Discover the PhraseExpander interface

Get a general overview of how PhraseExpander interface is organized and how to get started using the software.

Main window

The main window of PhraseExpander is where you can create, edit and organize your templates in groups for easy retrieval.

Suggestions window

As you are using PhraseExpander, you will see this window quite a lot. It suggests templates that you can expand as you type, based on the abbreviations that you have defined.

PhraseExpander can both autocomplete words and short phrases and trigger larger fill-in-the-blanks templates.

Once you have selected the template you want, press the SHIFT key to confirm it (you can change the confirmation key or execute the template immediately).

The suggestions window in action

The suggestions window displays:

The abbreviation (highlighting what you have already typed)
The description of the template
The confirmation key to type to insert the template

Glossary pane

The Glossary pane displays the list of glossaries and groups that contain your templates and autocorrects.

Glossaries can be easily shared between computers. And they can have their own abbreviations and shortcuts as well.

Glossaries can be of two types:

Template glossaries: they contain groups and lists of templates (with the associated abbreviations). To expand a template, type the associated abbreviation. Templates can contain macros and perform advanced functions like launching applications and websites, requesting user input and more.
Autocorrect glossaries: they are a list of pairs (misspelled text, correction), used to automatically correct your spelling mistakes as you are typing. This type of glossary is not meant for expanding abbreviations to full sentences, but mainly for correcting typos.

NOTE: The templates in each glossary can be deactivated by clicking on the green checkmark icon. If a glossary is NOT active, the abbreviation and shortcut of the glossary and all the contained groups and templates will not be detected.

Template list

It displays all the templates contained in the selected glossaries/groups.

This gives you an outlook of the template you have created and the associated abbreviations and shortcuts.

To display the Template list, click on the Templates button, in the Glossaries pane.

Template Quick edit

Once you have selected a template from the Template list, PhraseExpander displays its contents in the Quick edit window.

You can modify the template to include formatting, pictures, and special macros to automate a number of operations (like launching applications or websites, filling in forms and create little scripts to control applications).

Once you have defined your abbreviation, you can test it in the Test pad.

Template editor

Double click on the template icon to open the Editor. It allows you to display multiple templates at once, dock your windows and use more screen space.

This is ideal when you need to make a lot of edits.

Autocorrect list

In the Autocorrect list, you can define your most common spelling mistakes in the Autocorrect List.

Anytime you misspell that word, PhraseExpander will autocorrect it for you, in any application.

To display the Autocorrect list, click on the Autocorrects button, in the Glossaries pane.

PhraseExpander comes with glossaries to autocorrect the most common spelling mistakes in English and many other languages. You can download autocorrects dictionaries for other languages from our autocorrects library .

Test pad

Once you have created a template or an autocorrect, the fastest way to test it is to type the abbreviation in the Test pad