How to choose snippet triggers you'll actually remember
Saving a snippet takes a minute. Remembering what you called it, three weeks later, is the part that decides whether you use it.
Why the trigger matters more than the text
A snippet you can’t recall is a snippet you don’t use. You end up typing the reply by hand, or opening the app to look it up, and the few seconds it was meant to save are gone.
Most people pick triggers one at a time, whatever comes to mind when they save each snippet. That works for the first five. By the thirtieth, the names follow no rule, a few of them clash, and the only way to find one is to go looking. A little system up front avoids all of that.
Start every trigger with the same prefix
The first rule is the one that stops accidents. If a trigger is an ordinary word, it fires every time you type that word for real. Save your signature as sig and the word “signal” turns into your signature halfway through.
A prefix fixes it. Pick a character pair you never type in normal writing and put it in front of every trigger: ..sig, ;sig or //sig. Two dots is a common choice because both keys are easy to reach, and a double dot almost never appears before a word.
In JAST you set the prefix once, as the global prefix in Settings, and every Xpansion uses it. A group can carry its own default prefix too, so your personal ones can start with .. and a set of team replies with ; instead.
Four naming patterns that stay memorable
After the prefix, the rest of the trigger should be something you can guess without looking. These four patterns cover most snippet libraries.
Name it after what it says
..refund, ..hold, ..thanks
The first word you would use to describe the reply is usually the right trigger. You never have to look it up, because it is already the word in your head.
Group related snippets by a shared start
..addr.home, ..addr.work, ..addr.ship
When you have several versions of the same thing, give them a common stem and a short ending. Type the stem and the rest follows naturally.
Shorten only what you type all day
..ty, ..em, ..ph
Two or three letters are worth it for the handful of snippets you use dozens of times a day, like a thank-you, your email address or your phone number. For everything else, spell it out.
Mark the variants at the end
..sig.full, ..sig.short, ..sig.fr
When one snippet comes in a few versions, put a dot after the stem and name each version, including the one you use most. The next section explains why.
Never let one trigger start another
JAST expands a trigger the moment you type its last character. There’s no need to press space or Enter, which is what makes it quick. It also means that if you have both ..sig and ..sig.short, the first one fires as soon as you reach the g, and you never get to type the rest.
The fix is to make sure no trigger is the beginning of another:
- Give the everyday version its own ending too:
..sig.fulland..sig.short. - Or keep the short one and rename the long one so it starts differently:
..sigand..ssig. - Watch for short triggers you add later. A new
..requietly breaks..refundand..reply.
Exact duplicates are easier. JAST won’t save a trigger that another Xpansion or macro already uses, and says so when you try.
Keep them case-sensitive
Triggers in JAST are case-sensitive by default. ..addr only fires when you type it exactly as saved, so a stray Shift or Caps Lock won’t set it off. Save your triggers in lowercase and there is never a capital letter to remember.
For a snippet you want to fire however you type it, clear Case sensitive in the Xpansion editor.
When you forget one anyway
Everyone does. Instead of opening the app, press the Call JAST shortcut and type a word from the snippet. It searches names, triggers and the snippet’s text, and inserts the one you pick. See the Call JAST docs for how.
If you search for the same snippet more than a couple of times, that’s your cue. Rename its trigger to the word you keep typing into the search box. That word is the one your memory already chose.
Put it into practice
Pick a prefix. Rename the triggers you already have so none of them starts another. Then add new snippets with the patterns above. If you need something to save first, our 25 text expansion examples come with triggers that already follow these rules. New to the idea? Start with what text expansion is.
Common questions
- Why do text expansion triggers start with a symbol?
- So they never match something you type for real. A symbol like two dots or a semicolon almost never appears before a word, which means ..sig expands but a normal sentence containing sig is left alone.
- Do I need to press space or Enter after a trigger?
- Not in JAST. A trigger expands as soon as you type its last character. That makes it fast, and it is also why no trigger should be the start of another one.
- Are snippet triggers case-sensitive?
- In JAST, by default. A trigger only fires when you type it exactly as you saved it, so ..addr does not fire with Caps Lock on. To have one fire however you type it, clear Case sensitive in the Xpansion editor.
- What if I forget a trigger?
- Search for the snippet instead. In JAST, Call JAST finds snippets by name, trigger or text, and inserts the one you pick. If you keep searching for the same one, its trigger is worth renaming.
Try JAST
Windows and macOS, one license for two devices, and nothing you type ever leaves the machine.