Do you find yourself typing the same things over and over again? How about “birth date” or “death place?” How often do you type the current date? You may not even realize it, but when documenting your research you frequently, needlessly repeat yourself. These phrases are just the tip of the iceberg. In this article and video I’ll show you how to avoid much of this typing and still get the information entered, without typos.
A simple, low-cost piece of software and a little help is the secret to avoiding all this typing. I’ll get you up and running in no time. Simply follow these steps:
- Download a (free trial) copy of Typinator (if you’re not the trusting type, watch the video first)
- Download the MacGenealogist Abbreviations
- Play this video from the MacGenealogist Archives: How to Quickly and Accurately Enter Text in any Mac Genealogy Software, and follow along
- Add your own abbreviations
This program is useful for more than just genealogy. There’s a great demo video that will show you other uses. Best of all, it’s on sale now! Give Typinator a try; your wrists will thank you. After you give it a try, leave a comment to tell us what you think and share the abbreviations you setup and use.
Ben – Save the $20! PTH Pasteboard (http://pth.com/products/pthpasteboard/ ) works to complete this 'repeat' feature – always spelled the same – and is FREE! In my genealogy work, it actually functions better, since I can do 'on-the-fly' phrases as needed, rather than create a list beforehand. I often want a phrase like “alternate birth date: ” or some such, just for that session, and with PTH in the lower right corner of the screen, I can just reach down and click it and it pops into my text box – not even drag & drop! is needed. And it holds the phrases from session to session, and upon reboot. The most recently used phrase pops to the top of the list, but you can scroll down to find any others. Give it a try!
Wonderful! Thanks for the recommendation Edmund. I'll take a look.
—-Ben