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While I found the wonky nomenclature off-putting ( e.g., Area Name, Part Name, Default Value), Fill-ins present a dynamic way to automate repetitious and time-consuming work.Īs I have already suggested, TextExpander operates across your Mac. TextExpander produces the full-formatted report, save the body paragraph. Upon expanding my Snippet, I need only type the names and select the grades from drop-down menus.
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I can use a manual Fill-in field for students' names, and a Popup menu for predefined grade values (A-F).

Each midterm report is comprised of a body paragraph (tailored to each student), a header that addresses the student by name, and a footer that lists assignments and grades. I can even include sample names for Fill-in fields (Default Values), and I can expand my Snippet from the "Save As" field of any application.īut why stop there? Suppose I am an educator who needs to write midterm reports for all my students. company and project name), alongside Fill-in fields for dependent information (file name and date). I can create a Snippet that includes both the stable text ( e.g. Say I am project manager who relies on naming conventions to designate projects.

The most powerful-and least inviting-means of expanding the utility's functionality is through Fill-ins, with which you can create complex forms around fields of predefined selections (Popups) and open fields (Fill-ins). TextExpander will scale to your expertise and expectations. Once you find your bearings, you can create your own Snippets that incorporate Smile's templates and variables (such as date, time, cursor position, and more). With the Internet Productivity Snippets you can quickly shorten or validate URLs. Alternatively, you can embarrass yourself by integrating Emoji and other symbols into your daily communications. Perhaps you want to broadcast your elitism, by adding accents to foreign words (see above). Smile also bundles Predefined Groups of Snippets. For example, now I can insert my signature, complete with the logo, in any application by typing "–sig."Ĭonsider these templates an apéritif. I also edited Abbreviations so that I could actually remember-and use-my Snippets. Editing text is a cinch because TextExpander uses your Mac's built-in formatting pallets, à la Apple Mail or Text Edit. (Tech-savvy users can also toggle between AppleScript and Shell Script). By default, Snippets are set to plain text, but I preferred formatted text, which supports images. Smile supplies some templates, including a signature and address, date and time stamp, and phone number and email address. TextExpander is built around shortcuts (Abbreviations) and the texts they expand (Snippets). Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions. You can configure TextExpander via a shortcut added to your menu bar. (Tick the boxes for TextExpander and TextExpander Helper in the Security & Privacy pane of System Preferences). The only complexity is that you will need to grant TextExpander access to your Mac's Accessibility Access. While its all-business interface is uninviting at first blush, once I began to use it-and reap its rewards-I learned to love its system-wide Snippets.Īlthough TextExpander 4 is not available on the Mac App Store, downloading and installing the utility from Smile's website is nearly as simple. From supplementing keyboard shortcuts to autocorrecting typos, from completing online forms to creating document templates, TextExpander has earned itself a coveted spot in my workflow. A sobering proposition I suppose, but once I accepted the repetition of my writing practices, I realized I could use it to truncate my most tedious tasks. Smile's Mac shortcut utility TextExpander 4 (Opens in a new window) ($34.95) has taught me how much of what I do can be automated.
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