Help
Help
How to use everything on City Hub Live, in plain words. Search below, or tap a topic. The small ? buttons around the site explain one spot at a time.
7 topics
Getting started
Here's your town in one spot: news, events, local places, and your own kitchen and desk tools.
- Use the tabs at the bottom — Home, Local, My Desk, My Kitchen and Me — to move around.
- Home opens on your home town. To change it, go to Me > My profile > Preferences > Home town & news towns.
- You'll need to sign in for many tools. Tap Me, then Sign in — or Create free account if you're new.
- See a small ? next to a tool or form? Tap it and it'll explain just that one spot.
- Tap a town page like Eat, Shopping or Events from Local to browse places and what's on near you.
From the ? buttons
Home town. The town City Hub Live opens to after you sign in. Change it anytime in Preferences > Home town & news towns.
Where: Sign up / Preferences > Home town
News from other towns. This is just for news. Check a town to add a few of its stories to your Local news and the News page. Each story says which town it's from. Leave them all unchecked for just your home town. Change it anytime in Preferences.
Where: Sign up / Preferences > Also show news from
My Kitchen
Scan groceries, plan meals, make your list, and cook. Tap My Kitchen at the bottom to open it.
- Grocery list: Make one list for each store. Add items by typing, from the Catalog, or with Scan / Photo. Check them off as you shop. It saves as you go.
- Kitchen inventory: Make a list for each place — Pantry, Fridge, Freezer. Add items by hand, by search, by scan, or by uploading a spreadsheet. You can change amounts right on each item.
- My recipes: Tap New recipe to type one yourself, or Upload a recipe for a printed card. Share sends a private link to one person. Public puts it on Community recipes for everyone.
- Meal planner: Plan breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the week. On a recipe, tap Use on meal plan to add it. Then tap Add week to Grocery to put the ingredients on your list.
- What can I make (My Kitchen to the Table): Pick a kitchen list and the items you want to use. Tap Find recipes to see what you can make — and what you're short on.
- Scanned products: everything you scan is saved here so you can read ingredients, nutrition and allergy notes later.
From the ? buttons
One list per store. Name the list for the store, like Walmart, Aldi, or Target. Make a separate list for each store you shop.
Where: Grocery list > Title
Kitchen lists. Each place is its own list, like Pantry, Fridge, or Freezer. Two homes? Make lists for each, like Home fridge and Lake house pantry.
Where: Kitchen Inventory > Kitchen Inventory (page)
Meal planner. Plan breakfast, lunch, and dinner for each day. Tap a meal to add ingredients, or pick Use on meal plan on one of My recipes.
Where: Meal planner > Meal planner (page)
New recipe. Type a recipe yourself: name, time, servings, ingredients, and steps. Have a printed recipe card instead? Use Upload a recipe.
Where: My recipes > New recipe
Find recipes. That number counts the items you picked — not recipes. Tap it to search. Recipes missing the fewest ingredients show first.
Where: My Kitchen to the Table > Find recipes using N items
My Desk
To-do lists, reminders, favorites, and your posts. Tap My Desk at the bottom to open it.
- To-do lists (checklist): Make Errands, Packing, or Custom lists, and check things off as you go. Give a list a do-on date and it'll show up in Reminders on Home.
- Reminders: Add your own, like “Pay water bill.” You can also set your trash and recycling pickup days, and pick Repeat and Alert times.
- Favorites: things you save show here, kept per town — switch city or ZIP to see that town's list.
- My posts: everything you posted on Neighbor Listings — lost pets, yard sales, homegrown stands, rentals and homes for sale by owner. Edit or remove them here.
- Tap Post an Event to add a public community event. Tap Suggest a news source if you'd like us to add a local news feed.
From the ? buttons
My Desk. To-do lists, reminders, favorites, and your posts. You can also Post an Event and Suggest a news source here. Kitchen tools are on My Kitchen.
Where: My Desk > My Desk (page)
Kinds of lists. Errands is for chores and store runs. Packing starts with a ready-made travel checklist. Custom is just your own items. Give a list a do-on date and it shows in Reminders on Home. Share a list with family after you make a My Family group. Grocery lists are on My Kitchen.
Where: To-do lists > New Errands List / New Packing List / New Custom List
Your reminders. Add reminders like Pay water bill. They show on Home that day. Daily reminders need a time; we use 8:00 AM if you leave it blank.
Where: Reminders > Your own reminders
Favorites. Things you save show here. Favorites are kept per town, so switch city or ZIP to see that town's list. Use the same account and you'll see the same list in the phone app. Want to follow a category? Look under Profile > Preferences.
