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[TextExpander][1] is a handy little app from Smile On My Mac that once you use, you'll wonder how you did without it.
TextExpander is a preference pane and to use it you'll need to enable the Assistive Devices support (also in the preferences under Universal Access). Once installed, TextExpander runs in the background with a fairly small RAM footprint (currently on my Macbook it's using 12 MB).
I'm a big fan of applications that do one thing and do it well, which is exactly the goal of TextExpander whose "one thing" is replacing text you type with other text (or images). The concept is simple, take chunks of text you type on a regular basis, the canonical example being email signatures, and create an abbreviation. Now when you type the abbreviation TextExpander replaces it with the longer text.
For instance, every morning when I post the reboot I need to embed an image using an <code><img /></code> tag. Typing out the full tag with all the attributes every time would be a pain, so I created an abbreviation in TextExpander and now I simply type my abbreviation, <code>anykey.</code>, and TextExpander jumps in a replaces that with the img tag code.
There's a million ways you could use TextExpander, for instance (from the website):
* Insert standard greetings, text fragments, and signatures — including formatted text and pictures.
* Insert the current date and time in any format you prefer.
* Use editor-independent code templates and have Textexpander position the cursor just where it needs to be.
* Type special characters without having to launch any special characters palette.
* Have TextExpander correct typos automatically.
The last item in that list is what got me addicted to TextExpander. The good folks at Smile On My Mac have [created a nice file full of common typos][2] that you can download and use with TextExpander. Say goodbye to "teh" when you meant "the" and other fat-fingered-typist errors.
My one gripe with TextExpander is that whenever it replaces text that text also gets copied to the clipboard potentially replacing things you might be waiting to paste somewhere else. I use [Butler][3] which includes a multiple entry clipboard so I can always get my text back, but it's annoying nonetheless and something to keep in mind when you evaluate TextExpander.
While I love TextExpander I'll be the first to admit that $29.95 is a bit pricey, but it's on par with other offerings in the field -- most notably [TypeIt4Me][4], which offers vary similar features and costs $27.
[1]: http://www.smileonmymac.com/textexpander/ "TextExpander"
[2]: http://www.smileonmymac.com/textexpander/autocorrect.html "TextExpander autocorrect file"
[3]: http://www.petermaurer.de/nasi.php?section=butler "Butler"
[4]: http://www.typeit4me.com/ "TypeIt4Me"
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