Archive for the ‘TextExpander’ Category

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Indie+Relief: Mac Developers Raise Money for Haiti

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

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Approximately 150 independent Mac and iPhone software developers have pledged to contribute their sales for the day of January 20th to Haiti relief. The effort is called Indie+Relief.

SmileOnMyMac will contribute the sales of PDFpen and TextExpander to Mercy Corps and Doctors Without Borders.

The needs in Haiti are immense. Its capital lies in ruins, as many as 200,000 may be dead, and survivors are increasingly desperate for food, clean water and shelter.

Check out Indie+Relief. You’ll find an incredible collection of software from the best Mac and iPhone developers and your purchases will help ameliorate a dire situation.

Posted in PDFpen, TextExpander | No Comments »

Shorten your URLs with TextExpander and Clicky.me

Friday, November 27th, 2009

TextExpander comes with an Internet Productivity suite that contains URL shortening snippets for a variety of services including bit.ly and is.gd. One of the newer services that I just discovered is called Clicky. Clicky is a Web analytics package that makes tracking how people are finding and using your Web sites a breeze. As part of the package they also offer a URL shortening service called clicky.me.

I’ve started using clicky.me for all my shortened URLs, and of course I need a TextExpander snippet to do that. The snippet takes any URL that is on your Mac’s clipboard and runs it through Clicky’s API to generate a shortened URL that you can paste into Twitter, Facebook or anywhere you so desire.

Note: You do need a Clicky user account, which is free for low volume users.

Read on for instructions on how to use this snippet.

(more…)

Posted in All posts, TextExpander, TextExpander Tips | 2 Comments »

Use TextExpander with Dropbox 2.0

Sunday, October 18th, 2009

A few months ago we provided some instructions for how to setup Dropbox to sync with your TextExpander snippets.  The instructions have been used by many of you, but we have a better, less geeky way to accomplish the same thing going forward.

With the rise in popularity of “cloud computing,” third-party syncing services such as Dropbox have come on the scene, and with a bit of work, you can sync your snippets using it as a MobileMe alternative.

Dropbox is a free online storage service that synchronizes the data of a folder in your home directory with any other Mac you have the service installed on. When you make a change to a file or add something new to your Dropbox, their agent application will automatically push the changes to the cloud in the background and notify your other Macs of the change so they pull the update.

This works great for TextExpander because each time you create or modify a snippet, it saves the Settings.textexpander file that contains your settings and snippets. If we store this file in Dropbox, it will automatically update on each of your Macs. Dropbox can even deal with your Mac being offline temporarily.

To enable support for Dropbox, we’ll make use of Automator.  TextExpander 2.5.1 or later is required for proper synchronization with Dropbox. It’s a free update:

http://www.smileonmymac.com/textexpander/download.html

On your primary machine:

  1. Disable TextExpander via the TextExpander prference pane.
    (Hold the Option key and click “Enable TextExpander” to kill TextExpander’s background process.)
  2. Install Dropbox (https://www.getdropbox.com/)
  3. Download Junecloud’s “Create Symbolic Link” automator action.
  4. Drag the [Home Folder]/Library/Application Support/TextExpander folder to your Dropbox folder. Your TextExpander settings and snippets are now stored on Dropbox, but we still need to let TextExpander know about it.
  5. Mount the Junecloud Automator Actions disk image you downloaded in step 3 and double-click the “Create Symbolic Link” automator action to install the action in Automator.
  6. Jump into Automator and create a new Workflow.
  7. Drag the TextExpander folder from your Dropbox into the Automator window’s drop zone.
  8. Drag the “Create Symbolic Link” automator action from the Automator library.  Set it’s “Where:” value to be [Home Folder]/Library/Application Support/.
  9. The Create Symlink window will appear. In this window set the location to [Home Folder]/Library/Application Support/.
  10. Press “Run” in the Automator window.  You should hear a sound when the operation completes successfully.

The symlink will then redirect TextExpander to your Dropbox folder to grab the snippet information. You can confirm it by going to [Home Folder]/Library/Application Support and checking to see if the TextExpander folder is an alias now.

Repeat steps 1-10 on subsequent machines that you want to take advantage of syncing with your Dropbox instance of TextExpander.

Thanks to Michael Harahan for the Automator tip!

Posted in All posts, TextExpander, TextExpander Tips | 27 Comments »

iPhone Developers Integrate TextExpander touch

Friday, October 16th, 2009

When we first released TextExpander touch for the iPhone, we also released an SDK (Software Development Kit) that other iPhone developers could use to integrate TextExpander touch functionality into their apps. The response has been very positive, both from developers and users.

Tip: If you want to use TextExpander touch with an app that supports it, you must turn on “Share Snippets” in the TextExpander touch preferences. You should also check the preferences of the app to see if it has a TextExpander setting that you need to enable.

Here are the apps that have so far integrated TextExpander (links go to the App Store):

Tweetie 2

tweetiei2-72.png“The Twitter client that redefined Twitter clients is back, and it’s even better. Rewritten from the ground up with a fast and powerful new core, Tweetie 2 offers the most polished mobile Twitter experience around.”

