Software tips and Tricks-What makes your life easier

Dawn Alonso

In the spirit of the Blackbaud Community Collaborators March Challenge, I present you with the following question:


What software tip or trick have you discovered that makes your life easier? It can be Blackbaud or non Blackbaud software.


Mine is multiple signatures for email using the desktop version of Outlook. I have a long list of emails that I send regularly. I create a signature for each one with the body of the email, that way when I click it it prefills the body of the email. I put placeholders in for information that may change from email to email. The time saved on not rewriting emails is enough to justify the initial set up.

David Lee

OneTab is my favorite Chrome extension - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/onetab/chphlpgkkbolifaimnlloiipkdnihall?hl=en

It helps me better organize and manage with all the different browser tabs I have kept opened.

Steven Cinquegrana

I have a very old version of Snagit that I've been using for 10+ years that I can't live without. I've tried newer versions of Snagit and couple of other screen-grabbing utilities but this one is so easy, dependable, light-weight and ... well, it just works. (I tried the Snipping tool in Windows 10 and couldn't for the life of me work out how it was supposed to work, where it put snips, etc. I ended up losing a whole swath of code sample images. Probably should have read the manual, tho.)




Honourable mentions: Notepad++, FileZilla, Regex Hero, SQLite Studio


Cheers,

Steve Cinquegrana | CEO and Principal Developer | Protégé Solutions

Stephen Pilon

I use Notepad++ for everything. It's editing routines are great (CRTL-click in multiple locations, ALT-select to grab columnar areas, etc.). I also use SnagIt, but I do have the newer version. I use Snip & Sketch in Win10 (Windows-Shift-S) for grabbing screen shots all the time. You can just use it for Copy & Paste, or click on the preview window that appears briefly to do some quick edits. And the edits auto-save to the clipboard for easy use.


Snip & Sketch sample:

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Bryna Gleich

Steven Cinquegrana:

I have a very old version of Snagit that I've been using for 10+ years that I can't live without. I've tried newer versions of Snagit and couple of other screen-grabbing utilities but this one is so easy, dependable, light-weight and ... well, it just works.

My favorite feature in newer versions of Snagit is "simplify." The trick is don't over simplify. Leave enough things "normal" so that users have enough context and don't get lost. Use "simplify" to make images more future-proof, to make images more focused on specific content, to hide unrelated or sensitive data, and more.


I also like that you can set more things as presets to standardize styles (use these specific arrows, in these specific colors).

Mary Harden Rudisill

Chrome's built in Tab functionality is no longer just a hidden feature. They've released it out into the wild, so you can have Grouped tabs without an extension now. I think it is great, but I never looked for extensions before using it so I don't know if they have implemented everything that you liked about OneTab.

I also really like the URLColors Chrome extension. I can work in the same website in multiple environments, and this lets me set obvious visual clues as to which one I am currently looking at.


My favorite Text editor is EditPad Pro. I've been using that and AceText for years. Having easily searchable clips is a necessity for me.

And I use a Windows replacement called xplorer2. Talk about multiple tab group heaven ?.


If you need a quick environment to work thru something, Regex Buddy and LINQPad often fit the bill.


And never used SnagIt because I found WinSnap first. It does everything I need.

David Lee

Hi Mary, I have not tried the URLColors extension yet but it sounds very interesting and give it a try. Thanks for sharing this.

Cody Christensen

This is a great idea! Cut and paste has always been a friend of mine. Now, I think I have added a buddy to the group...email signatures! ?

David Lee

I just tried Snagit and it's pretty cool...Thanks for sharing Steven Cinquegrana