TextExpander offers the neat ability to let you quickly place dates and times into your emails, messages and documents as you type.
You can set up a keyboard shortcut, a snippet, to expand the current date in whatever format you desire for your meeting notes, a future date for setting up a meeting next week, or in the example below, invoicing.
For more options on setting up date and time snippets see our blog post Quickly Use Custom Dates and Times with TextExpander.
Setting up a future date snippet using snippet math
Let’s say you are in accounts receivable and you regularly remind people to pay you in 15 days. If you use TextExpander, your days of looking at the calendar and calculating that date are over! Just create a snippet that automatically inserts a date that is 15 days from today. Here’s how:
- Create a new snippet by clicking on the plus (+) sign under your list of snippets on the left in the TextExpander window.
- Notice the tools in the editing bar at the top of the snippet editor. Click on the math button and choose Add Day(s). (If you are using v5, these options are in the “+” menu.)
- A Date/Time math window pops out. Change
1to15.
TextExpander inserts Add 15 Days into your snippet editor.
4. Add the rest of your date pieces in the format you desire using the calendar button in the editing bar. For example, if you want the date to appear in formatted “May 25, 2019”, insert the following:
- Choose Month: January. Add a space.
- Choose Day: 1. Add a comma and space.
- Choose Year: 2001
When you are done, the snippet content should look as follows:
Give your snippet an abbreviation, such as “d15” or “payupnow” and then expand at will!
How do you set up your date snippets? Let us know. Keep up with us on twitter @TextExpander and LinkedIn.
