I have more than 40,000! There are some who have just over 10,000 expander entries and are extremely productive - I cannot remember all I have right now, and I would love to be able to have less than 15,000 entries. Any tips?
For e.g., for phrases like: I am not sure that, I am sure of, I am not sure whether, etc. - do you have all of them or do you have just the one "I am not sure" phrase? Or another: Do you have "he is to be, he is to have, he is to see, he is to..." or do you have just "he is to". Please help! These are just a couple of examples I could think off right now - there are hundreds of these.
I am finding it difficult to know exactly at what point to stop.
Thanks for any tips!
Which expander are you using? Do you have to memorize the abbreviation for every entry or are you using a program like Instant Text where memorizing short forms is minimal?
QUOTE (Cheryl Flanders @ Jan 20 2010, 07:40 PM) 
Which expander are you using? Do you have to memorize the abbreviation for every entry or are you using a program like Instant Text where memorizing short forms is minimal?
I am using IT, but I have dedicated abbreviations. I tried compiling reports, but that did not work out for me - I have too many doctors (acute care), and the IT file got too huge. It prevented me from getting to my own abbreviations and wasted too much time.
Thanks,
You may already know all this (below), but I'm not clear from your question. So I thought I'd lay out what I do, just in case it gives you any ideas.
Since you use Instant Text, if the problem is that you have trouble finding your dedicated short forms (if they drop down in the advisories as you add entries), you could set up a separate glossary file for those entries and then place that glossary file as your first Include (included glossary files), so that those entries show up ahead of all others. This is what I do for the entries that I always want on top (mine is named Always First). The order of your Includes controls the order in which they show up in the phrase and word advisories; my Includes cover dates, ages, drugs, etc., and are placed in such order as to come up where I want them in the advisories. You can also control the order within any one glossary with the Move function. The compiles are placed at the end, but those entries still come up as needed.
If I have more than 4-5 entries with the same short form for often-used phrases, then I adjust the short forms to make things easier/faster. I started out using only the default IT automatic short forms, but that quickly evolved, and I adjust my old entries as needed. For a 2-word phrase, I use the first two letters of each word. On 3- or 4-word phrases, I often add the next (or other) letter of the final word. My system increasingly mimics formal systems created by others, but I took the long way around -- I needed to discover over time what felt right for me.
As for when to stop adding entries, I'm still adding entries. I have a very large main glossary file with a number of includes, and the more entries I have, the faster I go, with less actual typing -- it's at about 2.6 characters per typed character now, but I keep my eye on that ball, aiming at an ever higher number. I'm always working on glossaries and entries, adjusting the order, refining the actual entries, compiling, etc., based on my accounts and current needs. My new computer with faster processor and more memory also allows my main glossary Reopen (with Includes) to take only a few seconds now, and that has helped, as well, encouraging more edits on the fly.
Since you use Instant Text, if the problem is that you have trouble finding your dedicated short forms (if they drop down in the advisories as you add entries), you could set up a separate glossary file for those entries and then place that glossary file as your first Include (included glossary files), so that those entries show up ahead of all others. This is what I do for the entries that I always want on top (mine is named Always First). The order of your Includes controls the order in which they show up in the phrase and word advisories; my Includes cover dates, ages, drugs, etc., and are placed in such order as to come up where I want them in the advisories. You can also control the order within any one glossary with the Move function. The compiles are placed at the end, but those entries still come up as needed.
If I have more than 4-5 entries with the same short form for often-used phrases, then I adjust the short forms to make things easier/faster. I started out using only the default IT automatic short forms, but that quickly evolved, and I adjust my old entries as needed. For a 2-word phrase, I use the first two letters of each word. On 3- or 4-word phrases, I often add the next (or other) letter of the final word. My system increasingly mimics formal systems created by others, but I took the long way around -- I needed to discover over time what felt right for me.
As for when to stop adding entries, I'm still adding entries. I have a very large main glossary file with a number of includes, and the more entries I have, the faster I go, with less actual typing -- it's at about 2.6 characters per typed character now, but I keep my eye on that ball, aiming at an ever higher number. I'm always working on glossaries and entries, adjusting the order, refining the actual entries, compiling, etc., based on my accounts and current needs. My new computer with faster processor and more memory also allows my main glossary Reopen (with Includes) to take only a few seconds now, and that has helped, as well, encouraging more edits on the fly.
