Use TextExpander or waste time typing | Reader Comments | PixoBebo by Kate MacKenzie </head> <body id="comments" onload="setupZoom()"> <div id="wrapper_comments"> <a name="top" id="top"></a> <div id="wrapper_header"> <div id="region_header"> <div class="ad_leaderboard_728x90"> <script type='text/javascript'></script><noscript><a href='http://d1.openx.org/ck.php?n=a5ee6e6b&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE' target='_blank'><img src='http://d1.openx.org/avw.php?zoneid=21204&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE&n=a5ee6e6b' border='0' alt='' /></a></noscript> </div> <div id="logo"> <a href="http://pixobebo.com/" title="PixoBebo Home Page"><img src="http://pixobebo.com.s3.amazonaws.com/logo.png" alt="Logo" /></a> </div> </div> </div> <div id="wrapper_middle"> <div id="region_left"> <div class="region_pad"> </div> </div> <div id="region_main"> <div id="navmenu"><ul> <li class="active" ><a href="http://pixobebo.com/" title="PixoBebo Home Page">Home</a></li> <li><a href="http://pixobebo.com/index.php/pixonomy/categories/category/reviews/" title="Mac Software Reviews">Reviews</a></li> <li><a href="http://pixobebo.com/index.php/pixonomy/categories/category/how_to/" title="Software How To">How To</a></li> <li><a href="http://pixobebo.com/index.php/pixonomy/categories/category/opinions/" title="Opinions">Opinions</a></li> <li><a href="http://pixobebo.com/index.php/pixonomy/news/" title="News & Commentary Links">News Links</a></li> <li><a href="http://pixobebo.com/index.php/pixonomy/archive/" title="PixoBebo Archive">Archive</a></li> <li><a href="http://pixobebo.com/index.php/pixonomy/search/" title="Advanced Search">Search</a></li> <li><a href="http://pixobebo.com/index.php/pixonomy/mobile/" title="PixoBebo for iPhone">Mobile</a></li> </ul></div> <div class="region_pad"> <div class="frame_article"> <h1>Use TextExpander or waste time typing</h1> <div class="date">Tuesday, April 29, 2008 | How To | Read or Post Comments</div> <p>I’m an adequate typer, made better by spell checking on my Mac. Thanks to TextExpander, I’m now a quick typer for a couple of reasons: 1) I don’t have to remember what to type, and, 2) I don’t even have to do the typing. A good Mac utility should do the work for you, right? </p> <h3>Colonizing Text</h3><p> Mac OS X’s spell check shows up nearly everywhere, giving us little warning signs when we misspell a word. That’s as far as it goes.</p> <p>What we’ve always needed is a Mac utility that does more, types for us, changes bad spelling on the fly, fixes typos, and fills in tediously typed paragraphs.</p> <p>SmileOnMyMac is a Mac utility software developer and their crown jewel, according to me, is <a href="http://www.smileonmymac.com/textexpander/index.html" title="TextExpander">TextExpander</a>.</p> <blockquote><p>TextExpander saves you countless keystrokes with customized abbreviations for your frequently-used text strings and images.</p></blockquote> <p>There’s no way to use fewer words to tell you what TextExpander does. Unless, <em>‘it expands text on the fly’</em> works for you.</p> <h3>Setup & Go</h3><p> TextExpander operates as a preference pane in your Mac’s System Preferences. Double-click to install, then open up the preferences.</p> <p><a href="http://pixobebo.com/images/uploads/20080429_TextExpander_01.png" onclick="window.open('http://pixobebo.com/images/uploads/20080429_TextExpander_01.png','popup','width=683,height=474,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false" title="TextExpander Snippets"><img src="http://pixobebo.com/images/uploads/20080429_TextExpander_01_thumb.png" style="border: 0;" class="image_center" alt="TextExpander" title="TextExpander's Snippets Window" width="350" height="240" /></a></p> <p>The Snippets are those pieces of text that are spelled correctly. TextExpander reads the text you type while you type it. When you type something that isn’t spelled correctly, TextExpander and retype it for you, spelled correctly.</p> <p>Snippets can be organized into groups, pulled in from external files, and even synced between Macs via your .Mac account.</p> <p>Wait. There’s more!</p> <h3>Type Less & More</h3><p> TextExpander (<em>trying saying ‘TextExpander’ five times really, really fast</em>) does more than just auto-correct. Use it to insert custom text into your document. Type a special keystroke combination, and TextExpander inserts the text automagically.</p> <ul><li>Insert customized email signatures into text</li> <li>Insert entire paragraphs, images, photos, with a few keystrokes</li> <li>Fill out basic forms with pre-filled text</li> <li>Insert current date or time with a keystroke</li></ul> <p>TextExpander grows, too, and imports snippets of text from TypeIt4Me, Typinator, and you can make it learn as you work.</p> <h3>Set & Forget</h3><p> Preference settings are straightforward. Set Hotkeys to invoke TextExpander with a few keystrokes. Set delimiters that match your requirements. Even have TextExpander play a sound when it completes fixing a typo or enters text.</p> <p><a href="http://pixobebo.com/images/uploads/20080429_TextExpander_02.png" onclick="window.open('http://pixobebo.com/images/uploads/20080429_TextExpander_02.png','popup','width=683,height=474,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false" title="TextExpander Preferences"><img src="http://pixobebo.com/images/uploads/20080429_TextExpander_02_thumb.png" style="border: 0;" class="image_center" alt="TextExpander" title="TextExpander Preferences Window" width="350" height="240" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.smileonmymac.com/textexpander/index.html" title="TextExpander">TextExpander</a> is one of my favorite set-it-and-forget-it Mac utilities. It’s not perfect, but it’s close. Available Snippets are not easy to edit, and it sometimes corrects what doesn’t need correcting.