ListMaker, as the name implies, helps you make lists. Perhaps it is a misnomer because ListMaker doesn't really make lists. You still have to make them; ListMaker just helps you to do it more easily. The thing about ListMaker that makes it special is that it keeps with each list a set of common items. A grocery list is a good example of a list almost everybody makes so we'll use it from now on to help describe ListMaker. Attached to your grocery list you can have a set of common items such as milk, eggs, bread, and anything else you might get at the grocery store. When it comes time to go to the store, i.e. make your list, you can check off from your set of common items the things you need to get and tap "Update" and they are added to your list. If on this particular trip you need to also pick up a new wooden spoon because the last one got too close to the gas stove, you can still write it into your list. You hopefully won't need to get one each time you visit the grocery store so you don't need to add it to your set of common items.
1.2. Note Notion
You can attach a note to any list item. If you want to have more information associated with an item but you don't want to have to look at it all the time, you can attach a note to it. Say, on your grocery list, you have cereal. If you have a coupon for the cereal, you can attach a note to remind yourself.
1.3. Three Views
ListMaker has three "views" that I will refer to throughout this manual: List View, Common View, and Note View. List View is the view you are presented with when you first run ListMaker. Common View is what you see when you tap the "Common..." button from the list view. As you can see in the Common View, the list name is still visible in the top right corner of the screen. The Note View is what you see when you are editing a note. You can get to the Note View by tapping the note icon of a list item, or choosing "Attach Note" from the List menu when you have a list item selected.
1.4. Meta-Lists
You can use ListMaker to make all kinds of lists, here are some that we thought of: Grocery list, list of things to get at any other store, list of books you want to read/buy, list of CDs you want to get, list of movies to rent, your car maintenance schedule, list of chores that need to be done, list of steps of a procedure, list of uses for ListMaker...
We will be building a web page on "Uses for ListMaker" so if you come up with an interesting use of ListMaker, please email it to hewins@synsolutions.com or mail us a letter at 700 N. 2nd Street / Third Floor / St. Louis, MO 63102.
2. Getting Started
When you run ListMaker for the first time you have no items in your lists. You have two lists to begin with: Grocery and Misc. The lists names are categories as you know them from applications such as To Do List, Address, Date Book, and Memo Pad. The only difference is that you cannot view all of the list items from all of the lists at once. To switch between lists, use the popup menu at the top right corner of the screen. There are four buttons at the bottom of the screen: "New," "Common...," all on, and all off. Tap the "New" button to create a new list item. Tap the "Common..." button to view the common items set. The check mark is the all on button, tap it to check all of the items in the list. the box is the all off button, tap it to un-check all of the items in the list.
3. List Items
3.1. List Item Introduction
A list item is any item in your list. Let's make a list item. Go to the List View and tap the "New" button. What you should see is an unchecked check box, a dotted line with a cursor blinking in it, and an arrow that points down (the arrow is only present in the List View). This is an empty list item. Now you can write in whatever you want. Note: you can also create a new item if you begin writing in the graffiti recognition area when no item is selected.
3.2. Common View Precedence
A list item can be showing in either the List View, Common View or both views. If you have a common item that you add to your list, it is the same list item that is showing in both views. The thing to remember is that the Common View has precedence over the List View. If you have a list item that is showing in both views and you make changes to it in the Common View, it will affect the way it looks in the List View (because it is the same item showing in both views). On the other hand, if you have an item that is showing in both views and you make changes to it in the List View it will not affect the way it looks in the Common View. What actually happens is that ListMaker makes a copy of the item and puts it in the List View.
3.3. Controls On The Item
The arrow that points down on the right side of an item is a trigger for a popup menu. It can be used to add items to the common set and add common items to the list. There are situations when the list cannot do anything for you, when that is the case the list will tell you, "Nothing to do."
The check boxes serve different purposes depending on which view you are in. In the List View it can be used as a way to indicate if an item is "completed" or not. In your grocery list you can check off the items as you put them in your cart. The "Purge..." menu command will remove all checked items from the List View. In the Common View the check box is used to indicate whether or not an item is in the List View. You can check items on or off and tap the "Update" button to change the contents of your list.