Thank you for your response, Autumn. I got a couple of ideas from your post. Do you have phrases like "did not believe", "did not want","did not have", etc.? OR do you have just one phrase "did not"? Another e.g. "exam reveals", "examination reveals", exam revealed", "examination revealed" - there are hundreds of these (the same with 'exam shows', etc. - do you have these? OR do you have just "extremities", "reveal", "revealed","show", showed" as separate entries?
Also, I did try keeping huge glossaries, but even with my new computer, it would take 1/2 a minute or more to reopen my glossary - which did not work for me.
Also, compilation would add a lot of junk entries, for e.g., those beginning with "and" - which made no sense, and I had to manually delete those, which was a pain, as well as making my glossaries huge and I had to hunt for entries which took a lot of time. A 2.6 characters per typed character is fantastic! The most I have gone up to was 1.6 or so.
Do you find that with such large glossaries you waste some time trying to find the compiled entries and that breaks your typing rhythm?
Do you know what is in your glossaries or it does not matter because you are able to find what you want quickly - this is the trouble I have with mine. I do not know all the entries I have in my glossary. So, I enter an abbreviation "wondering" if it is there and then when it is not, I have to backspace and type manually - which wastes a lot of time.
I do have all dedicated shorts - aabb, aaa, pattern, etc. I backspace a lot because I have so many entries, I do not know what is in my glossary - my main problem. that is why I am wondering if you have the kind of entries I mentioned above.
I will take your suggestion and make an include to come up first of my dedicated shorts that I KNOW are in there. Thanks for that great tip!
Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it.
Junee
Also, I did try keeping huge glossaries, but even with my new computer, it would take 1/2 a minute or more to reopen my glossary - which did not work for me.
Also, compilation would add a lot of junk entries, for e.g., those beginning with "and" - which made no sense, and I had to manually delete those, which was a pain, as well as making my glossaries huge and I had to hunt for entries which took a lot of time. A 2.6 characters per typed character is fantastic! The most I have gone up to was 1.6 or so.
Do you find that with such large glossaries you waste some time trying to find the compiled entries and that breaks your typing rhythm?
Do you know what is in your glossaries or it does not matter because you are able to find what you want quickly - this is the trouble I have with mine. I do not know all the entries I have in my glossary. So, I enter an abbreviation "wondering" if it is there and then when it is not, I have to backspace and type manually - which wastes a lot of time.
I do have all dedicated shorts - aabb, aaa, pattern, etc. I backspace a lot because I have so many entries, I do not know what is in my glossary - my main problem. that is why I am wondering if you have the kind of entries I mentioned above.
I will take your suggestion and make an include to come up first of my dedicated shorts that I KNOW are in there. Thanks for that great tip!
Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it.
Junee
Instead of using the backspace key, Ctrl + Backspace will delete one word to the left. Hold down on Ctrl key and continue hitting backspace for more words.
When you do not have a word in your glossary, such as "wondering," Ctrl + Shift + Left Arrow will highlight the previous word, then your Alt + = will open the Add to Glossary window. Just hit Enter to accept. IT is extremely fast at creating entries on the fly.
If your glossaries are reloading slowly, see if checking the Optimize Glossary Reloads on the Options/Usage tab helps.
You can double-click on a glossary in Windows Explorer to open it in Notepad where you can do mass editing. You can also print your glossaries and read through them to see what you have in there if that would help you get a better feel for what's in your glossaries.
Dedicated abbreviations in Shorthand is what sent me over to Instant Text. You can't possibly remember thousands of short forms. I switched to the way IT allows you to type a letter or two for words or phrases, then use the jump ahead feature to bring up the desired entry and my productivity level soared immediately. Are you using the jump ahead feature?
Compiling does take some practice to get the settings that work best for you. You might want to check out Jon Knowles' article on how to Repeat multiple compilations using different settings.
Instead of one huge glossary for all of your doctors, you might want to compile by specialty and use the includes feature.
When you do not have a word in your glossary, such as "wondering," Ctrl + Shift + Left Arrow will highlight the previous word, then your Alt + = will open the Add to Glossary window. Just hit Enter to accept. IT is extremely fast at creating entries on the fly.
If your glossaries are reloading slowly, see if checking the Optimize Glossary Reloads on the Options/Usage tab helps.
