comes out and it will already "know" which store I'm in. Eerie.[/QUOTE]

BINGO! Yes, that is definitely taking it another step forward. Glad I could help out. I gotta say, though, if you can have your Mac on and have your iPhone connect to it, the webserver app is very nice. Very basic, but very nice. In fact, I would rather work my contexts from that interface instead of using OF itself. I have a LOT of stuff in there, personal, career, my side business, and OF can get a little slow.

I used to have a crazy list set up in OmniOutliner that I've just moved into my OF list.

I'll warn you it sounds a bit insane but I've found it really speeds things up once sorted.

We do one big grocery shop a week in a big store so I broke it up into ordered sub contexts matching sections of the shop.

Supermarket > A (fresh veges)
Supermarket > B (meat)
Supermarket > C (first tinned food aisle)
etc

Anything we ever buy just gets added to a context according to where it is in the supermarket. (I made the original list by exporting from some online shopping we'd done)

Then just like Lightstorm the whole "shop" project is ticked, then untick what we need this time.

(Bonus points: Option-drag a copy of these items into a separate grouped lists of items for an individual meal and leave the things you have already in the cupboard as ticked)

Then you can just view the whole "supermarket" context and everything shows up split into sections. Until I get my iPhone I'm just setting the page setup to print 4-up on A4 and you can stuff it in your pocket.

Yep. I know.

Oh yeah - and you can just abuse the time estimate column a bit for amounts of things too. Need 4 tins of tomatoes - put a 4 in the time estimate.

Slightly off topic, but...

[QUOTE=Lightstorm;39249]I have a LOT of stuff in there, personal, career, my side business, and OF can get a little slow.[/QUOTE]

I have a lot of stuff too, but haven't really run into too many performance issues. I wish searching across the entire database was a little faster, but that seems improved in 1.1 (or is it just my imagination?).

Anyway, have you tried rebuilding your OF database recently? That can make a huge difference. Go to File -> Rebuild Database.

Also, I get the impression that OF's performance is greatly influences by how many items you have displayed in the current view. Try focusing on folders, collapsing unused collections, placing projects on hold, fiddling with the view bar and perspectives to get a smaller subset of your data to work with, etc.

And lastly, you can try this hidden preference to turn off the display of items in the main content area when nothing is selected in the sidebar (the same way Mail behaves). With nothing displayed in the main content area, jumping between planning and context mode and switching to new perspectives is instantaneous.

[CODE]defaults write com.omnigroup.OmniFocus LeaveEmptySelectionEmpty -bool YES[/CODE]

-Dennis

Lightstorm, I'm thinking for borrowing your idea for the groceries. I am much more organized and on task since using Omnifocus and your idea looks great. Thanks.

uof, you have taken it to a whole other level, especially with your misuse of the time estimate column. Nice.

I've been experimenting with this approach and have one more technique to add.

If you have certain dishes that you like to make, try making a sub-project for one, and listing the ingredients underneath it. For example, I have:
[LIST][*]Pizza[INDENT][*]Whole wheat pizza dough[*]Canned tomatoes[*]Mozzarella[*]Basil[/INDENT][/LIST]
Add contexts for each item, so you know where to buy what:
[LIST][*]Pizza[INDENT][*]Whole wheat pizza dough — Trader Joe's[*]Canned tomatoes — Whole Foods[*]Mozzarella — Trader Joe's[*]Basil — Trader Joe's[/INDENT][/LIST]
Then, before you go shopping, you can just uncheck all the items beneath "Pizza" and know that you didn't forget anything, because you've already documented it. (You're so smart.)

Switch to your context view (whether on your iPhone or for a printed copy) and you'll see all those ingredients sorted by store, e.g.:


Store > Trader Joe's[LIST][*]Whole wheat pizza dough[*]Mozzarella[*]Basil[/LIST]
Store > Whole Foods[LIST][*]Canned tomatoes[/LIST]

IntlOrange, I'm doing something very similar - works really well. I've got a big master list of the groceries we ever buy, as describe in my earlier post.

