Shortcuts for hashtags

Do you have some regularly used hashtags across a variety of platforms? If you want to improve your efficiency rather than typing them over and over again, consider using a text replacement tool.

Whether it is labelled text replacement, text expander or a personal dictionary, the function remains the same. A word, hashtag or phrase can be quickly added by using two or three letter substitutes that the owner chooses and when this substitute combination is typed, the word, phrase or hashtag will automatically appear.

Here are several ways to add shortcuts for those hashtags to cut down on repetitive typing.

iPads and iPhones 

• Settings < General < Keyboard
• Turn Shortcuts on
• Select Text replacement
• Add phrase or a hashtag and choose a shortcut
• Save

The next time you need that hashtag just type your shortcut and the hashtag will automatically expand.

Some shortcuts in my Text Replacement
ggy becomes #genealogy, fh becomes #familyhistory and tt expands to #TroveTuesday

I also have shortcuts for my email address, mobile phone number and some regularly used phrases.

Android

On Android tablets and phones use the Personal dictionary to add favoured words and hashtags.

The Personal dictionary is found under Settings > Languages and Input.

If you have more than one language loaded choose All languages then Add

Fill in the word or hashtag, type the shortcut

Chrome web browser

Add the extension Auto Text Expander to Chrome. Review the shortcuts already embedded then edit to add your favourites. Up to 500 shortcuts can be added via this extension. Here's a screenshot of a couple I've added.

All these options facilitate shortcut typing for hashtags in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and other social media platforms.

This post first appeared on https://librarycurrants.blogspot.com

How to declutter your screen

Clear reading

Are you using this simple solution to clear your screen of additional clutter?

You’ve arrived at the article you want to read but the website is full of clutter, advertisements, sidebars with links to other articles and menus for navigating the site. Perhaps you want just the single article and a clear view of it.

Look for Reader View. A good reader view will clear the page of extraneous material, enable text resizing,  and some will provide the facility to change the background screen colour. Not all websites provide the option for a reader view but it is well worth using it when available.

Safari for iPad 

In the address bar look for the 4 line symbol in on the far left. A single tap will enable the simplified view or by a long press you can select to use on all websites.

Chrome - Windows 

For years I have been using the web extension Clearly by Evernote on my Windows PC but it has been discontinued. If you have Clearly installed it is likely it will continue to work but no further development is being undertaken.

Try Mercury Reader available from the Chrome web store if you do not have Clearly still working. 

 

Chrome - Android

The latest version now offers as simplified view. To access it,

• Open the Chrome browser (version 65) on your phone or tablet
• Go to Settings > Accessibility
• Tap on Simplified View

This will force Chrome to offer to show articles in a simplified view when that is supported. If your phone or tablet has not automatically downloaded the latest version of the browser, head to the Play store to update it.

Microsoft Edge

Edge has a reading mode built into the browser which can be activated by clicking on the book symbol in the address bar. The disadvantage with this method is that the pages are then reordered left to right rather than the normal method of scrolling down a page. Some may like that arrangement as it mimics a book layout.

Firefox

Firefox displays a single page icon in the address bar when the website can provide a simplified view. 

What web browsers provide you with the best reading options on your devices?

This post first appeared on https://librarycurrants.blogspot.com/2018/06/how-to-declutter-your-screen.html

Interactive charts for family history bloggers

Producing a visual interactive chart for your Blogger blog

While most genealogy programs will produce a csv or spreadsheet chart of some sort, they are usually not friendly for Blogger blogs. For those not using TNG site building software or Webtrees there are some other options. Two of the simplest options are outlined below.

An organisational chart using Google Slides

1. On a blank slide choose Insert - Diagram
2. Select from the range of organisational styles available
3. Choose how many levels to display, the options are 3,4 or 5. On my slide I chose three. 
4. Choose a colour then add the chart to the blank slide. 
5. Modify the text and add the links to your blog posts. The text in the slide above is Roboto font, size 18, white, bold and each name is linked to an individual post on my Earlier Years blog.
6. Select the whole chart and drag to enlarge to fit the widescreen slide
7. Under the file menu choose publish to the web. Any changes you subsequently make, will be automatically updated.
8. Choose embed - this one is the small size, copy and paste the embed code into the HTML editor of your blog.

*Alternate strategy when a diagram does not meet your needs

Start with a blank slide, insert a basic shape, fill with colour, double click in it to add generic text and format the font and size. Now duplicate as many of that shape as needed, arrange on slide then use elbow joiners to link the shapes. Add the names and links to the shapes. Proceed as detailed above.

Make a copy of your slide in Google Drive and rename to Template - blog family tree so that you can use the same slide for a different family without affecting your embedded publication.

Using a Google spreadsheet

A pedigree view can be simulated in a few different methods in spreadsheets. This is a simple one.  Here's a link to a diagrammatic spreadsheet of  Hannah's ancestors created in Google sheets.

• I've used three columns and enough rows to allow for the descendancy to show. 
• The cells have added colour and links added to individual posts.
• Under the file menu choose publish to the web. Any changes you subsequently make, will be automatically updated.
• Choose embed - copy and paste the embed code into the HTML editor of your blog.
• The same spreadsheet is shown below published to the web and embedded here. 
• The embed code does not have any details for height and width so only shows this small scrollable box.

This one has some added HTML in the code to improve the size of the display.


Warning: if you copy from here do paste into a plain text editor such as notepad, check and compare it before adding to your embed code.
Paste in the embed HTML then add in the code in red after the word  iframe and before src=

frameborder="0" headers="false" height="300" mozallowfullscreen="true" 

Then after widget=true copy and insert webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="640"

Once again, save a copy of your spreadsheet renaming it as a template so that it can be reused for the next family.

If you are more adventurous visit Tony Proctor's blog Parallax View to investigate how to embed an SVG family tree.

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 This post was written by Carmel Galvin and first appeared on https://librarycurrants.blogspot.com