One of the other apps I use every single day is Typinator from Ergonis Software. According to my own use of Typinator, my stats look like this:
285 corrections, 5004 expansions
average saving: 49.6 keystrokes/expansion
saved time: 22.27 hours
(at 196 keystrokes per minute)
I’ve been using Typinator since 2007. I have perhaps a couple of dozen shortcuts defined, and realistically use maybe ½ that, but those I tend to use I use a lot. Many of them are multi-line items such as my signature. Some are just mail account names or such but it is so much easier to use Typinator for these.
The idea behind programs such as Typinator is there are things you type every day or at often can help to type these for you while you type just a few letters, usually called a ‘snippet.’
For instance, for special persons, and for fun on their birthday, I might post on their Facebook page:
♪♫♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♫
Hippo birdie two ewes!
Hippo birdie two ewes!
Hippo birdie deer Greg!
Hippo birdie two ewes!
And many boar!
♪♫♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♫
That was accomplished by just typing “fhbd” (without the quotes).
Or, something simple, but for ‘challenged’ typists like me it’s easier to type ‘shg’ to get: <sheepish grin>.
You get the idea. I use Typinator for all sorts of snippets. Give it a try.
Some other programs similar to Typinator include: TextExpander and TypeIt4Me. An advantage these two hold over Typinator is they have iOS versions, although they don’t function on those devices like they do on a Mac. And, if you use Windows, I’d recommend Jitbit Autotext. It works in Windows the way these others do for Mac. It will even import TextExpander snippets, a real plus. Read more at: http://www.jitbit.com/autotext/free-autotext/ © Jitbit
You can find other tips by going to the blog homepage. You can find iHelp’s main offerings, here.
Typinator rocks! I have a setup at work for my most common…
– terms (words)
– statements, comments, orders
– email introductions (with names and correct titles), and email endings (greeting+name+company+contact data+disclaimer)
– addresses, telephon numbers, bank account data (of course no passwords etc.)
…which sum up to a total of over 700 different expansions. Okay, some of them I do not use really often (or some even ever again)… BUT even the, let’s say 200, most frequent are such a great help! Typinator helps working efficiently A LOT!
And I really LOVE the “current date” expansion! Wow!
As I mainly use it for “combined nouns” like “construction works”, most of my acronyms are 4 letter abbreviations, constructed like this:
Two noun words: I (nearly) always use the first two letters of each word:
construction works = cowo
examination-paper = expa
etc.
Three noun words: I (nearly) always use the first letter of the first three words plus the second letter of the third word:
cutting edge geometry =cege
etc.
Like this, remembering the acronym is really EASY!
I don’t know how long I’ve used Typinator, but yes, it rocks.