An optional attachment to each list item is a note. To add a note to a list item, select an item by tapping on it and choose "Attach Note" from the List menu. This will bring you to the Note View where you can edit the note. You will notice that any list item that has a note attached to it will have a small picture of a note next to the menu trigger. Once an item has a note attached to it, you can edit the note by tapping on the picture of the note.
3.4. Deleting Items
There are two ways to delete list items. One way is to delete all of the text of an item then tap out of it. The other is to choose "Delete Item..." from the List menu when you have an item selected. Remember that the Common View has precedence over the List View when it comes to editing an item that is showing in both views. This goes for deleting as well as editing. If you delete an item in the Common View that is showing in the List View it will be gone from the List View as well as the Common View. If you delete an item that is showing in both views from the List View is will still exist in the Common View. There is a third way to delete items from the List View, it is the "Purge List..." menu command. As I said above, the purge command will remove all of the checked list items from the List View. So, to remove an item from the List View check its check box and choose "Purge List..." from the List Menu.
3.5. Duplicate Items
There is a rule that ListMaker enforces whether you like it or not, and that is that duplicate items are not permitted. If we let you make hundreds of list items called ╘milk,' you would have an awful mess to deal with. There are a few issues regarding duplicate items. Of course, you are allowed to have duplicate items in different lists, just not the same list. If you want to have milk in your grocery list as well as your hardware store list that's fine with us, we wouldn't understand but we wouldn't stop you. So if you create a new item (or edit an old item) that exactly matches another item in the same view of the same list then ListMaker will complain at you with a beep and a message that says something to the effect of, "Duplicates not allowed, dummy." Then ListMaker will delete the item you have created. However, ListMaker is nice enough to provide you with a choice to not be warned again. If you check the "Don't warn me again" box then ListMaker will only beep at you if you create a duplicate item and not give you the annoying message. (You can also tell ListMaker not to warn you by setting the preferences accordingly.) If you create a item in the List View that matches an item in the common set it will be as if you added the item from the common set. Similarly, if you create an item in the Common View that matches an item in the List View it will be as if you added the matched item to the common set. Note that to determine if two items are identical, ListMaker is case sensitive and it checks the attached notes (if any) as well. So, ╘Milk' does not match ╘milk.' Nor does ╘milk' with a note attached reading ╘skim' match ╘milk' with no note. If you don't like the fact that you cannot make duplicate items, tough╤just kidding, send email to bugs@synsolutions.com or write us a letter and tell us.
4. Common View
The Common View shows all of the items in your list that are "common items." You create new items and delete items in the same ways as described above in the List Items section. The Common View has three of the same buttons that the List View has: the "New" button, the all on button, and the all off button. Like in the List View, the all on button is the check mark and it checks all of the items in the Common View. As well, the all off button is the box and it un-checks all of the items in the Common View. The "New" button also serves the same function as in the List View, it creates a new item.
Upon entering the Common View, if there are any items in the common set, the common items that are showing in the List View are checked. You can check and un-check any item you want but changes will not be made to the List View unless you tap the "Update" button. If you check and un-check items then decide you don't want to make changes to the List View, tap "Done" and the changes are not made. With regard to the check boxes, the "Update" button is analogous to "OK" and the "Done" button is a sort of "Cancel" button. The reason we didn't call the "Done" button "Cancel" is because changes you may have made to the text or ordering of common items are not undone when you tap "Done," just changes made to the check boxes. In any case, "Update" and "Done" both take you to the List View.
5. Preferences
To get to the preferences, choose "Preferences..." from the Options menu. There are two types of preferences, global preferences and list-specific preferences. Global preferences are constant across all lists while list-specific preferences correspond to each list individually. There are currently four settings that you can change in the preferences:
Ñ Warn about Duplicates
If this item is checked ListMaker will complain to you when you have created or edited a record to match an existing record. If this is unchecked, ListMaker will only beep at you.
-This is a global preference.