You can double-click on a glossary in Windows Explorer to open it in Notepad where you can do mass editing. You can also print your glossaries and read through them to see what you have in there if that would help you get a better feel for what's in your glossaries.
Dedicated abbreviations in Shorthand is what sent me over to Instant Text. You can't possibly remember thousands of short forms. I switched to the way IT allows you to type a letter or two for words or phrases, then use the jump ahead feature to bring up the desired entry and my productivity level soared immediately. Are you using the jump ahead feature?
Compiling does take some practice to get the settings that work best for you. You might want to check out Jon Knowles' article on how to Repeat multiple compilations using different settings.
Instead of one huge glossary for all of your doctors, you might want to compile by specialty and use the includes feature.
QUOTE (Cheryl Flanders @ Jan 22 2010, 07:41 PM)
Instead of using the backspace key, Ctrl + Backspace will delete one word to the left. Hold down on Ctrl key and continue hitting backspace for more words.
When you do not have a word in your glossary, such as "wondering," Ctrl + Shift + Left Arrow will highlight the previous word, then your Alt + = will open the Add to Glossary window. Just hit Enter to accept. IT is extremely fast at creating entries on the fly.
If your glossaries are reloading slowly, see if checking the Optimize Glossary Reloads on the Options/Usage tab helps.
You can double-click on a glossary in Windows Explorer to open it in Notepad where you can do mass editing. You can also print your glossaries and read through them to see what you have in there if that would help you get a better feel for what's in your glossaries.
Dedicated abbreviations in Shorthand is what sent me over to Instant Text. You can't possibly remember thousands of short forms. I switched to the way IT allows you to type a letter or two for words or phrases, then use the jump ahead feature to bring up the desired entry and my productivity level soared immediately. Are you using the jump ahead feature?
Compiling does take some practice to get the settings that work best for you. You might want to check out Jon Knowles' article on how to Repeat multiple compilations using different settings.
Instead of one huge glossary for all of your doctors, you might want to compile by specialty and use the includes feature.
When you do not have a word in your glossary, such as "wondering," Ctrl + Shift + Left Arrow will highlight the previous word, then your Alt + = will open the Add to Glossary window. Just hit Enter to accept. IT is extremely fast at creating entries on the fly.
If your glossaries are reloading slowly, see if checking the Optimize Glossary Reloads on the Options/Usage tab helps.
You can double-click on a glossary in Windows Explorer to open it in Notepad where you can do mass editing. You can also print your glossaries and read through them to see what you have in there if that would help you get a better feel for what's in your glossaries.
Dedicated abbreviations in Shorthand is what sent me over to Instant Text. You can't possibly remember thousands of short forms. I switched to the way IT allows you to type a letter or two for words or phrases, then use the jump ahead feature to bring up the desired entry and my productivity level soared immediately. Are you using the jump ahead feature?
Compiling does take some practice to get the settings that work best for you. You might want to check out Jon Knowles' article on how to Repeat multiple compilations using different settings.
Instead of one huge glossary for all of your doctors, you might want to compile by specialty and use the includes feature.
Thanks, Cheryl. I do not really want to add an entry if it is already there - that just makes my glossary bigger. I am trying to avoid having to delete the last word if possible - I am wondering if people do this (backspace) or is it just me?
I have too many entries for the jump ahead feature to work effectively - I do use it for a few but it does not work for most of them - my advisory is always full. I know if I had less in my glossary, the jump ahead feature would work.
Also, compiling by specialty does not work for me - I do DS, H&P, Consults, etc. - all of these use the same standard English phrases most of the time, so this is not possible.
