Five rockstar ways to use text replacement software

Last week, I introduced you to Texter, a text replacement software offered by Lifehacker. I’ve fallen solidly and madly in love with Texter since installing it on my laptop, and I’ll tell you why.

Very simply, Texter makes work as a blogger heaps easier. As an example, some of you may have noticed that my last name is difficult to spell… and you can imagine that I use it multiple times a day. I’ve added my first and last name to the auto-replace list in Texter, so when I want to use my name, I can type “cb” (without quotes) and hit the tab key, and Texter will replace the “cb” with “Chris Bloczynski”. This simple action saves me 13 keystrokes every time I employ it, which is quite possibly hundreds of keystrokes per day. It also relieves me of the embarrassment of misspelling my own name!

Here are a couple of creative ways I’ve been using Texter to make life easier on myself.

Generate affiliate links quickly and easily

When you’re trying to place an affiliate link, it’s a hassle to log into your promo tools, look up your affiliate code, and then copy and paste the entire ordeal into whichever text or blog editor you use.

Program your frequently used affiliate links into Texter to make affiliate linking easier than counting from 1 to 10. For example, one company that I’m an affiliate for is Bluehost Web Hosting. Check out how easily I can invoke my affiliate links to Bluehost.

I can type “bh” and hit the tab button to invoke my entire Bluehost affiliate link, with “Bluehost” as the anchor text for the link, such as below:

Bluehost

If I want to use a banner instead of a text link, I simply will type “bhb” (short for “Bluehost banner”), and Texter will present me with the banner link to Bluehost, as shown below:

Generate frequently linked URL’s

Texter doesn’t just make affiliate links easy… it makes any link a piece of cake!

My friend Dan at DCR Blogs creates the most amazing viral stories, where he uses links to his blog friends to create fun, “link-love” style posts. I’m trying to imagine his delight when he reads about how Texter can simplify his viral story process to the point of just having to type “chrisb” or “joanne” and hit the tab key to generate links to his favorite bloggers! Hehehe…

Create solid keyword links with appropriate anchor text

I published an article not long ago about the importance of using good anchor text in your links when you’re trying to build authority for a specific keyword. If you choose, you can instruct Texter to convert your favorite keywords into a link back to your home page, or any page. Just type the keyword (or even an abbreviation of it, doesn’t matter), and hit the tab key… Texter can convert the word “headlines” into headlines, or “im” into internet marketing.

Mask your frequently used passwords from spyware

This might not be for everyone, but if you’re worried about someone installing a malicious script on your computer to capture your keystrokes, you could use Texter to confuse would-be hackers. If you want it to, Texter can replace something simple like “gmailpass” or “wordpresspw” with your actual password, thwarting anyone from identifying your keystrokes and cracking your account.

Note: This technique is only suggested if you’re comfortable storing your passwords in a third-party application. It’s always safest to keep your passwords firmly locked in your brain cavity.

Fly through web forms

Adam Pash makes this use of Texter clear when he demonstrates it on the video, but you can create shorthand for any frequently used text, like your email address, your URL, or even short messages like, “Hey, I got your email and I’ll be addressing it and responding later on today. Thanks, and I’ll talk to you soon.” Texter makes filling out web forms a snap, all without removing your hands from the keyboard.

What do you think?

If you want to see Texter in action, watch the Texter video on my last article on Texter, and download Texter at Lifehacker. Programming Texter to perform the functions I’ve described above might take you a few minutes, but you’ll be doing backflips once you’ve got it set up for yourself. I strongly recommend this software.

Got any more ideas or cool ways to use Texter? Leave them in the comments!