Where: Favorites > Favorites (page)
My posts. Everything you posted on Neighbor Listings: lost pets, yard sales, homegrown stands, rentals, and homes for sale by owner. Posting is free. Edit or remove your posts here.
Where: My posts > My posts (page)
Local pages
Every town has its own pages for news, places and things to do. Start from the Local tab.
- Browse Eat, Shopping, Services, Health, Lodging, Entertainment, Faith & Worship, Directory, Events and more for your town.
- Tap a place or event to open it, and tap Favorite to save it to Favorites on My Desk.
- Check Local news and the News page for stories from papers and stations around here. Each one says which town it's from.
- Check Events and This week to see what's coming up. You'll also find Obituaries, Local history, Games, and more under Local.
- Favorites are kept per town, so switch town to see what you saved there.
From the ? buttons
Favorites by town. Favorites are kept per town. Pick a city to see what you saved there. They match on the phone app when you use the same account.
Where: Favorites > Favorite city / town
Light / Dark switch
Pick the look that is easiest on your eyes. The choices are Light, Dark, and Match my device.
- Quick switch: tap the sun / moon button in the top bar to flip between Light and Dark.
- To set it and forget it: go to Me > My profile > Preferences > Appearance.
- Choose Light for a white background with dark text, Dark for a dark background with light text, or Match my device to follow your phone or computer setting.
- Signed in? The choice is saved to your account, so your devices match.
Scanning, recipe cards & Kitchen Plus
Scanning products and reading recipe cards are built into My Kitchen. Always check every line and read the package label yourself.
- Scan a product: In My Kitchen, tap Scan barcode. Use your camera, take a photo of the barcode, or type the number. Scanning is free, and it saves to Scanned products.
- The first time, your phone asks to use the camera — tap Allow. If it is blocked, use Take a photo of the barcode, or type the barcode number instead.
- Mrs Recipe reads: In My recipes, tap Upload a recipe and take a photo of a printed recipe card. Mrs Recipe turns it into a recipe for you. Check every line before you save. If it didn't come out right, tap Read Again.
- Kitchen Plus is the paid extra for My Kitchen. You can see what it includes on the My Kitchen page. Free scanning stays free.
- The colors are just a heads-up — they don't replace reading the label. Your allergy picks are private. Only you can see them.
From the ? buttons
Scan a product. Scan a barcode with your camera, or type the number and press Enter. It saves to Scanned products so you can read ingredients and allergy notes. Scanning is free.
Where: My Kitchen > Scan barcode
Camera permission. The first time, your phone asks to use the camera. Tap Allow. The phone app might ask twice. Blocked on iPhone? Go to Settings > Safari > Camera, or tap aA in the address bar > Website Settings > Camera. You can also tap Take a photo of the barcode, or type the barcode number.
Where: My Kitchen > Scan a product > Use camera
Upload a recipe. Photograph or upload a printed recipe card. We read it into a recipe for you. Check every line before you save.
Where: My recipes > Upload a recipe
Read Again. If the card couldn't be read the first time, tap Read Again for a second try. The hourglass shows while it reads. Always check the recipe before saving.
Where: My recipes > Read Again
What the colors mean. Allergy colors: mint with a green edge = Clear (no match to your allergy picks). cream with a gold edge = Caution. pink with a red edge = Avoid. white = no color yet. If there's no allergy match, a card can take its concern color instead. Concern colors: purple = dyes, blue = preservatives, magenta = MSG / natural flavors, light blue = added sugar / HFCS, indigo = nitrates, teal = sulfites. In the ingredient list, red words = Avoid and gold words = Caution. Your allergy picks are private — only you can see them. The colors are just a heads-up. Always read the package yourself.
Where: Scanned products / Kitchen inventory > Filters
Privacy & reporting
Here's what's private, and how to report something that's against the rules.
- Your allergy picks are private — only you can see them. If you add an email on a Neighbor Listings form, it won't show on the public card.
- Share and Public are different: Share on a recipe makes a private link you send to someone; Public lists it for everyone to search.
- See a copied photo or recipe, or something against the rules? Tap Report, pick what's wrong, and add details if you like. City Hub Live reviews every report.
- Read the Privacy Policy for how information is used, and Terms and Conditions for the rules.
From the ? buttons
Report. See a copied photo or recipe, or something against the rules? Tap Report, pick what's wrong, and add details if you like. City Hub Live reviews every report.
Where: Neighbor posts, photos, public recipes > Report
Private email. Your email is optional. It never shows on the public card.
Where: Neighbor Listings forms > Your email (private, optional)
Share vs Public. Share makes a private link you can text to someone. Public lists the recipe for everyone to search. They're not the same.
Where: My recipes > Share (row) vs Public