Take Control of TextExpander

Meet TextExpander

The idea behind TextExpander is simple: it substitutes something that you type (usually something short) with something else (usually longer and more complicated) in almost any situation where you can enter text. Although I’ll present a simple example in this chapter, TextExpander substitutions, called snippets, can be complex and extraordinarily helpful: they can include formatted text, images, the current date or time, fields where you fill in information on the fly, the clipboard contents, and more. They can even move the insertion point.

But first, some basics. In this chapter, I tell you how to

•Get TextExpander in case you don’t already have it.

•Run the Snippet Creation Assistant to give you an initial set of customized snippets. ...