The point is that nobody buys the same thing twice
That is the design problem this list has to solve: the person the presents are for must not see who has claimed what, and everybody else must.
That is easy with logins and awkward without, which is why every gift list site wants an account before it will do anything. The way round it with no account is two links off the same list:
- The family link shows every item with who is buying it and whether it is bought.
- The wish link shows the same items with every claim hidden.
Send the second one to the person it is for. It is the same data with one column not displayed, which means somebody determined enough could read the link rather than the page. It stops an accident, not an investigation, and it is better to say so than to imply a secret it cannot keep.
And nothing is stored anywhere
The list travels in the part of the address after the hash. A browser never sends that part to a server, so there is no database with your family's Christmas in it, no account to make and nothing to delete in January.
The honest limitation of that: two people cannot edit the same list at the same time, because there is nothing syncing. In practice one person holds it and is sent additions, then re-sends the link. That works for a small group. It gets tedious fast for thirty people.
A duplicate is the same thing for the same person
Chocolates for Mum and chocolates for Dad is not a clash. It happens every year, and flagging it would train everybody to ignore the warnings.
Chocolates twice for Mum is precisely what the list exists to catch, so that one is flagged and worth a message before the second one gets bought.
The budget belongs to the person, not the list
"We are spending £300 on Christmas" is where everybody starts, and it is useless at the moment of decision. Standing in a shop, the question is never about the £300. It is whether to buy one more thing for a nephew.
Totalled per recipient, the number answers that. It also surfaces the thing families are quietly careful about, which is whether the two children have had roughly the same spent on them.
Claimed is not the same as bought
Two different states and the difference only matters once, in the last week of December. Somebody said in October that they would get the scarf. It is now the 20th. Has anybody actually got it?
A claim with no tick against it by then is the one worth a message, and that is the whole reason there are two columns rather than one. Everything runs on your own machine, and nothing is uploaded.
Common questions
How does the person it is for not see who is buying what?
There are two links off the same list. The family link shows every claim; the wish link shows the items with the claims hidden. Send the second one to the person the presents are for. It is the same data with one column hidden, so it stops an accident rather than a determined look, and saying that plainly is better than implying a secret it cannot keep.
Why does it not need an account?
Because the whole list travels in the part of the address after the hash, which a browser never sends to a server. That is what makes a shared list possible with nothing stored anywhere. Every gift list site wants a login precisely because this is the awkward way to do it, and it is also the honest one.
What counts as a duplicate?
The same item for the same person. Chocolates for Mum and chocolates for Dad is not a clash and is extremely common, so it is not flagged. Chocolates twice for Mum is exactly the thing a shared list exists to prevent, so it is.
Why is the budget per person rather than for the whole list?
Because "we are spending £300 on Christmas" is the number people start with and it is useless for deciding whether to buy one more thing for a nephew. Totalled per recipient it becomes a number that changes a decision.
Is my list stored anywhere?
No. It exists in your browser and in whatever link you copy. There is no server, no account and nothing to delete afterwards. Closing the tab without copying a link loses it.
Can several people add to the same list?
Not at the same time, because there is nothing syncing. The practical way is for one person to hold the list and be sent additions, then re-send the link. That is a genuine limitation of doing it without an account, so know that before you rely on it.
What does the bought tick do?
Separates claimed from bought, which is the distinction that matters in the last week. A present somebody said they would get in October and has not bought by the 20th of December is the one worth a message.
Can I use it for something other than Christmas?
Yes. Weddings, new babies, a big birthday, anything where several people are buying for the same person and none of them want to buy the same thing twice.