I guess what I am asking is this: Take for example the word "recommend"
Did recommend
Did recommend to
Did recommend a
Did recommend an
Did recommend that
Did recommend to her/him/the patient that
Did recommend for her/him/the patient
Did recommend for her/him/the patient that
Do recommend
Do recommend to
Do recommend a
Do recommend an
Do recommend that
Do recommend to her/him/the patient that
Do recommend for her/him/the patient
Do recommend for her/him/the patient that
we did recommend
we did recommend to
we did recommend a
we did recommend an
we did recommend that
we did recommend to her/him/the patient that
we did recommend for her/him/the patient
we did recommend for her/him/the patient that
we do recommend
we do recommend to
we do recommend a
we do recommend an
we do recommend that
we do recommend to her/him/the patient that
we do recommend for her/him/the patient
we do recommend for her/him/the patient that
I do recommend
I do recommend to
I do recommend a
I do recommend an
I do recommend that
I do recommend to her/him/the patient that
I do recommend for her/him/the patient
I do recommend for her/him/the patient that
I did recommend
I did recommend to
I did recommend a
I did recommend an
I did recommend that
I did recommend to her/him/the patient that
I did recommend for her/him/the patient
I did recommend for her/him/the patient that
recommend
recommend to
recommend a
recommend an
recommend that
recommend to her/him/the patient that
recommend for her/him/the patient
recommend for her/him/the patient that
So, do you have all of these? OR do you have the few which would cover all of them:
I did
I do
We did
We do
recommend
recommend to
recommend a
recommend an
recommend that
recommend to her/him/the patient that
recommend for her/him/the patient
recommend for her/him/the patient that
Also, what do you do for the:
Do recommend... did recommend... which do not fit anywhere in particular?
Junee
I have too many entries for the jump ahead feature to work effectively - I do use it for a few but it does not work for most of them - my advisory is always full. I know if I had less in my glossary, the jump ahead feature would work.
Also, compiling by specialty does not work for me - I do DS, H&P, Consults, etc. - all of these use the same standard English phrases most of the time, so this is not possible.
I guess what I am asking is this: Take for example the word "recommend"
Did recommend
Did recommend to
Did recommend a
Did recommend an
Did recommend that
Did recommend to her/him/the patient that
Did recommend for her/him/the patient
Did recommend for her/him/the patient that
Do recommend
Do recommend to
Do recommend a
Do recommend an
Do recommend that
Do recommend to her/him/the patient that
Do recommend for her/him/the patient
Do recommend for her/him/the patient that
we did recommend
we did recommend to
we did recommend a
we did recommend an
we did recommend that
we did recommend to her/him/the patient that
we did recommend for her/him/the patient
we did recommend for her/him/the patient that
we do recommend
we do recommend to
we do recommend a
we do recommend an
we do recommend that
we do recommend to her/him/the patient that
we do recommend for her/him/the patient
we do recommend for her/him/the patient that
I do recommend
I do recommend to
I do recommend a
I do recommend an
I do recommend that
I do recommend to her/him/the patient that
I do recommend for her/him/the patient
I do recommend for her/him/the patient that
I did recommend
I did recommend to
I did recommend a
I did recommend an
I did recommend that
I did recommend to her/him/the patient that
I did recommend for her/him/the patient
I did recommend for her/him/the patient that
recommend
recommend to
recommend a
recommend an
recommend that
recommend to her/him/the patient that
recommend for her/him/the patient
recommend for her/him/the patient that
So, do you have all of these? OR do you have the few which would cover all of them:
I did
I do
We did
We do
recommend
recommend to
recommend a
recommend an
recommend that
recommend to her/him/the patient that
recommend for her/him/the patient
recommend for her/him/the patient that
Also, what do you do for the:
Do recommend... did recommend... which do not fit anywhere in particular?
Junee
Autumn MT, I am going to follow your suggestion:
Do you "clean up" your compilation files after you do IT compilation or do you just include it as is? I am going to try your suggestion and include complied reports after my dedicated shorts. Is that what you do?
Do you change the shorts of your compiled files or do you keep them the same?
Also, please see my previous post - I have a couple of questions.
Thanks so much.
June
Do you "clean up" your compilation files after you do IT compilation or do you just include it as is? I am going to try your suggestion and include complied reports after my dedicated shorts. Is that what you do?
Do you change the shorts of your compiled files or do you keep them the same?
Also, please see my previous post - I have a couple of questions.
Thanks so much.
June
June,
I work very late hours, so I'm just now getting back to this thread.
I really don't have an over-abundance of 2- and 3-word phrases any more -- I have been tending to save longer phrases. You probably need to experiment a bit with that, but by adding longer phrases in various combinations, it also helps with the continuations, decreasing the need for shorter phrases. I don't put the compilations high on the list of includes -- in fact, they're pretty much at the very bottom, yet they still come up as needed. No, I don't clean up compilation files, but by putting them at the very end (also with any enriches I may have done), they don't get in the way of typed shorts.