Then I've option-dragged a copy into a list for some regular meals we have (so it keeps the context I've already set it). Then it's just like you say - you can build a list for 5 or so meals in no time.

First I would like to say that I have never seen people talk so passionately about grocery lists!

Second, now I'm thinking I want to do this too! ;) One question though: I have an iPod Touch and a Palm Treo 700p. I don't know what the OmniFocus web server is, but can I pull this thing off with either of these devices (preferably the Treo)?

Ssshh, Jensen. Or my wife will hear and mercilessly roll her eyes.

Don't know much about Treos but when Omni release the iPhone version of OmniFocus shortly it should run on iPod Touch as well - just without the GPS location features.

If you have desktop version of OmniFocus you can keep desktop and iPod/iPhone all in sync by storing your data somewhere centrally - think you can either set that up on your home mac or with a service like MobileMe. That's the web server bit you mention.

Just to correct uof, Jensen: On an iPod Touch, the location-based functionality should still work, but you'll have to be in range of a wifi network. (iPod Touch doesn't have GSM wireless or GPS, so it will try to use wifi to locate you. The "old" iPhone has only GSM and wifi, and the new iPhone 3G has GSM, wifi, [I]and[/I] GPS, so it's very accurate.)

Jensen: There's also a (now open-source) web server that you can run on your desktop to access OmniFocus from a web browser. ([url]http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=6443[/url]) I presume that would work on your Treo, but I haven't tried it.

how to prevent the checked items to be cleaned up?
 

Hi,
How do you prevent the checked items to be cleaned up? Mine disappear when OmniFocus cleans them up.

TIA,

Kindest regards,

Andreas

[QUOTE=UniqueAndreas;42555]Hi,
How do you prevent the checked items to be cleaned up? Mine disappear when OmniFocus cleans them up.

TIA,

Kindest regards,

Andreas[/QUOTE]

Andres,
Not sure I understand. If you check them off on the iPhone, then yes, they will disappear from the iphone's view. Then you go on your Mac, and start the process over again (just change your view to Any Status so you can see the items you've checked off (if you're using the setup I mention very early in this post.)

Hope this helps.
-Marc

Marc,

Ah I see, they are back now. I thought they are deleted or backuped somewhere.

Unfortunately this is a global property and all other tasks that should be hidden are back too.

Kindest regards,

Andreas

[QUOTE=UniqueAndreas;42560]Marc,

Ah I see, they are back now. I thought they are deleted or backuped somewhere.

Unfortunately this is a global property and all other tasks that should be hidden are back too.

Kindest regards,

Andreas[/QUOTE]

Right...however, i set up a perspective, focusing on the shopping list and changing the status to "Any Status". That way it doesn't affect your other views. That should work for you.

Ah - I see. I need to learn how this perspective really works.

Thanks Mark,

Have a nice weekend.

Andreas

I have the same problem as Andreas has. I don't check the items I need while I'm at my Mac, I check them in OF using my iPhone when I'm in my kitchen and then I go to the store. At that point, all the items checked on my iPhone are gone. Yes, they show up again - checked - on the desktop version of OF, but that's not useful to me. I use Perspectives on the desktop but don't see how they help me on my iPhone, given what I describe.

Am I missing something?

Thanks,

Miles

Why are you checking off items you need to buy *before* going to the store? What happens if you get to the store and they don't have any fresh strawberries? You've already checked it off, but now you haven't done it.

Or am I misunderstanding your use of the word 'checked'?

I have a bunch of items in a list. Some I need, some I don't. So when I decide I need it, I check them. Yes, they have a line through it but I can still read the name. I would prefer to not see a line. List management would more normally have me check the items I do need, then uncheck them when I don't need them, then disappear from my View once I don't need them. It seems more natural to check items as you identify that you need them. Anyway, I don't mind going the other way if it helped.


