This topic enables you to manage all the information related to your shopping needs, including lists of items to buy, products you regularly buy or wish to research for future purchase, gifts you want to give, and gifts you have received.
Key features of the Shopping topic
- ability to define shopping lists, including quantity, packaging, cost, and store
- support for tracking items on a per-product basis, including stores, prices, notes, and bookmarks
- support for tracking items on a per-store basis, including products bought at each store and prices paid
- support for tracking coupons
- ability to track product, price, date, and note information for gifts you give to other people or gifts you have received
- automatic reminders through integration with your device’s Calendar
- automatic re-use of information, such as seller and price for a product you buy frequently
- touchpoints to the Events and Travel + Places topics
Using Shopping touchpoints
Touchpoints allow relevant information to be shared seamlessly between Shopping and the Events and Travel + Places topics. Example: Suppose you have a list of supplies to buy for a party you are hosting. The supply list you define in Events is also accessible from Shopping. Or, if you specify items you want to buy for a trip you have defined in Travel + Places, those are also accessible from Shopping.
How do I use Shopping?
The Shopping topic view provides these sections:
- All Shopping Items — all items on all shopping lists in LifeTopix
- Shopping Lists — all shopping lists defined in LifeTopix
- Things to Sell — items you wish to sell or have already sold
- Gifts for Others — items you have given or plan to give to other people
- Gifts Received — items you have been given by other people
- Coupons — touchpoint to the Coupons category of the Notes + Files topic
- Configure Products — all purchasable items defined in LifeTopix
- Configure Sellers — all vendors of products
Categories are available in these sections. You can create, modify, hide, or delete categories via LifeTopix Settings.
All Shopping Items
Tap All Shopping Items to go to its view. All shopping items on all shopping lists are displayed, along with the total cost of all shopping items on all shopping lists.
The sort selector at the top of the view allows you to change the ordering in the view; tap Seller to view all shopping items by seller, or tap Category to view all shopping items by category. The view selector at the bottom of the view allows you to change the contents of the view; tap All to view all items, tap Open to view only the unpurchased items, or tap Bought to view only the items already purchased. For each seller, the seller name, total number of shopping items, and total cost of shopping items for that seller are displayed.
To add items to the All Shopping Items list, tap
to add a new item quickly by just specifying the item’s name, tap
to add a new item with details, or tap
to bring up a search window which will let you find existing items quickly. To mark an item purchased, tap the empty check box to the left of an item. To mark a purchased item as not purchased, tap the check mark in the box to the left of an item. To remove an item from the All Shopping Items list, tap the item, then tap
at the bottom of the view.
Shopping Lists
Tap Shopping Lists to go to its view. Two preset shopping lists are available: Groceries and Household Items. Shopping lists you have created are also listed, including lists created as part of an event in the Events topic or a trip in the Travel + Places topic. Shopping lists are sorted alphabetically. Event shopping lists are named Event: event_title and Travel + Places shopping lists are named Trip: trip_title.
To view a shopping list, tap it. If you have added items to the list, the items on the list are displayed. The sort selector allows you to change the ordering in the view; tap Seller to view all shopping items by seller, or tap Category to view all shopping items by category.
To add items to a shopping list, tap the shopping list, then tap
to add a new item quickly by just specifying the item’s name, tap
to add a new item with details, or tap
to bring up a search window which will let you find existing items quickly. To mark an item purchased, tap the empty check box to the left of an item. To mark a purchased item as not purchased, tap the check mark in the box to the left of an item. To remove an item from a shopping list, tap the item, then tap
at the bottom of the view.
To edit an item in a shopping list, tap the item in the Shopping Items view and modify the seller, price, unit, or quantity as necessary.
To mark an item off a shopping list, tap the checkbox next to an item. This will add a checkmark to the box and indicate that you have acquired the item. (Hint: If you have trouble tapping the checkbox, tap the box and swipe left.) If you leave the Shopping List view and then re-enter it, the checked items are moved to the bottom of the list.
Things to Sell
Tap Things to Sell to go to its view. All items you wish to sell are displayed, preceded by the total price of all items for all sellers in all categories.