You're really making me think about how I do things -- it's become so automatic. I add a lot of entries on the fly and break up phrases in different ways -- kind of like the enriches, but minus the shorter entries and just the way I want them; they also then show up as continuations. My advisories are currently set at 10 lines -- but I mostly work off of the top half of those. When I add a phrase, I quickly check to see how many others have those same shorts -- if too many appear, I look for a way to change things up, and that's where I add the 2nd (or even 3rd) letter of the final word to the short for a shorter phrase. For often-used 2-word phrases that pull up too many entries, I sometimes do an unusual (dedicated) short that's not my usual pattern.
As for knowing what's in my glossaries -- I don't -- not for sure. Often I type an imagined short, and the expansion pops up -- if not, I add it. And, yes, sometimes I miss a continuation that pops up because I also have shorts for it, but subliminally my mind seems to pick up on that, and I'll start using it later.
If your main glossary (with includes) is taking 30 seconds to load (as mine did with my older computer) it could be a combination of processor speed and RAM -- both of which have been greatly increased with my new computer, but you could look into increasing your RAM, which might help. Another thing you could try is not adding glossaries that are used infrequently to your list of includes, but to save them on your glossary list, then accessing them with Ctrl-2 or Ctrl-3, etc. This way, reopening your main glossary (holding your various includes) doesn't also reopen them.
More than anything else, I have not shied away from experimenting. I have spent hours doing massive edits via Notepad (always saving the original off to the side first), only to decide later that it wasn't working for me, though sometimes it has really paid off. It took me a while to realize that my newer method of adding longer phrases in various combinations (a la enriches) also resulted in continuations, thus beginning to get away from saving a lot of shorter phrases. However, if someone else were to sit down at my computer and try to use my IT, they'd probably go crazy. It's set up for me and only me -- it works the way my brain works, and learning how my brain works has been a real adventure.
I work very late hours, so I'm just now getting back to this thread.
I really don't have an over-abundance of 2- and 3-word phrases any more -- I have been tending to save longer phrases. You probably need to experiment a bit with that, but by adding longer phrases in various combinations, it also helps with the continuations, decreasing the need for shorter phrases. I don't put the compilations high on the list of includes -- in fact, they're pretty much at the very bottom, yet they still come up as needed. No, I don't clean up compilation files, but by putting them at the very end (also with any enriches I may have done), they don't get in the way of typed shorts.
You're really making me think about how I do things -- it's become so automatic. I add a lot of entries on the fly and break up phrases in different ways -- kind of like the enriches, but minus the shorter entries and just the way I want them; they also then show up as continuations. My advisories are currently set at 10 lines -- but I mostly work off of the top half of those. When I add a phrase, I quickly check to see how many others have those same shorts -- if too many appear, I look for a way to change things up, and that's where I add the 2nd (or even 3rd) letter of the final word to the short for a shorter phrase. For often-used 2-word phrases that pull up too many entries, I sometimes do an unusual (dedicated) short that's not my usual pattern.
As for knowing what's in my glossaries -- I don't -- not for sure. Often I type an imagined short, and the expansion pops up -- if not, I add it. And, yes, sometimes I miss a continuation that pops up because I also have shorts for it, but subliminally my mind seems to pick up on that, and I'll start using it later.
If your main glossary (with includes) is taking 30 seconds to load (as mine did with my older computer) it could be a combination of processor speed and RAM -- both of which have been greatly increased with my new computer, but you could look into increasing your RAM, which might help. Another thing you could try is not adding glossaries that are used infrequently to your list of includes, but to save them on your glossary list, then accessing them with Ctrl-2 or Ctrl-3, etc. This way, reopening your main glossary (holding your various includes) doesn't also reopen them.
More than anything else, I have not shied away from experimenting. I have spent hours doing massive edits via Notepad (always saving the original off to the side first), only to decide later that it wasn't working for me, though sometimes it has really paid off. It took me a while to realize that my newer method of adding longer phrases in various combinations (a la enriches) also resulted in continuations, thus beginning to get away from saving a lot of shorter phrases. However, if someone else were to sit down at my computer and try to use my IT, they'd probably go crazy. It's set up for me and only me -- it works the way my brain works, and learning how my brain works has been a real adventure.
QUOTE (Autumn MT @ Jan 22 2010, 10:20 PM)
June,
I work very late hours, so I'm just now getting back to this thread.