Let's assume I chose the other route and kept them all checked until I unchecked what I needed. The iPhone would delete them all, even though they would reappear on the desktop. Either way, the iPhone deletes the checked items so by the time I get to the store, I don't have my list anymore. I assume that's the problem Andreas is having as well.

If I'm missing something ultra simple, please let me know. It wouldn't be the first time for me.

Thanks,

Miles

OK. The iPhone is not _actually_ deleting the actions, right? They're just not being displayed.

In the Settings pane, you can set the Projects view to show 'All' actions and then they'll show up whether they're completed or not. In Contexts, that option is not available. Maybe it should be?

I've submitted feedback on this, but this is a great example of where it would be awesome to have a gesture (ie pinch out) to bring up a quick view filter (Remaining/All/Available, etc), without roundtripping to the settings...

-P

milestaub, you might want to review the posts at the beginning of this thread, which outline a system of checking all the items you [I]don't[/I] need from the store, while [I]unchecking[/I] all the items you [I]do need[/I] to buy.

Currently, OF for iPhone doesn't support Perspectives, like the desktop app does. So OF for iPhone assumes that everything checked is already complete, while everything unchecked is still "to be done." So the iPhone app hides all checked/completed items, showing you only the unchecked/not complete ones.

So, on the desktop app, check all items. Then uncheck the things you need from the store. Then sync, go to the store, and do your shopping, checking items on the iPhone as you put them in your basket.

IntlOrange...I appreciate your suggestion and it's the one you posted straight away, and it would be a great suggestion if I knew what I needed when I'm in front of my Mac, but that's not where I do it. As I indicated in my original post, I check my grocery list in my kitchen, with my iPhone (previously Palm Treo with the terrific ListPro app), no Mac in the kitchen.

Under your scenario, I check all items on my Mac, then uncheck the items I need - at my Mac. Since checked items aren't shown on the iPhone, I can't use this method.

In the mean time, I just keep a calendar item for groceries and manually add to it as I need it. Not a happy solution, given how good a list program I had with the Treo. I'm optimistic that the Apple Apps store will have a good list program that syncs with the Mac (so I can create the lists quickly on my Mac) and iPhone.


Miles

milestaub, sorry for missing that in your post.

You're right that currently, there is no way to do what you want using OF for iPhone. I suggest just hanging in there for a while until a future update (maybe 1.1?) supports Perspectives, or other similar view controls that will let you show checked items. (I'm pretty sure such functionality is on the way soon.)

[QUOTE]It occurs to me that I could use this with a different context for each store I frequent. For example, I like to get most dry goods items from Trader Joe's (where they're super-cheap) and produce at Whole Foods (where the quality is much better).[/QUOTE]
This is good, however the issue I've run into is that the same item can be purchased at multiple stores. There's no way to have an item be in multiple contexts, so if I want to buy everything in one store this doesn't work, right?

I'm still looking for the ultimate shopping list. I have to shop for home, business (more than one), projects, etc. I can buy item Y at store A only, but item X is at store A and B. Item Z is at store B and C but not A, etc... I want my store B context to show all the items, but A only show item Y. And ideally each would have its own order for the locations within the store. Seems impossible.

[QUOTE=calvarez;43211]This is good, however the issue I've run into is that the same item can be purchased at multiple stores. There's no way to have an item be in multiple contexts, so if I want to buy everything in one store this doesn't work, right?

I'm still looking for the ultimate shopping list. I have to shop for home, business (more than one), projects, etc. I can buy item Y at store A only, but item X is at store A and B. Item Z is at store B and C but not A, etc... I want my store B context to show all the items, but A only show item Y. And ideally each would have its own order for the locations within the store. Seems impossible.[/QUOTE]

Try using the Business search, instead of a set store.

Sorry, could you expand on that concept? I'm new with OF and after looking through the menus and help file, I couldn't find anything like that.

Its only on the iPhone, it is a property of a context (edit contexts). You can define a "business search" for the location of a context (ie Grocery Store). OmniFocus will then do a search (presumably through Google) of your surrounding area when you hit the "location" icon in the bottom of the screen.

