Plainrow log
What shipped. How to use Lite and Kitchen. Why Kitchen is $19. Lite is free. Nothing is uploaded.
Knowing why the apron came back blank after Excel touched the SKUs
Them. “Excel turned my SKUs into 8.50007E+11 and the match quietly failed. The waxed canvas apron has 14 in bin C-07, and the catalog shows nothing.”
You. “I won’t guess the full SKU from that. I’ll keep the apron on the catalog with its SKU as you wrote it.”
Them. “Then at least tell me why it’s blank.”
You. “The card names the shortened SKU and tells you how to fix the export.”
What changed
When a SKU looks shortened by Excel, Kitchen won’t guess the full number. The card says so: “1 SKU in the warehouse file looks shortened by Excel (8.50007E+11). The full SKU can’t be read back from that, so it wasn’t matched. Re-export the warehouse file with the SKU column set to Text.” If the shortened SKU is in your catalog, the card says the catalog instead. When a catalog SKU matches exactly, a near twin like 1002.0 isn’t added to it, and the card says “1002.0 in the warehouse file wasn’t added to 1002, because 1002 matched exactly. Check if it’s the same product.” Every warehouse row left out now has one reason on the card, and the counts add up.
Lite is free. Kitchen is $19 when the join is the job.
Matching 00123 to 123 without merging two products
Them. “The warehouse export has the waxed canvas apron as 00123. The catalog has it as 123. I need the 14 in bin C-07 on the catalog.”
You. “I'll match 00123 to 123 and keep 123 as you wrote it.”
Them. “Don't merge two products that just look alike.”
You. “You'll get one apron row. The card tells you which SKUs matched so you can check.”
What changed
Kitchen ignores leading zeros only when a SKU has no exact match. The sheet keeps the catalog SKU as written. The card names each zero match: "00123 in the warehouse file matched 123 in the catalog. Check they're the same product." If your catalog has both 0123 and 123, they are matched exactly and never merged. Choose "Match exact keys only" to turn it off.
Lite is free. Kitchen is $19 when the join is the job.
Seeing one catalog row when stock was in two bins
Them. “The canvas tote sits in two bins. I need warehouse stock on the catalog before we pick.”
You. “I'll add the On Hand numbers and keep one catalog row. Both bins go on it.”
Them. “Don't count the tote twice.”
You. “You'll get one tote row. The card matches the sheet.”
What changed
Kitchen defaults to one row per catalog product, labeled "Add the counts together": On Hand numbers add up, and bin labels join with a semicolon. Choose "Keep a row per warehouse line" if you want every bin as its own row, and the card then says the sheet has the extra rows. The email recipe has the same choice.
Lite is free. Kitchen is $19 when the join is the job.
Pulling details for a short email list
Them. “I keep the books. My short list needs Role and City from the master file.”
You. “Everyone on your list stays. I'll attach Role and City where the master has them.”
Them. “Pax might not be on the master. One person is only on the master.”
You. “Pax stays, with the details blank. That extra person drops off. You'll get emails-with-details.csv.”
What changed
Kitchen keeps every short-list email, attaches the master's columns, leaves a blank where the master has nothing, and drops leftover master rows that were never on the short list. The download is emails-with-details.csv, and the files stay on this computer. Capitals and extra spaces on the email don't block the match.
Lite is free. Kitchen is $19 when the join is the job.
When the warehouse types the SKU differently
Them. “The blue mug looks empty. We have a shelf of them.”
You. “The warehouse typed it in lowercase, and the cedar candle had a space after it. Both looked empty even though the stock was there.”
Them. “The linen tea towel too?”
You. “Yes. Those three have their stock now. The fig candle is still empty. The sheet keeps what each file had.”
What changed
Kitchen now matches when the warehouse typed a SKU in lowercase or with an extra space at either end. Products that looked out of stock now get the stock the warehouse had. The sheet you download keeps what each file had, and the "One sheet back" card warns you if a warehouse SKU appeared twice once capitals were ignored.
Lite is free. Kitchen is $19 when the join is the job.
Seeing which products came back with no stock
Them. “Which products can't I ship this week?”
You. “Three came back empty. The sage mug, the fig candle, and the wooden dish brush.”
Them. “Those are the ones I should reorder?”
You. “Yes. The rest already have stock. This view is just those three. The sheet you download still has the whole catalog.”
What changed
After the join, the "One sheet back" card shows a plain line: 12 catalog products kept, 3 have no warehouse stock yet, and 2 warehouse rows weren't in the catalog, so they're left out. The toggle "Show the 3 with no stock" filters the preview to just those products. Download one sheet still downloads the whole sheet.
Lite is free. Kitchen is $19 when the join is the job.
You finished putting warehouse stock on every catalog product in Kitchen. One sheet is back.
The result strip now names the file — You’ll get catalog-with-stock.csv — before you download. Lite cannot do that join. Kitchen does. $19 one-time.
You split the multi-store sheet in Kitchen. Each store is its own file.
The result strip names the sheets you will get — You’ll get East.csv and West.csv — before you download. Lite cannot do that split. Kitchen does. $19 one-time.
You cannot upload this client’s CSVs. Someone at each store is waiting on their own sheet.
In Kitchen you send each store its own sheet. The Download button shows the store filenames — Download East.csv · West.csv — before you click. Lite cannot do that split. Kitchen does. $19 one-time.
