The Gift Journal
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The Gift Journal · User Guide

Using The Gift Journal on Mac

The Mac app uses the same journal but presents it as a desktop workspace for deeper organisation, search and output.

The Mac app uses the same journal but presents it as a desktop workspace for deeper organisation, search and output.

Main Mac destinations

The sidebar includes:

  • Today
  • Occasions
  • People
  • Journal
  • Wishlist
  • Settings

Create or import

Use the title-bar Create/import control for actions such as:

  • New Person / manual creation where available;
  • New Occasion…;
  • New Wishlist Item…;
  • Import from Contacts…;
  • other supported capture/import actions.

Select and edit

  1. Choose a destination in the sidebar.
  2. Select the row/card you want.
  3. Use the detail pane and Edit action.
  4. Save changes explicitly.

Double-click behaviours are provided for desktop efficiency on supported rows, but editing remains explicit and protected content still requires authentication.

Search, filter and sort

Journal and other desktop collections provide persistent search/filter/sort tools appropriate to the collection. Use them to narrow by Person, type, date, status, title, source, price or Occasion where the view offers those fields.

Multi-selection

Mac supports selecting multiple visible records in applicable collection views. Output actions can target the selected rows rather than forcing the entire journal into one report.

Quick Look photos

Where a record has an accessible photo, use Quick Look Photo to inspect it without entering a full edit flow. Protected items must remain behind their protection boundary.

Drag and drop / browser research

Mac is the deeper browser-research surface. Use the supported browser/import flows and drag/drop capture where available to bring useful product information into the journal, then review the resulting Gift Idea rather than treating capture as an automatic purchase record.

Safari Quick Add / Browser Saves — v1.9

v1.9 extends browser research into a queued workflow. Confirm the page you are viewing in Safari, keep browsing while the capture waits in a durable Browser Saves inbox, then review and approve it through the native Mac import flow. The app does not need to auto-launch for the capture to wait safely.

This gives the Mac app a distinct ecosystem role: it becomes the place where browser discoveries can accumulate for deliberate review rather than simply mirroring the journal on a larger screen. See the Safari Quick Add help chapter →

  1. Open Settings or use an applicable selected-row output action.
  2. Choose Print…, Export PDF… or Export CSV….
  3. Choose the manifest/report scope you need.
  4. If you selected rows in a supported list, choose selected output when appropriate.
  5. Complete the native save/print flow.

Print/PDF uses a dedicated printable layout rather than screenshots of the app. CSV is intentionally plain and suited to spreadsheet tools.

Protected records are excluded from ordinary report/export disclosure unless an explicitly supported authenticated inclusion flow says otherwise.

Mac backup and Portable Journal Export

Mac provides both recovery backup and Portable Journal Export. They are different tools. See iCloud, backup, restore and Portable Journal Export.