My issue with this is that I have an item (say apples) that I could buy at Trader Joes, or Whole Foods, but don't want to buy at Ralph's - well Ralph's is going to come up based on that business search.

The way to do this would be to use OmniFocus' context Hierarchy, where you have a context called "Food Store" and then sub contexts for "Trader joes" and "Whole Foods". Something you can get at any food store, you put in the top context, items that are store specific would go in their sub context. However unlike the desktop app, the iPhone is limited in aggregating this view, so you have to constantly drill up and down through your context hierarchy to see your tasks. I've submitted feedback asking for some way to see them all on a screen, perhaps by expanding them vertically in place accordion style, rather than slide left/right.

-P

Ah, interesting, hadn't thought of that. It may work for groceries but wouldn't work for many of the things I have in mind.

As a specific example:

If I'm buying groceries for home, I'm likely to go to the closest store. If I'm buying housewares, I'll go to Target or Wal-mart (different business class), however, I can also get the groceries there. To complicate it further, if I'm buying stuff to go to the boat for the weekend, I may need groceries, or boat stuff. I can get the boat stuff at Wal-mart, but not Target. And I can get the groceries at Wal-mart also.

I used to have an application on the Pocket PC that did exactly this (VO Shopping List). It's the only thing left that I simply can't find for the iPhone at all. It would let me say that a dock line was available at Wal-mart and at West Marine, and that beer is available at the grocery store and at Wal-mart and at Target. When I went to Wal-Mart I'd select that location and it would show me the items available there, plus in the right order for that store.

[QUOTE=calvarez;43232]
I used to have an application on the Pocket PC that did exactly this (VO Shopping List). It's the only thing left that I simply can't find for the iPhone at all. It would let me say that a dock line was available at Wal-mart and at West Marine, and that beer is available at the grocery store and at Wal-mart and at Target. When I went to Wal-Mart I'd select that location and it would show me the items available there, plus in the right order for that store.[/QUOTE]

Sounds like HandyShopper, a Palm app. I used that for years and also haven't found a good replacement on the iPhone. <sigh>

Search
 

I'm thinking, is it possible add search field for quick unmark items on grocery list?

[QUOTE=milestaub;42603]I have the same problem as Andreas has. I don't check the items I need while I'm at my Mac, I check them in OF using my iPhone when I'm in my kitchen and then I go to the store. At that point, all the items checked on my iPhone are gone. Yes, they show up again - checked - on the desktop version of OF, but that's not useful to me. I use Perspectives on the desktop but don't see how they help me on my iPhone, given what I describe.

Am I missing something?

Thanks,

Miles[/QUOTE]

Milestaub,

Yes this is exactly my situation. I am in the kitchen and figure out that I ran out of sugar. So I have my iPhone in my pocket and can immediately type in that I need some sugar. Then I go to the washroom and find out that there is something missing ... You get the idea.

I do not carry my Mac around. This is why I love this personal digital assistant. I have it available instantly.

For this reason I run a different application that is specialized for groceries lists. But I do not want to run different apps for the task management. I do want to have one single area where I have all my tasks available - including the shopping lists. With all the features (such as localisation feature on the iPhone) it might be perfect. There is just this little piece missing that lets the tasks visible for my grocery list.

I put an enhancement request on the iPhone section of this forum to add a property to either contexts or projects where one can prevent tasks to become invisible when they are checked. I hope it goes through.

Regards,

Andreas

Marc, This is a great idea for a list.

For anyone concerned with items disappearing when checking them off in your OF for iPhone, go to settings, and in projects, show "ALL" if you want to see what you've checked off without the items disappearing on you. When you're done go back to "remaining".

mokeiko

changing the setting completely is not a solution. I just want to have this behaviour for just the grocery list only on my iPhone.

Andreas

Archive warning
 

Just a reminder for anyone using the system of leaving everything checked, and then unchecking when you need it:

Archiving will remove these checked items from your list if you haven't unchecked them recently. i.e. if you archive everything older than August and you haven't put it on your list since then it will disappear into your archive.

