Mac 101: Making Text Replacement Work

Text replacement: it's one of Snow Leopard's really modify features. With it, you crapper type abbreviations and they'll automatically modify into flooded text. You crapper convert your most ordinary phrases into meet a few keystrokes, and permit Snow Leopard verify tending of the rest. Here's a hurried unofficial of what you requirement to do to attain book equal impact for you.

Creating Macros in System Preferences.

Open System Preferences (it's in the Apple schedule at the crowning of your screen) and navigate to Language & Text > Text. There you'll encounter a Symbol and Text Substitution list. Click the + fix to add a newborn item. For this example, place (tuaw) into the Replace article and The Unofficial Apple Weblog into the With column. Leave the incase to the mitt of these items checked.

So ground use the parentheses? Strictly speaking, they're not necessary. You crapper define book substitutions on any set of characters, as shown in the concealment effort below. What these parentheses do for me, is that they characterize between when I poverty to type TUAW and not hit it expand, and when I poverty the abbreviation to transform into the flooded Weblog name.



Enabling Text Replacement

Text equal works on a per-application basis. Many applications default to this feature existence off. To attain book equal happen, right-click within any book entry Atlantic much as a essay pane in Mail or the book entry earth in Colloquy, etc. The contextual schedule provides a Substitutions submenu. Make sure Text Replacement is checked. If it is not, select it to switch the option from on to soured or soured to on.



Applying Text Replacment

The big secret to making book equal happen, erst you've circumscribed the shortcuts and enabled Text Replacement in the contextual menu, is the expanse key. Snow Leopard does not administer the road equal until it detects you hit finished typewriting a phrase. Only then does it action its interior countenance up and substitution.

Also educate to move a ordinal or so. The equal book often lags behind your typing. So go aweigh and keep incoming text. The operating system module grownup up and action its change impact without your oversight.

For Mike G., with TUAW affection