You finished the Kitchen job. Warehouse stock is on every catalog product.
The Download button shows the job filename — Download catalog-with-stock.csv — so you see the named sheet before you click. Clean shows Download cleaned-export.csv the same way. Lite cannot do that join. Kitchen does. $19 one-time.
You finished the Kitchen job. Warehouse stock is on every catalog product.
Download saves catalog-with-stock.csv — the sheet back, named for the job. Split saves each store under its own clear name. Clean saves cleaned-export.csv. Lite cannot do that join. Kitchen does. $19 one-time.
You split the client's multi-store sheet in Kitchen. Each store is its own file. The original stayed.
Download each store's sheet when you are ready. Clean gets Download the cleaned sheet the same way. Join already says Download one sheet. Lite cannot do that split. Kitchen does. $19 one-time.
You stacked and deduped this client's sheets in Lite. You finished Export. The CSV is saved on this computer.
Then you see the Kitchen next-step card. Put warehouse stock on every catalog product. Blank stock stays. Leftovers that were never listed go. Lite cannot do that join. Kitchen does. $19 one-time.
You cannot put this client's CSV in the cloud. You finished the dedupe in Lite. Duplicate rows are gone.
Next they need warehouse stock on every catalog product. Blank stock stays. Leftovers that were never listed go. Lite cannot do that join. Kitchen does. $19 one-time.
You cannot put this client's mixed export in the cloud. Someone at each store is waiting on a sheet. In Kitchen you send each store its own sheet.
A clear result strip says the original stayed. Each store is its own sheet. Download is the primary next step.
Lite cannot do that split. Kitchen is $19 one-time. Polar emails a zip. Files stay on this computer.
You cannot upload this client's files. Someone is waiting on a sheet back. In Kitchen you put warehouse stock on every catalog product.
A clear result strip says every catalog row stayed. Blank stock stays blank. Leftovers that were never listed are gone. Download is the primary next step.
Lite cannot do that join. Kitchen is $19 one-time. Polar emails a zip. Files stay on this computer.
You cannot put this client's files in the cloud, so you open Lite. Load the stack demo is first. Open CSV is next to it. Buy Kitchen · $19 is on that same first screen.
You stack two weekly sheets. Then a card titled Next: put warehouse stock on the catalog. Lite cannot do that join. Kitchen is $19 one-time. Polar emails a zip. Files stay on this computer.
Beside the files, the same job is named: putting warehouse stock on every catalog product is Kitchen.
Warehouse stock on the catalog
Someone is waiting on the catalog. You already stacked the other two files.
You. “Both sheets are one file now. Duplicates are gone.”
Them. “Good. Put warehouse stock on every catalog product. If stock is blank, the product stays. Don’t keep warehouse rows that were never in the catalog.”
You. “Lite stopped there. After export, a line says that job is Kitchen. Lite cannot do it.”
Them. “Then start with the catalog and the warehouse. I need one sheet back. Don’t upload either file.”
Finish a stack in Lite and the next line names the job. Open Kitchen empty and it says start with the catalog and the warehouse — job words, not a weekday. How it works on Plainrow is these three stills; click to enlarge.
fromtill.com was down. It's back. Directree lists Plainrow.
You are stacking two weekly sheets, or dropping duplicate client rows, or merging two exports. Those pages now speak as you doing that work. Files stay on this computer.
LaunchFree no longer says Lite can put warehouse stock on the catalog. Lite cannot. Kitchen can.
You need each store its own sheet from one mixed export. Or you need the client export cleaned before anyone else sees it. Those pages now speak that way. Lite cannot. Kitchen can.
The files are yours because they trusted you. You are the virtual assistant, the nonprofit ops person, the one-seat bookkeeper. Someone is waiting on a sheet back. The next screen wants an upload. You cannot put this client's file in the cloud.
Putting warehouse stock on every catalog product. Every product stays, even if stock is blank. Leftover warehouse rows that were never in the catalog have to go.
Lite cannot do that. Lite is free: two files, stack, dedupe, export.
Kitchen does that join. $19 one-time. Polar emails a zip. Work stays on this computer. You get the sheet back without uploading.
The Plainrow page now opens on that person and that job.
The Kitchen job got a name without a demo table. Honest join words on the page that answers how you buy. Kitchen is $19 once for that join. Lite stays free for two-file stack and dedupe.
You're ready to pay. Support's primary path is Buy Kitchen · $19.
Download Lite is one HTML file on disk: two files, stack, dedupe, export. Open it later from this computer. It is not another tab of the site. Putting warehouse stock on a product list and keeping every catalog row is Kitchen, not Lite.
Plainrow works offline in the browser. Files stay on this computer. Lite is free: two files, stack, dedupe, export. Kitchen is $19 one-time — Polar emails a zip.
Two monthly exports into one table, then unique rows: that is Lite. Catalog plus warehouse, or split one file by store, or clean the export: that is Kitchen.
Merge, append, and dedupe pages are Lite jobs. Join, split, and clean pages are Kitchen jobs. See join without uploading, split in the browser, and clean without uploading.
Buy Kitchen · $19 is the only primary button on /plainrow/. Try Lite and Download Lite stay on the row. They are not primary.
Join, split, and clean pages lead with Buy Kitchen. Lite empty state is Stack two CSV files.