Up to you whether you decide this is a problem or actually a good feature!

Guess you could just select all and check/uncheck before archiving to "refresh" them...

[QUOTE]Sounds like HandyShopper, a Palm app. I used that for years and also haven't found a good replacement on the iPhone. [/QUOTE]
On a lark, I decided to use "handyshopper" as a search term and found the app "iNeedStuff" in the iTunes store. It is compared to HandyShopper in several reviews. I only started using it yesterday, but I like it so far, and it seems to have the features we're looking for. Unfortunately the online sync is not working for me because there's a conflict between it and jailbroken phones. However the entry method on the phone is so good I don't know that I care.

A problem with archiving...
 

I do, in essence, the same approach as Marc. In my projects, there lives a perpetual "Go to the grocery store" project with dummy tasks setup like Dairy or Household Goods with everything that I buy as completed tasks under each dummy task. I open a perspective that shows all the completed tasks and uncheck the ones to show up on my iPhone during the shopping trip. After a sync to my iPhone. I have in the Errands=>Grocery Store context all my needed items and it is time to go to the store. Check them off as I travel the store. After coming home, another sync and I am back ready for the next time...

Now the rub, I liked the idea of Archive Old items. But it moved all my completed bread milk and cheese and like tasks to the archive. I then had to cut and paste them back into the active database under my dummy tasks. What a pain...

hehe... just saw the post above and I guess others have found the same issue!

Could we have archive (like backup software) where you could select projects to exclude from the move? Or does anyone have a better idea?

Jim

I think that OF won't archive completed items that are part of a repeating project or action group. (If it did, then the next repetition of the project would be missing actions.) So, if you set the grocery list action to repeating, then the items should stay put.

Thanks Curt - sounds like a nice simple solution to archiving problem. Cheers, Jonathan

Revived Thread
 

Like some others here, I loved HandyShopper in my Palm Pilot days. But I've shifted over to a 3x5 card system, and often forget to put things on a card.

So, I'm taking the ideas in this thread and setting up a shopping list in OmniFu. Here's what I've done:

Planning Mode Structure:
Shopping (folder)
....Regular Shopping
....Online Shopping (for things I only buy online)
....Unique Store (things I only buy at one store)

Context Mode Structure:
Errands
....Food
....Personal Care
....Pharmaceuticals
....Clothing
....Office Supplies
....etc.

I've also set up two Perspectives: Shopping Planner and Shopping by Context.

I'll use the Shopping Planner to do the "uncheck what I need" system. Shopping by Context will show me items grouped by store or section of a store.

I'm not using store names as Contexts, because I can buy many items in several stores. I'm not bothering to note that I only buy Contact lens soak at Target, because I know that and don't need that info on the list. But if I'm going to Target, I can show the contexts for al the different sections of the store ... then, if I'm heading to Staples next week, I can print only my Office Supplies context. [And hardware, because there's a good hardware store in the same strip mall.]

I don't have an iPhone (someday/maybe), so I don't know how this system would work with one, but it should suit my needs for now. Thanks everyone who helped me put this together.

Well, the biggest problem with the iPhone would likely be the lack of perspectives, although the context layout could also work.

In my case, I do [i]most[/i] of my shopping at specific stores, or at least specific types or classes of store, so for example I'll have a context called "Grocery Store" for food-related items, and this can apply regardless of which flavour of grocery store I'm going to. As an added bonus, the iPhone OF app lets me do a GPS-based business search so I can have that come up in my "Nearby" list when I'm near [i]any[/i] qualifying grocery store, not necessarily just the one in my neighbourhood.

I also keep a context for a couple of specific areas of town (ie, "downtown") in my "Errands" list, again to leverage the geo-location features of the iPhone.

Anything that I can generally buy in more than one place, I tend to leave in the top-level "Errands" context, since this is usually a smaller list of items.

