In my work, there are several things I find myself having to type over and over: a specific URL, pieces of text (my clients all seem to ask the same questions) or email signatures. You know the stuff, you’ve got it too.
Luckily, I found THE best tool to allow me to be supremely lazy and yet still get out all the info I need: TextExpander from Smile on My Mac. I love this little bit of software goodness. All I have to do is type in a few letters and poof (it even makes a satisfying “poof” noise!) TextExpander pops in my text. Short text or long, doesn’t matter. This also works with fully formatted text and images. So nifty. Mac users can get more info here and watch a cool, short video tutorial here. (There’s music on that link to the video, so turn down the volume before you click if need be. Just sayin’.)
They let you try TextExpander for free, so, no risk. I did and after my trial had no problem at all paying the $30 price. It’s that good. Promise. (And don’t worry, I’m not being paid or even trying to be paid for suggesting this software. I just couldn’t live without it at this point and had to share.)
Since there are still (STILL) people using PCs I guess, I did some digging and found what seems to be a useful equivalent called ActiveWords . The folks at Lifehacker say “In all my years on a Microsoft-based PC, I would say this is one of the best pieces of ware you could install on the platform”. Ok, great, that seems pretty positive. I haven’t used it, but couldn’t leave our PC readers hanging. Let me know what you think.
- Two Books on Work That Rocked My World I’ve read 2 books in the last year that have...
- Pottery Barn does Stainless Steel well: organization for office or kitchen Time for some organization supply p*rn. My favorite. Normally, stainless...
- Assignment: Computer Desktop de-clutter, or, do this now, you’ll be glad later Today’s assignment: Take just five minutes to clear off some...
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I love the new layout–you’ll have to tell me how hard word press is to navigate!
I may be a good candidate for text expander but right now, I keep a text file on my desktop with all the stuff I find myself using over and over again (templates, if you will). URLs, sentences, paragraphs–you name it. Text expander definitely takes a step or two out of the process (I of course have to go and highlight my text and copy and paste into an email or doc). But for now–it works. But text expander might be in my future (I like that they let you test drive it for 30 days).
Thanks, BNeato!
The one reason to try Text Expander : flow. For the longest I used a text file or even “signatures” in my email program (Apple Mail) to store often-used text. But, I always had to stop and start in order to go grab the text I needed and copy/paste it and then put it where I wanted it.
With Text Expander, you don’t have to stop typing, you just type in your code and “pop” – it appears. I keep flowing.
And yes, the 30 day trial makes it a no brainer. Let me know if you decide to do it!
I’m a convert! I’m on Day 1 of using TextExpander right now. I, too, had a template file using email signatures, and a few short phrases I use over and over again outside of email were saved to iClip Lite (which is a small program on the Mac OS dashboard).
I’d say TextExpander’s great for flow as you mention, Meredith, but the Type A listfreak in me is especially excited that I get to create my own keyboard shortcuts for the templates I use so often. I type in a weird way (fast, but my fingers never rest on the “home” keys as they teach you in school), so I find that most Mac keyboard shortcuts are hard for me to punch in. I just love that I get to plan my shortcuts around my typing idiosyncrasies!
…and yes, I admit I do get a little thrill when I hear that “poof!” noise after the text appears. It’s very, very neat.