Managing parts lists is tricky

[artoo]

I started using the wishlist to pull together the parts list for a saber I'm building. I had it mostly together and started adding stuff to my cart then got interrupted and put my laptop to sleep. When I came back, my cart was empty.

Of course everything added to my cart dropped off my wish list as well.

How are other folks keeping track of parts?

Thanks.

[Zahc Zi Phan]

Notepad and pen, but I am old school like that :P

[Miraluka]

Notepad and pen, but I am old school like that :P

Basically that. Or I just keep a list in my head. You could always write up your list in wordpad on your computer, too.

[Zahc Zi Phan]

Basically that. Or I just keep a list in my head. You could always write up your list in wordpad on your computer, too.

Yep. That is also an excellent way. Either way, I like to make a list of the parts I need and put a mark (comp or on paper) next to the parts I have purchased as my budget allows. All the parts go in a little designated box until I have everything I need, and the build commences (I use this method for building rifles often).

[Miraluka]

I'm not quite so organized anymore but things still seem to work out so I don't feel the need to change =]

My materials and tools tend to get scattered across my little work area. I push stuff out of the way when I need to solder. Maybe I'll clean things up this weekend... anything is possible, right?

[craig139]

Is it possible that you didn't log in to your account? If so, it may seem as if you are adding items to your wishlist, but they aren't really there till you log in.

[JakeSoft]

This may be overboard, but I often use spreadsheets to keep track of various builds I dream up. I include price info so I know what builds I can afford to do now and which I'll have to save up for. Ordering as many parts as you can at once typically saves on shipping so I try to do a few big orders instead of many small ones.

[Greenie]

The TCSS wish list is great for selecting your parts. Personally I put everything down in a notebook including sketches, ideas, designs, dimensions. I split my build into hilt and electronics, scrolled through TCSS and made shopping lists starting at the blade holder and writing down all MHS parts down to the pommel insert (don't forget the C ring) Then did the same again starting with LED down to the speaker/ charge port/ rice port (depending on design) and wrote down prices as well to help budget. But hey, that's just me and my OCD

[Jay-gon Jinn]

The wish list will save your parts for you once you have an account on the store front and are logged in when you make the wishlist. The same works for your shopping cart.

[orcinus]

You could just use the shopping cart, but there's a caveat.
As long as you're aware of it, it works fine.

If you're putting stuff in your cart, then get logged out and don't realize you got logged out, *anything* you put in your cart while logged out will override the contents of your cart *when you log back in*.
So if you notice you got logged out (keep an eye on that store header), immediately stop, don't add anything (or empty the cart if you did) and *then and only then* log back in.