One snippet to work with two desktop apps

Questions and Help
1

Currently some of my email templates end with "and now copy and paste this text into your to-do list app:" and it would be even better if that text was automatically placed on the clipboard when I insert the snippet. As far as I can tell, this feature doesn't exist and is similar to the one requested here (except I want adding text to the clipboard to be part of a snippet, not executed from the dashboard).

2

Hi @megan.gendell thanks for your feedback. We have Text Blaze native apps available on both macOS and Windows. You can run your template directly inside the to-do list app itself. This way you will not need to run it on one app and copy it to another app.
If this does not work for you, can you please let us know your workflow so that we can better assist you?

3

Hi! The situation I'm thinking of is that I use a template to construct an email. Every time I send that particular type of email, I also want to add a next-step item to my to-do list (something I need to follow up on two days later). The to-do item is composed of components from the email, so it makes sense for it to be part of the email template rather than a separate snippet. So I would rather run the snippet only once (in my email app, to create the email), but then drop the to-do item from my clipboard into the to-do app. Does that help clarify?

(Right now, the to-do list is inserted as the final line of the email, in blue text so it stands out for me visually, and I cut it from the email before sending, then drop it in my to-do list)

4

Thanks for clarifying! :slightly_smiling_face: Just for completeness, can you tell me what is the email app (gmail/outlook web/outlook desktop) and the what is the to-do app that you use?

5

Sure - I'm using the Text Blaze Mac app, in the desktop versions of Outlook and Todoist

6

Thanks for the clarification. So I see that your workflow has these parts:

  1. Insert email into Outlook
  2. Switch to Todoist
  3. Open new todo item in Todoist
  4. Insert text into this item
  5. Submit this item

A snippet like this should achieve that:

text for outlook
{key:cmd-tab}{note}this switches to the todoist app{endnote}
{key: q}{note}this is the keyboard shortcut for creating a new todo item in todoist{endnote}
Task name
{key:tab}
Task description
{key:cmd-enter}{note}creates the new task{endnote}

Let me know if it works for you. I'm happy to jump onto a call with you to help build this snippet.

7

Intriguing! I usually have about 15 apps open, though, so there's no guarantee that cmd-tab would take me to Todoist vs any other app open. I guess it could work if I remember to click into Todoist, then Outlook before running my snippet, so that Todoist becomes the next most recent app, but that's unlikely I'll remember. (If there's another solution, I'd be curious to hear it, because there are a few other instances where I have a snippet with contents I use across multiple apps -- usually Outlook, then Chrome)

BUT I just learned that there is a keyboard shortcut to add a Todoist item from any app (which I never use, but probably should), so that'd work!

8

That makes sense.

Actually, you gave me a nice idea, try this updated snippet :wink:

text for outlook
{key:ctrl-cmd-a}{note}this launches the add todoist item dialog box{endnote}
Task name
{key:tab}
Task description
{key:cmd-enter}{note}creates the new task{endnote}

I found the ctrl-cmd-a shortcut in Todoist app -> Settings -> Advanced -> Scroll down to "Quick add task" keyboard shortcut. I just tried it and it works for myself :smiley: Let me know if it works for you!

9

Yes! I found that the default keyboard shortcut in Todoist was conflicting with an Outlook shortcut but I remapped and it we're good to go. Magical, thanks!

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10

Glad to hear that :slightly_smiling_face: I have moved our conversation to a new topic, so it may help other users as well.

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