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For anyone who uses computing devices regularly the reality is that typing words is a necessary function, and can be quite laborious, especially when our livelihood depends on it. Any tool which can alleviate our overall "finger action" frees up some of our time to do other things, makes us more productive in general, and consequently increases our income potential.

PhraseExpress is an EXTREMELY powerful program which enables you to SIGNIFICANTLY decrease the number of keystrokes you need to perform to get your message onto the screen. It has TONS of valuable features, but for the purposes of this post- which is aimed primarily at the common functions of Steemit content creators (and teleworkers in general) - I will highlight some of the features which are most valuable and applicable. The best thing is that ALL of these features I will mention are available in the FREE version of the software. Of course, you always have the option to upgrade if you feel the need to use the more advanced features.

Most Valuable Features

The essential features of this program which you will use daily include : autotext, auto-complete, clipboard manager, and input boxes (with macro automation). With this handful of POWERFUL features you can SIGNIFICANTLY increase the efficiency of your daily word-processing work. Here's a basic rundown of these features :

Autotext

The autotext feature is WELL WORTH the $0.00 you have to pay for this excellent program. It allows you to simply assign words, phrases, and even entire paragraphs - or MULTIPLE paragraphs - to easy-to-remember text snippets which you then type in to print the full text onto the screen and most programs (including web browsers, word processing programs, etc.). A good example of how I personally use this feature is when I am transcribing a podcast, and there are sections of the production which repeat in each episode I can simply copy the ENTIRE section of text (which can equate to MINUTES of audio in the production) and execute the entire section into my transcription software. Since the general rule is that it requires 15 minutes of transcription labor to transcribe roughly THREE minutes of audio, this means that if there is a section of audio which is, let's say, three minutes long (as there is a song in one of the podcasts transcribe which is around three minutes long) this saves me FIFTEEN minutes of transcription labor. Since time equals money this ends up enhancing my income potential substantially. You can use the autotext feature for MANY common repetitive typing tasks, including: email signatures, whole sections of text which you repeat in series posts on Steemit, words and/or phrases which are difficult/awkward to type, etc.). In addition, you can also include FORMATTED text/phrases as well as IMAGES. Once you use a "text expander" feature like this you will wonder how you ever managed WITHOUT one.

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Auto-complete

The auto-complete feature is another extremely valuable goody which you will use daily. It complements and EXTENDS the autotext feature by using artificial intelligence to "learn" your common typing patterns and suggesting automatic text in real-time as you type. This saves you the time (albeit just a few seconds) of having to type in the shortcuts for your autotext entries, and this allows you to type more fluidly. Used in COMBINATION, the auto-complete and autotext functions SUBSTANTIALLY increase your typing efficiency.

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Clipboard Manager

The "clipboard manager" feature EXTENDS the function of the more basic "clipboard" native to your computer. On the standard operating system we are able to hold ONE clipboard entry in the temporary memory. For example, you could can this paragraph in then paste it somewhere else. With the "clipboard manager" in PhraseExpress you can hold a VAST HISTORY of numerous clipboard entries which you can then output by selecting them from a convenient pop-up menu, and across all applications. So, if you are filling out several forms on line, and each has some identical text fields entries, you can choose these from the pop-up menu and make the process of filling out the multiple forms much faster. In addition, the clipboard also allows you to save the formatting of the field, so that if, for instance, you are sending out consecutive emails you can paste your formatted signature (along with other pre-saves text) into various text fields with just a few clicks in the pop-up menu. This is another very valuable and practical feature of this program.

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Input Boxes (with Macro Automation)

The input boxes feature is a bit more advanced, but easy to use, and it allows you to input text into pre-designed forms, as well as manipulate that data with (macro) calculations if needed. For instance, when I do my transcription work I keep a precise time log, and this feature allows me to easily create an input form where I simply enter the autotext shortcut (ex. "captimlog") and the program prints out the date and start time, and asks me to input the end time, which is 15 minutes after the start time. After I enter the end time the program prints out the whole line of time log text, as follows :

ex. ---> "captimlog" --> 1/22/2018- [4:21] - [

• input form pops up to ask for "end time" (15 minutes after "start time") and then prints out :

4:36] - 15 min [ ]

which ends up looking like this :

1/22/2018- [4:21] - [4:36] - 15 min [ ]

Then, when I finish transcribing I can manually add the up-to-date minute count in the final bracket. This process decreases the amount of keystrokes significantly. There are MANY other uses for this advanced function, so I am sure you can find some for your work. Designing the functions is easy with intuitive pop-up menus which are easy to set up.

With these FOUR main functions - which are all available in the free version of the program -you can SUBSTANTIALLY enhance your productivity in ALL aspects of the word processing tasks you perform as part of your teleworking routine. Since automation of these tasks free up your time to complete OTHER tasks, if you earn income from your word processing work then this valuable tool helps you increase your efficiency, your output, and your income as a result.

If I can turn on JUST ONE new Steemian to this excellent gem of a program I will consider this post a success. Feel free to share your experience using this program, and/or suggest ADDITIONAL valuable programs you have used, related to this one, in your regular telework routine.

Good luck,

@transcript-junky

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