Looking for suggestions on Internet based shopping/ to-do lists

July 2, 2004 2:27 PM

Completely computer illiterate and I'm embarrassed to ask this because it seems so simple but I've googled myself to death and got nowhere. We're getting old and forget 'things' so we're looking for a web-based to-do/shopping list. In other words, one of us is at work while the other is at home and we want to both be able to access the list and add to (or delete) what would basically be a shopping /need-to-do-this list. I suppose it doesn't matter if anyone can access it but I'd prefer it to be password protected if possible. Where do I start? A blog, a web page?? There's some real pretty software programs but they don't seem to be shareable. Any ideas on how and what I should be looking for?
posted by Zeedog to Computers & Internet (11 answers total)

if you sign up for a basic yahoo account, it comes with a notepad service, where you can keep simple text notes online. http://notepad.yahoo.com
posted by Hackworth at 2:33 PM on July 2, 2004

A simple blog sounds like the best idea... Grab a free blogger account and add new posts when new things come up, or keep editing the same post. If you don't give anyone else the link, I doubt anyone would ever find it.

That or a simple wiki.
posted by humuhumu at 2:33 PM on July 2, 2004

I second the notepad idea for this kind of thing. Although a wiki would be cool and probably more extensible, for maximum ease of setup, Yahoo Notepad is the way to go. It will also sync with Outlook, by the way.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 2:40 PM on July 2, 2004

Another easy-to-use list-maker is Alex King's Tasks. Definitely a few steps up in difficulty in terms of installing and therefore maybe not up your alley, zeedog, but perhaps some other readers of this thread would find it interesting.
posted by bcwinters at 2:55 PM on July 2, 2004

Response by poster: That's great people - I really appreciate it. No Outlook on one computer - using Tbird - but at least I now have a sensible direction to go. Hmm . . . already have a blog but hardly used it . . . off to investigate your alternatives.
posted by Zeedog at 3:00 PM on July 2, 2004

you could use Yahoo's calendar thing too...it's really easy.
posted by amberglow at 3:15 PM on July 2, 2004

you can set up a wiki in a couple minutes. If you have access to the server you can password protect the directory it's in, otherwise you'll need to find one that allows for password protection -- I am assuming you mean you don't want other people to see it without a password? If you don't care if other people see it or not but don't want other people to edit it, just go get Qwikiwiki it's free, fast to set up, doesn't require a database, and you can password protect individual pages.
posted by Grod at 4:02 PM on July 2, 2004

Online Homebase provides wiki-like functionality without the headache.
posted by ajr at 4:58 PM on July 2, 2004

This might be too simple and/or not workable, but the first thought that popped into my head was to get a free webmail account (hotmail/yahoo/gmail/what have you) and use that as a sort of list.

To add something to the list, one of you would just send an email to that account, with the list item as the "Subject" line - you wouldn't even necessarily have to put any text inside the message. Once the task is done, delete the email - easy peasy.

Though the main benefit is the zero-setup time factor (given the "completely computer illiterate" thing) you've also got accessibility from any web access point, and complete privacy. If you choose a webmail provider that can alert you of new messages (i.e. Hotmail -> MSN Messenger), then you've potentially got a built in notification of new tasks as well.

Just an idea.
posted by scribblative at 5:47 PM on July 2, 2004

same idea as scribblative's was my first thought when i saw the question. just share a gmail account, piece of cake.
posted by juv3nal at 8:44 PM on July 2, 2004

Get a free Blogger account (as a perk you'll soon get a Gmail account if you don't already have one) and set up a shoppinglists.blogspot.com (or whatever) site with the two of you as team members, giving both of you posting privileges. There's an option to keep the blog private, unlisted in the Blogger directory.
posted by emelenjr at 5:14 AM on July 3, 2004