Text Replacement Software: A Mainstay for “Pedestrian” SharePoint Developers

Guest Author: Charlie Epes

For a “pedestrian” developer like me (“love the code… know enough to be dangerous”), one of the tools I’ve fallen in love with is Texter, a tiny powerhouse of a text replacement program created by Adam Pash from Lifehacker.

Texter is just one of many text replacement programs available but, for me, simple & free works just fine.  It’s also faster than copying and pasting because I don’t have to search for the code or text. Texter can be launched from your system tray with a double click. 

If you type your name as much as I do, you might like creating a simple “Hotstring” which I call “name”.  I type “name” (4 letters, then press enter) and it fills in my name (12 letters with spaces and two Shift keys for caps, then enter)- very simple. 

Other hotstrings I use several times each day are “date” for the date and time, “sig” (a simple signature) for my name and city, “title” for my work title, and “jq” for the URL of the latest JQuery version in my JQuery library.

Since I use Content Editor Web Parts (CEWP) like they’re on sale, I have settled on some default CSS to standardize my Lists.  I use the name “csswrap” because it best describes what I remember the script will do to my list.

Almost every day, I find another use for Texter, especially with SharePoint.  My latest is some borrowed JavaScript to hide the “Sum =” in a List with field columns that are totaled.  I call it “hidesum”.

Once you get in the swing of using text replacement software, you’ll never go back.  Almost every week, I export or import my “bundles” of hotstrings between my home and office PC’s.  Text replacement is only a portion of Texter’s functions but for the everyday SharePoint administrator or developer, it’s a gift that saves time, error-free.  In fact, it has a “stats” tab that tells me how many keyboard characters I’ve NOT typed. 

Guest Author: Charlie Epes

Charlie Epes is Vice President Operations Buffalo for First Niagara Risk Management, Inc. (Buffalo, NY), which means he dabbles in almost anything, especially SharePoint.  He has been a devoted “developer-wanna-be” for about 10 years.  His knowledge of insurance coverage and business operations, as well as his love for SharePoint and other development platforms, has helped save him from being a 3rd generation, lifelong insurance broker.