WriteRoom

writeroom-72.png“For people who want to write and take notes on their iPhone. WriteRoom is a distraction free writing environment. Unlike Notes, WriteRoom provides a clean interface and tether free syncing.”

Go Mail Yourself

gomail-72.png“Go Mail Yourself allows you to quickly send yourself email notes or reminders using the Mail application. One of the basic fundamentals associated with improving productivity is quickly and easily capturing ideas and information so you can process them at the appropriate time.”

Attendance

attendance-72.png“Attendance allows you to take and keep attendance records. Its main intended use is for teachers to keep track of records for their classes, but it can also be used for meetings and group gatherings.”

More apps will be adding TextExpander integration in the future. We’ll keep an up-to-date list on our website.

Posted in TextExpander, TextExpander Tips, iPhone | 17 Comments »

TextExpander iPhone tip: Snippets To Go

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

More than one TextExpander user has commented how they cannot bear to work on a Mac without TextExpander anymore. If you don’t have access to your snippets, the work pace seems to slow down. You miss the little TextExpander “pop”.

I went on a trip this weekend without my Mac. My sister brought hers, though, and it was only a matter of time before I asked to borrow it. As I sat down to compose an email, I realized that I didn’t have my TextExpander snippets on her Mac.

But I did have them on my iPhone in TextExpander touch.

It’s easy to transfer snippets from your Mac to your iPhone. But it’s just as easy to transfer snippets from your iPhone to your Mac–or a friend’s Mac, as long as it’s running TextExpander 2.7 or later. (Your friend can easily download the free demo!) Here’s how:

1) Under Groups, select the snippet group you want to send.

2) Tap the Action button in the bottom left.

TEtouch1.png

3) Tap “Send via Local Network.”

TEtouch2.png

4) You’ll see a list of available Macs and iPhones on the network. Tap the name of the Mac you want to send your snippet group to. That Mac will display an alert asking for confirmation.

TEtouch3.png

Click “Add” and your snippets will be added to TextExpander on that Mac, and you can use them.

Good manners would dictate that you delete the group from your friend’s Mac when you are done.

TextExpander touch is still $1.99 in the App Store. This special introductory price ends September 9!

Posted in TextExpander, TextExpander Tips, iPhone | No Comments »

No Superhero Powers Over iPhone OS

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

I love it that so many people are excited about the release of TextExpander touch for the iPhone tomorrow. We’ve been inundated with requests for this since the iPhone was first introduced, so it’s nice to give the people what they want.

I also feel it’s important to be absolutely clear about what TextExpander cannot do.

Chris Pirillo, of Lockergnome fame, sent me this question:

“Will the iPhone app work like the desktop version? :) How on earth did you pull that off!?”

The short answer to the question is “no”.

We have no special superhero powers over the iPhone OS. No Jedi mind tricks. TextExpander touch, like other third-party iPhone apps, cannot run in the background. You won’t be able to type your abbreviations to trigger expansions while you are working in other apps. (Not yet, anyway. See Greg’s post about the TextExpander touch SDK.)

But that doesn’t mean TextExpander touch will be a disappointment. Because what it can do, it can do very well:

  • We have made it as seamless as possible for composing notes and inserting them to email or your Twitter client. We’ve also made it easy to copy your composed notes to other apps.
  • You can import your snippet groups from the Mac via local network. That is a handy thing to have on your iPhone, even if you never use TextExpander touch for a single text expansion. You’ll have a library of your most frequently-used phrases, signatures, URLs, etc. We’ve made it simple to insert a snippet into email or Twitter, skipping the Compose step altogether.
  • It will be easy to create snippets, using the new copy-and-paste function as well. If you have received an email with some standard paragraph you want to use again, you can copy it and create a TextExpander touch snippet with only a few taps on your iPhone.

Remember when you first started using TextExpander? You might have had a handful of snippets, like your email signature or a standard answer to a frequently-asked question. But the more you used TextExpander, the more ideas you got for how you could use it.

And many of you shared your ideas with us. Autocorrect spelling errors? HTML code snippets? URL shortening? All these ideas for extending TextExpander’s usefulness came from TextExpander users.

People will start coming up with productivity hacks using TextExpander touch the way they have for TextExpander. You’ll share your ideas with your friends (and with us, we hope) and TextExpander touch will evolve within the context of the iPhone.

That’s worth a few bucks.

Posted in TextExpander, iPhone | No Comments »

TextExpander touch SDK Now Available

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

SmileOnMyMac is pleased to announce the immediate availability of the TextExpander touch Software Development Kit (SDK). This consists of a free TextExpander engine library and sample code demonstrating how third party developers can add TextExpander functionality to their iPhone applications.

TextExpander is most useful when it’s available for text entry everywhere, as it is on Mac OS X. Given the current restrictions of the iPhone SDK, it’s not possible to make TextExpander touch work that way. We’ve focused on making TextExpander touch work well for composing text, then sending it directly to Mail, Twitter clients, or via copy & paste to any other application.

It is possible for other iPhone applications to offer TextExpander functionality. When a TextExpander touch user uses an application which supports the TextExpander engine, their snippets will expand when they enter their abbreviations in that application.