The sort selector at the top of the view allows you to change the ordering in the view; tap Seller to view all items to sell by seller, or tap Category to view all items to sell by category. The view selector at the bottom of the view allows you to change the contents of the view; tap All to view all items, tap Open to view only the unsold items, or tap Sold to view only the items already sold. For each seller, the seller name, total number of shopping items, and total price of items for that seller are displayed.
To add items to the Things to Sell list, tap
to add a new item quickly by just specifying the item’s name, tap
to add a new item with details, or tap
to bring up a search window which will let you find existing items quickly. To mark an item sold, tap the empty check box to the left of an item. To mark a sold item as not sold, tap the check mark in the box to the left of an item. To remove an item from the Things to Sell list, tap the item, then tap
at the bottom of the view.
Gifts for Others
Tap Gifts for Others to go to its view. If no gifts for others are defined, tap
in the title bar to create one. If there are gifts for others defined, the Gifts for Others view shows each gift, sorted by date given. Each gift displays the recipient, the gift(s), and the date given.
Gifts Received
Tap Gifts Received to go to the its view. If no gifts received are defined, tap
in the title bar to create one. If gifts received are defined, the Gifts Received view shows each gift, sorted by date received. Each gift displays the person who gave you the gift, the gift(s), and the date received.
Coupons
“Coupons” provide you some benefit for making certain purchases, such as allowing you to buy things for less than full price or giving you an item free when you buy some other item. Vouchers from Groupon, LivingSocial, or other online-coupon sites, paper coupons clipped from your local newspaper, and electronic discount codes emailed to you from a retailer are all examples of coupons.
Coupons is a touchpoint to the Coupons category in the Notes + Files topic. This means that coupons defined here will appear as notes in the Coupons category in the Notes + Files topic. Tap Coupons to go to its view which contains the following sections:
If you have not defined any coupons, there are two sections in the Coupons view: All Coupons Notes and Subcategories for Coupons Notes. If you have defined coupons, a third section at the top of the Coupons view contains all coupons defined, including those defined in the Notes + Files topic. To create a new coupon, tap Add or
.
Coupons are sorted alphabetically by default. Tap Sort to alternate between sorting coupons by date modified, by Date Tag, and alphabetically. Each coupon includes the coupon’s title, its rating, and either its category, update time, or Date Tag, depending on which sort mode is currently active.
Coupons:
- If there are no coupons defined, this section will contain a button titled Tap to add: Note (Coupons). Tap that button or tap
in the title bar to define a new coupon. - If there are coupons defined, this section shows all those coupons, sorted alphabetically by default. Tap Sort to alternate between sorting coupons by date modified (with the most recently modified ones first), by Date Tag, and alphabetically by title. Each coupon includes the coupon’s title; its rating; its description; and either its category, update time, or Date Tag, depending on which sort mode is currently active. To define a new coupon, tap Add in the section header or tap
in the title bar. To edit a coupon, tap it, modify the settings, and tap Save. To delete a coupon, tap it and then tap
at the bottom of the view.
All Coupons Notes: Tap here to view all coupons in all categories and subcategories.
Subcategories for Coupons Notes: If you have not created any subcategories in the Coupons category in the Notes + Files topic, this section will contain a button titled Tap to add: Category. Tap that button to define a new subcategory in the Coupons category in the Notes + Files topic. If you have created subcategories in the Coupons category in the Notes + Files topic, this section shows all of them, sorted alphabetically. Tap Edit in the section header to edit, rename, hide or delete the existing subcategories at this level; or tap a subcategory to display the corresponding view for that subcategory.
Configure Products
A “product” is something you acquire from a store, company, or person. Milk, video-on-demand movies, clothing, electronics, and garden tools are all examples of products.
Tap Configure Products to go to its view which has the following sections:
All Products: Tap All Products to view all products defined within LifeTopix. To add a product to LifeTopix, tap Add or tap
in the title bar. To modify a product, tap that product, make your desired changes, then tap Save. To delete a product, tap that product and then tap
at the bottom of the view.
Categories for Products: Categories are available for use with products. You can create, modify, hide, or delete categories via LifeTopix Settings or directly from the Categories for Products section by tapping the Edit button. When a products category is deleted, it is completely removed from LifeTopix. When a products category is hidden, it no longer appears in the Categories for Products section, but it remains defined in LifeTopix and is still available in the category list when you are defining a new product. Note that products categories that are in use or serve as touchpoints to another topic cannot be deleted or hidden.
