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Hazel and TextExpander SoftwareEssential Tools to Organise Files and Correct Typing Errors
Older productivity applications organised your life. Now a new approach to productivity focuses on simply rationalising your work flow by cutting out repetitive tasks.
There are often too many applications that claim to help organise or save time for computer users that spend long hours in front of the screen, but rarely do they live up to their claims. Hazel and TextExpander are 2 programs that offer a very different approach by focusing on simple rules that automate tiresome tasks. Text Expander and Automated Word InsertionsTextExpander is a simple word, phrase or even image insertion program that works with a series of assigned keystrokes. It works by using previously assigned abbreviations that replace chosen snippets of information. These could be an address, an email, or any customised signature in correspondence. It uses abbreviations because it is often easier to type a couple of keys than remember a complex sentence, phrase or name. The abbreviations chosen are generally words with doubled up initial letters to avoid accidentally replacing the real word, such as "eemail", as opposed to "email". But TextExpander goes a lot further than just abbreviating names. TextExpander can be told to correct regular spelling errors, or to insert html tags in web and blog posts. There are add-on lists that automate these tasks as well as standard snippets that include the date (ddate), time (ttime) and many others. The real beauty of TextExpander is that it is easily configurable, eminently adaptable and runs across all programs on the computer. As a reminder of how TextExpander really does save time, the program records a summary of how many key strokes it has saved since installation and how many minutes or hours of time typing out all those words would have taken. Hazel and Automated File OrganisingHazel offers a wide range of automated actions that remove the repetition of many organisational tasks that everyone has to do. With Hazel it is possible to automatically move downloaded files into their appropriate programs, to colour code a file that has not been opened for over a week so that it will not be ignored, or automatically add comments to a file so that searchlight could later find it by tags. By simply assigning a folder as a download folder, Hazel becomes a powerful and time saving organising manager. All downloaded files, rather than be left cluttering up the desktop, will be filed into their appropriate folder or program. Like TextExpander, Hazel can do all the organising by running in the background as a Preference Pane and when it detects certain files coming into the computer, it will file them away into previously chosen places: music into iTunes, movies into a Movies folder and pictures into iPhoto. To further automate repetitive tasks, Hazel will clear out the trash when it reaches a certain size, or after a certain period of time. Previously, it was necessary to find hidden support files to fully eliminate an installed program, but Hazel recognises when an application is thrown into the trash, searches for its support files and throws those away as well. Then, when the trash has reached a certain size, it will be emptied automatically. Both TextExpander and Hazel take on the productivity challenge from a unique angle. Rather than organise a set of to-do´s, they focus instead on removing the mundane tasks of filing, organising material and inserting commonly used data automatically. Such tools integrate effortlessly into any work-flow and quickly become essential productivity add-ons for any Mac OSX User.
The copyright of the article Hazel and TextExpander Software in Mac Software/OS is owned by Paul Read. Permission to republish Hazel and TextExpander Software in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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