In my projects list, I have a single Shopping List project which is actually a single-action "bucket" type of project. I use sub-actions within there to categorize as necessary for item types, mostly just to keep things straight for planning and review purposes, as well as to leverage the OF "Default Context" feature, since each sub-action list can have its own "Default Context" (so "Food items" default to "Grocery Store" whereas drug store items default to "Pharmacy").

I actually used GroceryIQ on my iphone prior to getting omnifocus. And now I still use it, since it's quite well designed for its purpose. Check it out.

i came on here looking for some ideas on how to use OF for my grocery list, but as igrok said, GroceryIQ is probably the best bet, it was the first app i ever bought, and i doubt it can be replaced by omnifocus.

I am not blaming omnifocus, one thing i enjoy about grocery iq is the 'favorites' section of all my usual items i need.

Maybe OmniFocus isn't the right tool for the job.

To me the project is shopping and I may have a number of stores but the actual list of items to get is better handled in an app designed for that purpose.

Have you looked at specific applications meant to handle shopping lists?

I'm using SplashShopper for that, has a desktop & handheld app.

Look at SplashShopper, very much like HandyShopper or the earlier jShopper and has both palm and iPhone versions.

SplashShopper on iPhone & Mac does exactly this, HOWEVER and it's a big however, performance truly sucks when you have more than about 100 items on your list.

My personal shopping list is around 900 items and I've had to go back to my Palm Treo app to run it.

HandyShopper was another great Shopping app on Palm but no iPhone version

I'm revisiting this thread because of the poor SplashShopper performance, trying to figure a way to use Omnifocus to do what I need.

HandyShopper was so great. I miss it!

I'm new here and am not sure if we're allowed to suggest non-OmniGroup Apps but I use [URL="http://macgourmet.com/"]MacGourmet[/URL] for all things food and wine.

I have both desktop and ipod touch versions and they sync nicely. I also use the chef's view on a monitor in my kitchen by uploading my recipes to the web. There is a place for shopping lists and notes so I just check things off on my iPod Touch as I go through the grocery store. My shopping lists are created easily by clicking on the recipes I want to prepare. I go through the kitchen and check what I already have and the rest gets purchased at the store.

It's as elegant as OmniFocus but it's Food and Wine Focused.

[URL="http://web.me.com/kathleenstein/MyRecipes/"]Here[/URL] is a sample site I put online so you can see if you like it.

Problem is my shopping list is less than half groceries and I never or very rarely use a recipe for anything :-) I have things like tires, backhoe teeth, welding wire, mineral salt blocks and similar stuff on my list along with 4 kinds of rice and 8 kinds of flour and stores such as Western Implement, Sam's Club and City Market. The lovely thing about SplashShopper and HandyShopper & jShopper before it was the ability to have one big master list with everything sorted by stores. Since some stores have a variety of things like our Farm & Home has a mix of hardware store, grocery store and department store items it's a lot easier to set an item available in every store where you can get it and then whichever store I am in I can see what is on the list I can get there. I can but groceries at the drug store and also pick up a snow shovel. I think rural stores are different, we don't have many speciality ones but rather fewer diversified stores. Heck even the Implement store (only place I can get backhoe teeth) also has cat food, gloves, jeans and other clothing items. :-)

Me and my wife have finally found Listary to be the best option for simple shopping lists that sync. It's based on Simplenote's free service. We're so happy with it that I posted a short review as a test article on my revived blog:

[url]http://www.buntbinaer.de/2011/06/05/listary/[/url]

I hope it won't remain the only article there for a long time, but unfortunately I've got tons of other things to do. But who am I telling this, it's the OmniFocus forum... ;)

Cheers,
buntbinär

Creating child items - is this still possible?
 

Hi Lightstorm or others,
this suggestion from 2008 looks really great. however now, I cannot see how to create child items whereby you could 'click to select all'.
Does this feature stil exist?
thanks



[QUOTE=Lightstorm;39236]IntlOrange,
I think I have a setup which may interest you. However, this would (currently) require you to have your iPhone connecting to your Mac, with the OmniFocus webserver running. HOWEVER, don't fret as this will work even better with the iPhone app when it comes out.