To create a new products category, go to the Quick Menu and tap
, and then tap Manage Categories. Tap Products in the list.
To mark a Products category hidden, or to modify its name or description, tap the category’s
, then tap OFF for to toggle it to ON.
To delete a Products category, swipe to delete in the Manage Categories view.
Tap a category in the Categories for Products section to go to the products view for that category. If there are no products and no subcategories defined in that category, help appears in order to get you started. If there are products defined in that category, they are all shown in a section whose behavior is described in the All Products section above. If there are subcategories defined in that category, they are all shown in a section whose behavior is described immediately above.
Configure Sellers
A “seller” is a vendor, person, or store from whom you purchase a product or service. Your gardener, local grocery store, Costco, and Starbucks are all examples of sellers.
Configure Sellers is a touchpoint to the Seller category of Service Providers in the People + Services topic. Sellers defined here appear as service providers with a category of Seller in the People + Services topic.
Tap Configure Sellers to go to its view which has the following sections:
Sellers: This section contains all the sellers from the Seller category of Service Providers in the People + Services topic. Sellers are sorted alphabetically by default. Tap Sort to to alternate between sorting sellers by date modified (with the most recently modified ones first) and alphabetically. Each seller includes the seller’s title, its rating, its contact information, and either its category or update time, depending on which sort mode is currently active. To define a new seller, tap Add in the section header or tap
in the title bar. To edit a seller, tap it, modify the settings, and tap Save. To delete a seller, tap it and then tap
at the bottom of the view.
Service Providers: Tap Service Providers to view all sellers defined within the Seller category of Service Providers in the People + Services topic and all of its subcategories. To define a new seller, tap Add in the section header or tap
in the title bar of the Seller view. To edit a seller, tap it, modify the settings, and tap Save. To delete a seller, tap it and then tap
at the bottom of the view.
Subcategories for Seller Service Providers: Categories are available for use with sellers. If there are no subcategories for sellers defined, this section will contain the Tap to add: Category button. If there are subcategories for sellers defined, you can create, modify, hide, or delete categories via LifeTopix Settings or directly from the Subcategories for Seller Service Providers section by tapping the Edit button and then tapping the category’s
. When a sellers category is deleted, it is completely removed from LifeTopix. When a sellers category is hidden, it no longer appears in the Subcategories for Seller Service Providers section, but it remains defined in LifeTopix and is still available in the category list when you are defining a new seller. Note that sellers categories that are in use or serve as touchpoints to another topic cannot be deleted or hidden.
To delete a sellers category, swipe to delete in the Manage Categories view.
Tap a category in the Subcategories for Seller Service Providers section to go to the sellers view for that category. If there are no sellers and no subcategories defined in that category, help appears in order to get you started. If there are sellers defined in that category, they are all shown in a section whose behavior is described in the All Sellers section above. If there are subcategories defined in that category, they are all shown in a section whose behavior is described immediately above.






Alyix
Hello! I have set up a check list for each day of the week with that particular days chores on it, ex. Thursday has a check list for shopping. I have also set up tasks with the name of each day of the week, recurring, to show up on the home page under today, tomorrow, next 7 days. I have tried and tried to attach that weeks grocery list to both the checklist and tasks for Thursday. I have associated and context everything under “me” and “shopping” but I cannot get the checklist or the task to associate with that weeks grocery list. I tried setting up the task as a project, Household Chores, but that didn’t work either and started to get confusing. I was able to get the check list and tasks to merge together, now if I could just get my shopping list onboard. What is the best way to do this? Also, I can choose more than one context such as “me” and “shopping”, but I cannot choose more than one associate such as “shopping” and “chores” together. Is there a way around this?
LifeTopix Support
Hi Alyix,
Thank you for reaching out to us with your question.
You are correct that currently there is no direct way to associate a shopping list with a task or checklist. This is something we plan to work on in the future. For now you could use a project to handle your scenario as a project supports tasks, checklists & shopping items. For example from the home Agenda view you can tap on a task and, from from the right panel in the task details, tap on the associated project that has the shopping list. Each of your recurring tasks will point to the same project and to the same shopping list (A project only allows for one shopping list).
