Donewise - Collaborative Shopping List & Task Manager

Donewise is a self-hosted, web-based application for managing shopping lists, daily tasks, and recurring chores. It features real-time updates, group collaboration, file attachments, and a mobile-friendly interface (PWA).

Built with PHP and SQLite, it is lightweight and easy to deploy using Docker.

Features

• Group Collaboration: Create groups (e.g., Family, Office) and invite members via link.
• Real-time Updates: Instant notifications and list updates using Server-Sent Events (SSE).
• Smart Lists: Auto-suggestions based on history and hashtag support (e.g., Milk #grocery #urgent).
• Recurring Tasks: Set items to reappear every X days or on specific days of the week.
• Attachments: Upload images or documents to specific tasks.
• Mobile Ready: Installable as a Progressive Web App (PWA) on iOS and Android.
• Dark Mode/Theming: Clean, notebook-style UI.

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Prerequisites

• Docker and Docker Compose installed on your machine.
• (Optional) A reverse proxy (like Nginx or Traefik) if you plan to expose this to the internet with SSL.

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🚀 Quick Start (Docker)

1. Project Setup

Create a folder for your project and place the source code inside it. Ensure the directory structure looks like this:

/shopping-list-app
  ├── app/
  ├── api/
  ├── assets/
  ├── data/          <-- Will be created automatically
  ├── sql/
  ├── uploads/       <-- Will be created automatically
  ├── docker-compose.yml
  ├── Dockerfile
  └── ... (other php files)

2. Build and Run

Open your terminal in the project root and run:

docker compose up -d --build

3. Permissions Setup (Crucial)

SQLite requires write permissions on the directory where the database file resides. Run the following commands to ensure the web server (www-data) can write to the data and upload folders:

# Fix permissions for the data folder
docker exec -it Donewise chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/data
docker exec -it Donewise chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/data

# Fix permissions for the uploads folder
docker exec -it Donewise mkdir -p /var/www/html/uploads
docker exec -it Donewise chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/uploads
docker exec -it Donewise chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/uploads

4. Database Initialization

1. Open your browser and navigate to: http://localhost:8088/install.php

• You should see a "✅ Installed" message.

2. Apply Updates: To ensure all features (Tags, Attachments, Recurring Tasks) work, visit these URLs in order once:

• http://localhost:8088/update_db_v4.php (Adds created_by to groups)
• http://localhost:8088/update_db_v5.php (Adds tags table)
• http://localhost:8088/update_db_v6.php (Adds attachments table)
• http://localhost:8088/update_recurring.php (Adds recurring tasks)

5. Create Your First Group

• Go to http://localhost:8088/register.php.
• Create a Group Name (e.g., "Home"), Username, and Password.
• You are now logged in!

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⚙️ Configuration

The application uses environment variables defined in docker-compose.yml.

Variable	Default	Description
APP_URL	http://localhost:8088	Change this to your actual URL or http://localhost:8088. Used for invite links.
PHP_TZ	Asia/Kolkata	Sets the timezone for timestamps. Change to your local TZ (e.g., America/New_York).
SQLITE_PATH	/var/www/html/data/app.db	Internal path to the database file.

To change these, edit docker-compose.yml and restart the container:

docker compose down && docker compose up -d

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📖 Usage Guide

Managing Items

• Add Item: Type in the main input box.

• Tags: Use hashtags to categorize (e.g., Carrots #veg).

• Urgent: Adding #urgent usually highlights the item or bumps priority.

• Edit: Click the pencil icon on an item to change text or move it to a different date.

• Complete: Click "Done". It moves to the bottom.

• Undo: Click "Undo" on a completed item to bring it back.

Recurring Tasks

1. Click Recurring in the top navigation.
2. Add a rule (e.g., "Pay Rent" every "30 days" OR every "Friday").
3. The system checks these rules every time you load a page and automatically adds the task to your "Today" list when due.

Group Settings & Invites

1. Click Group in the top navigation.
2. Copy the Invite Link and send it to family members.
3. They can join instantly without creating a separate group.
4. Switching Groups: If you belong to multiple groups (e.g., Family and Work), click your name in the top right to switch context.

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🛠 Troubleshooting

Error: "General error: 14 unable to open database file" This is a permission issue. The web server cannot write to the data/ folder.

• Solution: Run the permission commands listed in Step 3 of the "Quick Start" section.

Images/Attachments not uploading

• Ensure the uploads/ folder exists and has write permissions.
• Check the php.ini settings. The included Dockerfile sets upload_max_filesize to 20M.

Time is wrong on tasks

• Update the PHP_TZ variable in your docker-compose.yml file to match your location.

Database Updates

• If you see errors about "no such table: attachments" or "tags", ensure you have visited the update_*.php files listed in the installation steps.

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🔒 Security Note

• Delete Install Files: After successfully setting up, you should delete install.php and the update_*.php files from your server to prevent unauthorized database resets.

docker exec -it Donewise rm /var/www/html/install.php

• SSL: It is highly recommended to run this behind a reverse proxy with HTTPS (like Nginx Proxy Manager) if accessing over the internet.