1. Create a PROJECT called Shopping List (or whatever you like).
2. Make the project parallel.
3. Create a child item entitled CLICK HERE TO CHECK ALL.
4. Now start adding your items as child items under CLICK HERE TO CHECK ALL. I actually have mine added in the order of where they are in the store, so I don't have to backtrack to get an item.
5. What I've done at this point, is added each item I need under this project. This becomes a PERPETUAL list for me, and I add items to it as I need them if they havne't been documented before. So, although i don't need mustard every week, it's added anyway.

...stay with me...

Now I have this MASTER list of grocery items. I click the box for CLICK HERE TO CHECK ALL so all items are checked. Then, i UNCHECK the items I need.

With the iPhone webserver, I now get a list of needed items (by not having a check mark). As I walk through the grocery store, I check 'em off, and when I get home all the items are checked off on my Mac as well (due to the webserver).

Then I start the whole process over again by checking all items and UNCHECKING the ones I need. I may realize on Wednesday that we need bread, so I'll uncheck it. Then, before my wife and i go shopping we sit down and I go through all the items ("...do we need bread?" "Yes", "...do we need soup?" Yes. The each item gets unchecked and shows up in my view as uncomplete tasks.

Now, when the iPhone app comes out, you won't have to worry about using the webserver, as all this should happen over the air, but hopefully you get the drift.

if you do not have your iPhone set up with the webserver, just google Omnifocus webserver and you should get a few forums regarding how to set it up. the only issue is you have to have your Mac on and awake for you to interact this way.

I'm sorry for the long post, but I wanted to make sure I explained this correctly. Thanks for your patience. :) I've attached a screenie.

P.S. Forgot that this can work as a standard printable list as well. Just change your view to "Remaining" and those items you have checked off won't appear. Then print.

-Marc[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=siouxz;112325]Hi Lightstorm or others,
this suggestion from 2008 looks really great. however now, I cannot see how to create child items whereby you could 'click to select all'.
Does this feature stil exist?
thanks[/QUOTE]

It does.

Actually, "child item" is really an "action group" here.

In my setting, I use it like this:

Shopping (project)
-Groceries (action group)
--Milk (action)
--Banana (action)
--Orange juice (action)
...

So, after you create a project (in this case, called "Shopping"), you create an action (in this case "Groceries"). You also create a few other actions that you'd want to list under "Groceries", select them, and then drag them to "Groceries". This makes "Groceries" turn into an action group, and you get the structure you see above.

* You create a perspective, showing all the items; including the completed ones.
* Whenever you get an item that is on the list, you check it, and it becomes a completed item, with a strikethrough.
* Whenever you need to put back an item on your list, you simply uncheck it. If it's not already on the list, you create it.
* If you want to check all the items at once, you check the "Groceries" action group. (I guess, this last one is about what you are trying to achieve)

Note:

If you are going to create a perspective to be used with an iPhone and/or iPad, it has to be in context view, and not in project view. However, it has been said that, with the next major update, project view perspectives will -probably- become compatible with iOS versions. A shopping list as explained, looks and works just fine with a context view perspective on an iOS device though.

Oh, and, in order to have a context view for the list to be used in an iOS device, you're going to have to define contexts. Depending on how you use OmniFocus, you can also define those contexts as the actual places that you'll normally buy those items, pin those places on the map, and even set perimeter alerts if you have Siri. If you don't have Siri, you can still open the map manually, and select the place you're in to see the items you should get from there. I personally use one groceries action group, but several different contexts for different items; some in different cities. That is very useful; and with the right kind of view settings, very practical.

thanks!
 

thanks for ths speedy reply. think I'm getting it. Susan

I use OF for my grocery list and I find it works pretty well, esp. the syncing between OF on my laptop and OF on my iPhone. One thing I discovered on this thread is that the grocery project must be repeating in order for the tasks (which represent items in my list) to not be removed when I periodically use the Move Old Data to Archive function. Here is my grocery list project settings:

