Productivity: Espanso is a free text expander

Espanso

Espanso is an open source, cross-platform text Expander.

• Installation. Let’s install it on Windows: You may experience a warning from Windows Smartscreen. Windows protected your PC. Click on More info and then on Run anyway.
• GNU/Linux: Requirements: sudo apt install libxtst6 libxdo3 xclip libnotify-bin. Ubuntu: sudo snap install espanso ‐‐classic. Arch: yay -s espanso-git, and register Espanso as a systemd service: espanso service register
• Typically, espanso will be automatically started when you power up your computer. There are times, however, when you may need to start espanso explicitly. You just need to open a terminal and type:

	espanso start

• You are ready to use espanso. Open any application and type:

	:espanso

• Espanso uses a file-based configuration approach, type: espanso path to find the path of your configuration folder. Typically: Windows (C:\Users\userName\AppData\Roaming\espanso), macOS (/Users/userName/Library/Preferences/espanso) or Linux (/home/userName/.config/espanso).

  There are two folder: config and match. The files contained in the match directory define WHAT Espanso should do (base.yml), i.e., all your snippets and actions. The files contained in the config directory (default.yml) define HOW Espanso should perform its expansions.

• Install some packages: espanso install all-emojis, and try :lol, :happy, :cry. Here is the full list of emojis, Full Markdown Emoji Cheat Sheet

• After every configuration change, espanso must be restarted: espanso restart. However, recent versions automatically restart when a change is detected.

• Configuration. gedit /home/user/.config/espanso/default.yml

  matches:
  # Personal Information
  - trigger: ":name"
  	replace: "Your Name"
  
  - trigger: ":address"
  	replace: "Your Address"
  
  - trigger: ":telephone"
  	replace: "Your Phone"
  
  - trigger: ":email"
  	replace: "Your Email"
  
  - trigger: ":website"
  	replace: "https://justtothepoint.com/, Free resources, bilingual e-books and videos to help your child and your entire family succeed, develop a healthy lifestyle, and have a lot of fun."
  
  - trigger: ":social"
  	replace: "Twitter: @justtothepoint.\nFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/nmaximo7.\nLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justtothepoint"
  
  - trigger: ":signature"
  	replace: |
  	'¯\\_(ツ)_/¯'
  	Your Name.
  	https://justtothepoint.com/, Free resources, bilingual e-books and videos to help your child and your entire family succeed, develop a healthy lifestyle, and have a lot of fun.
  
  # Date, Time, and Weather
  - trigger: ":date"
  	replace: "{{mydate}}"
  	vars:
  	- name: mydate
  		type: date
  		params:
  		format: "%d/%m/%y"
  
  - trigger: :time
  	replace: "{{time}}"
  	vars:
  	- name: time
  		type: date
  		params:
  		format: "%H:%M"
  
  - trigger: ":now"
  	replace: "It's {{mytime}}"
  	vars:
  	- name: mytime
  		type: date
  		params:
  		format: "%H.%M"
  
  - trigger: ":weather"
  	replace: "{{output}}"
  	vars:
  	- name: output
  		type: shell
  		params:
  		cmd: "curl 'http://wttr.in/?format=3'"
  
  
  # Inserts common HTML and Markdown elements
  - trigger: :hr
  	replace: '<hr />'
  - trigger: :br
  	replace: '<br />'
  - trigger: :div
  	replace: '<div>$|$</div>'
  - trigger: :span
  	replace: '<span>$|$</span>'
  - trigger: :h1
  	replace: '<h1>$|$</h1>'
  - trigger: :h2
  	replace: '<h2>$|$</h2>'
  - trigger: :h3
  	replace: '<h3>$|$</h3>'
  - trigger: :para
  	replace: '<p>$|$</p>'
  - trigger: :sup
  	replace: '<sup>$|$</sup>'
  - trigger: :sub
  	replace: '<sub>$|$</sub>'
  - trigger: :fraction
  	replace: '<sup>$|$</sup>&frasl;<sub></sub>'
  - trigger: "link"
  	replace: "[$|$]()"
  	vars:
  	- name: "clipboard"
  		type: "clipboard"
  - trigger: ":md-link"
  	replace: "[$|$]({{clipboard}})"
  	vars:
  	- name: "clipboard"
  		type: "clipboard"
  - trigger: ":html-link"
  	replace: "<a href=\"{{clipboard}}\" />$|$</a>"
  	vars:
  	- name: "clipboard"
  		type: "clipboard"
  
  # Inserts a markdown code block
  - trigger: :code
  	replace: "```\n$|$\n```"
  
  # More shell commands
  - trigger: ":ip"
  	replace: "{{output}}"
  	vars:
  	- name: output
  		type: shell
  		params:
  			cmd: "curl 'https://api.ipify.org'"
  
  - trigger: ":edit"
  	replace: "{{output}}"
  	vars:
  	- name: output
  		type: shell
  		params:
  		cmd: "gedit ~/.config/espanso/match/base.yml"
  
  - trigger: ":quote"
  	replace: "{{output}}"
  	vars:
  	- name: output
  		type: shell
  		params:
  		cmd: "fortune"
  
  # Quick search
  - trigger: ":duckduckgo"
  	replace: "https://duckduckgo.com/?q="
  - trigger: ":wiki"
  	replace: "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/?search="
  - trigger: ":youtube"
  	replace: "https://youtube.com/results?q=v"
  - trigger: ":google"
  	replace: "https://google.com/search?q="
  

• Synchronization.

1. Move espanso configuration folder to the Dropbox folder (mv ~/.config/espanso/ /home/username/Dropbox/).

2. Create a symbolic link: ln -s ~/Dropbox/espanso ~/.config/espanso/

3. MacOS. Install espanso: brew tap federico-terzi/espanso, brew install espanso. Synchronization MacOS: rm -rf $HOME/Library/Preferences/espanso/, ln -s “$HOME/Dropbox/espanso” “/$HOME/Library/Preferences/espanso”, espanso restart. We are assuming that $ESPANSO = /$HOME/Library/Preferences/espanso.

• Bibliography:

1. Alicia’s Notes, Using Espanso to boost Efficiency
2. Espanso