Unfortunately, this Compose Key approach won’t work for dynamic content like entering the current date. You should see it expanded to thank you.įor more about this approach of using the Compose key for multicharacter replacements, see this discussion at the Unix & Linux Stackexchange. Then, in an application like gedit or Gnome Terminal, type your chosen Compose Key followed by ty. Installing and setting up Espanso is an easy task, and I highly recommend you try it out if this sounds like something you’d enjoy using.The expansion of ty to thank you under both X and Wayland can be accomplished with the following steps:Įnable more than one IBus engines “Input Sources” by going into Settings > Region & Language ( gnome-control-center region), as explained in the IBus 1.5.21 release announcement (October 2019).ĭesignate a Compose Key of your choice by going into Settings > Keyboard Shortcuts ( gnome-control-center keyboard) and clicking Alternate Characters Key.Ĭreate a file ~/.XCompose with the following contents: : "thank you"Ī restart of the ibus daemon is necessary to pickup any changes to your ~/.XCompose file: $ ibus restart On iOS, I’ve gotten by just fine with the built-in Text Replacement feature ( Settings → General → Keyboards → Text Replacement). I’ve come to love it so much that I only use Espanso on my computers and have since canceled my TextExpander subscription. I’ve been using Espanso for the last two years with no hiccups at all. As someone who has a soft spot in my heart for open-source projects that are done well, Espanso continually impresses me. Open source projects are usually a labor of love, and it’s unreasonable to expect them to compete with larger commercial products since resources are severely constrained. That’s an entirely different paradigm, and I wouldn’t expect the sole developer of this excellent tool to essentially recreate his app for the iOS platform in the near future. Unfortunately, there’s no Espanso for iOS. That means I only need one main config file that I sync across my computers to ensure I have the same shortcuts everywhere. Luckily, Espanso works across Windows, macOS, and Linux, and they all use the same configuration file format. I use Linux systems quite a bit in my day-to-day job tasks, and I was really missing my TextExpander library on those computers. Still, I’ve really come to love Espanso for its simplicity, frequent updates, and rock-solid performance. This is true for simple text replacement, but when it comes to setting up a menu or pop-up dialog, TextExpander’s UI definitely wins out in usability. Once you take a few minutes to understand the syntax, I’ve found that it’s much easier to make quick edits to a text file than it is to open the TextExpander dialog box and create a new snippet. Where TextExpander is configured solely in a window UI, Espanso is configured with a text file. When compared side by side, TextExpander definitely has more polish and refinement. One of the most useful packages is a list of commonly misspelled words to ensure you’re spelling game is always excellent. Some of the most common packages available are for writing the various accents that many languages use, mathematical notations, other scientific notations, and even emojis. Simply put, Packages are just collections of shortcuts/snippets that other people have already put together. One area that sets Espanso apart for me is the addition of Packages. Like TextExpander, you can also create custom forms so you can choose options, do smart things with dates, and even run scripts from a snippet. Whether you’re trying to cut down on subscription costs or you’re interested in trying alternatives, allow me to introduce you to Espanso.Įspanso is a free and open-source tool for expanding text shortcuts into longer snippets, but it’s also so much more. The service has grown and become more popular among individuals and teams, and that brought with it the dreaded subscription pricing model. For as long as I can remember, TextExpander has been the de facto solution for magically expanding text shortcuts into longer snippets on macOS and Windows (and even iOS).
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