This page covers the basics of managing your TypeIt4Me data. It explains how to keep your personal shorthand library organised by grouping related snippets together in ‘sets’. You’ll learn how to move, copy and label individual snippets, as well as import pre-saved libraries, search sets and sync your data across multiple Macs. It will also show you the way to control how or whether snippets should appear in the TypeIt4Me menu for picking manually.
Snippets are saved in named data files called ‘sets.’ These are displayed in a list in the TypeIt4Me sidebar. You can think of a set as a kind of folder to help you keep things organised. Much like an email inbox or a subfolder in Apple’s Notes app, you’ll see the total number of snippets each set contains displayed to the right of its name in the sidebar.
If you don’t plan to use a lot of different snippets, you might not need more than one set. It’s fine to just add all of your snippets to the same set with a catch-all name like “My Snippets” and leave it at that.
On the other hand, if you plan to create dozens, hundreds or even thousands of snippets, you might find it useful to separate them into different sets, grouped by theme. For example, you could create a set called “Names & Contacts” in which you save all your snippets that contain names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses. Or you could divide your snippets into a “Work” set and a “Personal” set. If you’re bilingual, you might create separate “English” and “Spanish” sets, perhaps.
There are three ways you can add a fresh new set:
When a new set is created it will appear at the top of the list of sets in the TypeIt4Me sidebar and its temporary name will be selected, ready for you to type over it with whatever you want the set to be called. When you’re done naming it, either press return or click somewhere else in the app window.
There are three ways to delete a set from TypeIt4Me. You can:
In all three cases, a confirmation dialog will pop up asking if you’re sure you want to delete the set. Press return or click Delete to go ahead and permanently delete the file, or click Cancel if you’ve changed your mind.
You can switch sets on and off. Notice that there’s a checkbox to the left of each set’s name. Should you want to temporarily stop abbreviations contained in a particular set from expanding when typed, untick the checkbox next to that set’s name. For as long as that checkbox remains unselected, TypeIt4Me will behave as if those snippets don’t exist. Later, when you want those abbreviations to resume expanding, just tick the box again to re-enable the set.
TypeIt4Me comes with a few pre-populated sets that you may find useful. These can help you to hit the ground running, by providing instant access to hundreds of ready-made snippets including:
In order to avoid unwanted clutter, these sets are not listed in the sidebar by default. Instead, you can pick and choose which – if any – you would like to add alongside the sets you create yourself. To add a pre-defined set:
You can drag sets to reorder them. This is not just so that you have the option to keep them in alphabetical or numerical order (though you could do that). It also has another handy function: instructing TypeIt4Me in which order your sets should be prioritised. Sets at the top will be prioritised over sets further down in the pecking order.
What does this mean in practice? Well, reordering sets can temporarily change the way TypeIt4Me interprets your typed abbreviations.
Imagine you have the same abbreviation saved in more than one set, but it’s defined to expand to something different in each. Perhaps the mtn abbreviation in your English set expands to mountain, while the mtn abbreviation in your Spanish set expands to montaña. When the English set is placed higher in the sidebar list than the Spanish set, typing mtn will produce mountain. If you drag the Spanish set above the English one in the list, typing mtn will then produce montaña until you change the order again.
Keeping your TypeIt4Me snippets organised is pretty straightforward once you know the basics. Moving or copying snippets in TypeIt4Me is a simple drag-and-drop process that should be familiar to anyone who has moved or copied emails between folders in Mail, for example.
To move TypeIt4Me snippets from one set to another, click to select them in the list of snippets, then drag them onto the target set you want to move them to in the sidebar. You can move multiple snippets at once, either by using the keyboard shortcut ⌘A to select all the snippets in a list or by ⌘-clicking on individual snippets to select them before dragging.
To copy TypeIt4Me snippets from one set to another, select the snippets you want to copy, then hold down the option key on your keyboard and drag them onto the target set in the sidebar.
