Documenting the steps you use to use Multi Counter means keeping a personal, written record of each interaction with the tool — the counter names you created, the order in which you pressed Increase or Decrease, the daily value each named panel showed, and the PNG or CSV files you exported for a private archive. Because Multi Counter runs entirely in your browser and saves everything to localStorage under its own key, your documented steps live next to the actual counts rather than in a separate database. The log you keep is essentially a human-readable mirror of what the tool itself stores: which counters exist, what they are called, the per-day values, the combined total, and the export files generated on your device. Treating your Multi Counter session as a small workflow — start, increment, compare, export — gives you a natural skeleton to document, and the rest of this guide walks through each part of that skeleton in concrete detail. Multi Counter is different from opening several generic counter tabs because the values stay visible together, the names make their purpose clear, and the daily record keeps the comparison in one place, so your documentation has a single source to describe rather than several disconnected tabs to chase.
What "Documenting Your Steps" Means for a Browser Counter
When people ask how to document the steps they use with Multi Counter, they usually mean one of two related things. The first is a written checklist of the actions they took — rename, add, increase, decrease, compare, export — captured so the same procedure can be reproduced later or shared with someone else. The second is the data trail the tool itself leaves behind: the counter names, the daily values, the combined total for the device's current local calendar day, and any PNG or CSV files generated through the browser's native canvas and Blob APIs.
Both forms of documentation matter, and Multi Counter supports each in a different way. The tool records the data trail automatically because every increment and decrement is saved against a stable internal identifier for each named counter. Your written checklist, on the other hand, is something you maintain separately — in a notes file, a spreadsheet, or simply on paper — describing the procedure that produced those saved values. A complete record of your Multi Counter session combines the tool's automatic data trail with your own human-readable description of the workflow that produced it.
The Three Built-in Operations to Record in Your Log
The Multi Counter workspace exposes a small, finite set of operations that you can document. Each one corresponds to a button, a label, or an export control on the page, and together they form the complete vocabulary of any session you log:
| Operation | What it does in the tool | What to write in your log |
|---|---|---|
| Rename a counter | Updates the display label for one counter only | Old name, new name, local date, and reason for the rename |
| Increase / Decrease | Changes a single counter's value within bounded limits | Counter name, value before, value after, and the event that triggered the change |
| Export PNG or CSV | Creates a local image or spreadsheet file | Date of export, file format, and what the file is intended to cover |
Increase and Decrease are bounded so a count cannot silently become negative or overflow. That makes your documented steps safer to rely on: the before and after values you write down will always be reachable by replaying the same sequence in the tool, and there will never be an unrecorded value that slipped past the bounds.
Recording Each Interaction in a Personal Log
The following procedure turns a Multi Counter session into a written record you can keep alongside the tool's automatic localStorage history. Treat each item as one line of your log.
- Open the Multi Counter page and note the starting state: how many counters are already there (the tool begins with two) and what default names they show.
- Rename the starting counters so each panel describes the value you want to compare. Write the old name, the new name, and the local calendar date in your log so the rename can be traced later.
- Add another counter only when needed. The tool keeps at least one counter and permits up to twenty named counters, so record each addition with a one-line reason — for example, "added Side B for queue comparison".
- Use Increase and Decrease in the matching panel for each event you want to document. Write down the counter name, the value before the click, the value after the click, and the local time of the event.
- Watch the combined total at the top of the page. It is the sum of the named values for the device's current local day, not an unrelated lifetime score, so note it whenever you want a snapshot of that day's progress.
- When a new local calendar day begins, the visible panels reset to zero while earlier nonzero days remain in Daily history. Mark the day boundary in your log so the daily comparison in your written record lines up with the tool's daily history.
- If you remove a counter, write down which one and when. Removing a counter removes its stored values from the local comparison instead of leaving a hidden value attached to a recycled name, so your log should treat removal as a real data event.
- When the session is over, export the local daily comparison as PNG or CSV and store the file with your written log so the human-readable record and the tool's data trail stay together.
Following this list every time produces a parallel record: your written log describes the workflow, and the tool's local history describes the data. The two together form the full documentation of how you used Multi Counter on that occasion.
Build a Daily Comparison Record With PNG and CSV
The two export formats serve different documentation purposes, and choosing between them is itself a step worth recording in your log.
| Format | What is in the file | Best fit in your documentation |
|---|---|---|
| PNG | 1080 by 1350 image with the Lizely mark, combined total, and recent date rows | Quick visual record stored as an image attachment or shared in chat |
| CSV | Date column plus one column for each current counter name, one row per saved local day | Spreadsheet review, longer archives, and merging with your written log |
The PNG deliberately omits user-entered counter names and contains no URL, which keeps a shared image from revealing private labels. The CSV, by contrast, does include the current counter names as column headers, so it is better suited to a private archive than to a public share. Both files are created directly by the browser with native canvas and Blob APIs, and nothing is sent to an export service. Your documented steps can therefore cite the file path or filename on your device with confidence that the file was generated locally.
Counter Names, Renames, and Limits to Capture in Your Notes
Three documented limits shape every Multi Counter session and belong in your written log the first time they apply:
- The page keeps at least one counter and permits up to twenty named counters. Write down when you approach that ceiling so future sessions can plan around it.
- Each named counter has a stable internal identifier. A rename changes the display name without assigning an older value to another counter, so log the rename with both old and new names to preserve the link.
- Removing a counter removes its stored values from the local comparison. A future session cannot recover those values from the tool, so your written log should treat a removal as a permanent data event.
Increase and Decrease are also bounded so a count cannot silently become negative or overflow. That bound is part of the tool's behavior, and noting it once in your documentation saves future readers from wondering why a value never went below zero in the first place.
Privacy Boundaries for Your Documented Steps
Multi Counter's documentation is local by design. Counter names, values, and daily history are kept only in browser localStorage under this tool's key, and there is no account, upload, shared board, cloud synchronization, API request, or cross-device merge. That means your written log and your exported PNG or CSV files are the only copies of your Multi Counter session that exist outside the browser tab that produced them.
Clearing browser data removes the saved comparison, and another phone or computer has a separate empty record. If browser storage is disabled or full, the current page remains usable for the interaction that is open and displays that it cannot save history — a constraint worth recording in your log so a future reader knows why some days are missing from the Daily history. That honest constraint is preferable to suggesting that an important comparison has been backed up when it has not, and your documentation should reflect it on the page.
Where Your Documentation Should Live Next
Your Multi Counter documentation is most useful when it can be replayed. If a session becomes part of a larger workflow — a team standard operating procedure, a training handout, or a recurring monthly comparison — move the written log out of the browser and into a notes app or word processor while keeping the CSV export next to it. For single-session use, the local PNG or CSV plus the daily history in the tool is usually enough.
Readers applying the same documentation discipline to a different counter can compare this guide with how to document your steps in a Water Intake Counter; the underlying pattern of written log plus local export is the same. When entries and exits must stay directional and a capacity threshold is useful, People Counter follows the same documenting rules with a different shape, and when the comparison is really a streak of preset labels, Daily Habit Counter is the closer match. Pick the tool whose own built-in operations match what you are documenting, then keep the same log-plus-export pattern around it.
For a deeper look, see Compare Approaches to Use a People Counter Side by Side.