Best regards,
Team LightArrow
Alyix
Thank you for your quick replies and help to all of my many questions…you all are the best!
Dave Brown
Yuck, what happened to Gifts, I was frustrated previously, because of the way it worked. Now I can’t edit the Gift received or given at all. For example, my wife gave me a t-shirt, which I had configured previously. Now it show as gift received, but when I look at details, I can’t find the entry for t-shirt. If I add a new gift received, they’re is no way to select the product, seller etc. All I can do is add it in the description. Wow becoming more frustrated with this aspect. It wasn’t good before, now it’s completely useless. What good if I can’t add a product, seller, except as a shopping item and then at that it never saves it, never shows up.
Totally frustrated, can you provide instructions as to how to Add a Gift, from someone, product t shirt, seller LL bean, and have it show up.
LightArrow
Hi Dave,
We apologize for the confusion. Here are the steps:
In Gifts for Others or Gifts Received, please tap on the + to add a gift, select the “Recipient” or “From”, and then tap the Create and Add More Data cell.
You can now add one or more shopping items to the gift by tapping on the “Add Item” button at the bottom (you can also add tasks, reminders, notes, checklists, etc. to the gift).
Once you have added a shopping item to the gift, the empty “Add Item” cell area will now show a shopping list icon with the number of items you have, for easy access directly to the shopping items.
You can fully configure product, seller, etc. You can also select your existing shopping item and reattach it to the proper gift.
Earlier, we did not have a direct connection between a gift and its shopping item, and only supported one product. Now, we support a full shopping list for the gift. if you have a due date fot the gift, the shopping list picks that up, and allows you to see the gift shopping list in your Agenda view based on its due date.
We made the gift feature more powerful and flexible — we apologize for not making the shopping items part more obvious.
Team LightArrow
Emiro Molina
Hi, great app. I am using an iPad 2. I would like to email a list but there is no button to do it, neither in shopping lists nor in any task list! Surely Imam doing something wrong. How can I copy or email a list, e.g., a shopping list?. I updated the app today.
Thanking you in advance,
Emiro Molina
LifeTopix Support
Hi Emiro,
Thank you for reaching out to us with your question and for your kind comment.
You can email the shopping list by opening the details of the shopping list and from the right side panel tapping the email icon under the “Discuss” section.
The following steps will show how this can be done:
1. From the LifeTopix dashboard tap on “My Topics” from the left side.
2. Tap on the “Shopping” topic
3. Tap on “Shopping Lists”. You will be presented with a list of your shopping lists.
4. Tap the downward facing green arrow to the right of the shopping list you wish to email. You will be presented with a few options for the shopping list.
5. Tap on the “Details” options to view the details of the shopping list.
6. On the right side of the detail view you will see a panel with a section named “Discuss”. Tap on the icon to email the shopping list.
Alternatively, you can email the items of a shopping list by opening the details of the shopping list and from the right side panel tapping on the email icon under the “Export” section.
Best regards,
Team LightArrow
Emiro Molina
Thanks very much for the prompt replay! Great service! I would like to suggest the addition of an item in the menu that displays on the bottom left hand corner so that you can copy or send any list you are looking at: a project list, a task list, a shopping list, etc. Any way, thanks very much for your answer. I sent the list to my wife and now she has the list in her lifetopix! Great.
LightArrow
Thanks, Emiro! We’ll take the suggestion to the developers and we’ll investigate ways to support that.
Best regards,
Team LightArrow
Brian
Hi,
Great app! For shopping, I have both household and grocery items I want to get at Costco. I’ve identified Costco as the seller for the items. How do I view by vendor so I just have a Costco list and not have to look at a Grocery list and Household list?
LifeTopix Support
Hi Brian,
Thank you for reaching out to us with your question.
To view your shopping items by seller go to the Shopping topic and tap on “All Shopping Items”. In this view you will be presented with all the shopping items you have entered into LifeTopix. Tap on “Seller” on the filter control located right above the list. This will present you with all your shopping items grouped by their seller.
Best regards,
Team LightArrow