I really don't have an over-abundance of 2- and 3-word phrases any more -- I have been tending to save longer phrases. You probably need to experiment a bit with that, but by adding longer phrases in various combinations, it also helps with the continuations, decreasing the need for shorter phrases. I don't put the compilations high on the list of includes -- in fact, they're pretty much at the very bottom, yet they still come up as needed. No, I don't clean up compilation files, but by putting them at the very end (also with any enriches I may have done), they don't get in the way of typed shorts.
You're really making me think about how I do things -- it's become so automatic. I add a lot of entries on the fly and break up phrases in different ways -- kind of like the enriches, but minus the shorter entries and just the way I want them; they also then show up as continuations. My advisories are currently set at 10 lines -- but I mostly work off of the top half of those. When I add a phrase, I quickly check to see how many others have those same shorts -- if too many appear, I look for a way to change things up, and that's where I add the 2nd (or even 3rd) letter of the final word to the short for a shorter phrase. For often-used 2-word phrases that pull up too many entries, I sometimes do an unusual (dedicated) short that's not my usual pattern.
As for knowing what's in my glossaries -- I don't -- not for sure. Often I type an imagined short, and the expansion pops up -- if not, I add it. And, yes, sometimes I miss a continuation that pops up because I also have shorts for it, but subliminally my mind seems to pick up on that, and I'll start using it later.
If your main glossary (with includes) is taking 30 seconds to load (as mine did with my older computer) it could be a combination of processor speed and RAM -- both of which have been greatly increased with my new computer, but you could look into increasing your RAM, which might help. Another thing you could try is not adding glossaries that are used infrequently to your list of includes, but to save them on your glossary list, then accessing them with Ctrl-2 or Ctrl-3, etc. This way, reopening your main glossary (holding your various includes) doesn't also reopen them.
More than anything else, I have not shied away from experimenting. I have spent hours doing massive edits via Notepad (always saving the original off to the side first), only to decide later that it wasn't working for me, though sometimes it has really paid off. It took me a while to realize that my newer method of adding longer phrases in various combinations (a la enriches) also resulted in continuations, thus beginning to get away from saving a lot of shorter phrases. However, if someone else were to sit down at my computer and try to use my IT, they'd probably go crazy. It's set up for me and only me -- it works the way my brain works, and learning how my brain works has been a real adventure.
I work very late hours, so I'm just now getting back to this thread.
I really don't have an over-abundance of 2- and 3-word phrases any more -- I have been tending to save longer phrases. You probably need to experiment a bit with that, but by adding longer phrases in various combinations, it also helps with the continuations, decreasing the need for shorter phrases. I don't put the compilations high on the list of includes -- in fact, they're pretty much at the very bottom, yet they still come up as needed. No, I don't clean up compilation files, but by putting them at the very end (also with any enriches I may have done), they don't get in the way of typed shorts.
You're really making me think about how I do things -- it's become so automatic. I add a lot of entries on the fly and break up phrases in different ways -- kind of like the enriches, but minus the shorter entries and just the way I want them; they also then show up as continuations. My advisories are currently set at 10 lines -- but I mostly work off of the top half of those. When I add a phrase, I quickly check to see how many others have those same shorts -- if too many appear, I look for a way to change things up, and that's where I add the 2nd (or even 3rd) letter of the final word to the short for a shorter phrase. For often-used 2-word phrases that pull up too many entries, I sometimes do an unusual (dedicated) short that's not my usual pattern.
As for knowing what's in my glossaries -- I don't -- not for sure. Often I type an imagined short, and the expansion pops up -- if not, I add it. And, yes, sometimes I miss a continuation that pops up because I also have shorts for it, but subliminally my mind seems to pick up on that, and I'll start using it later.
If your main glossary (with includes) is taking 30 seconds to load (as mine did with my older computer) it could be a combination of processor speed and RAM -- both of which have been greatly increased with my new computer, but you could look into increasing your RAM, which might help. Another thing you could try is not adding glossaries that are used infrequently to your list of includes, but to save them on your glossary list, then accessing them with Ctrl-2 or Ctrl-3, etc. This way, reopening your main glossary (holding your various includes) doesn't also reopen them.