</p> <p>It counts the number of keystrokes it saves you over a period of time so you can actually see how much of your life has been saved. One keystroke at a time. </p> </div>  <a name="read"></a> <div class="wrapper_comments"> <h3>Reader Comments (1)</h3> <div class="frame_comments_one"> <p><strong>John Davis</strong> said:</p> <p>When I first got my first Mac and was desperately trying to learn how to use it, I came across a book called Mac Secrets, by David Pogue. In the book, he explained that he would never have gotten the book typed in record time without a little application called “TypeIt4Me.”</p> <p>This was a LONG time ago.</p> <p>Well, the daddy of them all, TypeIt4Me is still there. Of course it does a lot more than it used to, but the developer is the same and it has the same stamp. </p> <p>I’m not being paid by the developer, nor am I related to him in any way. I love his software and would like to see him acknowledged for what was his own original idea.</p> <p>Yours sincerely,</p> <p>John Davis </p> <div class="posted">#1 | Tuesday, April 29, 2008</div> </div> <div class="paginate"> </div> </div> <a name="post"></a> <form id='comment_form' method="post" action="http://pixobebo.com/index.php/pixonomy/comments/use_textexpander_or_waste_time_typing/" > <div class='hiddenFields'> <input type="hidden" name="ACT" value="1" /> <input type="hidden" name="RET" value="http://pixobebo.com/index.php/pixonomy/comments/use_textexpander_or_waste_time_typing/" /> <input type="hidden" name="URI" value="/pixonomy/comments/use_textexpander_or_waste_time_typing/" /> <input type="hidden" name="PRV" value="pixonomy/preview" /> <input type="hidden" name="XID" value="5e61b4fc510464eb2b41fb2bc1e19836c837f7b2" /> <input type="hidden" name="entry_id" value="73" /> <input type="hidden" name="site_id" value="1" /> </div> <h3>Add A Comment</h3> <div class="frame_comments"> <p>Your name:</p> <input type="text" id="name" name="name" value="" size="40" /> <p>Your email address:</p> <input type="text" id="email" name="email" value="" size="40" /> <p>Your location:</p> <input type="text" id="location" name="location" value="" size="40" /> <p>Your home page:</p> <input type="text" id="url" name="url" value="http://" size="40" /> <p>Add your comment below:</p> <textarea name="comment" cols="60" rows="10"></textarea> <p><input type="checkbox" class="buttons" name="save_info" value="yes" /> Remember my personal information! <br /> <input type="checkbox" class="buttons" name="notify_me" value="yes" /> Notify me of follow-up comments?</p> <p>Please enter the “Magic Word” from the image below:</p> <img src="http://pixobebo.com/images/captchas/1268364956.63.jpg" width="140" height="30" style="border:0;" alt=" " /> <br /> <input type="text" id="captcha" name="captcha" value="" maxlength="16" /> <br /> <input type="submit" id="post" name="submit" value="Add Comment" /> <input type="submit" id="preview" name="preview" value="Preview Comment" /> </div> </form>  </div> </div> <div id="region_right"> <div class="search_box"> <form method="post" action="http://pixobebo.com/index.php" > <div class='hiddenFields'> <input type="hidden" name="ACT" value="19" /> <input type="hidden" name="XID" value="829d551664d0f631dbe79fccbbace7350b81db3e" /> <input type="hidden" name="RP" value="pixonomy/search_results" /> <input type="hidden" name="NRP" value="" /> <input type="hidden" name="RES" value="30" /> <input type="hidden" name="status" value="" /> <input type="hidden" name="weblog" value="pixobebo" /> <input type="hidden" name="search_in" value="everywhere" /> <input type="hidden" name="where" value="any" /> <input type="hidden" name="site_id" value="1" /> </div> <label for="keywords">Quick Search: </label> <span class="wrapper_keywords"><input type="text" id="keywords" name="keywords" value="" size="24" maxlength="140" /></span> <input type="submit" value="Search" class="submit" /> </form> </div> <div class="ad_rectangle_336x280"> <script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> </div> <div class="frame_column_left"> <div class="ad_banner_120x240"> <script type='text/javascript'></script><noscript><a href='http://d1.openx.org/ck.php?n=acd58d01&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE' target='_blank'><img src='http://d1.openx.org/avw.php?zoneid=21292&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE&n=acd58d01' border='0' alt='' /></a></noscript> </div> <div class="recent_list"> <h4>More Reviews</h4> <ul><li><a href="http://pixobebo.com/index.php/pixonomy/articles/mac_users_beware_twitter_gives_you_cancer/" title="Recent Review of Mac Users Beware: Twitter Gives You Cancer?">Mac Users Beware: Twitter Gives You Cancer?</a></li><li><a href="http://pixobebo.com/index.php/pixonomy/articles/making_an_iphone_version_of_my_mac_site/" title="Recent Review of Making an iPhone version of my Mac site">Making an iPhone version of my Mac site</a></li><li><a href="http://pixobebo.com/index.php/pixonomy/articles/wow_a_mouse_pad_that_makes_a_difference/" title="Recent Review of Wow! 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