Text Expander

Saving Time with Text Expander

⁃ Automate legal documents
⁃ Save several hours in a day used to spend in fairly repetitive tasks
⁃ Built in text functionality
⁃ Canned response feature in Gmail
⁃ Text replacement utility
⁃ Filling out common emails
⁃ Automating PDF or web forms
⁃ Using Text Expander as a basic document assembly system

What is Text Replacement?

⁃ A way to set up abbreviations to fill in larger pieces of texts
⁃ Why? To keep from having to type the same thing over and over again
⁃ Automate responses in email or documents
⁃ Lot of flexibility in things you can type
⁃ Conditional tool that makes it flexible
⁃ A couple of variables may be changed here and there
⁃ A couple of tweaks can be done
⁃ Save a lot of time
⁃ Can be viewed as a form of quality control
⁃ Using standardized language in the email or document you send out without
having to reinvent it
⁃ Not just copying and pasting
⁃ How the way email signatures operate
⁃ What kind of conditional logic we can apply
⁃ Reducing repetitive typing

Mac OS
⁃ Have come with basic text replacement system
⁃ E.g., System Preferences > Keyboard > Text > omw> On my way!
⁃ Figure out a way of pre-fixing your shortcuts (e.g., adding a colon before the
shortcut : ) to make sure the texts are not those accidentally typed in a normal course of
conversation
⁃ :em - niyle@bramblelawfirm.com
⁃ Hi, my email address is niyle@bramblelawfirm.com

GMail
⁃ Settings > Advanced > Templates (Canned Responses)

Why choose TextExpander?

⁃ It has been around for many years
⁃ It is crossed-platform, works on Mac, Windows and iOS
⁃ Share snippets with others - they have an ecosystem where you can go to and
publish your own
⁃ Enterprise plan - control snippets for easy consolidation across teams (paralegals,
lawyers, management, etc)
⁃ Easy, but powerful
⁃ Great way to enforce systems - enforce some consistency in the language you are
using in the email or document. A great way to enforce a system and stick to the
templates that you have

Text Expander BASICS

Snippets/abbreviations

Intercept your errors so text expander can replace the texts correctly

You can group the snippets

Plain texts

Formatted texts

Can insert images

Text Expander USING DATES

Manipulating dates
Using dates
📌Calendar icon
Calculator button - to add days
All kinds of text formatting
All kinds of date adjustment

Key command = snippet

Powerful tool at our disposal

FILL-IN SNIPPETS

⁃ Insert conditional data

⁃ Ask at a particular run-time particular thing what we can do for these snippets and
make adjustments from there
⁃ More robust tool rather than just a glorified copy and paste
⁃ Pre-filled answers that we choose from
⁃ Eyeball icon - preview of the snippet - upper right part
⁃ Choose information from pre-defined list
⁃ May insert pre-existing snippets
⁃ Chain snippets together

Example#1

Hi [Recipient], I just processed a document for [Client].

*3 conditional sentences:
*Fill-ins > Optional section
*Fill-ins > Pop-up menu

It was an [incoming] document, which means it was something we received in

thermal for the client.

It was an [outgoing] document, which means we mailed it out for the client.

It was a [financial] record that the client dropped off at our office.

It needs your attention and I would appreciate you taking a look when you have a
chance.

Please respond by [30 days].

Thanks.

Example #2
Navigate using:
Tab key
Enter key

Document automation

TextExpander snippets
⁃ A few simple keystrokes automatically expands your word, paragraphs or even
whole messages with images
⁃ Be creative at finding new ways to become more productive at using snippets,
customer support messages, forms
⁃ Personalized content
⁃ Snippets are saved to the cloud

Snippet abbreviation