More than anything else, I have not shied away from experimenting. I have spent hours doing massive edits via Notepad (always saving the original off to the side first), only to decide later that it wasn't working for me, though sometimes it has really paid off. It took me a while to realize that my newer method of adding longer phrases in various combinations (a la enriches) also resulted in continuations, thus beginning to get away from saving a lot of shorter phrases. However, if someone else were to sit down at my computer and try to use my IT, they'd probably go crazy. It's set up for me and only me -- it works the way my brain works, and learning how my brain works has been a real adventure.
Thanks for your response, Autumn. I have continuations set to "No" in IT. I guess I should change that. Also, what do you mean by "longer shorts"? Could you give me an example?
Also, I have more than 300 doctors in my account. Would continuations work well here?
Thanks so much for your help.
Junee
Also, I have more than 300 doctors in my account. Would continuations work well here?
Thanks so much for your help.
Junee
I don't believe I said "longer shorts," but I did reference longer phrases, by which I mean any phrases longer than 2-3 words.
Example: "I did reference longer phrases, by which I mean any phrases longer than 2-3 words" is a long phrase, which could be added and broken up in various ways, as follows:
I did reference longer
I did reference longer phrases
longer phrases by which I mean
by which I mean
I mean any phrases longer than
any phrases longer than
etc.
Compilations always help, in my experience. Doctors often use similar phrasing, with predictable variations, and that's where compilations are so handy. You can try various settings when doing compilations to see which settings produce the best results for you, but that process goes through your prior reports to find words and phrases that are repeated the number of times you establish as the threshold for adding an entry.
Example: "I did reference longer phrases, by which I mean any phrases longer than 2-3 words" is a long phrase, which could be added and broken up in various ways, as follows:
I did reference longer
I did reference longer phrases
longer phrases by which I mean
by which I mean
I mean any phrases longer than
any phrases longer than
etc.
Compilations always help, in my experience. Doctors often use similar phrasing, with predictable variations, and that's where compilations are so handy. You can try various settings when doing compilations to see which settings produce the best results for you, but that process goes through your prior reports to find words and phrases that are repeated the number of times you establish as the threshold for adding an entry.
Thank you. I appreciate all your help.
Junee
Junee
I have been using expanders on a very minimal basis only because I am not sure how to do them. After reading the previous messages, I can really say that I am VERY slow because of my lack of know-how. Is there a class that is offered to learn these things or are they on a "learn on you own by reading others experiences", type thing? Maybe a good book you can recommend? I have been doing this for about 5 years. I have a fair number of expanders, but not anything like you all are talking about! Would love to be able to expand a bit!
Rhonda
Rhonda
Hi, Rhonda. Welcome to PT!
I wouldn't necessarily compare yourself to others and call yourself so slow, as we all have such different work variables. That's just my 2 cents there.
If this is all pretty new to you, I would suggest just reading here for awhile, and particularly the section of the board with "English Words and Phrases," "Systems for Word/Phrase Shortcuts", etc. You might also want to have a look at this entire site
Regarding books, if you felt you really wanted to get one, I have seen people recommend "Saving Keystrokes" by Diana Rolland. I haven't read it. I believe that's sort of about expansion systems. Other books that could be helpful would be books on MS Word. For instance, I am familiar with Cheryl Flanders' book Tips 'N Techniques I've also heard that Que publishes some good books on Word. These books, naturally, would be geared more towards helping improve one's productivity through the most efficient use of Word rather than help with any expansion matters.
I'd say take your time about things, don't try to overwhelm yourself all at once, and have fun with it!
I wouldn't necessarily compare yourself to others and call yourself so slow, as we all have such different work variables. That's just my 2 cents there.
If this is all pretty new to you, I would suggest just reading here for awhile, and particularly the section of the board with "English Words and Phrases," "Systems for Word/Phrase Shortcuts", etc. You might also want to have a look at this entire site
Regarding books, if you felt you really wanted to get one, I have seen people recommend "Saving Keystrokes" by Diana Rolland. I haven't read it. I believe that's sort of about expansion systems. Other books that could be helpful would be books on MS Word. For instance, I am familiar with Cheryl Flanders' book Tips 'N Techniques I've also heard that Que publishes some good books on Word. These books, naturally, would be geared more towards helping improve one's productivity through the most efficient use of Word rather than help with any expansion matters.
I'd say take your time about things, don't try to overwhelm yourself all at once, and have fun with it!
As Harrie mentioned, Diana Rolland's "Saving Keystrokes" is the best book EVER on shortcuts and expanders.
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