Ñ Sort Checked At End
If this item is checked it will sort the checked items at the end of the list in the List View only. This does not turn on and off automatic sorting, it only dictates the way sorting will work. If this is unchecked, checked list items will be interspersed in the list, in other words, the sorter will disregard the checked status of an item.
-This is a list-specific preference.
Ñ Always Sort
If this item is checked, ListMaker will always keep your list sorted. If this preference is on, then manual sorting will be disabled.
-This is a list-specific preference.
Ñ Show Popup Triggers
This preference determines whether or not the popup triggers in the List View should be showing. There are some lists that may not need the functionality of the popup triggers so you have the option of turning them off.
-This is a list-specific preference.
6. Sorting
6.1. Choices, choices...
You have some choices to make when it comes to sorting list items. Either you can sort them yourself, or you can choose to have ListMaker sort them for you. You can choose to have ListMaker sort them at all times or sort them only when you tell it to. In the List View you can choose to have the checked items sorted at the end of the list or have the checked items sorted into the list. These choices can be made in the Preferences. The sorting preferences are list-specific preferences (see Preferences, ñ5). This means that any preference you set will apply only to the current list.
To reiterate, if "Sort Checked At End" is set then checked items will be sorted at the end of the list in the List View only. This preference setting has no effect on the Common View. If "Always Sort" is set then ListMaker will always sort the list and manual sorting is disabled.
Note: Every sort that ListMaker performs is an alphabetical sort.
6.2. Manual Sorting
If the "Always Sort" preference is turned off, then manual sorting is enabled. To move an item within a list, tap on the item and hold the pen in place until the item becomes highlighted. Once it is highlighted you can drag the pen up or down until the move indicator is at the location to which you want to move the highlighted item. When you let the pen off the screen, the item will move to the desired location. If you do not hold the pen in place until the item becomes highlighted then you cannot drag it to a new spot, so be patient.
6.3. Sort-A-List
If you want to have ListMaker do the sorting for you but you don't want it to always sort your list then you can use the "Sort List" command from the List menu. This command will sort records that are in the current list. This sort also pays attention to the "Sort Checked At End" preference.
7. List Ideas
We have been sitting around thinking of uses for ListMaker for a while now and here's what we came up with:
Ñ Grocery List (the obvious)
Keep items such as, milk, butter, eggs, bread, and canned beets in your common items. Before your trip to the store, browse through the common items and check off the items you need. Any random items specific to this trip (wooden spoon)? Write them into your list in the List View. Plan on burning your wooden spoon often? Tap on the popup menu trigger next to "wooden spoon" and tap "Add to common..." and it's in your common items.
Ñ Lists for other stores
Keep lists for the hardware store, clothes store, candy store, jewelry store...
Ñ Chores
Keep "mow the lawn," "trim the hedges," "clean out garage," "vacuum carpet," and other chores in your common items. Add them to your list when they need to be done and check them off in the List View as you do them. Choose "Purge List..." from the List menu to clear the checked items from your list.
Ñ Car Maintenance
Keep periodic car maintenance services like, "oil change," "rotate tires," and even "get gas" in your common items. Bring them to your list when you need to have them done. Attach a note to the item in the Common View (remember precedence rule) for information about mileage, date, etc.
Ñ Movies To Rent
Did you ever think of a great movie to rent but when you finally get to the rental store you have forgotten which movie it was? Keep a list of movies that friends recommend, movies you miss in the theater, movies you hear about on the radio...
Ñ Books/CDs To Get
Keep a reading or listening list. If you read about a book or recording in an article you can add it to your list. You don't want to forget these things.
Ñ Procedures
Keep a set of steps to procedures in the common items. Bring the steps necessary for a particular procedure to the List View and order them properly. (You could use the manual sort here or you could number each item and choose "Sort List" from the List menu.) check off items and purge the list when you are through with the procedure.
If you think of any more good list ideas send them to hewins@synsolutions.com or snail mail us a letter and we'll add them to our list.
8. Conclusion
That's all for ListMaker. If you have any questions about ListMaker or any other Synergy Solutions products, please send email to info@synsolutions.com. To report bugs send email to bugs@synsolutions.com. To get help email support@synsolutions.com. Thank you for using ListMaker.