We believe this is a win-win for both TextExpander touch and for iPhone application developers. Having additional applications with integrated TextExpander functionality makes TextExpander touch more useful on the iPhone. Applications which support the TextExpander engine make text entry easier for their users.

We welcome feedback from developers, and we encourage you to download the TextExpander touch SDK. Please let us know if you’re going to use the SDK so that we can keep you apprised of updates.

Posted in All posts, TextExpander | 5 Comments »

Text substitution: gateway drug to TextExpander

Monday, August 24th, 2009

Now that Apple has announced a release date for Snow Leopard, we can clear the air on text substitution. For those who use TextExpander, text substitution is not particularly interesting. It works only in Cocoa applications, and its interface is not well-suited to large snippets or managing snippets.

For those new to text expanding utilities, welcome! Here are some great reasons to go beyond text substitution all the way to TextExpander:

  • Organize snippets into groups
  • Insert the date and time in any format you prefer
  • Perform date math (for example, insert tomorrow’s date)
  • Predefined snippets for spelling correction, symbols, accented words, HTML, CSS, and URL shortening
  • Sync snippets via MobileMe or DropBox
  • Position the cursor wherever you want in your expanded snippet
  • Nest snippets — include one snippet within another
  • Print your abbreviations and snippets (cheat sheet)
  • Invoke AppleScripts and shell scripts as snippets

    • SALE!! To celebrate the release of TextExpander touch for iPhone (available August 26), TextExpander is 50% off through September 9. Please visit our web store or purchase directly from TextExpander.

    Posted in TextExpander | 2 Comments »

    Use TextExpander with DropBox

    Wednesday, May 13th, 2009

    Until recently, the only reliable way to synchronize data between two Macs was to use Apple’s MobileMe service. TextExpander has support for MobileMe so you can sync your snippets between all of your Macs.

    With the rise in popularity of “cloud computing,” third-party syncing services such as Dropbox have come on the scene, and with a bit of work, you can sync your snippets using it as a MobileMe alternative.

    Dropbox is a free online storage service that synchronizes the data of a folder in your home directory with any other Mac you have the service installed on. When you make a change to a file or add something new to your Dropbox, their agent application will automatically push the changes to the cloud in the background and notify your other Macs of the change so they pull the update.

    This works great for TextExpander because each time you create or modify a snippet, it saves the Settings.textexpander file that contains your settings and snippets. If we store this file in Dropbox, it will automatically update on each of your Macs. Dropbox can even deal with your Mac being offline temporarily.

    This isn’t for the faint of heart. You will need a bit of Terminal-fu to make sure that things run seamlessly. If you’re comfortable with the requirement, here’s how to sync TextExpander using Dropbox.

    TextExpander 2.5.1 is required for proper synchronization with Dropbox. It’s a free update:

    http://www.smileonmymac.com/textexpander/download.html

    On your primary machine:

    1. Install Dropbox (https://www.getdropbox.com/)
    2. Close System Preferences
    3. In the Finder, go to your Dropbox folder and create a folder called “Library.”
    4. Drag the ~/Library/Application Support/TextExpander folder to your Dropbox/Library folder. Your TextExpander settings and snippets are now stored on Dropbox.
    5. Open Terminal.app and type the following command:

      ln -s ~/Dropbox/Library/TextExpander ~/Library/Application\ Support/TextExpander

    The symlink will then redirect TextExpander to your Dropbox folder to grab the snippet information. Take note that you won’t get any sort of confirmation in the Terminal that this operation succeeded. You can confirm it by going to [Home]/Library/Application Support and checking to see if the TextExpander folder is an alias now.

    On your subsequent Macs:

    1. Install Dropbox (https://www.getdropbox.com/)
    2. Close System Preferences
    3. Delete the ~/Library/Application Support/TextExpander folder. Since the snippets are on Dropbox, we need to symlink it like we did on the primary machine.
    4. Open Terminal.app and type the following command:

      ln -s ~/Dropbox/Library/TextExpander ~/Library/Application\ Support/TextExpander

    As with before, you won’t get confirmation in Terminal but can be sure by checking that [Home]/Library/Application Support/TextExpander is an aliased folder.

    This technique should work with almost any Mac application you use. It can be used with Things and Delicious Library since they don’t have native syncing support built in.

    Posted in TextExpander, TextExpander Tips | 26 Comments »

    TextExpander: HTML and Shell Script Tips from Macworld

    Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

    mw-logo.gifA few interesting tips were published on Macworld.com today, in a piece titled “Creative text expanding“. Derik DeLong shared some ways he uses TextExpander to easily insert HTML tags using the clipboard. He also gives a few examples of using shell script snippets in the Terminal to execute Unix commands.

    I am certainly the least geeky person here at SmileOnMyMac HQ, so I was pleased to discover that even I could figure out how to use the Terminal and TextExpander to run a word count on text copied to the clipboard. Not hard at all. Don’t forget to change your snippet type to “Shell Script” when you’ve pasted the snippet into your TextExpander library.

    Posted in TextExpander, TextExpander Tips | No Comments »

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