[IMG]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7127/7522638848_5bc88767c7_o_d.jpg[/IMG]

[QUOTE=wfiveash;112386]One thing I discovered on this thread is that the grocery project must be repeating in order for the tasks (which represent items in my list) to not be removed when I periodically use the Move Old Data to Archive function.[/QUOTE]

Oh, yes. In my example, you should make the action group "Groceries" repeating (I make it repeat after 1 day). This way, you can separate other possible action groups within your "Shopping" project. After all, you only need to buy your grocery items again. Just don't leave the "Groceries" action group completed, otherwise it would repeat itself. You only need to "complete" it in order to check all items at once, and then you should uncheck it. If you, however, want it to stay being checked off, you can make it repeat after a very long time.

Thanks zdio
 

Thanks Zdio
Susan

[QUOTE=buntbinär;98388]... the best option for simple shopping lists that sync. ...[/QUOTE]

Nicer to look at, but very similar to the free OurGroceries website and app.

To keep it relevant; I don't keep grocery lists in OF--too specialized (with isles, numbers, sharing) but I do keep a list called "Buy Once" (one time buys) and another called "Buy Often" ( with renewing items) that get items added to them all the time with stores as contexts and which are then referenced when I'm in those stores.

The mention of specialised shopping list apps comes a lot.

Of course, the need for using OmniFocus for grocery shopping lists arises if you're inclined with the GTD philosophy of handling your memory dump process using only one thing. The book "Getting Things Done" is so important that someone who hasn't read it wouldn't be using OmniFocus the same way as someone who did.

I used to use "Shopping List" app by hensoft, before I read the book, and it was the best shopping list app for me (tried almost all other apps). I really liked it, and it was very practical to use it all the time.

However, for someone who is GTD inclined, using more than one method of dumping text from memory, usually contradicts the idea of GTD, and results in losing trust, and eventually the habit, of using the main method. As a GTD tool, OmniFocus is not a todo list. It includes them, but it should also include every future related memory you might be keeping in your head, in order to set you free from trying to keep them memorised.

For the method to work, it must become a habit. You can let something go off your head, only if you trust where you transfer it to. Not a post-it, not an unorganised cluster of papers, etc. You must know that you will see it again when you need it in an organised and searchable structure, and you must know that it's secure. Only then you can let it go. For this method to become a habit, it must be simple, and it must be available for you everywhere. So, OmniFocus, on your Mac when you're at your desk; on your iPad when you're at the sofa; on your iPhone when you're on the go. Practical with quick entry; syncs to cloud, so it's safe and synced in all devices; and it can hold anything you dump (including items you need to buy!).

So... Even if OmniFocus was a terrible way to keep shopping lists, I would still have to use it for my shopping lists, and my life still would be simpler and more efficient. And now, with a little workaround, it is actually quite handy for also this purpose!

zdlo

Thanks for this concise, clear, and great reply!

Much appreciated. Solved my troubles.

[QUOTE=zdlo;112328]It does.

Actually, "child item" is really an "action group" here.[/QUOTE]

I use OmniFocus for nearly everything, but there are times when I need to draw up a quick list and it's just a little too cumbersome.

I recently allowed the iPhone app Clear to keep track of my grocery list. It's very thin on features, doesn't sync with anything — but it's got a gorgeous, easy-to-use interface. It's ideal for something like a grocery list: list items are large, and you check them off by swiping the row to the right. Swipe again to re-check. Completed items grey out and stay on the list unless you clear it. This is great because pretty much every item on my grocery list will need to be reactivated at some point, and now I can make a new list by just swiping to un-complete things I need again.

Everything else lives in OmniFocus, but I've let Clear do this one thing, and it's quite good at it. I would never trust Clear with anything really important (again, doesn't sync with anything, so you're one crash away from oblivion).